Greetings and small talk in Thai

สวัสดีครับ

sà-wàt-dii khráp

Hello.

Male speaker

Works at any hour, unlike English good morning or good evening. A female speaker says สวัสดีค่ะ (sà-wàt-dii khâ).

ขอบคุณครับ

khàwp-khun khráp

Thank you.

Male speaker

Drop the particle and it sounds curt. A female speaker says ขอบคุณค่ะ (khàwp-khun khâ).

ไม่เป็นไร

mâi bpen rai

It is nothing. No worries. Never mind.

Does the work of you are welcome, it is fine and do not worry about it. One of the most useful phrases in the language.

ผมไม่เข้าใจครับ

phǒm mâi khâo-jai khráp

I do not understand.

Male speaker

ผม (phǒm) is the male word for I. A female speaker says ดิฉันไม่เข้าใจค่ะ (dì-chǎn mâi khâo-jai khâ), or more usually just ไม่เข้าใจค่ะ.

สบายดีไหมครับ

sà-baai-dii mǎi khráp

How are you?

Male speaker

The expected reply is สบายดีครับ (sà-baai-dii khráp), meaning I am fine.

ขอโทษครับ

khǎw-thôot khráp

Excuse me. Sorry.

Male speaker

Use it to apologise and to get someone's attention, exactly like excuse me in English.

ลาก่อนครับ

laa-gàwn khráp

Goodbye.

Male speaker

Fairly formal. In everyday life people more often say สวัสดีครับ (sà-wàt-dii khráp) on leaving too.

สวัสดีครับ

sà-wàt-dii khráp

Hello.

Male speaker

Works from breakfast to midnight, with anyone, in any building. Shop and office staff answer with the same word plus their own particle. The wai is the part foreigners get wrong: do not wai cashiers, waiters, staff, drivers or anyone clearly younger or serving you, even when they wai you first, because theirs is a service gesture and a nod with a smile is the correct return. Do wai someone notably older, anyone doing you a real favour, and monks. Hands together at chest height for peers, thumbs at the nose for elders and monks, head down to meet your hands rather than hands up to a stiff neck, never with a phone or a cigarette in them. A monk does not wai back, which is normal and not a snub. A foreigner is never judged for failing to wai, only for wai-ing the wrong person. Among friends Thai men clip the word to wàt-dii khráp.

สวัสดีค่ะ

sà-wàt-dii khâ

Hello.

Female speaker

Same word, different particle. ค่ะ is aspirated and falling, so it starts like the kh in khaki; saying kâ is the most common particle mistake foreigners make. A woman uses ค่ะ (khâ) on statements and คะ (khá, high) on questions. The one regular exception is after the softener นะ: there it is always นะคะ (ná khá), even in a statement, which is why the hot-today and see-you-again lines below end in คะ and are correct as they stand.

ขอโทษครับ

khǎw-thôot khráp

Excuse me. Sorry.

Male speaker

One phrase covers excuse me and sorry, because Thai does not split them the way English does. It gets a stall owner's attention, moves you down a packed BTS carriage, apologises for a trodden foot and opens at a counter. A woman says ขอโทษค่ะ (khǎw-thôot khâ). It is not an admission of legal fault, so use it freely; withholding it so as not to concede blame is a foreign habit that reads as cold here, and it is the single most-used phrase in your day.

ขอโทษครับ ขอถามหน่อยครับ

khǎw-thôot khráp, khǎw thǎam nàwy khráp

Excuse me, may I ask you something?

Male speaker

The universal opener for a stranger who is not already serving you: an immigration desk, a hospital reception, a hardware shop. ขอ plus a verb plus หน่อย is the same softening frame as the slow-down line, so it adds almost no load. A woman says ขอโทษค่ะ ขอถามหน่อยค่ะ. Ask your actual question straight afterwards; a pause here invites the other person to guess what you want and answer the wrong thing.

พี่ชื่ออะไรคะ

phîi chêu à-rai khá

What is your name?

Female speaker

พี่ (phîi) is anyone a bit older than you, and it is the everyday warm form where a textbook puts คุณ. The rest of the set: น้อง (náwng) for anyone clearly younger, ป้า (bpâa) and ลุง (lung) for older vendors and neighbours, คุณหมอ (khun mǎw) for any doctor, คุณครู (khun khruu) for a teacher. When in doubt go one step older, because phîi is never an insult and náwng to a woman older than you genuinely stings. พี่ also does duty as you, as I and as hey, so it replaces คุณ in most daily exchanges, and Thais commonly use their own nickname where English uses I.

