ไป and มา are verbs, but most of the time you meet them they are doing something else: they hang off another verb and say which way the action ran relative to the speaker. Not relative to the map, and not relative to the destination. Relative to whoever is talking.
Once they are attached, the pair of them turns the small set of motion verbs into a much larger set.
- เข้ามาkʰâw maː
come in
in, towards me
- เข้าไปkʰâw paj
go in
in, away from me
- ขึ้นไปkʰɯ̂n paj
go up
- กลับมาklàp maː
come back
The phone call
Someone rings and asks where you are, and you are on your way to them. English says 'I'm coming', anchoring on the listener. Thai anchors on you: you are the one moving, and you are moving away from where you are, so it is ไป.
This is a small thing that you will get wrong for months if nobody points at it, because the English reflex is strong and the sentence is otherwise correct.
- กำลังไปkam.laŋ paj
I'm on my way
มา also points at now
The same word marks motion through time towards the present: an action that started earlier and has been running up to this moment takes มา after the verb. It is the same idea, aimed at the speaker's position on the clock rather than in the room.
You will meet this properly in week 11 with ตั้งแต่. For now it is enough to notice that มา on a verb that is not about movement is doing this, and is not a mistake.
- ทำมาtʰam maː
have been doing (up to now)