Expat life in Thailand: how to get understood every day

Getting by in Thailand without Thai comes down to three tools: short written messages that each person reads in their own language, Face to face mode for conversations on the spot, and a human for anything binding, like a lease, a diagnosis or a government form. Piou handles the first two on the phone itself: you write in English, your landlord reads Thai, and her replies come back in English. For visas and immigration, only official sources count.

The one rule to know first

Every message is sent in the language it was written in and translated on the recipient’s device. A translated message carries a “Translated” label, and “Show original” brings up the exact text that was sent. Translations never leave the phone.

The rule: translation is personal. It’s part of Piou Premium and works for whoever has it. With Premium, you read your landlord’s Thai in English. If she doesn’t have Premium, she sees your messages in English, exactly as you typed them. For both of you to read each other in your own language, you both need Premium, or one of you gifts it to the other.

In person, Face to face mode runs on one phone, so the other person needs nothing. And messaging itself is free with no time limit: chats, groups, voice messages, photos and calls between Piou users. If your landlord reads some English, she can follow your messages without Premium while you read her Thai replies in English.

Week one: your condo or house

Write the way you’d want a contractor to write to you: one issue per message, with the unit number, the day and a time window.

• You write: “Hi Khun Wanida, the bathroom drain in unit 1803 is blocked again. Could someone come Saturday morning? I’m home until noon.”
• She replies in Thai, and you read: “The repairman can come Saturday at 10. If no one answers, he’ll ask the security guard to let him in.”

Money deserves extra care. Write amounts in digits, like “15,000 baht deposit,” and if something looks off, tap “Show original” and check the number in the Thai text.

In a condo, the juristic office (the building’s management office) handles parcels, key cards, renovation permits and water shut-offs. Its notices often go up in the elevator or get shared as images, and Piou doesn’t translate photos, PDFs or documents, so a photo of a notice stays in Thai. Ask the staff to send the key points as a text message, or walk over to the office and use Face to face mode.

Your lease is a different matter: before you sign, have it read or translated by a person you trust, such as a professional translator, a reputable agent or a lawyer. Use Piou to prepare your questions, not to approve the text.

Repairs, markets and pharmacies

When the air-con technician shows up or you’re at a fruit stall, open Face to face mode and set the phone between you. It detects who’s speaking, shows the translation and reads it aloud. Once English and Thai are downloaded, it works without a connection, even in an underground garage.

• Short sentences, one idea each. “The kitchen faucet is leaking.” Then: “How much to replace it, parts included?”
• Confirm numbers in writing. Spoken, 350 and 3,500 baht are easy to mix up. Ask for the price on a calculator before you agree.
• Noise is the enemy. Fans and traffic confuse speech recognition, so hold the phone closer to whoever is talking.
• Show, don’t describe. A photo of the broken part won’t be translated, but it doesn’t need to be.

Speech recognition depends on what your phone supports for each language, so test it at home before you need it.

Health and school

For a simple symptom at the pharmacy, Face to face mode may be enough. For a diagnosis, a prescription, a dosage or a consent form, ask for an interpreter: many private hospitals in the big cities offer one. In an emergency, call the local emergency numbers from your phone’s regular dialer. Piou calls only connect Piou users, and Piou can’t dial a regular phone number or a clinic’s front desk.

School is where short messages shine:

• You write: “Good morning, Mia has a fever and will stay home today. Could you let me know what homework she’ll miss?”
• If her teacher uses Piou, she can answer in Thai and you read her reply in English. For her to read you in Thai, she needs Premium too.

If the teacher agrees to a Piou video call, Translated subtitles (a Premium feature) show what each person says, live. Circulars sent as PDFs or images aren’t translated, so ask for the essentials in a message.

Visas and paperwork: where Piou stops

We don’t give advice on visas, work permits or immigration procedures; only the authorities can tell you what applies to you. Check the official website of the Thai Immigration Bureau, or the Thai embassy or consulate in your home country, and talk to a qualified professional about anything complex.

Piou helps around paperwork, not instead of it: prepare your questions in writing, ask a simple question at the counter in Face to face mode (“Where do I get a queue number?”), and keep a written record of exchanges with your agent. Official forms, letters and anything you sign need a human translation.

Thai politeness that translation drops

Thai signals politeness with sentence-ending particles (khrap, kha), the title “Khun” before a first name, and kinship words: “phi” for someone older, “nong” for someone younger. Machine translation handles these poorly. A landlord who refers to herself as “phi” may show up as “older sister” in your translation, and your messages can sound abrupt in Thai without the particles.

• Open with a greeting and close with a thank-you.
• Skip sarcasm and inside jokes; they rarely survive translation.
• Write names (street, soi, building) exactly as they appear in the address.
• “Yes” can mean “I got your message” rather than “agreed,” so ask for a specific day and time.
• If a reply sounds curt, give it the benefit of the doubt: it’s often the translation, not the person.

Asking someone to use Piou, and getting set up

The easiest pitch is the honest one, and you can say it in Face to face mode: “I’d like to message you in English and have you read it in Thai. The app is free; translation is a Premium feature, and I can gift it to you.”

1. In Settings → Language & translation, choose English.
2. Download English and Thai over Wi-Fi. It’s a one-time download that lets translation and Face to face mode work offline.
3. Share your invite link or QR code with your landlord, agent or building staff.
4. If you’re covering their Premium, use “Gift Piou to someone.”
5. For a door code, turn on Disappearing messages in that chat: 24 hours, 7 days or 90 days.

Piou runs on iPhone (iOS 18 or later), Android (8.0 or later) and as a web app. Premium starts with a 7-day free trial: a card is required, nothing is charged for 7 days, and the subscription then starts automatically at the price shown unless you cancel before the trial ends. In Thailand, it costs 89 baht a month or 690 baht a year; in the US, $5.99 a month or $47.99 a year. The exact price for your country is shown before you subscribe, in local currency.

Chat between English and Thai with Piou