How to read a Thai menu

How a Thai menu is laid out

The key to how to read a Thai menu is that dishes are grouped by cooking style, not by course. A full menu runs through soups (ต้ม tom), spicy salads (ยำ yam), stir-fries (ผัด phat), deep-fried dishes (ทอด thot), curries (แกง kaeng) and rice and noodles, and everything arrives when it's ready. Many street stalls make only one thing, and the sign is the menu.

What you'll usually see:

• Shared dishes and one-plate dishes. กับข้าว kap khao are dishes to share with rice. อาหารจานเดียว ahan chan diao are one-plate meals for one person, like fried rice or pad kra pao on rice.
• Made to order. อาหารตามสั่ง ahan tam sang shops cook any standard dish to order. Pick a dish, then a protein.
• Noodle stalls. You choose the noodle, then soup (น้ำ nam) or dry (แห้ง haeng), then the meat. A condiment set on the table lets you add sugar, chilli flakes, fish sauce with chillies and chilli vinegar.
• พิเศษ phiset. "Special" means a larger portion or extra meat, for a little more money.
• Pictures. Tourist areas often have photo menus with English. Local places may have Thai only, or a board on the wall.
• Prices. Prices are in baht. In hotels and upscale restaurants a ++ after the price means a 10% service charge and 7% VAT are added at the end.

Reading the script

Thai is an alphabet of 44 consonants plus vowel marks written above, below, before and after the consonant, with no spaces between words. That makes it hard to sound out quickly, so learn a handful of whole words by shape instead. The romanisation here follows the Royal Thai General System (RTGS), used on Thai road signs. It shows no tones, and a few letters mislead English speakers: ph is a breathy "p" (phat sounds like "pat", never "fat"), th is a breathy "t" (thot sounds like "tote"), kh is a breathy "k", and an unaspirated k sounds close to "g" (kai is "gai").

Cooking methods

The cooking word usually comes first in the dish name, then the main ingredient.

Meat, seafood and key ingredients

These words sit right after the cooking word in most dish names.

Allergy and diet watch-outs

Fish sauce is in almost every savoury Thai dish, and shrimp paste is in most curry pastes, so fish and crustaceans are hard to avoid without asking. Fish sauce seasons stir-fries, soups, dipping sauces and salads, including dishes that look vegetarian. Shrimp paste (กะปิ kapi) is a base of green, red and massaman curry pastes and chilli dips (น้ำพริก nam phrik), and dried shrimp go into som tam and pad thai.

Other ingredients to ask about:

• Peanuts. Peanuts top pad thai, go into massaman curry, satay sauce and som tam Thai-style, and sit in a pot of crushed peanuts on many noodle-stall condiment sets. Cross-contact on shared mortars and woks is common.
• Cashews. Cashews (tree nuts) are the star of ไก่ผัดเม็ดมะม่วงหิมพานต์ kai phat met mamuang himmaphan (chicken with cashews).
• Oyster sauce. Oyster sauce (molluscs) goes into many stir-fries, including pad kra pao and stir-fried morning glory. Fresh clams, mussels and squid turn up in soups and salads.
• Wheat and soy. Rice noodles and rice are wheat-free, but Thai soy sauces and oyster sauce often contain wheat, so gluten can appear in stir-fries and noodle dishes such as pad see ew. Egg noodles (บะหมี่ ba mi) are wheat. Soy is in soy sauce, seasoning sauces and tofu.
• Egg. Eggs go into fried rice, pad thai, omelettes and the fried egg (ไข่ดาว khai dao) many people add on top.
• Sesame. Sesame is less common than in Chinese food, but appears in some desserts, Chinese-Thai dishes and dipping sauces.
• Lard and meat stock. Pork fat (น้ำมันหมู nam man mu) is used for frying at some stalls, and many noodle soups use pork or chicken stock. Pork is common in "mixed" dishes, which matters for halal diners.

Vegetarian (มังสวิรัติ mangsawirat) can still mean fish sauce in a casual kitchen, so add "mai sai nam pla" (no fish sauce) and "mai sai kapi" (no shrimp paste). Carry a written card in Thai, and carry any medication you have been prescribed, following your doctor's plan.

