บะหมี่
bà-mìi/ba˨˩.miː˨˩/
The English phrase "egg noodles" is บะหมี่ (bà-mìi) in Thai.
บะหมี่ refers specifically to noodles made from flour and eggs. You can use this term to order various noodle dishes by adding descriptive words: to order egg noodles served dry without soup, use บะหมี่แห้ง (bà-mìi haeng) and to order egg noodles served in a soup, use บะหมี่น้ำ (bà-mìi náam). You may also see the term บะหมี่เหลือง (bà-mìi lǔang) used to describe the noodles by their color, which literally means "yellow noodles".
Which one should you use?
While บะหมี่ (bà-mìi) refers specifically to egg noodles, the term เส้นเล็ก (sen lek) refers to thin rice noodles.
How do you pronounce it?
The word is pronounced bà-mìi (/ba˨˩.miː˨˩/). It consists of 2 syllables.
Did you know?
- The word บะหมี่ (bà-mìi) is actually a loanword from the Hokkien Chinese dialect. It literally translates to 'meat noodles' in its original Chinese form.
- In Thailand, บะหมี่ are almost always alkaline noodles, which gives them their characteristic springy texture and yellow hue even before eggs are added.
- While บะหมี่ refers to the specific noodle type, the word เส้น (sen) is the general Thai word for 'string' or 'strand' used to categorize all noodles.
Examples in context
- ฉันชอบกินบะหมี่แห้ง.chan chop kin bami haeng.I like eating dry egg noodles.
- บะหมี่ชามนี้อร่อยมาก.bami cham ni a-roi mak.This bowl of egg noodles is very delicious.
- คุณจะสั่งบะหมี่หรือเส้นเล็ก?khun cha sang bami rue sen lek?Will you order egg noodles or thin rice noodles?
Example conversation
Two friends are choosing what to eat at a noodle shop.
- ณิชา Nichaวิทวัสอยากกินอะไรดีคะ?witthawat yak kin arai di kha?What would you like to eat, Witthawat?
- วิทวัส Witthawatผมอยากกินบะหมี่ต้มยำครับ.phom yak kin bami tom yam khrap.I want to eat Tom Yum egg noodles.
- ณิชา Nichaงั้นสั่งบะหมี่สองชามนะคะ.ngan sang bami song cham na kha.Then I will order two bowls of egg noodles.
- วิทวัส Witthawatได้ครับ ขอบคุณนะณิชา.dai khrap khop khun na nicha.Okay, thank you, Nicha.
Sources
- Pronunciation: Wiktionary entry บะหมี่, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
- Word origins: Wiktionary entries บะหมี่, CC BY-SA 4.0.
