The Thai consonants — Reading Thai

Every Thai consonant has a name that comprises the letter followed by a noun the features the letter. Although this helps many of the nouns are still very similar (especially until you get your ear practised in the difference between aspirated and unaspirated consonants).

Thai doesn’t feature plural forms so all of the nouns can be used to refer to many of the item. To start with I'll always make this explicit.

ก

ก ไก่
Chicken/chickens
Ko Kai—although I'd prefer Goh Gai

This is the first letter of the Thai alphabet. Although often written as a 'K', it is normally pronounced more softly. Pronounce as a hard 'G'.

ข

ข ไข่
Egg/eggs
Kho Khai

Many of the Thai letters come in pairs like ก ไก่ (Ko Kai) and ข ไข่ (Kho Khai) do. They are known as 'sisters'.

This letter is pronounced as a normal English ‘K’.

ฃ

ฃ ขวด
Bottle/bottles
Kho Khuat

This is one of two letters that have been removed from the Thai alphabet. The Thai word for bottle now starts with ข (Kho Khai). This is probably just as well because unless the letters are written very large they look extremely similar.

ค

ค ควาย
Buffalo/buffaloes
Kho Khwai

Another aspirated ‘K’ sound.

If you do want to say buffalo, then don’t shorten the vowel sound for fear of saying something quite rude…

ฅ

ฅ คน
Person/people
Kho Khon

Again, another letter that is pronounced as an English ‘K’, but not to worry as the letter (along with ฃ ขวด, Kho Khuat) isn’t in use any more.

ฆ

ฆ ระฆัง
Bell
Kho Rakhang

Yes, another ‘K’ sound.

ง

ง งู
Snake
Ngo Ngu

This is probably the single hardest letter to pronounce. It is fine when it comes at the end of a syllable like it does in (Bangkok), but is pretty difficult when it some at the beginning like in งู (snake).

Take the word ‘Birmingham’ (you need to say this in a London accent rather than a Brummy one though). The feature of this is that the ‘ingham’ in the middle features a very soft ‘ng’ sound. This is the sound that you are aiming for. If you say it in a Brummy or Dudley accent the ‘ng’ sound will be too hard for Thai.

Getting this sound right so that you can say งู (snake) and be understood may take months. Start with saying sing, then move on to ing and then end with ng.

จ

จ จาน
Plate/plates
Cho Chan

There are many letters that are transliterated as ‘ch’. This one doesn’t sound a bit like ‘ch’ in English though. It is actually pronounced as a hard ‘J’ like the sound that appears twice in ‘Judge’.

ฉ

ฉ ฉิ่ง
Cymbal/cymbals
Cho Ching

This letter is pronounced as you would expect it to be. It is spoken like the ‘ch’ at the beginning of ‘Chingford’, although the ‘ching’ in the name features a much longer ‘i’ sound.

ช

ช ช้าง
Elephant/elephants
Cho Chang

‘Chang’ here is pronounced exactly like you would expect it to be. Nice and easy, and a very cool noun as it refers both to elephants and to the beer.

ซ

ซ โซ่
Chain/chains
So So

An ‘S’. This one is often used to transliterate s sounds from English.

ฌ

ฌ เฌอ
Tree/trees (but not forest)
Cho Choe

This is pronounced the same way as ช ช้ง (cho chang), a hard ‘ch’ (think cherry rather than chérie

ญ

ญ หญิง
Woman/women
Yo Ying

Pronounced exactly as you would expect it to be pronounced, as in yellow.

ฎ

ฎ ชฏา
Crown/crowns
Do Chada

This is a hard, aspirated, d sound.

ฏ

ฏ ปฏัก
Spear/spears
To Patak

A very soft ‘T’ sound.

ฐ

ฐ ฐาน
Plinth/plinths
Tho Than

A hard ‘T’ sound.

ฑ

ฑ มณโฑ
Young girl/girls
Tho montho

A very short hard ‘T’ sound.

Actually the word is for a girl in a fairy story.

ฒ

ฒ ผู้เฒ่า
Old man/men
Tho Puthao

A long hard ‘T’ sound.

ณ

ณ เณร
Young monk/monks
No Nen

A normal ‘N’.

ด

ด เด็ก
Baby/babies
Do Dek

A normal, hard ‘D’ sound.

ต

ต เต่า
Turtle/turtles
To Tao

A very soft, clipped ‘T’ sound.

ถ

ถ ถุง
Bag/bags
Tho Thung

A normal, hard ‘T’ sound.

ท

ท ทหาร
Soldier/soldiers
Tho Thahan

A normal, hard ‘T’ sound.

In western looking fonts this will normally be drawn to look like a Latin ‘n’.

ธ

ธ ธง
Flag/flags
Tho Thong

A normal, hard ‘T’ sound.

น

น หนู
Mouse/mice (or rat/rats)
No Nu

A normal ‘N’ sound.

บ

บ ใบไม้
Leaf/leaves (from a tree though, not a book)
Bo Baimai

A ‘B’ sound.

ป

ป ปลา
Fish
Po Pla

A soft, clipped ‘P’ sound.

ผ

ผ ผึ้ง
Bee/bees
Pho Phung

A normal ‘P’.

ฝ

ฝ ฝา
Lid/lids
Fo Fa

A normal ‘F’ sound.

พ

พ พาน
Vessel/vessels—actually a special form of religious vessel
Pho Phan

A normal ‘P’.

ฟ

ฟ ฟัน
Tooth/teeth
Fo Fun

A normal ‘F’ sound.

ภ

ภ สำเภา
Sailing ship/ships
Pho Samphao

A normal ‘P’ sound, but with extra aeration.

ม

ม ม้า
Horse/horses
Mo Ma

A perfectly normal ‘M’ sound.

ย

ย ยักษ์
Giant/giants
Yo Yak

Like the start of ‘Yellow.

ร

ร เรือ
Boat/boats
Ro Rua

This is a rolled ‘R’ sound. Sometimes it’s pronounced as an ‘L’ though. At the end of a word/syllable it will normally be pronounced as an ‘N’.

Two of them together in a word or syllable will be pronounced as an ‘O’ vowel.

ฤ

This letter is used for some Sanskrit words and isn’t in common use.

ล

ล ลิง
Monkey/monkeys
Lo Ling

An ‘L’ sound.

This will sometimes be pronounced as an ‘R’. At the end of words/syllables it may be changed to an ‘N’.

ฦ

Another Sanskrit letter not in common use.

ว

ว แหวน
Ring/rings
Wo Waen

A normal ‘W’ sound.

ศ

ศ ศาลา
Open hall/halls
So Sala

A simple ‘S’ sound.

ษ

ษ ฤษี
Yogi
So Rusi

An ‘S’ sound.

ส

ส เสือ
Tiger/tigers
So Sua

Another ‘S’.

ห

ห หีบ
Box/boxes
Ho Heep

A ‘H’ sound as in the beginning of ‘Hat’.

ฬ

ฬ จุฬา
Kite/kites
Lo Chula

An ‘L’ sound, but sometimes pronounced nearer to a rolled ‘R’.

‘R’ and ‘L’ sounds are often interchangeable in Thai.

อ

อ อ่าง
Water tub/tubs
O Ang

An ‘O’ sound.

This letter is often not pronounced and acts as a placeholder for vowels that are written before it, below it, or above it. Sometimes all three and after as well.

ฮ

ฮ นกฮูก
Bird/birds
Ho Nokhook

A soft ‘H’ sound as in ‘Hook’.

Categories: Thailand