What's a polite way to reply when someone says "khun poot phasa thay deng mahk" and you know you don't, but it's nice of them to say anyway?

You could just say:

ขอบคุณครับ - korp koon krup - thank you.

or if you want to impress them a little more

ยังพูดไม่ค่อยเก่งหรอกครับ - yung poot mai koi geng rork krup - I don't speak very well yet.

Cheers,

Soundman.

another response, perhaps a little simpler for a newer learner:

ออ...ยังครับ...แต่ขอบคุณ (นะครับ)

aw... yang kráp ... dtàe kòp koon ( ná kráp )

aww...not yet...but thanks (ná kráp)

all the best.

"... พูดไม่ค่อยเก่งแต่รักหมดใจ ..."

What's a polite way to reply when someone says "khun poot phasa thay deng mahk" and you know you don't, but it's nice of them to say anyway?

It is when they stop saying it that you know you are making progress, so just laugh it off.

Edited January 23, 200818 yr by tgeezer

ขอบคุณ คุณก็พูดภาษาไทยเก่งมากเหมือนกันครับ

kòp koon koon gôr pôot paa-săa tai gèng mâak mĕuan gan kráp

(It's fun to see the reaction to this one said in earnest.)

Or you could try to avoid making bad jokes like I do, and just say:

ขอบคุณครับ อีกไม่นานหวังว่าจะพูดดไ้เก่งกว่านี้อีก

kòp koon kráp èek mâi naan wăng wâa jà pôot dâai gèng gwàa née èek

What's a polite way to reply when someone says "khun poot phasa thay deng mahk" and you know you don't, but it's nice of them to say anyway?

It is when they stop saying it that you know you are making progress, so just laugh it off.

Some people will say พูดไทยเก่ง to anyone who can say สวัสดีครับ

If you do actually begin to speak well, many will rather say พูดไทยชัด

Something to shoot for.

Some people will say พูดไทยเก่ง to anyone who can say สวัสดีครับ

If you do actually begin to speak well, many will rather say พูดไทยชัด

Something to shoot for.

I also feel better when I hear the second compliment. Other compliments I've had which made me feel good were แม่เป็นคนไทยไหม and ทำไมหน้าตาหมือนฝรั่ง

I don't personally feel that my Thai is that good but I think if you rattle off one or two grammatically correct sentences using better than average pronunciation (average being of course quite bad) then some Thais will perhaps feel there must be some outside influence other than you deciding to learn their language.