The delivery call in Thai

กำลังลงไปครับ

gam-lang long bpai khráp

I'm on my way down.

Male speaker

กำลัง + verb is the 'right now' tense and needs no subject. Say ลงไป, not ลงมา: มา is movement toward the person you are speaking to, so the man waiting downstairs says ลงมา and you say ลงไป. It is the reply the rider is waiting for, and usually the last thing said before you meet.

รอแป๊บนึงนะคะ

raw bpáep-neung ná khá

Hang on just a second.

Female speaker

แป๊บนึง is the everyday 'just a sec' and is what riders themselves say — warmer and less stiff than สักครู่. นึง is the reduced form of หนึ่ง and has flattened to a mid tone, which is exactly why it is written นึง and not หนึ่ง. The นะ turns it from an order into a request, which matters when you are the one keeping someone waiting in the sun.

ขอสองนาทีนะครับ

khǎw sǎwng naa-thii ná khráp

Give me two minutes.

Male speaker

ขอ plus a length of time is how you buy a delay politely, and the นะ is what keeps it a request instead of a flat announcement. Name a number you can actually keep: a rider has the next job already ticking, and if two minutes becomes six he will call back. The reflex amount in Thai is five, so ขอห้านาทีนะครับ sounds more natural whenever two is not really enough.

ฝากไว้ที่ป้อมยามได้เลยครับ

fàak wái thîi bpâwm-yaam dâi loei khráp

Just leave it at the guard post, that's fine.

Male speaker

ฝาก is the verb for leaving something in someone's care, and it turns up all through this call. ได้เลย on the end means 'go ahead, that's fine', so this is permission rather than a request — exactly what a rider stuck at a barrier needs to hear.

วางไว้หน้าประตูได้เลยค่ะ

waang wái nâa bprà-dtuu dâi loei khâ

Just put it down in front of the door.

Female speaker

ไว้ after วาง is what adds 'and leave it there' — without it you have only said 'put'. Add แล้วโทรบอกด้วยนะคะ if you want a ring once it is down, otherwise food can sit outside for a long time before you notice.

แขวนไว้ที่ลูกบิดได้ไหมคะ

khwǎen wái thîi lûuk-bìt dâi mǎi khá

Could you hang it on the door handle?

Female speaker

ลูกบิด is a round knob; a lever handle is มือจับ (meu-jàp). Hooking the bag on the handle is standard practice for food when you are in the shower, and riders do it without being surprised by the request.

ตอนนี้ไม่อยู่บ้านครับ

dtawn-níi mâi yùu bâan khráp

I'm not at home right now.

Male speaker

Say this in the first seconds of the call, not after he has already climbed to your floor. Follow it immediately with where the parcel should go, because on its own it just tells him the delivery has failed and he will take it back to the depot.

ฝากไว้ที่นิติได้ไหมครับ

fàak wái thîi ní-dtì dâi mǎi khráp

Can you leave it with the building office?

Male speaker

นิติ is everyone's short form of นิติบุคคล, the condo management office, and it takes ที่ because it is a place rather than a person you hand something to. It is the safest drop point in a building, but it keeps office hours rather than staying open all evening, so ask when you can collect before you agree.

เดี๋ยวปักหมุดส่งไปให้นะครับ

dǐao bpàk-mùt sòng bpai hâi ná khráp

I'll drop you a pin.

Male speaker

เดี๋ยว at the front of a sentence means 'I'm about to', so this is a promise, not a suggestion. Use it with a courier calling from his own number and the pin can go to him on LINE; a Grab or LINE MAN rider is calling through a masked number, so send it in the app chat instead and say เดี๋ยวปักหมุดส่งไปในแอปนะครับ.

ชั้นสามค่ะ

chán sǎam khâ

Third floor.

Female speaker

Answer ชั้นไหน with the bare number plus your particle — a full sentence sounds odd and costs seconds on a bad line. Swap สาม for your own floor, and remember that in Thailand ชั้นหนึ่ง is the ground floor, so there is no offset to convert.

เข้าซอยมาสุดซอยเลยครับ

khâo soi maa sùt-soi loei khráp

Come into the lane, all the way to the end.

