While on our tour around bangkok the guide confirmed what hello and thank you was in Thai. We had a look in a few phase books ourselves and downloaded a few apps but didn’t seem to cover the very basics or explain why some used kha and some used khap. Turns out this is the male and female versions with men saying khap and women saying kha.
So Thai for Hello/good morning / evening etc is swadee kha for women and swadee khap for men. Here are a few other phrases:
Thank you
kop kum kha (women)
Kop kum khap (male)
Thai people may also give Wai which involves raising both hands, palms joined, to a position lightly touching the body between the head and chest. Due to the complicated rules involved with giving and receiving Wai Thai’s do not expect foreign visitors to return a Wai!
