Thai Phrase of the Day 1

Sawat di (kah, krahp)

This is the ubiquitous greeting that is used here in Thailand. It pretty much just means hello, but is more respectful than that. It is typically accompanied by a wai, which is a physical gesture in which the speaker places his hands together, palm-to-palm, as if in prayer, and gives a little bow. The depts of the bow and the position of the hands in relation to the face indicate different levels of respect. When wai'ing a peer or, for example, a customer, the top of the hands will be about an inch below the chin and the bow will be curt. Wai'ing a monk or a revered elder, however, requires that the hands be placed up by the forhead and the bow is much deeper.

"Sawat di" (pronunced Sah-waht-deee) is the actual greeting, and then either "Kah" or "Krahp" is tacked onto the end as a way of being extra polite. If the speaker is a woman, she says "Kah". Men say "Krahp." Unlike most of the romance languanges, Thai changes word conjugation based on the gender of the speaker, not the gender of the sentence subject.

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