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Thai language and script guides

Everything on this site about reading, writing, hearing and typing Thai, in one place: the alphabet and the keyboard, the tone rules and the sound system, ways to learn, and how to set Thai well on screen.

The guides are written for adults learning Thai and for people who work with Thai text: designers, developers and translators. They start from the script, because the Thai alphabet carries the information you need to pronounce a word, tone included, once you know how to read it. Each guide stands on its own and links to the others where they meet.

New here? Start with the alphabet and its first letter, read how to learn Thai, then keep the tone rules open while you read. To type, open the on-screen keyboard. Guides to Thai culture and living in Thailand have hubs of their own, and the guide index lists all three.

Reference and tools

ก ข ฃ ค ฅ ฆThai alphabetThe Thai alphabet in full: all 44 consonants with their names, classes and sounds, the vowel forms, the four tone marks, the numerals and the signs, in any font from the collection.ฟ ห ก ด เ าThai keyboardAn on-screen Thai keyboard in the Kedmanee and Pattachote layouts: click or type on your own keyboard, see the text in a Thai font of your choice, and copy it anywhere.Thai font testerType any Thai text and see it set in every font that can be downloaded here.

The Thai alphabet and writing

ก ไก่The first letter, กWhy the Thai alphabet starts with ก, how to write it, why it is not quite a k or a g, and the first words to read with it.ก จ ฎ ฏ ด ตWriting the mid consonantsThe nine mid-class consonants, ก จ ฎ ฏ ด ต บ ป อ: their sounds, how to write them, ways to remember them, and why they are the class that takes every tone mark.ข ฃ ฉ ฐ ถ ผWriting the high consonantsThe eleven high-class consonants, ข ฃ ฉ ฐ ถ ผ ฝ ศ ษ ส ห: their sounds, how to write them, ways to remember them, and what they do to the tone.ค ฅ ฆ ง ช ซWriting the low consonantsThe twenty-four low-class consonants, in their two groups: the letters with a high-class twin and the letters with none. Sounds, writing, memory aids and tones.

Sounds, tones and romanisation

ขา ข่า ข้าThai tone rulesHow to read the tone of any Thai syllable from its spelling: consonant class, tone mark, live or dead syllable and vowel length, in one table with worked examples.ปา พา บาThai and English soundsWhere Thai and English sounds part company: aspiration, the six final consonants, tones against stress, vowel length, and the consonants English speakers find hardest.ฉันอยากเรียนภาษาไทยThai romanisation comparedThe main ways to write Thai in Latin letters, side by side on the same sentence, what each one is for, and why none of them is the correct one.ไปไหนมาคะRhythm and intonationHow Thai sounds above the level of the syllable: stressed and unstressed syllables, how tones change in fast speech, how intonation sits on top of the tones, and what the final particles do.

Learning Thai

เรียนภาษาไทยHow to learn ThaiA realistic path into Thai: whether to start with the script or the sounds, how to deal with tones, what kinds of resources help, how long it takes, and the mistakes that cost the most time.ไข่ ไก่ ขวด ควายMnemonics for the alphabetMemory aids that work for the Thai script: the name words, shape stories, class sentences and the keyword method, with what the research says about how far they take you.กาลครั้งหนึ่งนานมาแล้วLearning with storiesUsing stories to learn Thai: why understood input matters, where to find Thai stories at your level, how to read and listen to them, and where the method falls short.ฟังให้ออกLearning to listenHow to train your ear for Thai: hearing tones and vowel length, the kinds of listening practice that help, and how to move from slow learner audio to real speech.ไม้ ใหม่ ไม่ ไหม้Tone perception researchWhat studies of adult listeners tell us about learning Thai tones: that perception can be trained, what kind of training helps, and how far it carries over to speaking. With references.บัตรคำAnki for ThaiHow to use Anki for Thai: what to put on a card, cards for the script, tones and vocabulary, audio, the scheduler settings, and why your own deck usually beats a shared one.พจนานุกรมThai language resourcesAn annotated list of reference works for Thai: dictionaries, grammars, text corpora, courses and standards, from official and academic sources.

Typing Thai

ภ ถ ค ต จ ขThai keyboard layoutsA guide to Thai keyboard layouts: Kedmanee and the TIS 820-2538 standard, Pattachote, ISO and ANSI keyboards, Thai keycaps, and how to add Thai on Windows, macOS, iOS, Android, ChromeOS and Linux.พิมพ์ภาษาไทยTyping ThaiTyping Thai in practice: the input methods, Kedmanee against phonetic input, the mistakes the computer will not catch (ำ against า plus ◌ํ, marks in the wrong order), typing tutors, phones, and fonts for the terminal.แป้นพิมพ์ภาษาไทยThai keyboard on AndroidHow to add Thai to Gboard and to the Samsung Keyboard, choose a layout, switch languages while you type, and use a physical keyboard with an Android phone or tablet.

Thai type on screen and in print

สวัสดีชาวโลกThai on the webSetting Thai on web pages: matching its size to Latin, line height for stacked marks, line breaking without spaces, lang="th", fallback stacks, font features and smaller font files, with live examples.ลิขสิทธิ์ฟอนต์Font licensing explainedWhat the law protects in a font and what it does not, why font names are reserved, the Open Font License and the GPL font exception in plain words, the DIP/SIPA licence, and what “free” allows in commercial work.

Languages of Thailand

คำเมืองLanguages of ThailandThe languages spoken in Thailand: Central Thai, Northern Thai, Isan, Southern Thai, Pattani Malay and Northern Khmer, how they relate to one another, and the scripts they are written in.