Thai Alphabet

Thai is written with its own script made of consonants and vowels. The script is written in a straight line from left to right, like English, but vowels can appear before, after, above, or below the consonant they belong to.

How Thai writing works (very short version)

A basic Thai syllable is built around a consonant (or consonant cluster).
Vowels are written around that consonant: before / after / above / below.
Thai also uses tone marks (above the consonant) to mark the tone.
Thai normally does not use spaces between words. Spaces usually separate phrases or sentences.

So in Thai you read: consonant + attached vowels + tone marks, moving left to right. The order on the page is not always the same as the order you pronounce.

Consonants

Thai has many consonants. Several letters can share the same basic sound.
Each consonant has a name used to spell words, e.g. ก is called ko kai (“chicken k”).
Consonants are also grouped into classes (low, mid, high), which are important for tones, but this guide focuses just on the basic sound.

Vowels

Vowels can be written in different positions around the consonant.
For example, the sound aa may be written after the consonant (า), while i can be written above (ิ) or below (◌ิ combined with consonant).
In this guide, the vowels are shown in a simple form to give you a basic idea of the sounds.

Basic consonants and vowels

This table lists some of the most important Thai consonants and a few common vowels, with a simple English pronunciation hint. Click the 🔊 button to hear the letter or vowel with text-to-speech.

Consonants

Letter	Name (Thai name)	Sound (approx.)
ก	ko kai	g/k – unaspirated “k” (like soft g in “go”)
ข	kho khai	kh – “k” with a strong puff of air
ค	kho khwai	kh – similar to ข, “k” with puff
ง	ngo ngu	ng – like “ng” in “sing”
จ	cho chan	ch/j – between “j” in “jam” and “ch” in “chip”
ฉ	cho ching	ch – “ch” with strong puff, often word-initial
ช	cho chang	ch – like “ch” in “cheap”
ซ	so so	s – like “s” in “sun”
ญ	yo ying	y / ny – like “y” or “ny” (as in “canyon”)
ด	do dek	d – like “d” in “dog”
ต	to tao	t – unaspirated “t” (short, no puff)
ท	tho thahan	th – “t” with puff (not English “th”)
ธ	tho thong	th – similar to ท, “t” with puff
น	no nu	n – like “n” in “no”
บ	bo baimai	b – like “b” in “boy”
ป	po pla	p – unaspirated “p” (short, no puff)
ผ	pho phueng	ph – “p” with puff (not English “f” or “ph”)
พ	pho phan	ph – “p” with puff
ฟ	fo fan	f – like “f” in “fan”
ภ	pho samphao	ph – “p” with puff
ม	mo ma	m – like “m” in “man”
ย	yo yak	y – like “y” in “yes”
ร	ro ruea	r – rolled or tapped r
ล	lo ling	l – like “l” in “light”
ว	wo waen	w – like “w” in “water”
ส	so suea	s – like “s” in “sun”
ห	ho hip	h – like “h” in “hat”
อ	o ang	ʔ / carrier – used as a vowel carrier, glottal stop
ฮ	ho nokhuk	h – similar to ห, “h” sound

Some common vowel symbols (simplified)

These are shown alone for simplicity. In real words they attach to consonants and may appear before/after/above/below.

Vowel symbol	Position idea	Sound (approx.)	Example
อะ / อา	after consonant	a / aa – short / long “a” (as in “cup” / “father”)	มา (maa) – “to come”
อิ / อี	above consonant	i / ii – “i” as in “sit” / “ee” as in “see”	มี (mii) – “to have”
อุ / อู	below consonant	u / uu – “u” as in “put”, “oo” as in “food”	รู้ (ruu) – “to know”
เอะ / เอ	before + after consonant	e / ee – like “e” in “bed” or longer	เป็น (pen) – “to be”
โอะ / โอ	before consonant	o / oo – like “o” in “go”	โต (to) – “big, grown”
เออะ / เออ	before + above	əə – like “ur” in “nurse” (British)	เธอ (thoe) – “you” (female)

To get used to Thai, practice reading simple words slowly: find the main consonant, look at the vowel signs around it, then add any tone mark on top.