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Everyday expressions

Play dumb in Thai

“Play dumb” in Thai is ไม่รู้ไม่ชี้mâi rúu mâi chíi.

ไม่รู้ไม่ชี้ mâi rúu mâi chíi

to stay out of it, to play dumb (idiom) verb

  • mâi falling
  • rúu high
  • mâi falling
  • chíi 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.

You'll hear it in Ka Ka Ka (กา กา กา).

How to use it

ไม่รู้ไม่ชี้mâi rúu mâi chíi, "not know, not point", is keeping out of something: acting as if you know nothing about it, so you take no part and no blame. A colleague who ทำไม่รู้ไม่ชี้tam mâi rúu mâi chíi when the boss asks who broke the printer is playing dumb. Pretending in general is ทำเป็นtam-bpen, and a plain "I don't know" is ไม่รู้mâi rúu.

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:

  • mai ru mai chi
  • mai roo mai chee
  • mairumaichi

Read more

More everyday expressions in Thai

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