Useful phrases

End every sentence with ครับ khrap if you're a man or ค่ะ kha if you're a woman (คะ kha, with a higher tone, in questions). It's the single thing that makes Thai sound polite.

Ordering and paying

Thai meals are shared, you usually pay at the table, and tipping is optional. The details:

• Calling staff. Raise a hand, palm down, and say "kho thot khrap/kha". Thais often call younger staff น้อง nong ("little brother or sister"), which is friendly, not rude. Don't snap your fingers.
• Sharing. Order several dishes for the table plus a plate of rice each. Eat with a spoon in your right hand and use the fork to push food onto it. Chopsticks are for noodle soups. In the north-east, sticky rice is eaten with your hand.
• Service charge and VAT. Hotels and upscale restaurants add a 10% service charge and 7% VAT (shown as ++). Restaurants that charge service must say so on the menu or a sign. Local restaurants and street food charge the menu price.
• Tipping. Not required. Leaving the coins from your change, or rounding up, is common at sit-down places. Skip it when service is already on the bill.
• Paying. Ask for the bill at the table ("chek bin") or pay the vendor directly at a stall. Cash and Thai QR payments dominate at local places; cards are accepted at malls, hotels and many tourist-area restaurants.
• Drinks. Bottled water is usually charged. Some local places put out free water or iced tea.

Dishes to know

• Pad thai (ผัดไทย phat thai): stir-fried rice noodles with egg, tamarind, peanuts and often dried shrimp.
• Som tam (ส้มตำ): pounded green papaya salad with lime, chilli, fish sauce and often peanuts and dried shrimp.
• Tom yum (ต้มยำ tom yam): hot and sour soup with lemongrass and lime, often with prawns.
• Green curry (แกงเขียวหวาน kaeng khiao wan): coconut curry with green chilli paste, usually containing shrimp paste.
• Massaman curry (แกงมัสมั่น kaeng matsaman): mild, spiced coconut curry with potato and peanuts.
• Pad kra pao (ผัดกะเพรา phat kaphrao): minced meat stir-fried with holy basil and chilli, served on rice.
• Khao man kai (ข้าวมันไก่): poached chicken on rice cooked in chicken fat, with a fermented soybean, ginger and chilli sauce.
• Tom kha kai (ต้มข่าไก่): chicken soup with coconut milk and galangal.
• Khao soi (ข้าวซอย): northern curry noodle soup with egg noodles, usually chicken or beef.

Questions

What does ++ mean on a Thai menu?

Prices marked ++ have a 10% service charge and 7% VAT added at the end, so a 1,000 baht meal comes to about 1,177 baht. It's common in hotels and upscale restaurants. Street food and ordinary local restaurants charge the price on the menu.

Do you tip in Thailand?

Tipping isn't required, but leaving small change or rounding up is common at sit-down restaurants, especially in tourist areas. If the bill already includes a service charge, you don't need to add more. Street food vendors don't expect tips.

Is there vegetarian food in Thailand without fish sauce?

Yes, but you need to ask, because fish sauce, shrimp paste and oyster sauce go into most savoury dishes, including vegetable stir-fries. Look for restaurants with a yellow flag marked เจ (che, pronounced jay), which serve Chinese-Thai vegan food without meat, fish, dairy, egg, garlic or onion. Say mai sai nam pla (no fish sauce) when ordering elsewhere.

Why do Thai people say khrap and kha?

ครับ khrap and ค่ะ kha are polite particles added to the end of sentences. Men say khrap; women say kha in statements and คะ kha (with a rising, higher tone) in questions. Adding the right one makes any phrase in this guide polite.

Sources

1. Allergy & Anaphylaxis Australia: Translated chef cards for travelling
2. ASCIA: Travel checklist for people at risk of anaphylaxis
3. Allergy UK: Travelling with allergies

Last checked 1 November 2026. Spotted something wrong? Email support@inventum.com.au.