AB Level 1.1: Greetings, Requesting and Trips in Thai

Asking about Someone's Well-being
  * สบายดี (sà-baai-dii) literally means "comfortable" or "good."
  * By adding the question particle, ไหม (mǎi), it becomes a question.
  * สบายดีไหม (sà-baai-dii mǎi), meaning "Are you well?"
  * When the subject is understood, we can leave it out of the sentence.
  * We can offer a positive answer by repeating the verb or adjective: in this case, สบายดี (sà-baai-dii).
Question Word
* ไหม (mǎi) is a particle we put at the end of a statement to turn it into a question.
* We often best translate it in English simply as a question mark.

Thai people commonly use the word สวัสดี (sà-wàt-dii) as a greeting, which has both "hello" and "good-bye" meanings and originates from the Sanskrit word for "auspiciousness."
To show politeness in Thai language, it's important to use certain words at the end of a sentence, which depends on the speaker's gender.
For example, male speakers should use ครับ (khráp) with a high tone, while female speakers should use ค่ะ (khâ) with a falling tone when making statements and คะ (khá) with a high tone when asking a question.

Thai verbs don't conjugate!
Thai grammar is much easier to learn than the grammar of other languages.
  * The forms of the words never change.
  * You don't have to learn any charts to change verbs into the past, future, present continuous, etc.
  * Instead, Thai changes the meaning by adding other words to the sentence.
We put the word จะ (jà), meaning "will," before verbs to make them future tense.
* ผมไป (phǒm bpai) is "I go," but ผมจะไป (phǒm jà bpai) is "I will go."
* คุณทำงาน (khun tham-ngaan) is "you work," but คุณจะทำงาน (khun jà tham-ngaan) is "you will work."
The verb "to be" is เป็น (bpen).
To say one's nationality, we use the word คน (khon), meaning "person" + the name of the country (with a few exceptions).
* ดิฉันเป็นคนไทย (dì-chǎn bpen khon-thai) ➤ "I am Thai,"
* คนอเมริกัน (khon-à-mee-rí-gan) | คนอเมริกา (khon-à-mee-rí-gaa) ➤ “American”

<<ไป…ที่… (bpai…thîi…)<<
  * ไป (bpai) means "to go"
  * ที่ (thîi) means "at."
  * We can use them together, with an action between them and a location following, to say " $go to do (action) at (location).$ "
<<ประเทศ (bprà-thêet) + [name of country]<<
* We usually place ประเทศ (bprà-thêet), meaning "country," before the name of the country to specify a nation.
* We usually use the name of a country by itself as an adjective, as in "Thai food," "Thai music," "Thai people," etc.
<<ไปติดต่อธุรกิจ (bpai dtìt-dtàaw thú-rá-gìt)<<
  * Means "to go on a business trip."
  * ไป (bpai) means "to go"
  * ติดต่อธุรกิจ (dtìt-dtàaw thú-rá-gìt) means “to deal business.“
<<เดินทางปลอดภัย (dooen-thaang bplàawt-phai)<<
  * Means "have a safe trip."
  * เดินทาง (dooen-thaang) means “to go on a trip“
  * ปลอดภัย (bplàawt-phai) means “safe, safely, or harmless.”
<<แล้วคุณล่ะ (láaeo khun lâ)<<
* This phrase means "And you?" or "How about you?"
* We can use this phrase any time you want to ask the same question back.
<<ที่ไหน (thîi-nǎi)<<
* This means "where?"
* It is a question word that usually comes at the end of a sentence.

In Thai society, teachers are held in high regard and are usually addressed by their titles along with their names.
Two common titles used for teachers are ครู (khruu) and อาจารย์ (aa-jaan), with khruu being used for elementary and primary school teachers, while aa-jaan is reserved for university professors and highly respected monks.
When conversing with strangers, Thais often ask about their hometown, which is considered a common topic of conversation.
However, other questions that may be asked, such as age, marital status, and education level, may be viewed as intrusive or impolite by Westerners.
Age is particularly important in determining the relative levels of respect between speakers and the appropriate relational pronouns or titles to use.
In Thai language, people are commonly referred to by relationship words such as "aunt," "granny," and "younger brother," regardless of their actual relationship.

<<ยินดีที่ได้รู้จัก (yin-dii thîi dâai rúu-jàk)<<
* This means “Nice to meet you.”
* You would only use it when meeting someone for the first time.
<<เช่นกัน (chên-gan)<<
* Means “likewise“ or “me, too.“
* This is a standard reply to "nice to meet you."
<<ขอโทษ (khǎaw-thôot)<<
* We can use this as "sorry" to apologize or as "excuse me" to get someone's attention.
<<ช้าๆ (cháa-cháa)<<
* ช้า (cháa) is an adjective that means "slow."
* When it is doubled, it becomes an adverb that means "slowly."
<<นะ (ná)<<
* This is a particle that we add to soften a sentence.
* It makes the speech sound less abrupt and more gentle to the ears.
<<ช่วย…ได้ไหม (chûuai…dâai mǎi)<<
* This means "Could you please…?"

Thai has various ways of showing respect
  * Pronouns can be used to indicate politeness and social status
  * Different words can be used for different levels of formality and respect
  * Certain words are reserved for royalty and Buddhist monks
First-time meetings should use polite personal pronouns (ผม for males, ดิฉัน for females)
* คุณ (khun), meaning “you“ can be used in most situations, but ท่าน (thâan) is more formal for official announcements or highly respected individuals
ไหว้ (wâai) should be performed when greeting someone senior to oneself, involving placing palms together and raising them towards the face while bowing the head
* The height of the hands in ไหว้ (wâai) indicates the level of respect
* When greeting someone of the same or lower status, a simple smile and สวัดดี (sà-wàt-dii) is appropriate
Sentences should be ended politely with ครับ (khráp) for males or ค่ะ (khâ) for females, especially in first-time conversations.