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Food and drink

Breakfast in Thai

“Breakfast” in Thai is ข้าวเช้าkâao-cháao.

ข้าวเช้า kâao-cháao

breakfast noun

  • kâao falling
  • cháao high
  • Falling: start high and drop clearly, like a firm “No!”
  • High: start high and go a little higher, a bit tense; don’t let it fall.
Parts: ข้าวkâao rice; a meal เช้าcháao morning

Meals are named after rice ('morning rice', 'noon rice', 'evening rice'), so กินข้าวเช้าgin kâao-cháao is to have breakfast.

Taught in Unit 15 · Lesson 1: Meals and Northern food of the free course.

Practise it free

Other spellings you'll see

There's no single official way to write Thai in English letters. We mark the tone of every syllable; online you'll also find:

  • khao chao
  • kao chao
  • khao chow

More food and drink in Thai

All food and drink
  • ข้าว kâao Rice
  • ข้าวเหนียว kâao-nǐaw Sticky rice
  • ข้าวเหนียวมะม่วง kâao-nǐaw má-mûang Mango sticky rice
  • ส้มตำ sôm-dtam Papaya salad

    papaya salad, som tam

  • ก๋วยเตี๋ยว gǔay-dtǐaw Noodles

    noodle soup

  • ข้าวซอย kâao-sawy Khao soi

    khao soi (Chiang Mai's curry noodle soup)

Learn this word in Unit 15, free

Unit 15 · Have you eaten yet? · Meals and Northern food. Short lessons with audio for every word, speaking practice and spaced review. No sign-up needed.

Practise it free (2 min) See Unit 15

Written by the Learn Thai For Free team
Audio: AI voices, quality-checked for tones