How to Say “Speak slowly” in Thai

พูดช้าๆ หน่อย

phûut cháa cháa nɔ̀y

Speak slowly

พูดช้าๆ หน่อยค่ะphûut cháa cháa nɔ̀y khâfemale speakerพูดช้าๆ หน่อยครับphûut cháa cháa nɔ̀y khrápmale speaker

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

Word by word

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พูดphûutVsay

ช้าๆcháa cháaADVslowly

หน่อยnɔ̀yADVa little, a bit, a softener for a command sentence

When to use it

In พูดช้าๆ หน่อย (phûut cháa cháa nɔ̀y), พูด (phûut) means "to speak" and ช้า (cháa) means "slow." In Thai grammar, repeating an adjective or adverb — here ช้าๆ (cháa cháa) — is used to emphasize the word or to request that an action be done in that specific manner. Adding the softening particle หน่อย (nɔ̀y) prevents it from sounding like a harsh command. Thai people generally appreciate this polite effort, so pairing the phrase with a smile will usually get you a slower, more patient response.

Why you've seen it spelled differently

You may have seen พูดช้าๆ หน่อย written as: phut cha cha noi, put cha cha noi, pood chaa chaa noi.

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

phûut phaa-sǎa-thay mây dâay

Excuse me

ขอโทษ

khɔ̌ɔ-thôot

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