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Free course · 20 lessons · audio for every word

Learn to read Thai: from your first letter to real signs

Thai script looks beautiful and impossible. It isn't: a few clear rules, learned one at a time, and you'll be reading real words in your first lesson and real signs by the end.

Start lesson 1 free See the alphabet chart

Quick answer

To learn to read Thai, start with the 9 mid-class consonants and a few long vowels, then learn live and dead syllables, the high and low classes and the four tone marks. Thai has 44 consonants, around 30 vowel forms and 4 tone marks, but the system is regular. This free course teaches it in 20 short lessons with audio for every word.

The 20 lessons

Work through them in order: every lesson only uses letters you've already met.

  1. 1 First letters: ก จ ด ต บ ป อ and four long vowels Read your first Thai words and see how a Thai syllable is built.
  2. 2 Vowels in front, and dead syllables Read vowels written before the consonant, and give syllables ending in k, t or p their low tone.
  3. 3 Four special vowels: ไ ใ เ◌า ◌ำ Read the four special vowels ai, ai, ao and am, and know why they still make live syllables.
  4. 4 Letters that hum: ง น ม ย ร ล ว Read the seven humming low-class letters and live syllables ending in m, n, ng, y and w.
  5. 5 Vowels in pieces: ◌ือ เ◌อ เ◌ีย เ◌ือ ◌ัว Read the remaining long vowels, including the ones that wrap around the consonant, and see how vowels change shape before a final.
  6. 6 High-class letters and the rising tone Read the nine common high-class letters and give their live syllables a rising tone.
  7. 7 Low-class partners: ค ช ซ ท พ ฟ ฮ ธ ภ Read the paired low-class letters and use the low-class tone rules for live and dead syllables.
  8. 8 Tone marks 1: ◌่ and ◌้ on mid and high class Use mái èek and mái too to read low and falling tones on mid- and high-class syllables.
  9. 9 Tone marks 2: low class, ◌๊ and ◌๋ Read tone marks on low-class letters (one step up) and the two marks used only with mid class.
  10. 10 Short vowels Read the short vowels and give short dead syllables the right tone (low, or high for low class).
  11. 11 Short vowels with a final: ◌ั, the hidden o, and ◌็ Read short syllables that end in a consonant, including words with no written vowel at all.
  12. 12 One sound, many letters: the final consonant groups Know which letters can end a syllable and the sound each one makes there.
  13. 13 Silent leaders: ห นำ and อ นำ Read words where a silent h or aw changes the tone of the next letter.
  14. 14 The hidden a, and syllables that borrow a class Read words with an unwritten short a, and get their tones right.
  15. 15 Two consonants together: clusters Read true clusters like kr, pl and kw, and the false ones where a letter is silent or changes.
  16. 16 Silent letters and odd spellings: ◌์, รร, ฤ, ๆ, ฯ Read words with silenced letters, double r and the letter-vowel rue, plus the repeat and abbreviation signs.
  17. 17 Rare letters and Thai digits Recognise the rare and obsolete letters, and read Thai digits on signs, money and dates.
  18. 18 Real world: signs, stations and streets Read everyday signs at 7-Eleven, BTS and MRT stations, malls and on the street.
  19. 19 Real world: menus, food stalls and prices Read a Thai menu board and price list well enough to order from it.
  20. 20 Real world: LINE chats, social media and abbreviations Read casual Thai messages: particles, 555, spelling as it's spoken, repeated words and common abbreviations.

How the course works

  • One rule at a time

    Each lesson adds a few letters and one idea, so you read real words from lesson 1.

  • Hear every word

    Every letter name and practice word has audio, so sound and shape stick together.

  • Letters that come back

    New letters join your spaced-repetition reviews and come back right before you forget them.

  • Real Thai, early

    You practise on signs, menus, prices and LINE chats you will actually see in Thailand.

Thai script reference pages

Look things up any time: every chart has audio.

Questions about reading Thai

How long does it take to learn to read Thai?

Most learners can sound out simple words after the first few lessons and read everyday signs after the whole course. With 20 lessons of about 8 minutes plus short reviews, that is a few weeks of daily practice, not months.

Is the Thai alphabet hard to learn?

It looks harder than it is. There are many letters, but several share a sound, and the system is regular: once you know a letter’s class and a handful of tone rules, you can read the tone of almost any word from its spelling.

Do I need to read Thai to speak it?

No, the speaking course works with romanization. But reading helps a lot: Thai spelling shows tones and vowel length that romanization only hints at, and you will be able to read menus, signs and messages.

Which Thai letters should I learn first?

Start with the mid-class consonants ก จ ด ต บ ป อ and a few long vowels. Mid-class letters have the simplest tone rules, so you can read words like ดี (good) and ตา (eye) right away. That is exactly how lesson 1 starts.

Does Thai use spaces between words?

No. Thai writes words together and uses spaces to separate phrases or sentences. You learn to spot word boundaries from the vowels and final consonants, which the course practises with words you already know.