How to Say “Long time no see” in Thai
ไม่เจอกันนานเลย
mây cəə kan naan ləəy
Long time no see
ค่ะ (khâ) and ครับ (khráp) are polite particles — they depend on the speaker's gender, not the listener's.
Word by word
When to use it
A warm greeting for reconnecting with someone you haven't seen in a while — a friend, old classmate, or acquaintance. เลย (ləəy) adds emphasis here — it more often follows a full verb phrase or negative statement.
Why you've seen it spelled differently
You may have seen ไม่เจอกันนานเลย written as: mai jer kan nan loei, mai jur gun nan leuy, mai joe kan naan loei.
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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