Male speaker

สุดซอย is the fixed expression for an address at the far end of a lane — บ้านอยู่สุดซอย — while สุดทาง sounds like the end of a route or a rail line. เลย here means 'all the way, without stopping'. Phone directions work only one instruction at a time: give the entry and the end now, and hold the final turn until he calls back to say he is there.

ตรงข้ามเซเว่นครับ

dtrong-khâam say-wên khráp

Opposite the 7-Eleven.

Male speaker

ร้านสะดวกซื้อ (ráan sà-dùak-séu) is the formal term you will see written on signs, but on the phone everyone names the shop instead. A landmark beats an address every time, because riders navigate by shopfronts, not by house numbers.

เดี๋ยวบอกยามให้นะครับ

dǐao bàwk yaam hâi ná khráp

I'll tell the guard for you.

Male speaker

ให้ on the end of a verb means 'for you, on your behalf' and is what makes this an offer rather than an instruction. A barrier that will not open for a rider almost always opens for a resident's phone call, so this is the fix — arguing with the rider is not.

โอนให้แล้วนะครับ

oon hâi láew ná khráp

I've already transferred the money to you.

Male speaker

For a cash-on-delivery parcel or a rider who paid the shop out of his own pocket. If he hesitates, show him the transfer slip on your screen — สลิป (sà-líp) is the word for it, and showing it is completely normal, not an accusation.

เงินสดค่ะ

ngoen-sòt khâ

Cash.

Female speaker

Asked โอนหรือเงินสดครับ, you answer with the noun alone plus your particle; a full sentence sounds translated. จ่ายเงินสดค่ะ is the longer form for when nobody has asked yet. Have small notes ready: a rider carrying almost no float will simply ask you to transfer instead, and then you are both standing there while an app loads.

ได้เลยครับ

dâi loei khráp

Yes, that's fine.

Male speaker

Asked รับเป็นอย่างอื่นแทนได้ไหม, a Thai answers with the bare ได้ rather than echoing the verb back. To refuse, ไม่เอาครับ is enough, and ขอยกเลิกเลยครับ cancels the order — saying no is entirely normal and far better than accepting a swap you did not want and complaining afterwards.

ขับรถดี ๆ นะคะ

khàp rót dii-dii ná khá

Ride safely.

Female speaker

A doubled adjective like ดี ๆ means 'properly, carefully', and in print the ๆ takes a space on each side. Riders are paid by the job and work through the rain; this half-second at the end of the handover costs nothing and is remembered the next time your address comes up on their screen.

ผมอยู่หน้าตึกแล้วครับ

phǒm yùu nâa dtèuk láew khráp

I'm in front of the building now.

Male speaker

Say it the moment you step outside — he is scanning for someone who looks like they are waiting. If the spot is crowded, add what you are wearing: ใส่เสื้อสีดำครับ (I'm in a black shirt) saves another two minutes of circling.

แกร็บครับ

gràep khráp

Grab. / This is your Grab rider.

Male speaker

Riders usually skip the greeting: the call opens with the platform name and a particle — ไลน์แมนครับ, ช้อปปี้ครับ, เจแอนด์ทีครับ, แฟลชครับ, เคอรี่ครับ — and that single word is your only clue which order this is. Some do start with สวัสดีครับ or just พี่ครับ. Say ครับ or ค่ะ straight back so he knows the line is live and starts talking.

พี่สั่งอาหารใช่ไหมคะ

phîi sàng aa-hǎan châi mǎi khá

You ordered food, didn't you?

Female speaker

Riders call every customer พี่ no matter how old either of you is — it is delivery-speak, not a guess about age. Answer ใช่ครับ or ใช่ค่ะ at once; silence makes people repeat the whole sentence faster and louder.

ของถึงแล้วครับ

khǎwng thěung láew khráp

Your delivery has arrived.

Male speaker

One of the sentences you will hear most. ของ covers food, a parcel, anything at all. If you hear only ถึงแล้ว with nothing around it, he is already near your building and waiting for you to move.

อยู่ข้างล่างแล้วครับ

yùu khâang-lâang láew khráp

I'm downstairs already.

