How to Say Left, Right and Straight On in Thai

Left is ซ้าย sáai. Right is ขวา khwǎa. Straight on is ตรงไป dtrong-bpai, and turn is เลี้ยว líao.

Put two together and you're directing a car: líao sáai is turn left. Say dtrong-bpai on its own and the driver keeps going.

The pair that will get you lost

ใกล้ glâi is near. ไกล glai is far. One tone apart, and they mean opposite things.

This is the most consequential minimal pair on the entire survival list, because it decides whether you walk or get in a taxi. Ask someone if your hotel is close by and the answer is one of these two words — and if you can't hear the difference, you've learned nothing from asking.

The good news: this is a hearing problem, not a speaking problem, and hearing problems get solved by listening to the two words back to back until they separate. Ten repetitions of the pair does more for you than a week of grammar. Once they've split apart in your ear, they never merge again.

Do I need to build sentences?

No. Directions are the one area where single words plus a pointed finger genuinely work, because everyone involved is looking at the same road. sáai while pointing left is unambiguous. dtrong-bpai while pointing forward is unambiguous.

What you want is the ability to say them early — a driver needs the word before the junction, not at it.

Soi — the word for a small side street

Thai addresses run off the main road into numbered side streets, and each one is called a soi. You'll see it written that way in Latin letters on the street sign, so it's a Thai word you can read from day one.

Most of your walking directions will end with one. When someone gives you a direction that finishes with a number, that number is almost always the soi, not the building. Get to the right soi first, then look for the number on the door.

When someone answers with glai

If you ask about a place and the answer is glai — far — believe them. Distances in Bangkok that look walkable on a phone map are frequently not, because the map doesn't show the eight-lane road with no crossing, the canal, or the 95-degree heat. A local telling you it's far is doing you a favor.

Takeaways

• sáai left, khwǎa right, dtrong-bpai straight on, líao turn.
• líao sáai / líao khwǎa is enough to steer any driver.
• glâi (near) and glai (far) differ by one tone and mean opposites — drill them by ear.
• Single words plus pointing work fine here. Say them before the junction, not at it.
• If a local says glai, take the taxi.