How to Say “I don't understand” in Thai

ไม่เข้าใจ

mây-khâw-cay

I don't understand

ไม่เข้าใจค่ะmây-khâw-cay khâfemale speakerไม่เข้าใจครับmây-khâw-cay khrápmale speaker

ค่ะ (khâ) and ครับ (khráp) are polite particles — they depend on the speaker's gender, not the listener's.

Word by word

Tone colors:midlowfallinghighrising

ไม่mâyNEGno, not

เข้าใจkhâw-cayVto understand

When to use it

While เข้าใจ (khâw-cay) means "to understand," its literal components are much more intuitive: เข้า (khâw) "to enter" and ใจ (cay) "heart" — so when something "enters your heart," you truly grasp it. If you need someone to repeat themselves, you can ask พูดอีกทีได้ไหม (phûut ìik-thii dâay-máy) — Could you say that again? — or พูดช้าๆ หน่อย (phûut cháa cháa nɔ̀y) — Please speak slowly. Don't forget to add the polite final particles ครับ/ค่ะ (khráp/khâ) at the end of these requests.

Why you've seen it spelled differently

You may have seen ไม่เข้าใจ written as: mai khao jai, mai khaojai, mai kow jai.

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 →

Related phrases

Speak slowly

พูดช้าๆ หน่อย

phûut cháa cháa nɔ̀y

I don't speak Thai

พูดภาษาไทยไม่ได้

phûut phaa-sǎa-thay mây dâay

Excuse me

ขอโทษ

khɔ̌ɔ-thôot

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