Male speaker

ข้างล่าง means the bottom of your building — usually the lobby or the drop-off in front of the lift — not the street outside. He is telling you he has stopped moving, and he is not coming up unless you ask and he agrees.

อยู่หน้าประตูครับ

yùu nâa bprà-dtuu khráp

I'm in front of the door.

Male speaker

ประตู is both a door and a gate, so this sentence is genuinely ambiguous — your room door, the building entrance, or the street gate. In a house, ask ประตูรั้วใช่ไหมครับ (the fence gate?) rather than assuming and going to the wrong one.

ถึงป้อมยามแล้วครับ

thěung bpâwm-yaam láew khráp

I've reached the guard post.

Male speaker

ป้อมยาม is the small booth at the entrance of a condo or a moobaan. Hearing it means he has stopped at the barrier and needs one of two things from you: permission for the guard to let him in, or permission to leave the parcel there.

ตึกไหนครับ

dtèuk nǎi khráp

Which building?

Male speaker

Two words and no sentence around them — that is how these questions really arrive. Answer with just the letter or number and your particle. Some staff say อาคารไหน instead, which is the same question in a more formal word.

ชั้นไหนคะ

chán nǎi khá

Which floor?

Female speaker

ชั้น is floor, layer or level generally. Note the particle: a question from a woman takes คะ with a high tone, while her statements take ค่ะ with a falling one — the two are spelled differently and mixing them is the most audible foreigner error there is.

ห้องเบอร์อะไรครับ

hâwng boe à-rai khráp

What's your room number?

Male speaker

You will also hear the shorter ห้องเท่าไหร่ครับ, which is the same question. Say the digits one at a time — ห้องสามศูนย์สี่ for 304 — because a room number is read as a string of digits, never as a quantity.

บ้านเลขที่เท่าไหร่ครับ

bâan lâyk-thîi thâo-rài khráp

What's the house number?

Male speaker

He wants the number on the plate at your gate, which often has nothing to do with the numbering a map app shows. Learn to say yours as separate digits and pair it with the lane: ซอยสิบเอ็ด, then the number.

หาไม่เจอค่ะ

hǎa mâi joe khâ

I can't find it.

Female speaker

The standard distress signal, and it means she is close but the pin is wrong. More Thai will not fix it: a location pin or a landmark will. Reply with ตรงข้าม plus a shop name, or offer to send a pin.

ไปไม่ถูกครับ

bpai mâi thùuk khráp

I can't work out how to get there.

Male speaker

Not the same as หาไม่เจอ. ไปไม่ถูก means the route itself defeats him — a one-way lane, a barrier, or a map that dropped him behind the project wall. Give one landmark and one turn, then stop; a long explanation makes it worse.

ปักหมุดมาให้หน่อยได้ไหมครับ

bpàk-mùt maa hâi nàwy dâi mǎi khráp

Could you send me a location pin?

Male speaker

ปักหมุด is the everyday word for sharing a location pin, in LINE or inside a delivery app's own chat. This request ends most lost-rider calls, and you can save time by offering first: เดี๋ยวปักหมุดให้นะครับ.

พี่อยู่ตรงไหนครับ

phîi yùu dtrong-nǎi khráp

Whereabouts are you exactly?

Male speaker

ตรงไหน asks for a precise spot, ที่ไหน only for a general place — a rider ten metres from your gate wants ตรงไหน. Answer with something he can see from a moving bike, not with an address.

ลงมารับหน่อยได้ไหมครับ

long maa ráp nàwy dâi mǎi khráp

Could you come down and take it?

Male speaker

Most riders will not go up to your floor: lifts need a key card and the next job is already assigned. Expect to say yes to this, or to offer the alternative yourself with ฝากไว้ที่ป้อมยามได้เลยครับ.

ออกมารับหน่อยได้ไหมคะ

àwk maa ráp nàwy dâi mǎi khá

Could you come out and take it?

Female speaker

ออกมา is for a house or townhouse — come out through your gate — while ลงมา is for a condo. Whichever verb they use tells you how they picture your place, which is worth knowing when the pin is wrong.

รบกวนมารับที่ปากซอยได้ไหมครับ

róp-guan maa ráp thîi bpàak-soi dâi mǎi khráp

Sorry to trouble you — could you meet me at the entrance to the lane?

