English

People and family in Thai

138 words in Thai on the topic “people and family”: เพื่อน — friend, ครอบครัว — family, แม่ — mother; mom, พ่อ — father; dad.

Updated September 1, 2026 · Lingofly

138 words on the topic

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.

What is worth knowing about these words

เพื่อน (пхиуан) — friend. Broader than the close "friend": a buddy, an acquaintance, a companion. The word "buddy" in Thai is the same one — the degrees of friendship are set by life, not by the dictionary.

ครอบครัว (кхропкхруа) — family. Both kh's hold together: khrop-khrua. The Thai family lives wider than the nuclear one: aunt, grandfather and cousins count as one house.

แม่ (мэ) — mother; mom. The same word addresses any woman older than you — a shop assistant, the owner of a stall — and it is polite. The word also lives in the kitchen line: mae khrua — "mother of the kitchen", the cook.

พ่อ (пхё) — father; dad. The pair of "mother" with the same rule: an older man unknown to you is addressed the same way. "Dad likes tea" is pho chop chaa — and not a single extra word.

Test yourself

Recalling a spelling from meaning is harder than recognizing a familiar word — and therefore more useful.

  1. How do you say “friend” in Thai?
  2. How do you say “person; human” in Thai?
  3. How do you say “crowd” in Thai?
  4. How do you say “low” in Thai?
  5. How do you say “looks; appearance” in Thai?

How to learn the set instead of just reading it

Mum, friend, child, neighbour. The first thing people ask you about, and the first thing you tell about yourself.

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.

Frequently asked

How do you say “friend” in Thai?

«เพื่อน», read “пхиуан”. Broader than the close "friend": a buddy, an acquaintance, a companion. The word "buddy" in Thai is the same one — the degrees of friendship are set by life, not by the dictionary. It is one of 138 words in the set “people and family” — the rest are in the table above.

How many family words do you need to start?

The whole set on this page is 138 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.

Next

Learn these 138 wordsPractice the set