The first time, in Thai, is “ครั้งแรก” [kráng râek]. When you want to say you do something for the first time, in Thai we use the expression “…(เป็น)ครั้งแรก” […(pen) kráng râek]. For example, “ฉันเพิ่งมาที่นี่เป็นครั้งแรก” [chán peûng maa tîi nîi pen kráng râek.] “I just came here for the first time”. You can also say something like “นี่เป็นครั้งแรกที่ฉันมาที่นี่” [nîi pen kráng râek tîi chán maa tîi nîi.] which means “This is the first time I came here.” And for “to be the first to do something”, we say “…(เป็น)คนแรก” […(pen) kon râek]. For example, ฉันมาถึงคนแรก [chán maa teŭng kon râek] “I’m the first to arrive”. Note that in spoken language, we often omit “เป็น” [pen], like in the example sentence.

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