Look back (turn your head) in Thai

“Look back (turn your head)” in Thai is เหลียวlǐaw.

เหลียว lǐaw

to turn (your head) to look verb

lǐaw rising

Rising: start low, dip, then rise to the top, like a doubtful “Really?”

You'll hear it in Love Destiny (บุพเพสันนิวาส).

How to use it

เหลียวlǐaw is turning your head to look, to the side or back over your shoulder: เหลียวหลังlǐaw lǎng is to look back, and leaving โดยไม่เหลียวหลังdooi mâi lǐaw lǎng is going without a backward glance. It's a little literary; in everyday talk Thais say หันไปดูhǎn bpai duu, turn and look. เหลียวแลlǐaw-lae, "turn and see", means to care for someone: ไม่มีใครเหลียวแลmâi mii krai lǐaw-lae, nobody looks after them.

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:

liao lang
liaw lang
lieow

Song Love Destiny (บุพเพสันนิวาส) The opening theme of Love Destiny (2018), the Channel 3 period drama that became a craze across Thailand: a modern archaeologist wakes up in the body of a noblewoman of 17th-century Ayutthaya. A song about a love fated from a past life, which nothing in heaven or earth can break, sung over music with a classical Thai touch. Its lines teach the elegant Thai of period dramas: to meet someone's eyes, like, a bond, to separate, however hot or cold.

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to have
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มา maa Come in Thai
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กิน gin Eat in Thai
to eat
ดื่ม dùuem Drink in Thai
to drink

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

How to use it

Other spellings you'll see

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More verbs in Thai

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