There are 18 single vowels in Thai, which appear singly or in combination. Thai vowels have two “sounds”: short and long.
1. Short vowels
There are nine “short” vowels and dipthongs:
| Vowel sound | Vowel form (Thai word) | Sounds like |
| a | จะ jà | a as in but |
| i | สิ sì | i as in hit |
| ue | รึ rúe | as o in lesson |
| u | ดุ dù | u as in put |
| e | เตะ tè | e as in get (shorter) |
| ae | และ láe | ae as in cat (shorter) |
| o | โปะ pò | o as in only (shorter) |
| aw | เกาะ kàw | aw as in hot |
| oe | เถอะ thòe | oe as in uh |
2. Long vowels
Each of the short vowels and dipthongs above has its long counterpart. There are also two further long dipthongs, ai and ao:
| Vowel sound | Vowel form (Thai word) | Sounds like |
| aa | ชา chaa | aa as in far |
| ii | ดี dii | ii as in tea |
| ue | มือ mue | ue as in umm |
| ou | ปู pou | ou as in too |
| e | เท the | e as in late |
| ae | แจ jae | ae as in fan |
| o | โม mo | o as in cold |
| aw | ขอ khǎw | aw as in saw |
| oe | เบอ boe | oe as in her |
| ai | ไจ/ใจ jai | ai as in high |
| ao | เรา rao | ao as in out |
*Note: the letter อ in Thai can be pronounced a, e, i, o, or u, depending on the letter combination in which it appears. For example:
| อ่าน àan | a as in at |
| เอ็ด èt | e as in egg |
| อิ่ม ìm | i as in it |
| อ้วน oûan | o as in on |
| อุ่น ùn | u as in up |
Tones
Thai has only 5 distinctive tones; mid, low, falling, high, and rising. They all carry tone marks except for mid-level tones. The pitch of a particular word changes its meaning.
LESSON 1
Greetings
In this lesson you will learn how to greet people, introduce yourself, and ask and answer questions about things you can and can’t do.
DIALOGUE 1: Listen and repeat
| Malee: | Sà-wàt-dii khâ. Chǎn chûe Malee khâ. Khun chûe à-rai khá? |
| สวัสดีค่ะ ฉัน ชื่อ มาลี ค่ะ คุณ ชื่อ อะไร คะ | |
| Hello. My name is Malee. What is your name? | |
| Jim: | Sà-wàt-dii khráp. Phǒm chûe Jim khráp. |
| สวัสดีครับ ผม ชื่อ จิม ครับ | |
| Hello. My name is Jim. | |
| Malee: | Khun Jim maa-jàak prà-thêt à-rai khá? |
| คุณจิม มาจาก ประเทศ อะไร คะ | |
| What country are you from, Jim? | |
| Jim: | Phǒm maa-jàak prà-thêt à-me-rí-kaa khráp. |
| ผม มาจาก ประเทศ อเมริกา ครับ | |
| I am from America. |
Greetings Listen and repeat
| khun | คุณ | you |
| khǎo | เขา | he/she/they |
| rao | เรา | we |
| chûe | ชื่อ | name |
| chûe-lên | ชื่อเล่น |
nickname
|