THAI LANGUAGE LESSONS
L17i - Food: Ordering

We have covered most of the food words you will need. Now we need to learn how to order these foods. Let's look at a few typical words and phrases you will meet when visiting a restaurant

tee / kon

When you first arrive at a restaurant a waitress will probably greet you with a 'sawatdee' and the question 'gee tee' or 'gee kon'. That is how many places or how many people.

sawatdee ka
sawatdee krup

gee tee ka ? : How many places?
sorng tee krup : Two places please

chern nang

She will lead you to a table and invite you to sit:

chern nang ka : Please sit down.

'chern' is an invitation to do something. 'nang' is sit.

kor doo may-noo

Most restaurants will give you a menu but some of the more informal places may just invite you to order from the top of your head. If you want to see a menu:

kor doo may-noo krup : I want to look at the menu please.

Classifiers

When ordering, don't forget to use classifiers. This is not so important if you are ordering a single item, e.g.:

kor tom yam goong : I want tom yam goong.

If you are ordering more than one of an item it is necessary to use a classifier. The classifiers for food and drink are often the vessels in which they are served:

kaow suay sorng jaan : steamed rice, two plates
koke see gae-oh : coke, four glasses
bee-a sahm kuat lek : beer, three small bottles

gep dtung / chek bin

These are the two most common ways to ask for the bill.

gep dtung krup is a little politer. It means 'collect the money please.'

chek bin krup - is less formal. It means 'bill please' and is derived from the two western words 'cheque' and 'bill'. SInce Thai script does not allow 'l' sounds at the end of syllables so 'bill' gets changed to 'bin'.

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