ไป / มา

In Thai, the choice between ไป (pai) and มา (maa) depends on the reference point from which the movement is viewed. This is commonly the speaker's location, but the whole situation matters.

• ไป (pai): Used for movement directed away from the reference point. In the exercise below, a speaker describes leaving their own location to visit a friend, so the requested viewpoint uses ไป because the trip is viewed outward from the speaker's side. To describe being on the way from that viewpoint, one possible expression is กำลังไป (gam-lang pai, 'I am on my way'). The word กำลัง (gam-lang) is a continuous marker meaning 'currently' or 'in the process of' (see Right Now), so this expression means 'currently going'. It is not the only possible reply or a compulsory word-for-word translation of English 'I am coming'.
• มา (maa): Used for movement toward the reference point. Do not assume that using มา for a 'home base' (like your house) proves that the speaker is physically there at speaking time. The surrounding situation must establish the viewpoint. Returning can be expressed by combining the verb กลับ (glap) with these directional words, saying กลับมา (glap maa) or กลับไป (glap pai). With the departure point as the reference, กลับไป presents returning away from it; with the destination as the reference, กลับมา presents returning toward it. For example, a speaker at work can describe a trip home from the departure viewpoint, while a speaker at home can ask about someone returning toward that home. These examples do not require every return to use the same physical-speaker rule.

Directional Markers
These words also act as directional markers when placed after another action verb. For example, เดินไป (doen pai) means 'walk away from the reference point' while เดินมา (doen maa) means 'walk toward the reference point'. They also pair with core spatial verbs to form serial verb constructions: เข้าไป / เข้ามา (enter away/toward), ออกไป / ออกมา (exit away/toward), ขึ้นไป / ขึ้นมา (go up/come up), and ลงไป / ลงมา (go down/come down). Another highly practical use is combining them with เอา (ao, to take). เอาไป (ao pai) means 'take away', while เอามา (ao maa) means 'bring here' (see Take It And Bring It). In this comparison, เอา describes taking a thing, including an animal in an appropriate context. When accompanying or taking a person along, compare พา (paa, to lead/take), as in พาไป (paa pai, 'take someone away') and พามา (paa maa, 'bring someone here') (see Take A Person Along). This is a core part of serial verb basics.

Motion and Contextual Time Readings
A final มา does not automatically mean 'just finished'. In the displayed question ไปไหนมา (pai nai maa), the whole expression asks 'Where have you been?' or, in a suitable setting, 'Where are you coming from?'. The words do not themselves require a recent completion or make every use a greeting. In a different construction, มา can give an up-to-now time reading when the predicate and context support it (see Up To Now). In an onward-continuation construction, ไป can help describe an action continuing, as in ทำไปเรื่อยๆ (tham pai rueai rueai, 'keep on doing it').

Because Thai has no verb conjugation, these verbs are not inflected for person or tense. The predicate, other words and context supply the intended time and viewpoint; invariant spelling is not a claim that every spoken realization is identical.