How to Say “How are you?” in Thai
สบายดีไหม
sa-baay-dii máy
How are you?
ครับ (khráp) and คะ (khá) are polite particles — they depend on the speaker's gender. In a question the female particle is คะ (khá) (high tone), not the statement form ค่ะ (khâ).
Word by word
When to use it
สบายดีไหม (sa-baay-dii máy) literally means "Are you fine?" — it is the most natural "how are you?" when you don't meet the person very often. สบาย (sa-baay) means "comfortable" or "at ease"; ดี (dii) means "good"; ไหม (máy) is the question particle. The typical reply is สบายดี (sa-baay-dii) — I'm well. A common follow-up is แล้วคุณล่ะ (lǽæw khun lâ) — and you?
Why you've seen it spelled differently
You may have seen สบายดีไหม written as: sabai dee mai, sabaidee mai, sa bai di mai.
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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