The World of Languages · Tai-Kadai
Thai · ภาษาไทย (phasa thai)
A tonal language with its own beautiful script, no spaces between words and polite particles that change with the speaker's gender.
- 27 million native speakers
- 71 million speakers in total
- Thai script
- FSI Category III · 44 weeks
- Official in 1 country
Where Thai is spoken
Tap or hover over a country. Colours show the language's status, based on Unicode CLDR territory data (population estimates mix sources and years).
Top countries by speakers
- Thailand · ไทยOfficial language · 56M (80%)
Key numbers
- Native (L1) speakers
- 27 million
- Second-language (L2) speakers
- 44 million
- Total speakers
- 71 million
- Source
- Ethnologue (2026), via Wikipedia
Thai at a glance
Thai, or Central Thai (historically Siamese; Thai: ภาษาไทย), is a Tai language of the Kra–Dai language family. It is spoken by the Central Thai, Mon, Lao Wiang, and Phuan people in Central Thailand and by the vast majority of Thai Chinese enclaves throughout the country. It is the sole official language of Thailand.
From the Wikipedia article Thai language (CC BY-SA 4.0).
- Name in Thai
- ภาษาไทย (phasa thai)
- Family
- Tai-KadaiKam-TaiDaic-BeicDaicCentral-Southwestern TaiWenma-Southwestern TaiSapa-Southwestern TaiSouthwestern TaiSouthwestern Thai PHLao-Thai
- Writing system
- Thai script (44 consonant letters, an abugida)
- Direction
- Left to right
- Tones
- 5 tones
- Official in
- Thailand
- Codes
- ISO 639-3
tha· Glottologthai1261· Q9217 - Writing sample
มนุษย์ทั้งหลายเกิดมามีอิสระและเสมอภาคกันในเกียรติศักด[เกียรติศักดิ์]และสิทธิ ต่างมีเหตุผลและมโนธรรม และควรปฏิบัติต่อกันด้วยเจตนารมณ์แห่งภราดรภาพ
Article 1 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights: “All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights…”
Linguistic profile
How hard is Thai for English speakers?
The US Foreign Service Institute puts Thai in Category III: about 44 weeks (1100 class hours) of full-time study to reach professional working proficiency.
Source: FSI language learning timelines. See all languages ranked: hardest · easiest.
Feature values from the World Atlas of Language Structures (WALS Online, CC BY 4.0).
The Thai script
Thai script (44 consonant letters, an abugida). Tap a character to hear it (your device reads the letter name or sound).
Standard letters from Unicode CLDR exemplar characters.
Useful Thai phrases with pronunciation
Numbers 1–10
- หนึ่ง nʉ̀ng
- สอง sɔ̌ɔng
- สาม sǎam
- สี่ sìi
- ห้า hâa
- หก hòk
- เจ็ด jèt
- แปด bpɛ̀ɛt
- เก้า gâao
- สิบ sìp
Days of the week
- Mon วันจันทร์
- Tue วันอังคาร
- Wed วันพุธ
- Thu วันพฤหัสบดี
- Fri วันศุกร์
- Sat วันเสาร์
- Sun วันอาทิตย์
Everyday words
- water น้ำ náam
- cat แมว mɛɛo
- dog หมา mǎa
- coffee กาแฟ gaa-fɛɛ
- beer เบียร์ biia
- bread ขนมปัง kà-nǒm-bpang
- book หนังสือ nǎng-sʉ̌ʉ
Phrases and words checked against Wiktionary; days and months from Unicode CLDR. Audio uses your browser's built-in Thai voice when available.
Dialects and varieties
Central Thai
Bangkok and central Thailand
The standard language of schools and media.
Isan
Northeast Thailand
Very close to Lao; “bo” instead of “mai” for not: “bo pen nyang” = “mai pen rai” (never mind).
Northern Thai (Kham Mueang)
Chiang Mai
Has its own traditional script (Tai Tham); “jao” is the polite particle.
Southern Thai (Pak Tai)
The southern provinces
Spoken fast with shortened words; famous for its distinctive tones.
Hear the dialects
Fun words, untranslatables
เกรงใจ
kreng jai
Reluctance to impose on or inconvenience others.
สนุก
sanuk
Fun, and the idea that anything worth doing should be enjoyable.
ไม่เป็นไร
mai pen rai
“Never mind / no worries / you're welcome”: a whole philosophy in a phrase.
Curious facts
- Thai has five tones: mid, low, falling, high and rising.
- Words are written without spaces; spaces mark the ends of sentences or clauses.
- Polite particles depend on the speaker: men end sentences with “khrap”, women with “kha”.
- Vowels can be written before, after, above or below the consonant they follow in speech.
- Tradition credits King Ramkhamhaeng with creating the Thai script in 1283.
Famous Thai-speaking voices
Singers & musicians
Writers & poets
Film & TV
Other famous figures
Descriptions from Wikidata; photos from Wikimedia Commons under the licences shown.
Thai culture now
Bad Genius (2017 film)
2017 Thai film by Nattawut Poonpiriya
Luk thung
Thai music genre
Ong-Bak
2003 Thai martial arts film
2gether (Thai TV series)
2020 Thai television series
Hunger (2023 film)
2023 Thai film
Songkran (Thailand)
Traditional Thai New Year's holiday
Learn Thai on YouTube
Free lessons from teachers and channels with Thai courses. Videos load only when you press play.
The story of the language
Quick quiz: how well do you know Thai?
Where to learn Thai
Learn Thai
LangMagic's guide to learning Thai.
LangMagicThai Content Portal
Thai videos, with smooth progress from teachers' channels to native content.
LangMagicThe Endless Book
Read text you can understand, in the style of your favourite author and genre. About 30 languages.
LangMagicLangMagic Speak
Speaking lessons built around your topics, from materials you choose.
LangMagicLangMagic Meet
A virtual meeting platform built for language lessons, with follow-up exercises.
FreeWikivoyage Thai phrasebook
Free travel phrasebook with pronunciation guide
FreeWikibooks: Thai
Free, open textbook
FreeOmniglot: Thai
Script, pronunciation and useful phrases
FreeWiktionary: Thai dictionary
Free multilingual dictionary
Sources
- Speaker numbers: Ethnologue (2026), via Wikipedia.
- Countries, populations, alphabets, days and months: Unicode CLDR 46.
- Classification: Glottolog 5.3. Grammar features: WALS Online.
- Introduction: Wikipedia, Thai language (CC BY-SA 4.0). People and culture: Wikipedia and Wikidata. Images: Wikimedia Commons.
- Writing sample: Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Article 1, from the Unicode UDHR collection. Phrases and words: Wiktionary. Difficulty: US Foreign Service Institute.
- Map: Natural Earth via world-atlas (public domain).