At a café and a restaurant in Thai
9 words in Thai on the topic “at a café and a restaurant”: กาแฟ — coffee, ชา — tea, ขอ — I want; I will take, ร้าน อาหาร — restaurant.
9 words on the topic
- กาแฟкафэcoffeeThe word came from English coffee. In Thai you order it through kho — "I will take" — and asking for it "cooled" (yen) means asking for iced coffee
- ชาчаteaOne syllable that argues with chai, "yes": only the tone tells them apart. Thai tea is brewed with milk and sugar in advance — "plain tea" has to be asked for
- ขอкхоI want; I will takeThe main word of ordering: literally "I ask". "I want coffee" in Thai is kho kafae khrap, and that is politer than a flat "I want". It does not conjugate: I and you say the same kho
- ร้าน อาหารран аханrestaurantLiterally "shop of food". Words are butted together: raan, "shop", plus ahaan, "food". Half of all Thai place names are assembled this way
- ร้าน กาแฟран кафэcoffeehouseThe same "shop" as the restaurant's, only with coffee. There is no separate word for a European-style cafe — the big coffee place and the corner with plastic stools share the name
- เช็ค บิลчек бинthe bill, pleaseEnglish check bill, adopted whole. The colloquial request for the bill; khrap helps a man, kha a woman
- เบียร์бияbeerEnglish beer. It is counted in bottles: song khuat — "two bottles", the classifier here is the bottle
- ไวน์вайwineEnglish wine. Red and white are told apart by color: wai daeng — "wine red". There is little winemaking in Thailand, and wine is an attribute of European restaurants
- คาเฟ่кафэcafeKhafe came from English; raan khaafae, the "coffeehouse", you have met, while khafe is a place to sit with a dessert and a laptop
How it sounds in a sentence
A word list is a blank. Conversation is made of sentences, and these are the ones the words fit into most often.
- ขอ กาแฟ ครับкхо кафэ кхрапCoffee, please (a man says it)
- ขอ ชา ครับкхо ча кхрапTea, please (a man says it)
- ผม ขอ กาแฟ ครับпхом кхо кафэ кхрапI will take coffee (a man says it)
- ร้าน อาหาร อร่อย มากран ахан арой макThe food at the restaurant is very tasty
- เรา เจอกัน ที่ ร้าน กาแฟрао джёкан ти ран кафэLet's meet at the coffeehouse
- เช็ค บิล ครับчек бин кхрапThe bill, please (a man says it)
What is worth knowing about these words
กาแฟ (кафэ) — coffee. The word came from English coffee. In Thai you order it through kho — "I will take" — and asking for it "cooled" (yen) means asking for iced coffee.
ชา (ча) — tea. One syllable that argues with chai, "yes": only the tone tells them apart. Thai tea is brewed with milk and sugar in advance — "plain tea" has to be asked for.
ขอ (кхо) — I want; I will take. The main word of ordering: literally "I ask". "I want coffee" in Thai is kho kafae khrap, and that is politer than a flat "I want". It does not conjugate: I and you say the same kho.
ร้าน อาหาร (ран ахан) — restaurant. Literally "shop of food". Words are butted together: raan, "shop", plus ahaan, "food". Half of all Thai place names are assembled this way.
Test yourself
Recalling a spelling from meaning is harder than recognizing a familiar word — and therefore more useful.
- How do you say “coffee” in Thai?
The word came from English coffee. In Thai you order it through kho — "I will take" — and asking for it "cooled" (yen) means asking for iced coffee
- How do you say “wine” in Thai?
English wine. Red and white are told apart by color: wai daeng — "wine red". There is little winemaking in Thailand, and wine is an attribute of European restaurants
- How do you say “the bill, please” in Thai?
English check bill, adopted whole. The colloquial request for the bill; khrap helps a man, kha a woman
- How do you say “restaurant” in Thai?
Literally "shop of food". Words are butted together: raan, "shop", plus ahaan, "food". Half of all Thai place names are assembled this way
- How do you say “tea” in Thai?
One syllable that argues with chai, "yes": only the tone tells them apart. Thai tea is brewed with milk and sugar in advance — "plain tea" has to be asked for
How to learn the set instead of just reading it
Order, ask the price, ask for the bill. A short and entirely predictable conversation — a convenient place to test yourself for the first time.
A list is read in a minute and forgotten in a day. What works: hide the translation, try to recall, get it wrong — and come back to the same words tomorrow.
- Recalling beats re-reading. Covering the translation and trying to remember it does more than reading it ten more times.checked many timesAdesope, Trevisan & Sundararajan, 2017, Review of Educational Research 87(3) · 188 experiments, 272 comparisons. g = 0.61; against plain re-reading 0.51, against passive review 0.93.
- Study spread over days wins not only in experiments but in ordinary classrooms, with real students.checked many timesMawson & Kang, 2025, Behavioral Sciences 15(6):771 · 22 studies, d = 0.54 (confidence interval 0.31–0.77). The authors warn that individual studies disagree widely.
Frequently asked
How do you say “coffee” in Thai?
«กาแฟ», read “кафэ”. The word came from English coffee. In Thai you order it through kho — "I will take" — and asking for it "cooled" (yen) means asking for iced coffee. It is one of 9 words in the set “at a café and a restaurant” — the rest are in the table above.
How many café phrases do you need to start?
The whole set on this page is 9 words, but there is no need to start with all of it: the words you will need in the next few days are enough. Take them a few at a time — five to seven new ones per session.