How to Say Where It Hurts in Thai

Point at the part of you that hurts and say ปวด bpùat — ache — or เจ็บ jèp — hurts. หัว hǔa is head and ท้อง tháwng is stomach, which between them cover most of what goes wrong.

bpùat hǔa is a headache. bpùat tháwng is a stomachache. That's the mechanism, and it works in a pharmacy, a clinic and a massage shop.

bpùat and jèp are not the same pain

This distinction is real and worth getting right, because it tells a pharmacist what kind of problem you have.

bpùat is a dull, internal, ongoing ache — a headache, a sore back, period pain, a throbbing tooth. jèp is sharp, surface, specific — a cut, a burn, a twisted ankle, the place where something is injured.

If you fell off a motorbike, you jèp. If you slept badly and your neck is stiff, you bpùat. Say the right one and you get pointed at the right shelf.

bpùay means sick in general

ป่วย bpùay is the umbrella word: unwell, ill, not right. It's what you say to explain why you're not going, why you need to sit down, why you're in the pharmacy at all — before you get to the specifics.

Say bpùay first, then narrow with bpùat or jèp and a pointed finger. It's a completely functional consultation with six words of Thai.

When does a fever stop being nothing?

ไข้ khâi is fever, and it's the word that changes the register of the conversation. A pharmacist hearing khâi will ask more questions, and in Thailand there's a good reason for that — mosquito-borne illnesses like dengue exist here and present as fever.

Rule of thumb travelers here live by: a fever that's still there after two days, or a fever with a rash, or a fever with severe aching, is a clinic visit, not a pharmacy visit. Thai private hospitals will see you the same day and are used to walk-ins.

Pointing is not rude

Naming a body part and pointing at it is the normal way this conversation happens, including between Thai people. You are not expected to produce a sentence. Word plus finger is complete.

One small note of manners that goes the other way: the head is treated with a bit of reverence in Thailand, so pointing at your own head to explain a headache is entirely fine, but touching someone else's is not.

Takeaways

• Point at the body part, say bpùat (ache) or jèp (sharp pain). That's the whole method.
• bpùat = dull and internal. jèp = sharp, surface, injured.
• bpùay = sick in general — the opener before you get specific.
• hǔa head, tháwng stomach — the two that cover most complaints.
• khâi fever lasting more than two days means a clinic, not a pharmacy.