You (respectful) in Thai

ท่านtâan is the respectful “you”, “he” or “she” in Thai, and the polite way to count people.

ท่าน tâan

you, he, she (respectful); counting word for people (polite) pronoun

tâan falling

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

How to use it

ท่านtâan is a respectful "you", "he" or "she" for someone senior: a monk, a minister, a judge, the boss's boss. Staff use it to count customers politely, so a restaurant greets you with กี่ท่านคะgìi tâan ká, how many people?, and announcements address ท่านผู้โดยสารtâan pûu-dooi-sǎan, dear passengers.

In everyday talk "you" is คุณkun or a family word like พี่pîi, and a person is counted with คนkon. Use ท่านtâan about someone important, never about yourself.

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:

than
tan
thaan

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