How to Say “Beautiful” in Thai
สวย
sǔay
Beautiful
ค่ะ and ครับ are polite particles — they depend on the speaker's gender, not the listener's.
When to use it
สวย (sǔay) means beautiful or pretty — used for people, places, and things. For a stronger compliment: สวยมาก (sǔay-mâak) — "very beautiful." For places and scenery, สวยงาม (sǔay-ngaam) is more formal and poetic. Thais love giving and receiving this compliment freely.
Why you've seen it spelled differently
You may have seen สวย written as: suay, suai, suay mak.
There is no single standard for writing Thai in the Roman alphabet — phrasebooks, road signs, and tourist guides each follow a different system, and many just invent their own spellings. The romanization on this page uses a consistent IPA-based system that marks all five tones and distinguishes short from long vowels. The same word always gets the same spelling. Paste any Thai to see it romanized →
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