How to give Taxi Thai directions
Thai Taxi Situation 1
- You: (open the door and sit in) Go to Siam Paragon
- Taxi driver: No no no, my shift is over. Also, the traffic is so bad there, so I cannot go!
- You: (open the door and get off)
Thai Taxi Situation 2
- You: Siam Paragon, please.
- Taxi driver: OK.
- ..1 kilometre further..
- You: How much?
- Taxi driver: 500 baht!
- —————–
- Have you ever had these problems before? In this blog, we will learn some useful phrases that you can use when you talk to a taxi driver to avoid these problems and some vocabulary to help you give instructions to the driver.
- 1. ไป…..ไหม (คะ/ ครับ) bpai…mái (ká/kráp)? = Do you go to…………….?
- I think it might be better if you ask them first if they want to go that way. For some reason, some drivers do not want to go there .
- 2. ช่วยใช้มิเตอร์ด้วยได้ไหม (คะ/ ครับ) chûay chái mí-dtә̂ә dûay dâi mái (ká/kráp)? = Could you use the meter, please?
- Some taxis might not use the meter, so always ask them to use it. If they refuse, you can find another one.
- 3. If you know directions, you can use the following direction vocabulary:
Thai Taxi Vocabulary
ตรงไป dtrong-bpai = go straight
เลี้ยวซ้าย
líaw sáai = turn left เลี้ยวขวา
líaw kwǎa = turn right
ผ่าน/ เลย pàan / lәәi = pass
ไฟแดง fai-dɛɛng = traffic light
แล้วก็ lɛ́ɛw-gɔ̂ = and then
ซอย sɔɔi = street
เข้าซอย kâo sɔɔi = enter the Soi
ปากซอย bpàak sɔɔi = beginning of the Soi
กลางซอย glaang sɔɔi = middle of the Soi
สุดซอย sùt sɔɔi = end of the Soi
จอดที่นี่/ จอดตรงนี้ jɔ̀ɔt tîi-nîi / jɔ̀ɔt dtrong-níi = stop here
For example:
เลยไฟแดงแล้วก็เลี้ยวซ้ายเข้าซอย / lәәi fai-dɛɛng lɛ́ɛw-gɔ̂ líaw sáai kâo sɔɔi/ = pass the traffic light and then turn left to enter the Soi
You now know how to give instructions to a taxi driver in the Thai language. I hope this will be useful to you when travelling in Thailand. Please comment on this blog if you like it.
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Jang
Thai Language Teacher