Male speaker

รบกวน in front of a request marks the speaker as knowing he is asking a favour; it is the polite frame, not an apology. ปากซอย, where the lane meets the main road, is the default meeting point whenever a bike cannot get all the way in.

รถเข้าซอยไม่ได้ครับ

rót khâo soi mâi dâi khráp

I can't get the bike into the lane.

Male speaker

Usually a barrier, a one-way, or an evening market filling the lane. There is nothing to negotiate here — name a place he can reach instead, and walk the last fifty metres yourself.

ยามไม่ให้เข้าครับ

yaam mâi hâi khâo khráp

The guard won't let me in.

Male speaker

Many condos and gated moobaans stop riders at the barrier as policy. Two things solve it: you telling the guard yourself, or agreeing to ฝากไว้ที่ป้อมยาม. Being annoyed at the rider solves nothing — the rule is not his.

ฝากไว้ที่ป้อมยามได้ไหมครับ

fàak wái thîi bpâwm-yaam dâi mǎi khráp

Can I leave it at the guard post?

Male speaker

His own preferred solution, offered before he gives up. ได้ครับ or ได้ค่ะ is the whole answer. For food this is worth refusing politely — rice sitting in a booth for twenty minutes is not the same meal.

เดี๋ยวฝากไว้ที่เคาน์เตอร์นะคะ

dǐao fàak wái thîi khao-dtoe ná khá

I'll leave it at the counter for you.

Female speaker

เดี๋ยว at the front means 'I'm about to', so this is an announcement, not a question — she has already decided. In a condo the counter usually means นิติ, the management office, and it keeps its own hours, so ask when collection is possible.

อีกห้านาทีถึงครับ

ìik hâa naa-thii thěung khráp

I'll be there in five minutes.

Male speaker

Thai puts the duration before the verb: อีก + a length of time + what happens. Treat it as an honest estimate rather than a promise; the next call is almost always ถึงแล้ว, and it may come sooner than five minutes.

ใกล้ถึงแล้วครับ

glâi thěung láew khráp

I'm almost there.

Male speaker

This is your cue to start moving toward the door, not to start cooking rice. If you genuinely need longer, say so now — ขออีกห้านาทีได้ไหมครับ — because a rider who arrives to nobody starts calling again immediately.

กำลังไปครับ

gam-lang bpai khráp

I'm on my way.

Male speaker

Two syllables and a particle, with no subject and no destination — this is what a real answer sounds like on a moving motorbike. It is also the frame for your own reply: กำลังลงไปครับ.

ร้านบอกว่าของหมดค่ะ

ráan bàwk wâa khǎwng mòt khâ

The shop says they're out of it.

Female speaker

หมด means finished, sold out, none left — you will hear it constantly, about dishes, sizes and colours. Note ค่ะ rather than คะ because this is a statement. Stay on the line: the substitute question follows straight away.

รับเป็นอย่างอื่นแทนได้ไหมคะ

ráp bpen yàang-èun thaen dâi mǎi khá

Would you take something else instead?

Female speaker

แทน is the word to listen for: it always signals a swap. Saying no is completely normal — ไม่เอาค่ะ, or ขอยกเลิกเลยค่ะ to cancel — and far better than accepting a dish you did not want because the Thai moved too fast.

ขอยืนยันออเดอร์หน่อยค่ะ

khǎw yeun-yan aw-doe nàwy khâ

I just need to confirm the order.

Female speaker

Shops and call centres say this before they cook or dispatch, and what follows is a read-back of your items at speed. The reply they are waiting for is ถูกต้องครับ / ถูกต้องค่ะ (that's correct), or simply ใช่ครับ / ใช่ค่ะ.

เช็คของด้วยนะครับ ครบไหม

chék khǎwng dûay ná khráp khróp mǎi

Have a check, would you — is it all there?

Male speaker

ครบ means 'the full set, nothing missing' and has no single English word. Notice that he asks you to check and then names what he means, in two beats — the two halves are not fused into one clause. Check while he is still standing there: once he closes the job in the app, a missing drink becomes a claim with the platform rather than a thirty-second fix.

