How to Say “Up to you” in Thai
แล้วแต่คุณ
lǽæw-tæ̀æ khun
Up to you
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
แล้วแต่ (lǽæw-tæ̀æ) means "it depends" or "up to" — a very common Thai phrase for deferring decisions. A shorter version, แล้วแต่ (lǽæw-tæ̀æ), is equally natural but more casual. Add เลย (ləəy) at the end to emphasize it — แล้วแต่เลย (lǽæw-tæ̀æ ləəy). The phrase reflects the ไม่เป็นไร (mây-pen-ray) culture — Thais prefer harmony over imposing a preference.
Why you've seen it spelled differently
You may have seen แล้วแต่คุณ written as: laeo tae khun, laew tae kun, laeo dtae khun.
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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