How do you say "what is this?" in Thai?

อันนี้อะไร (an-níi à-rai). Add a polite particle at the end. A man says อันนี้อะไรครับ an-níi à-rai khráp. A woman says อันนี้อะไรคะ an-níi à-rai khá. In a question a woman uses คะ khá (high tone). ค่ะ khâ (falling) is for statements.

How to say "what is this?" in Thai (with phonetics)

อันนี้อะไร

an-níi à-rai

What is this (one)?

When you are pointing at food at a market, this is the everyday way to say "what is this?" in Thai.

Tips

Add a polite particle at the end. A man says อันนี้อะไรครับ an-níi à-rai khráp. A woman says อันนี้อะไรคะ an-níi à-rai khá. In a question a woman uses คะ khá (high tone). ค่ะ khâ (falling) is for statements.
Tone tip: อะไร à-rai is low then mid, both fairly flat. Don't raise your voice at the end like an English question. The question is already in the word อะไร.
A shorter option is นี่อะไร nîi à-rai (nîi has a falling tone). Pointing and saying อันนี้ is very natural at a market.

Word by word

อัน an: classifier for a small thing or item, 'piece' (Used with นี้ to mean 'this one' when you point at something.)
นี้ níi: this (High tone here. Alone, 'this' is นี่ nîi (falling tone), as in นี่อะไร, which is also fine.)
อะไร à-rai: what (Question word. It stays at the end of the sentence, where the answer would go.)

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Romanisation and tones are written by the Thinglish tutor. Generated 2026-10-24.