พี่ครับ ขอถามหน่อยครับ

phîi khráp, khǎw thǎam nàwy khráp

Excuse me, may I ask you something?

Male speaker

The warm version of excuse me, may I ask something, for a market vendor, a guard, a mechanic or a shop owner a bit older than you. พี่ครับ on its own, aimed at someone, is simply how you call a person over, and it is friendlier than ขอโทษครับ. A woman says พี่คะ ขอถามหน่อยค่ะ, with คะ high on the call and ค่ะ falling on the statement. At a formal desk, or with someone younger than you, use ขอโทษครับ instead.

ชื่ออะไรคะ

chêu à-rai khá

What is your name?

Female speaker

Dropping the pronoun is normal and polite in Thai, not sloppy, which is the opposite of the English instinct. พี่ชื่ออะไรคะ (phîi chêu à-rai khá) is the warm everyday form and คุณชื่ออะไรคะ (khun chêu à-rai khá) is the counter and office version. You will get a nickname back, not the long official one: Nok, Bee, Golf, Oil. That is the name to remember and use. Hand the question straight back with แล้วพี่ล่ะคะ (láew phîi lâ khá), and be ready to be asked for your ชื่อเล่น (chêu lên), your nickname, because a three-syllable foreign name will not survive.

กินข้าวหรือยังครับ

gin khâao rěu yang khráp

Have you eaten yet?

Male speaker

This is a greeting, not an invitation. It is what a neighbour, a landlady or the woman at your regular stall says instead of how are you. Answer gin láew khráp (already eaten) or yang khráp (not yet). Say yang to someone who likes you and food will appear.

วันนี้ร้อนจังเลยนะคะ

wan-níi ráwn jang loei ná khá

It is so hot today.

Female speaker

Small talk here is heat talk, and this line works about nine months of the year. Swap ráwn for nǎao (cold) in the cool season or for fǒn dtòk (raining) in the wet one. Expect agreement plus a complaint about the sun, which is your opening to keep the exchange going.

เป็นไงบ้างครับ

bpen ngai bâang khráp

How is it going?

Male speaker

The everyday how are you between people who already know each other, and the one you will actually hear, rather than the textbook sà-baai dii mǎi. Short, casual and low-stakes: a shrug plus rêuay rêuay khráp is a complete answer. With a boss, a school director or someone much older, use สบายดีไหมครับ (sà-baai dii mǎi khráp) instead, which is the tidier version of the same question.

ขอไลน์ได้ไหมครับ

khǎw laai dâi mǎi khráp

Could I have your LINE?

Male speaker

LINE is the phone number here. The landlord, the plumber, the clinic, the school, the noodle stall that delivers and the neighbour you just met all run on it, and a useful conversation ends by swapping LINE rather than numbers. Asking is unloaded and practical, so it does not read as a pass the way asking for a phone number can. เดี๋ยวส่งไลน์ไปนะครับ (dǐao sòng laai bpai ná khráp) is I will LINE you. ขอ plus a noun plus ได้ไหม is the same request frame as the slow-down line.

แอดไลน์ได้ไหมคะ

àet laai dâi mǎi khá

Can I add you on LINE?

Female speaker

The other half of the same move and just as common; แอด is the English add, borrowed whole. Most people show a QR code rather than an ID, so have your own on screen ready to show back and the whole thing takes five seconds. Once you are on someone's LINE you can sort out a leaking tap, a delivery or an appointment in writing, which is far easier than doing it by phone in Thai.

ไม่ได้เจอกันนานเลยนะคะ

mâi dâi joe gan naan loei ná khá

Long time no see.

Female speaker

For someone you see regularly and have not seen for a week or two: the stall lady, the guard, the pharmacist. loei carries the warmth; without it the line goes flat and sounds like a complaint. A man says mâi dâi joe gan naan loei ná khráp. Note the particle again: after นะ it is คะ, not ค่ะ, even though this is a statement.

เอาเหมือนเดิมครับ

ao měuan doem khráp

The usual, please.

