Though it's not really necessary to get by, you will undoubtedly have an easier and more enjoyable experience in Thailand from any time you spend learning Thai. Most Thais don't expect a foreigner to be able to speak any of their language, and...

Though many other aspects of Thai grammar are quite simple compared to other languages, that certainly doesn't apply to its complex and involved personal pronoun structure. Whereas a learner can get by to start with by learning just a few of the more...

อ้าว âao shows surprise or disappointment at an unexpected turn of events.

The Thai language has its own set of numerals, although the standard Arabic/Western numerals are much more commonly encountered. You may come across the Thai numerals in government and official documents, legal documents, religious texts, page numbers of...

When first learning Thai, it can seem as if the Thais don't care for much politeness. The words a Thai dictionary would translate as 'please' (such as ga-ru-nah and bproht) are rarely heard in normal speech, while the 'softer' phrasing sometimes...

The particle นะ ná is extremely common in spoken and informal Thai, at least as much so as any of the polite particles. It's used to make a sentence sound gentler,...

On the surface, Thai grammar is much simpler than European languages - there's no verb inflection and tenses can often be shown just using the words "will" or "already", single and plural nouns are by-and-large the same, no noun...

As the majority of visitors to Thailand can speak little or no Thai, most communication between them and the Thais takes place in English. Although many Thais can speak some English, getting yourself understood, or understanding them, can...

Modern computers have built in support for Thai, so you don't need to download a Thai font in order to type in Thai on your computer. The default Thai font is clear and easy to read, but obviously it's not the most interesting looking font in the...

In Thai, the name of the each country is also an adjective to describe things from that country. The word อังกฤษ ang-grìt, for instance, can mean either "England" or "English". To unambiguously refer to...

Just about every Thai person has a nickname by which they are known informally, given to them by their parents at birth. The pervasive use of nicknames in this way apparently comes from the old belief that evil spirits ( ปีศาจ...

In addition to the standard personal pronouns, it's very common when speaking Thai to also use family terms such as "brother", "sister", "aunt", "uncle", "mother" and "father" as personal pronouns. This applies even to strangers that you have no blood...

Although the names of the days of the week in Thai are very different from in English, they are derived from the names of planets in the same way. In a similar fashion, the names of the months in Thai are named after signs of the Zodiac. ...

Below is a list of pronouns meaning 'I/Me' in Thai, in approximate order of how common they are in everyday speech. Although there is a great range of pronouns, they're actually used quite sparingly and often omitted unless it's absolutely necessary to...

• What are the basic do's and don'ts ?
• What are Thai people like ?
• What sort of clothes should I wear while I'm there ?
• How difficult is to talk with the Thais ?
• Is it okay to go...

What are the basic cultural do's and don'ts?

There are several main differences in behaviour that westerners should be aware of before visiting Indonesia. In the most popular tourist destinations, locals will take less offence to cultural...

These are written in the Thai script, with the approximate English pronounciation written to the right of it. The literal translation and the English equivalent (if there is one) or meaning (if not) are also written below. Many of the ...

In an era of declining popularity of royalty in many countries, there's no doubt that Thailand's King Bhumibol Adulyadej  - the longest reigning monarch in the world - and his wife Queen Sirikit stand out as extraordinary exceptions. Held in...

Asking questions in Thai is straightforward, though there's a few different ways of doing it depending on what time of question you want to ask. An important thing to remember is not to automatically change the tone of your voice to indicate a question on...

All computers nowadays can let you type in Thai, but computers bought outside of Thailand will need a few settings changed first. This is a pretty easy process, and how to do it is shown step-by-step below.

A Thai keyboard (i.e. a keyboard...

Even if you can speak no other words of Thai, most European and American visitors to Thailand will quickly become familiar with the Thai word farang (often mispronounced (even by Thais) as falang - farang with a slightly trilled 'r' is...

Is Indonesia an easy country to travel in?

In general, it is. The country is very cheap, its people are exceptionally friendly, the transport options are plentiful (if a little slow) and limited English is widely spoken. Unsurprisingly, travel is...