The helpful silent leaders

k. Plain k, with little puff, like k after s in sky.

m

aa. A long open a; it sits after the consonant.

t. Plain t, with little puff of air.

n

ch / tɕ. A plain joined ch sound, little puff.

d

b

p. Plain p, little puff.

vowel carrier / ʔ. Carries an initial vowel; can also be part of a vowel spelling.

i. Short i, above the consonant.

ii. Long i, above the consonant.

u. Short u, below the consonant.

uu. Long uu, below the consonant.

a, short open syllable. Written after the consonant; an open short vowel ends with a throat closure.

a, before a final consonant. Above the consonant, used for short a in closed syllables.

ee, in เ–. Written before the consonant, spoken after it.

aeae, in แ–. Long open vowel like a broad a in cat.

oo, in โ–. Long o.

w. A w sound; it can also close a syllable as a glide.

ai, in ไ–. Sounds like eye.

ai, in ใ–. Same vowel sound as ไ; spelling must be learned with the word.

am. A vowel plus final m; typed after the consonant.

ao. The two vowel pieces surround the initial consonant.

kh. k with a puff.

chh / tɕʰ. Airy joined ch sound.

th. t with a puff, never English th.

ph. p with a puff, never f.

f

s

h

kh

chh / tɕʰ

th

ph

f

s

h

ng. As at the end of sing; Thai also allows it at the start.

y

r. A tap or trill; often l in casual speech.

l

ue / ɯ. Short high vowel: say oo with unrounded lips.

uue / ɯː, in –ือ. Long unrounded vowel; open syllables include อ.

aw-aw / ɔː. Long open o; อ is part of the vowel here.

oe / ɤ, short. A short central vowel, unrounded.

oe-oe / ɤː. The long central vowel.

shortener. Makes certain vowel patterns short; it is not a tone mark.

ia, long. A long diphthong; look at both sides of the initial.

ia, short. The short partner ends with ะ.

uea, long. A long diphthong starting with the unrounded vowel.

uea, short. The short partner.

ua, long. Long ua; before a final the ั drops: –ว–.

ua, short. The short partner.

mai ek: class-dependent tone. Mid/high → low; low class → falling.

mai tho: class-dependent tone. Mid/high → falling; low class → high.

mai tri: high tone. Normally with mid-class initials.

mai chattawa: rising tone. Normally with mid-class initials.

cancellation mark. Marks silent letters; sometimes a group is silent.

phinthu. A dot below, chiefly in Pali/Sanskrit or pronunciation guides; uncommon in everyday Thai.

d. Same initial sound as ด.

t. Same initial sound as ต.

th

s

s

kh. Obsolete in ordinary modern spelling; recognise only.

kh

chh / tɕʰ

y. Final sound is n.

th, sometimes d. Word-dependent: check the pronunciation.

kh. Obsolete in ordinary modern spelling; recognise only.

th

n

th

ph

l

repeat the previous word or phrase. In ช้าๆ, repeat ช้า: cháa cháa.

abbreviation sign. Used after shortened names; ฯลฯ means etc.

baht currency symbol

rue / ri / roe, word-dependent. Traditional vowel letter found in some learned words.

long ruue. Rare traditional long vowel.

lue, obsolete / rare. Recognition only.

long luue, obsolete / rare. Recognition only.