Male speaker

The phrase that makes you a regular in one move. Order the same thing twice, then say this on the third visit and you have a relationship instead of a transaction. It works at a food stall, a coffee cart, a barber and a laundry. If they have forgotten what your usual is they will simply ask, and nothing is lost. เหมือนเดิม on its own also means the same as before about anything, not just food.

ไปก่อนนะครับ

bpai gàwn ná khráp

I am off now.

Male speaker

The normal way to leave a stall, a table or a group of neighbours where others are staying. It means I go ahead of you, so it is politer than just walking off, but it is informal: for an office, a meeting, a landlord, a school or a government counter use ขอตัวก่อนนะครับ (khǎw dtua gàwn ná khráp) instead. At the casual end, with friends and your regular stall, ไปละครับ (bpai lá khráp) is off I go. The answer is usually khráp or khâ with a nod, sometimes chôok-dii (good luck) or rá-wang ná (take care).

ขอตัวก่อนนะคะ

khǎw dtua gàwn ná khá

May I excuse myself.

Female speaker

May I excuse myself, and the register for the paperwork half of your life here: an office, a meeting, a landlord, a school, a visa counter, anyone senior. bpai gàwn in those rooms sounds like walking out on a friend. A man says ขอตัวก่อนนะครับ (khǎw dtua gàwn ná khráp). The particle is คะ because it follows นะ. Stand as you say it, and thank whoever dealt with you before you turn to go.

ขอบคุณครับ

khàwp-khun khráp

Thank you.

Male speaker

Thai does not thank as often as English does. You do not thank a cashier for each item handed across the counter, but you always thank someone who went out of their way, and you always thank someone older who helped you. ขอบคุณมากครับ (khàwp-khun mâak khráp) is thanks very much, for when it was a real favour. The small bow of the head that goes with the words carries more weight than the words themselves, and a genuine favour from someone senior is one of the few moments a foreigner should wai.

ขอบคุณค่ะ

khàwp-khun khâ

Thank you.

Female speaker

Statement, so the particle is ค่ะ (khâ), never kâ and never คะ here. ขอบคุณมากค่ะ (khàwp-khun mâak khâ) raises it for a real favour. Downward to someone clearly younger, or between friends, ขอบใจ (khàwp jai) is the casual version, but it is wrong upward, so when in doubt stay with ขอบคุณ. Said while taking something with both hands, or with the left hand supporting the right forearm, it reads as noticeably well brought up.

ผมชื่อจอห์นครับ

phǒm chêu jawn khráp

My name is John.

Male speaker

Swap จอห์น for your own name. Foreign names get reshaped to Thai sounds, so decide early which version you will answer to and use it consistently; offering a one-syllable short form saves everyone trouble, because a three-syllable name will not survive. A woman usually drops the pronoun and says ชื่อ plus the name, or uses her own nickname. ดิฉันชื่อ (dì-chǎn chêu) belongs at a formal counter, not at a noodle stall.

มาจากไหนครับ

maa jàak nǎi khráp

Where are you from?

Male speaker

You will hear this within a minute of your first hello, and most often in a male voice: a taxi or motorbike driver, a security guard, an officer at a desk, the man at the next table. The pronoun is dropped in ordinary speech. คุณมาจากประเทศอะไรคะ (khun maa jàak bprà-thêet à-rai khá), which country are you from, is the tidier counter version. Learn to recognise all of them, because the answer is the same.

มาจากฝรั่งเศสค่ะ

maa jàak fà-ràng-sèet khâ

I am from France.

Female speaker

No pronoun is the normal spoken answer, and it is polite, not sloppy. A woman can also use her own nickname where English uses I, as in นกมาจากฝรั่งเศสค่ะ (nók maa jàak fà-ràng-sèet khâ). Keep ดิฉัน (dì-chǎn) for a bank, a government counter or a formal introduction; at a food stall it sounds like reading the news. With friends it is ฉัน (chǎn) or nothing at all. Put your own country in place of ฝรั่งเศส. And since the word is sitting right there: ฝรั่ง (fà-ràng) is what people will call you within earshot, it is descriptive rather than an insult, and it is the same word as guava, which is a joke worth being in on rather than offended by.

ผมมาจากอังกฤษครับ

phǒm maa jàak ang-grìt khráp

I am from England.

