Food and drink
rice; a meal noun
- kâao falling
- Falling: start high and drop clearly, like a firm “No!”
กินข้าวgin kâao (eat rice) is the everyday way to say 'have a meal': for Thais, rice is the meal.
Taught in Unit 5 · Lesson 1: At the food stall of the free course.
Practise it freeHow to use it
Plain steamed rice is ข้าวสวยkâao-sǔay, "beautiful rice"; ข้าวเหนียวkâao-nǐaw is sticky rice, ข้าวผัดkâao-pàt fried rice and ข้าวต้มkâao-dtôm rice soup. Because rice is the heart of every meal, ข้าวkâao alone often just means "food" or "a meal": กินข้าวหรือยังgin kâao rǔue-yang (have you eaten yet?) is a greeting.
Don't mix it up
-
ขาวkǎao
white
Rising tone instead of falling: white.
-
เข้าkâo
to enter
A short vowel: to go in.
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
- kao
- khaw
Read more
More food and drink in Thai
All food and drink- ข้าวเหนียวมะม่วง kâao-nǐaw má-mûang Mango sticky rice
- ข้าวเช้า kâao-cháao Breakfast
Learn this word in Unit 5, free
Unit 5 · Street food · At the food stall. Short lessons with audio for every word, speaking practice and spaced review. No sign-up needed.
Written by the Learn Thai For Free team
Audio: AI voices, quality-checked for tones