How to Say “Where are you going?” in Thai
จะไปไหน
cà pay nǎy
Where are you going?
ครับ (khráp) and คะ (khá) are polite particles — they depend on the speaker's gender. In a question the female particle is คะ (khá) (high tone), not the statement form ค่ะ (khâ).
Word by word
When to use it
A rhetorical everyday greeting, not a real request for your itinerary — it works like "hey, what's up" when said to a passing neighbour or acquaintance. ไหน (nǎy) is the short form of ที่ไหน (thîi-nǎy). A vague answer is all that's expected — ไปทำงาน (pay tham-ngaan) — going to work; or ไปกินข้าว (pay kin-khâaw) — going for a meal.
Why you've seen it spelled differently
You may have seen จะไปไหน written as: ja pai nai, cha bpai nai, ja bai nai.
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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