French moves the question word to the front and often inverts the verb after it: où vas-tu, que fais-tu. English does the same with an extra auxiliary. Both languages rearrange the sentence in order to ask about it.
Thai does not rearrange anything. The question word sits in the slot where the answer would go, and the sentence is otherwise exactly the sentence.
- ไปไหนpaj nǎj
where are you going?
literally: go where
- กินอะไรkin ʔà.raj
what are you eating?
- ใครไปkʰraj paj
who is going?
subject slot, so it comes first, for the same reason
Which makes answering mechanical
Because nothing moved, the question and its answer have the same shape. Take the question, swap the question word for the answer, and you have a correct reply with nothing rearranged.
This is worth using deliberately for a few weeks. Building an answer from scratch under time pressure is where beginners freeze; substituting into a frame someone has just handed you is much cheaper.
- กินอะไรkin ʔà.raj
what are you eating?
- กินข้าวkin kʰâːw
eating rice
same frame, one word replaced
The same holds for yes or no
ไหม goes on the end and nothing else changes. There is no auxiliary, no inversion, no intonation contour to add, and adding one is actively harmful because the melody is already carrying the tones.
If you catch yourself reordering a sentence in order to ask it, you are still building the French one first and translating.