How to Say “Wait” in Thai
รอหน่อย
rɔɔ nɔ̀y
Wait
ค่ะ and ครับ are polite particles — they depend on the speaker's gender, not the listener's.
Word by word
When to use it
รอ (rɔɔ) means "to wait," หน่อย (nɔ̀y) softens the request to "a little." รอหน่อยนะ is even gentler with the particle นะ at the end. For a more urgent "wait!" you can say รอก่อน (rɔɔ-gɔ̀ɔn) — "wait first." Thais use this constantly when ducking out momentarily.
Why you've seen it spelled differently
You may have seen รอหน่อย written as: ro noi, raw noi, ro noy.
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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