Male speaker

ผม (phǒm) is the everyday male I and is safe in every room, though men drop it too once a conversation is running. Swap อังกฤษ for your own country: อเมริกา (à-mee-rí-gaa), ออสเตรเลีย (áwt-sà-dtree-liia), เยอรมัน (yoe-rá-man), แคนาดา (khae-naa-daa). The follow-up is almost always the weather back home, or whether you can eat spicy food, and both are easy to keep going.

มาเที่ยวหรือมาทำงานคะ

maa thîao rěu maa tham-ngaan khá

Are you here on holiday or for work?

Female speaker

The most-asked follow-up a foreigner hears, and it lands about two seconds after you say where you are from. Only two options are offered and for most people living here the honest answer is neither, so have your own line ready or you get filed as a tourist every single time. Some people shorten it to มาเที่ยวเหรอคะ (maa thîao rǒe khá), here on holiday then, which assumes the answer and needs correcting just as fast.

ผมทำงานอยู่ที่นี่ครับ

phǒm tham-ngaan yùu thîi-nîi khráp

I work here.

Male speaker

This, and the even shorter ผมอยู่ที่นี่ครับ (phǒm yùu thîi-nîi khráp), I live here, end the tourist assumption faster than any other sentence you can learn, especially said flatly rather than as an announcement. The other resident answers: เกษียณแล้วครับ (gà-sǐian láew khráp), I am retired; ผมสอนภาษาอังกฤษครับ (phǒm sǎwn phaa-sǎa ang-grìt khráp), I teach English. The usual next line is a warm อ๋อ อยู่นานแล้วเหรอคะ (àw, yùu naan láew rǒe khá), so you have been here a while then, which the three-years line answers.

อยู่เมืองไทยมาสามปีแล้วครับ

yùu meuang-thai maa sǎam bpii láew khráp

I have been living in Thailand for three years.

Male speaker

The question that prompts it is อยู่เมืองไทยมานานหรือยังครับ (yùu meuang-thai maa naan rěu yang khráp), have you been in Thailand long yet. The frame is maa plus a length of time plus láew, and it covers anything still going on. Swap in deuan (months) or aa-thít (weeks). A long answer usually earns a nod and a question about whether you like it here.

อยู่แถวไหนคะ

yùu thǎew nǎi khá

Whereabouts do you live?

Female speaker

Once you live here this comes up far more often than the country question, because Thais place you by neighbourhood. อยู่ที่ไหนคะ (yùu thîi-nǎi khá) is the same question. แถว means the area rather than the address, so a district, a soi or a landmark is what is wanted and a house number is not. The answer opens everything that follows: which market, which hospital, whose traffic is worse.

อยู่แถวทองหล่อครับ

yùu thǎew thawng-làw khráp

I live around Thonglor.

Male speaker

The frame is อยู่แถว plus your area, and you drop in whatever name your neighbours use: a district, a soi, or a landmark like a mall, a market or a temple. อยู่ใกล้ๆ นี่เองครับ (yùu glâi glâi nîi eeng khráp), just nearby, is the vaguer version and is plenty for a stranger. Naming a real neighbourhood rather than saying Bangkok is what turns the question into a conversation, because the other person almost always knows someone or something there.

ไปไหนมาคะ

bpai nǎi maa khá

Where have you been?

Female speaker

Your building guard, your neighbour and your stall lady say this more often than they say sà-wàt-dii, and it is phatic, exactly like the eaten-yet line. Nobody wants your schedule; they want three friendly syllables back. ไปไหนคะ (bpai nǎi khá) is the going version and works the same way. A foreigner who answers with a full itinerary has just told everyone how new he is, and a vague answer is the correct one, not the evasive one.

ไปธุระมาครับ

bpai thú-rá maa khráp

I was out on an errand.

Male speaker

The all-purpose non-answer: out on business of my own, no detail. แถวนี้ครับ (thǎew níi khráp), just round here, and ไปตลาดครับ (bpai dtà-làat khráp), to the market, do the same job. None of them is rude or cagey; that vagueness is the point of the exchange. Give the question back with a ไปไหนมาครับ of your own and the whole thing is complete in four seconds.

หายไปไหนมาคะ

hǎay bpai nǎi maa khá

Where have you got to lately?

Female speaker

You will get this after missing a week at your regular stall, and it is affection, not an interrogation, although it lands as one if you have never heard it. Answer with where you were in three words: กลับบ้านมาครับ (glàp bâan maa khráp), I went home; ไม่สบายครับ (mâi sà-baai khráp), I was ill; ยุ่งครับ (yûng khráp), busy. Do not apologise, because no apology is expected. Being missed is the compliment.