เก็บเงินปลายทางนะครับ

gèp ngoen bplaai-thaang ná khráp

This one is cash on delivery.

Male speaker

The fixed term for COD, and often the first warning that you owe money at the door. He will state the amount immediately afterwards; if the number goes past you, ask to see it — ขอดูยอดหน่อยครับ — and he will either point at the label on the parcel or hold up his screen.

มีเงินย่อยไหมคะ

mii ngoen-yâwy mǎi khá

Do you have anything smaller?

Female speaker

Riders carry very little float, so this is a real question and not politeness. If all you have is a big note, say มีแต่แบงก์ใหญ่ค่ะ and expect to be asked to transfer instead. เงินทอน is the change the person taking the money hands back, so you hear it from his side: ไม่มีเงินทอนครับ or ทอนไม่พอครับ.

โอนหรือเงินสดครับ

ohn rěu ngoen-sòt khráp

Transfer or cash?

Male speaker

Most riders prefer โอน, a bank transfer, because it saves counting out change. Answer with one word plus your particle. If you choose transfer, he will hold up a QR code on his phone for you to scan.

กดรับของในแอปด้วยนะครับ

gòt ráp khǎwng nai àep dûay ná khráp

Please tap 'received' in the app.

Male speaker

กด is the verb for pressing a button or tapping a screen — you will meet it again at every lift and ATM. Some platforms only close the job when you confirm, so he may stand there waiting while you find the button.

วางไว้หน้าห้องแล้วนะครับ

waang wái nâa hâwng láew ná khráp

I've left it in front of your room.

Male speaker

Often the whole call, sometimes after a single ring. หน้าห้อง for a condo, หน้าบ้าน for a house, หน้าประตู for either. Go and collect it now — a corridor is not storage, and hot food stops being hot fast.

ไม่มีคนรับครับ

mâi mii khon ráp khráp

There's nobody here to receive it.

Male speaker

He is warning you that the delivery is about to fail. Answer instantly with a drop point — ฝากไว้ที่ป้อมยามได้เลยครับ — or the parcel goes back to the depot and you are left chasing a redelivery.

โทรไม่ติดครับ

thoh mâi dtìt khráp

I couldn't get through to you.

Male speaker

ไม่ติด is the set phrase for a call that will not connect, and you will hear it as a mild complaint once he finally reaches you. The graceful reply is ขอโทษครับ สัญญาณไม่ดี — blame the signal, not yourself.

ฝนตกหนักอาจจะช้าหน่อยนะคะ

fǒn dtòk nàk àat-jà cháa nàwy ná khá

It's raining hard, so I might be a bit late.

Female speaker

In the wet season this call arrives instead of the food. หน่อย softens ช้า from 'late' to 'a bit late', which is doing some work. The expected answer is ไม่เป็นไรค่ะ and nothing more — there is no version of this where pressing helps.

รอสักครู่นะคะ

raw sàk-khrûu ná khá

Please hold on a moment.

Female speaker

สักครู่ is the formal cousin of แป๊บนึง and marks the speaker as staff rather than a rider. Do not hang up when you hear it — someone is checking stock, fetching a colleague, or looking for a person who can speak English.

ขอชื่อผู้รับหน่อยค่ะ

khǎw chêu phûu-ráp nàwy khâ

Could I have the recipient's name?

Female speaker

Asked for parcels rather than food, to match the name against the address. Give the name the order was placed under. Foreign names are very hard to hear on a bad line, so be ready to send it in a message instead of repeating it four times.

ประตูล็อกอยู่ครับ

bprà-dtuu láwk yùu khráp

The gate is locked.

Male speaker

อยู่ after a verb marks a state that is going on right now — it is sitting locked. Your three options are the code, your own legs, or the guard post; decide before he asks again, because he is already timing this job.

ลิฟต์ต้องใช้คีย์การ์ดครับ

líf dtâwng chái khii-gàat khráp

You need a key card for the lift.

Male speaker

Standard in Bangkok condos and the real reason parcels stop in the lobby. Nothing you say from upstairs changes it: either you come down, or the delivery is left at the counter or the booth.

