Learn to Read Thai Script
If you are on this page, you are probably thinking of learning to read the Thai Script or the Thai alphabets.
You may have heard about how hard and complicated it might be to read Thai. But let me help make it easier for you.
On this page, you will only see the necessary information to learn to read Thai script. You will start by knowing, and not memorizing, the core elements of the Thai script system and then practice reading your first Thai word!
Core elements of the Thai script system
Understanding all these elements is important since it helps you to pronounce a Thai word correctly with the right tone. Don’t memorize everything you read here. You will start memorizing at the practice stage.
1. Thai consonants and their classes
There are 44 consonants. ฃ (kh) and ฅ (kh) are no longer used. The consonants are divided into 3 classes. Each class has its own tone rules. Learning each class at a time should make it simpler.
The three classes of consonants
When we learn to read and write in school, we learn and memorize these 44 consonants in alphabetical order. We memorize them through the alphabet song. Later on, we learn the classes.
You can do the same, but you can also just learn them separately according to their classes. I mentioned earlier that it should be simpler for you because you can memorize the letters and their tone rules at the same time.
| Classes | number of letters | members | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| High | 11 | ข, ฉ, ถ, ฐ, ผ, ฝ, ศ, ษ, ส, ห | ฃ is no longer used |
| Middle | 9 | ก, จ, ด, ต, ฎ, ฏ, บ, ป, อ | - |
| Low | 24 | ค, ฆ, ช, ฌ, ฑ, ฒ, ท, ธ, พ, ภ, ฟ, ซ, ฮ, ง, น, ณ, ม, ย, ญ, ร, ล, ฬ, ว | ฅ is no longer used |
2. Thai vowels
There are 28 vowels in total. 12 are long vowels and 16 are short. The form of some vowels will change when a word has a final consonant. Each vowel has a certain position when writing. You will see vowels all around the consonant.
The table below separates the vowels into 3 groups based on their characteristics. There are single vowels, mixed vowels, and vowels with final consonant sounds.
| Single Vowel | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Short Vowel | Long Vowel | ||||
| Thai Script | Symbols | Sounds | Thai Script | Symbols | Sounds |
| - ิ | i | - ี | ii | ||
| เ - ะ / เ- ็ | e | เ - | ee | ||
| เเ - ะ / แ- ็ | æ | แ - | ææ | ||
| - ึ | ɨ | - ือ / - ื | ɨɨ | ||
| เ - อะ | ə | เ - อ / เ- ิ | əə | ||
| - ะ / - ั | a | - า | aa | ||
| - ุ | u | - ู | uu | ||
| โ - ะ / disappear | o | โ - | oo | ||
| เ - าะ / - ็อ | ɔ | -อ | ɔɔ |
| MIXED VOWELS (DIPHTHONGS) | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Short Vowels | Long Vowels | ||||
| Thai Script | Symbols | Sounds | Thai Script | Symbols | Sounds |
| เ- ียะ | iaʔ | เ- ีย | ia | ||
| เ- ือะ | ɨaʔ | เ- ือ | ɨa | ||
| - ัวะ | uaʔ | - ัว / -ว | ua |
| VOWELS WITH FINAL SOUNDS | ||
|---|---|---|
| Short Vowel | ||
| Thai Script | Symbols | Sounds |
| - ำ | am | |
| ไ - / ใ - | ay | |
| เ - า | aw |
3. Final consonants
Out of 44 consonants, 35 of them can be a final consonant. The ฃ (kh), ฅ (kh), ฉ (ch), ฌ (ch), ผ (ph), ฝ (f), อ (ʔ), ห (h) and ฮ (h) are not. We have only 8 final consonant sounds because some of them share the same sound.
| PHONETIC SYMBOL | EXAMPLE WORDS | SOUNDS | THAI LETTER |
|---|---|---|---|
| - k | mâak | ก, ข, ค, ฆ | |
| - p | rîip | บ, ป, พ, ฟ, ภ | |
| - t | pə̀ət | ด, จ, ช, ซ, ฎ, ฏ, ฐ, ฑ, ฒ, ต, ถ, ท, ธ, ศ, ษ, ส |
|
| - ŋ | yuŋ | ง | |
| - n | rian | น, ญ, ณ, ร, ล, ฬ | |
| - m | sǎam | ม | |
| - y | khuy | ย | |
| - w | hǐw | ว |
4. Tones and the tone marks
There are 5 tonal sounds and 4 tone marks. The tone is important because it changes the meaning of the word.
Here, you can listen to the five tonal sounds in Thai
| Name of the Tones | Symbols | Example Words | Sounds |
|---|---|---|---|
| Middle Tone | maa | ||
| Low Tone |  | màa | |
| Falling Tone |  | mâa | |
| High Tone |  | máa | |
| Rising Tone |  | mǎa |
The following table shows you the four tone marks and how Thai people call it.
| Name | Tone Marks | How to Use It |
|---|---|---|
| ไม้เอก (máay ʔèek) | - ่ | ก่า กี่ |
| ไม้โท (máay thoo) | - ้ | ก้า กี้ |
| ไม้ตรี (máay trii) | - ๊ | ก๊า กี๊ |
| ไม้จัตวา (máay càttawaa) | - ๋ | ก๋า กี๋ |
5. Types of syllables
Thai syllables can either be open or closed. It is how you end your pronunciation. When you pronounce an open syllable, you can prolong the ending sound, but it’s not possible for closed syllables.
| Open Syllable | – ends in n, ŋ (ng), m, w, y, or a long vowel – use these ำ (am), ไ- (ay), ใ- (ay) and เ-า (aw) |
| Closed Syllable | – ends in k, t, or p or a short vowel |
I put the table below to show you how the types of syllables can affect the tone. This is just for your reference. You don’t memorize it for now.
| Tonal Sounds | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Class | Syllable | Middle Tone | Low Tone | Falling Tone | High Tone | Rising Tone |
| High | Open | - | ข่า | ข้า | - | ขา |
| Closed | - | ขะ | ข้ะ | - | - | |
| Middle | Open | กา | ก่า | ก้า | ก๊า | ก๋า |
| Closed | - | กะ | ก้ะ | ก๊ะ | ก๋ะ | |
| Low | Open | คา | - | ค่า | ค้า | - |
| Closed (Long Vowel) | - | - | คาบ | ค้าบ | - | |
| Closed (Short Vowel) | - | - | ค่ะ | คะ | - |
To wrap up
These five elements all together will form a Thai word and how it should be read. Everything will make more sense in the practice section. If you feel ready to start to read Thai, let’s go to the next section.
Practice reading the Thai script
This section contains 13 small lessons for you to learn to read the Thai alphabet. I’d suggest you follow the lesson in order if you are a beginner. Click on the topic to get into the lesson.
Part 1 Middle Class Consonant
Part 2 High Class Consonant
Part 3 Low Class Consonant
Part 4 Everything else
Take your Thai reading to the next step
After you have completed all the lessons on how to read the Thai script, you are likely to be able to read pretty much everything in Thai. However, you may come to the point that you can read it but not understand it.
The way to get out of that position is to practice reading more and more from the content that is right to your level. Read something that you find interesting or enjoyable for you.
You can read from any source. Whether it is a book, e-book, article, social media post, app, etc. Just make sure that you enjoy reading it.
With this process, you will become more fluent in reading and expand more Thai vocabulary and sentence structures at the same time.
If you don’t know where to start, here are Learn Thai from a Story series that I have published so far. These two books are for you to practice reading Thai from an easy story. Check them out and see if any of them are at your level and are interesting for you.