มาบ่อยครับ

maa bàwy khráp

I come here often.

Male speaker

For the moment a vendor starts treating you like a first-timer. Pair it with อยู่แถวนี้ครับ (yùu thǎew níi khráp), I live around here. Those two short sentences together are the difference between the price a passer-by gets and the price a neighbour gets, and they work because they are true and checkable, not because they are clever. Said with a smile, not as a challenge.

สบายดีไหมคะ

sà-baai dii mǎi khá

Are you well?

Female speaker

The textbook how are you, and the instinct to keep it out of your opening slot is right: nobody says it to a stranger, and the real openers are the eaten-yet and where-have-you-been lines. You do hear it from people who already know you, after an illness, or after an absence, so learn this one to recognise rather than to use. Between people who see each other often, the everyday equivalent is เป็นไงบ้าง (bpen ngai bâang).

สบายดีค่ะ

sà-baai dii khâ

I am fine.

Female speaker

The straight answer, and the polite default even on a mediocre day. เรื่อยๆ ค่ะ (rêuay rêuay khâ) is so-so, ticking along, which is the honest and very Thai answer and quietly invites the other person to ask more. ไม่ค่อยสบายค่ะ (mâi khâwy sà-baai khâ), not so well, is the one you will need at a clinic or a pharmacy, and it also excuses you from anything you have been invited to. A man ends all three with khráp.

อายุเท่าไหร่คะ

aa-yú thâo-rài khá

How old are you?

Female speaker

Age, marriage, children and sometimes rent or salary are ordinary small talk here, and they arrive early, often from someone you met a minute ago. Age is asked partly because the grammar needs it: the speaker has to work out whether you are phîi or náwng before choosing how to address you, so it is as much housekeeping as nosiness. The rest of the group: แต่งงานหรือยังคะ (dtàeng-ngaan rěu yang khá), are you married yet; มีลูกไหมคะ (mii lûuk mǎi khá), do you have children. Visible offence is the one reaction that actually causes offence.

แต่งแล้วครับ

dtàeng láew khráp

I am married.

Male speaker

Married, with the same láew already marker as the three-years line. ยังโสดครับ (yang sòot khráp) is still single, and ยัง carries the same still as in the other not-yet answers. มีลูกสองคนครับ (mii lûuk sǎwng khon khráp) is I have two children, with คน as the counter for people. For money questions the graceful dodge is a laugh plus ไม่เยอะครับ (mâi yóe khráp), not much, and then a question back at them.

ยังพูดไม่เก่งครับ

yang phûut mâi gèng khráp

I still do not speak it well.

Male speaker

After roughly four words of Thai someone will tell you phûut thai gèng (you speak Thai well). Agreeing sounds boastful, so deflect. ยังไม่ (yang mâi) is the still-not unit and sits together straight in front of what it negates, as in ยังไม่เข้าใจ (yang mâi khâo-jai). Here ยัง fronts the whole clause and ไม่ negates เก่ง on its own, which is why they are separated. Follow it with gam-lang riian yùu khráp (I am still learning) and the conversation continues instead of stalling. A woman ends with khâ.

แล้วเจอกันใหม่นะคะ

láew joe gan mài ná khá

See you again.

Female speaker

What you say back when the other person leaves first, and the warm way to close with someone you will see again: your stall owner, your building guard, the pharmacist. Warmer than sà-wàt-dii on the way out. A man says the same with ná khráp.

ไม่เป็นไรค่ะ

mâi bpen rai khâ

It is nothing. No problem.

Female speaker

Four jobs in one line: you are welcome, no problem, never mind, and do not worry about it. It answers khàwp-khun, it answers khǎw-thôot, and it defuses a wrong order, a late delivery or a bumped shoulder before anyone has to lose face. A man says ไม่เป็นไรครับ (mâi bpen rai khráp). The cultural point is worth stating plainly because it is the one that matters for living here: visible irritation costs you far more in Thailand than whatever you are irritated about, and mâi bpen rai said with a smile is how a resident keeps a landlord, a mechanic or a neighbour on side.

ไม่ต้องครับ

mâi dtâwng khráp

No need, thank you.

