Physician in Thai

“Physician” in Thai is แพทย์pâet.

แพทย์ pâet

doctor, physician (formal) noun

pâet falling

Falling: start high and drop clearly, like a firm “No!”

Classifier: คนkon · person, people

How to use it

แพทย์pâet is the formal word for a doctor, the one you see on hospital signs, medicine labels and forms: พบแพทย์póp pâet, to see a doctor. It also builds words for specialists, like จิตแพทย์jìt-dtà-pâet, a psychiatrist. A male doctor's name carries the title นายแพทย์naai-pâet, shortened to นพ.naai-pâet, and a female doctor's แพทย์หญิงpâet-yǐng, shortened to พญ.pâet-yǐng.

In conversation everyone says หมอmǎw: ไปหาหมอbpai hǎa mǎw, to go to the doctor, and you call a doctor คุณหมอkun mǎw. The last letter of แพทย์pâet is silent, so it's just pâet, with a falling tone.

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:

phaet
phat

More formal words in Thai

All formal words

การ gaan Kaan (prefix)
-ing, -tion: turns a verb into a noun (the act of …)
ความ kwaam Kwaam (prefix)
-ness (turns a verb or adjective into a noun)
ผู้ pûu Phu (prefix)
person (who …): makes words for people, like -er
นัก nák Nak (prefix)
-er, -ist: someone who does it (as a job or a passion)
ซึ่ง sûeng Who, which (formal)
which, who (adds information; formal, written)
เมื่อ mûea When (formal)
when, once (formal)

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