How to Say “Never mind” in Thai

ไม่เป็นไร

mây-pen-ray

Never mind

ไม่เป็นไรค่ะmây-pen-ray khâfemale speakerไม่เป็นไรครับmây-pen-ray khrápmale speaker

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

When to use it

One of the most versatile phrases in Thai — it covers "never mind," "it doesn't matter," "you're welcome," and "no worries" depending on context. ไม่ (mâi) is "not," เป็น (pen) is "to be," ไร (rai) is "anything." You'll hear it constantly as a gentle brush-off or reassurance.

Why you've seen it spelled differently

You may have seen ไม่เป็นไร written as: mai pen rai, mai ben rai, mai bpen rai, mai pen lai.

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

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