Male speaker

No need, for refusing an offer without refusing the person: a bag you do not want, a straw, a lift, a second helping, help you can manage without. Softer than ไม่เอา (mâi ao), which is I do not want it and can sound curt from a foreigner. With ครับ and a smile it is warm rather than a rejection. ไม่ต้องทอนครับ (mâi dtâwng thawn khráp) is keep the change.

ผมไม่เข้าใจครับ

phǒm mâi khâo-jai khráp

I do not understand.

Male speaker

Say it early rather than nodding along, because a nod is read as yes and the conversation speeds up. Almost everyone slows down and simplifies once they know. Put ขอโทษครับ (khǎw-thôot khráp) in front if you are cutting in. A woman drops ผม, or uses ดิฉัน at a formal counter, and ends with khâ.

พูดช้าลงหน่อยได้ไหมคะ

phûut cháa long nàwy dâi mǎi khá

Could you speak a bit more slowly?

Female speaker

cháa long nàwy is slower a bit, which lands softer than ordering someone to speak slowly. The verb plus ได้ไหม frame turns any request into a polite question, so learn it as a unit and reuse it everywhere. nàwy adds the just a bit that makes the request feel small; ได้ไหมคะ is what makes it polite. Without nàwy the sentence is still polite, only flatter.

พูดไทยได้นิดหน่อยค่ะ

phûut thai dâi nít-nàwy khâ

I can speak a little Thai.

Female speaker

The line that stops a full-speed reply. Saying it in decent Thai is a mixed signal, so expect one more fast burst before the other person adjusts; repeat it once and they will. nít-nàwy is the standard a-little and attaches to almost any verb.

พูดอีกทีได้ไหมครับ

phûut ìik thii dâi mǎi khráp

Could you say that again?

Male speaker

For when you nearly caught it. Word by word it is speak one more time, can you. ìik thii attaches to other verbs the same way, so this also gets a phone number or a price repeated. If the problem is speed rather than hearing it once, ask them to speak more slowly instead.

อันนี้เรียกว่าอะไรครับ

an-níi rîak wâa à-rai khráp

What is this called?

Male speaker

Point and ask. It works in a market, a hardware shop, a clinic and a restaurant, and it turns any stranger into a free teacher, which Thais generally enjoy being. Say the answer back once and you will usually get a correction on the tone, which is the part no dictionary gives you. Type it into your phone in the moment or it is gone by evening. This is the line that separates learning the language from surviving the sentence.

แปลว่าอะไรคะ

bplae wâa à-rai khá

What does that mean?

Female speaker

For a word they just used rather than an object you can point at. Repeat the word first and then ask, as in ธุระ แปลว่าอะไรคะ (thú-rá bplae wâa à-rai khá). If the explanation comes back as another Thai word you do not know, ask them to write it down, which is the next line. This question keeps a conversation running while you learn from it, instead of stopping it dead.

เขียนให้หน่อยได้ไหมคะ

khǐan hâi nàwy dâi mǎi khá

Could you write it down for me?

Female speaker

Doubly useful here, because written Thai can be shown to the next person or dropped into a translator, while a sound you half caught cannot. Use it for an address to hand a driver, a medicine name, a price, a time or the name of a dish. Same verb plus หน่อย plus ได้ไหม frame as the slow-down line. Carry a pen, or hand over your phone with the notes app already open, which is what most people expect now.

สองร้อยบาทใช่ไหมครับ

sǎwng ráwy bàat châi mǎi khráp

Two hundred baht, is that right?

Male speaker

The line that closes the loop. Repeat back whatever you think you heard, a price, a time, a platform, a room number, a name, and hang ใช่ไหมครับ (châi mǎi khráp) on the end. You get a yes or an immediate correction instead of finding out at the wrong counter an hour later. The frame attaches to anything you just repeated. If you cannot manage the number in Thai, hold up fingers and ask the same question anyway.

เข้าใจแล้วค่ะ

khâo-jai láew khâ

I understand now.

Female speaker

Signal that the repair worked, or the other person will explain it a third time. อ๋อ เข้าใจแล้วค่ะ (àw, khâo-jai láew khâ) is the warmer form, and àw is the small oh of the penny dropping. แล้ว is the same already marker as in the three-years line: not I understand, but I now understand. While someone is still explaining, a plain ค่ะ or ครับ with a nod is the normal back-channel for yes, I am following, and foreigners tend to replace it with silence, which reads as blankness.