Thai Script Guide – Complete Thai Writing System

Learn the Thai alphabet and writing system from scratch. This guide covers every character you need to read and write Thai.

Thai Consonants (พยัญชนะ)

Thai has 44 consonants divided into 3 classes that determine the tone of a syllable:

  • Middle Class (อักษรกลาง) – 9 consonants: ก จ ฎ ฏ ด ต บ ป อ
  • High Class (อักษรสูง) – 11 consonants: ข ฃ ฉ ฐ ถ ผ ฝ ศ ษ ส ห
  • Low Class (อักษรต่ำ) – 24 consonants: ค ฅ ฆ ง ช ซ ฌ ญ ฑ ฒ ณ ท ธ น พ ฟ ภ ม ย ร ล ว ฬ ฮ

Thai Vowels (สระ)

Thai has 32+ vowel forms. Vowels can appear before, after, above, below, or around the consonant they modify. Vowels come in short and long pairs which affect meaning.

Thai Tone Marks (วรรณยุกต์)

4 written tone marks (่ ้ ๊ ๋) modify the tone of a syllable. Combined with consonant class and vowel length, they produce the 5 Thai tones.

Thai Numerals

Thai has its own digit system: ๐ ๑ ๒ ๓ ๔ ๕ ๖ ๗ ๘ ๙. Both Arabic and Thai numerals are used in everyday life.

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