ผมรออยู่หน้าเซเว่นครับ

phǒm raw yùu nâa say-wên khráp

I'm waiting in front of the 7-Eleven.

Male speaker

หน้าเซเว่น is the national meeting point — every soi has one and everyone knows which one you mean. You will hear it from a rider who has given up on the pin, and it works just as well the other way round: offering this landmark yourself is faster than any set of directions.

พูดช้า ๆ หน่อยได้ไหมคะ

phûut cháa-cháa nàwy dâi mǎi khá

Could you speak a bit more slowly?

Female speaker

Use it in the first five seconds, not after three failed exchanges. Doubling ช้า turns 'slow' into 'nice and slowly', and in print the ๆ takes a space either side. Most people slow down once and then drift back up to speed, so pair it with a request to send a message.

พูดอีกทีได้ไหมครับ

phûut ìik thii dâi mǎi khráp

Could you say that again?

Male speaker

อีกที is 'one more time'. Better still, repeat the one word you did catch and add นะครับ — ตึกไหนนะครับ — because then he repeats only the part you missed instead of the whole sentence at the same speed.

ฟังไม่ออกครับ

fang mâi àwk khráp

I can't make out what you're saying.

Male speaker

The precise phrase for hearing the sounds but not resolving them into words — different from ไม่เข้าใจ, where you caught the words but not the meaning. Thai uses ไม่ออก for any perception that will not come into focus.

ไม่เข้าใจครับ

mâi khâo-jai khráp

I don't understand.

Male speaker

Say it plainly and early rather than making agreement noises you will regret. On its own it leaves the rider guessing what to try; follow it immediately with a request to write instead, and you have handed him a solution.

สัญญาณไม่ดีค่ะ

sǎn-yaan mâi dii khâ

The signal isn't good.

Female speaker

A face-saving reason that costs nobody anything: it blames the line rather than your Thai or his speed, and it makes the switch to text messages the obvious next step. Useful even when the signal is perfect.

ทักไลน์มาได้ไหมครับ

thák lai maa dâi mǎi khráp

Could you message me on LINE instead?

Male speaker

ทัก means to message someone first, and this works with parcel couriers — แฟลช, เจแอนด์ที, เคอรี่, ช้อปปี้ — because they call from their own phone, so that number can be added on LINE. Grab and LINE MAN mask the rider's real number, so with a food rider ask for the app's own chat instead: ทักแชทในแอปมาได้ไหมครับ. Either way, text you can reread, translate or paste into a map beats any amount of listening at a locked gate.

เดี๋ยวพิมพ์ไปให้ทางไลน์นะครับ

dǐao phim bpai hâi thaang lai ná khráp

I'll type it and send it to you on LINE.

Male speaker

พิมพ์ is 'to type'. Write your address in Thai once, keep it in your phone's notes, and this sentence becomes a two-second copy and paste — do that before the day you need it, not during the call.

ผมพูดไทยไม่ค่อยเก่งครับ

phǒm phûut thai mâi khâwy gèng khráp

My Thai isn't very good.

Male speaker

ไม่ค่อย is the hedge Thais use about themselves; the bare ไม่เก่ง lands harder than you mean it to. It is also far more useful than พูดไทยไม่ได้ (I can't speak Thai), which makes people give up and hang up — ไม่ค่อยเก่ง says 'keep going, but slowly'. Expect a reflex เก่งแล้วครับ in reply; it is a courtesy, not an assessment.

เดี๋ยวให้คนไทยคุยแทนนะครับ

dǐao hâi khon-thai khui thaen ná khráp

I'll get a Thai person to talk to you.

Male speaker

คุยแทน is the idiom for taking a call in someone's place; คุยด้วย would mean joining in alongside you, which is not what is happening. In a shop, a lobby or an office there is always someone who will take the phone, and handing it over is entirely ordinary. Say this before you pass the phone across, so the rider is not startled by a new voice.

อย่าเพิ่งวางสายนะคะ

yàa phôeng waang sǎai ná khá

Don't hang up just yet.

Female speaker

อย่าเพิ่ง is 'not yet' rather than 'don't', and it buys you the seconds you need to find a word or open a translator. Without it a confused rider will simply end the call and take the problem to the app instead of to you.