Sabai Dee!
Welcome to my guide to essential Laos phrases and words.
And yes, the how are you in Thai is the greeting in Laos.
And that is ‘Sabai Dee’. This is an equivalent of Hello and works any time of the day.
And if you’ve been following my guide to Thai or if you can speak Thai ‘nit noi’ (a little bit), then you should have no issues navigating Laos.
Laos people consume Thai media and hence, almost all of them, understand Thai.
With that said, let’s jump right into learning basic Laos (the language is called Lao or Laotian).
- GENERAL:
Sabai Dee
Hello
Dee
Good / Great
Sabai Dee Ton Sao
Good morning
Sabai Dee Ton Soi
Good Afternoon
Sabai Dee Ton Len
Good Evening
Fun Dee
Good Night
Khop Jai
Thank you
Jâo Sue Nyung?
What is your name?
Jâo Ma Tey Sai?
Where are you from?
Doi
Yes
Baw
No
Sok Dee
Good Luck (Used as Goodbye)
*Avoid using ‘La Gon’ for Goodbye
Swai or Ngam
Beautiful
(Swai is the Thai word)
Ngam Lai
Very beautiful
Ngam Lai Lai
Very very beautiful
(Use this if you want to funny while flirting)
Angkit
English
Falang
Foreigner (Typically Western)
Phasa Lao Noi Neung
I speak Lao a little
(Neung is pronounced Nuin)
Khak Lai
Awesome
Baw Dee
No Good
Baw Dai
Cannot
Ngern
Money
(Pronounced as Nuan)
Tam Chok!
Cheers!
- FOOD:
Khao
Food, Rice (same word for both)
Khao Niew
Sticky Rice
Nam
Water
Sep
Tasty
Sep Lai
Very tasty
Sep Lai Lai
Very Very tasty
Phed
Spicy
Sin
Meat
(Pronounced Seen)
Pa
Fish
Baw-sai sin, Baw-sai pa
No meat, no fish
(This one was my favorite hack to explore the Laos vegetarian options – which are not many)
Kin Jay
Eat Vegetarian
Manao
Lemon
Nam Manao
Lime Water
Bola Phak
Green herb like the one used in Viet cuisine
Hom Laap
Mint
Phak Salad
Veggie Salad Leaves
Phak
Vegetables
Khao Pad Phak
Fried rice with vegetables
Mi
Noodles
Khua Mi
Fried Noodles
Khao Piak
Noodle soup
Mak Kuay
Banana
Mang Gon
Dragon Fruit
Mak Muang
Mango
Phak Bung
Morning Glory
Khua Phak Bung
Fried Morning Glory
Khai
Egg
Kai
Chicken
Khao Pad Khai
Fried Rice with Egg
Khao Pad Phak Khai
Fried Rice with Vegetables and Egg
Khua Khai
Fried Egg
Im
Full
- FAMILY
Mae
Mother
Po
Father
Nog Sai
Younger brother
Aiy
Brother
Nog Sao
Younger sister
Aeung
Older sister
(Pronounced Eai)
Honestly, I got away with just this much Lao sandwiched between my limited Thai vocabulary and didn’t really need anything else.
Since I was only in Laos for 3 weeks and didn’t really plan to visit again, I made do with my Thai vocab here.
And yes, the numbers..
4. NUMBERS
The most important part of your vocab, even though there is no need for negotiation in Laos.
Laotians are very honest and if you ask for a discount, they might even sell you stuff at their loss. So it’s better not to!
And yes, Good news again for Thai speakers & learners..
The numbers are same as the Thai numbers.
The only difference is 20 is sao (and not yee seb) and 100 is loi.
Also, you’ll be using thousand here a lot (much more than Thai because of the currency) and thousand is ‘phan’.
Just follow my Thai guide to learn the complete numbers in both Thai and Lao.
You can also use most of the words from the Thai guide in your Laos trip as well 🙂
Enjoy Laos!