How to Say “Too spicy” in Thai
เผ็ดเกินไป
phèt kəən-pay
Too spicy
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
When the heat is beyond your limit. เผ็ด (phèt) is "spicy," เกินไป (kəən-pay) is "too much." If you want to order ahead, say ขอ ไม่ เผ็ด (khɔ̌ɔ-mây-phèt) — "I'd like it not spicy." Thai cooks can usually adjust the chili level on request.
Why you've seen it spelled differently
You may have seen เผ็ดเกินไป written as: pet gern bpai, phed geun pai, pet kern pai.
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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