Top 3 Phrases You Need to Know When Ordering Spicy Food in Thailand

Table of Contents

• 1) “No Chilli” or “Do not put chillies in”
• 2) “Very Low Levels of Spice”
• 3) “Very Spicy”
• Conclusion

When ordering food in Thailand, one thing you have to be sure about is the spiciness of the dish. To help you, here are our Top 3 Phrases that you need to know, to help you out when you’re in Thailand ordering spicy food.

1) “No Chilli” or “Do not put chillies in”

Mai Sai Prick Ka/Krup ไม่ใส่พริกค่ะ/ครับ

Mai/ไม่ = No. One of the first words that children learn, “no” in Thai is “Mai”. To pronounce it correctly think of the first sound when you say the word “Maya”, the “Ma” with a “i” at the end is how to pronounce it correctly.

Sai/ใส่ = Put In. Actually a easy one for westerners to pronounce because it uses sounds i the western language, just think of the word “sigh” but where the end sound is cut short, and you’ve got the pronunciation.

Prick/พริก = Chilli. Sounds just like the word “prick”, which helps memorisation because the word “prick” has a sharp unpleasant feel to it, kinda of like a chilli.

2) “Very Low Levels of Spice”

Pet Noi Ka/Krup เผ็ดน้อยค่ะ/ครับ

or

Pet Noi Mak Ka/Krup เผ็ดน้อยมากค่ะ/ครับ

Pet/ เผ็ด = Spicy. the sound is the same as the English word “Pet”. This word means spicy, and you can add different levels with it, in this example we’re looking at the “low level” spiciness, and we can do that by adding the following word after “Pet”

Noi/น้อย = Little. The sound is “Noi”, if you take the first sound when you say the word “Noisy” and you’ve got it. This is quite a useful word that can be used in many logical places, like when you want a little help, a little more salt, or to turn the music down a little, you can use the word Noi/น้อย as the adjective.

Mak/มาก = Very. This word sounds similar to the english name “Mark” and and you won’t go wrong if you use Mark in place of this word. Mak/มาก is widely used int ehThai language, it’s like an exclamation mark, used to emphasise the meaning you are trying to convey. In this case, we want the dish to be VERY low in spice.

3) “Very Spicy”

Pet Mak Ka/Krup เผ็ดมากค่ะ/ครับ

Using no new words you can also ask for a Very Spicy dish if you like, just by say the words “Pet/ เผ็ด” and “Mak/มาก” to ask for Spicy, VERY spicy.

But don’t be too cocky when using this phrase, as you don’t want the chef to think you are daring them on. It’ll be a waste of money and no one will be happy.

Conclusion

Using these top three phrases you’re now able to choose the level of spice when ordering Thai Food. Practice makes perfect, so try it out at every chance you get. the Locals will love that you’re using their language.

And fi you’re visiting the Markets, read our blog on what to do before you go.