First letters: ก จ ด ต บ ป อ and four long vowels

Thai script looks intimidating, but it's a logical alphabet, and you'll read real words in this very first lesson.

How Thai writing works

• Thai has 44 consonant letters. Vowels are small signs written after, above, below or even before the consonant.
• Text runs left to right. There are no spaces between words; a space marks the end of a phrase or a sentence.
• Every syllable starts with a consonant. When a syllable starts with a vowel sound, the silent letter อaw holds the vowel: อาaa (aunt), อีกาii-gaa (crow).

Your first seven letters

Each letter has a name: its sound + aw + a keyword, like a picture alphabet.

• กgaw g, as in ก ไก่gaw gài (chicken)
• จjaw j, as in จ จานjaw jaan (plate)
• ดdaw d, as in ด เด็กdaw dèk (child)
• ตdtaw dt, as in ต เต่าdtaw dtào (turtle)
• บbaw b, as in บ ใบไม้baw bai-máai (leaf)
• ปbpaw bp, as in ป ปลาbpaw bplaa (fish)
• อaw silent, as in อ อ่างaw àang (basin)

กgaw, ตdtaw and ปbpaw have no puff of air. Say "skin, stop, spin" and keep the k, t and p you hear there: that's why we write them g, dt and bp.

Four long vowels

• ◌าaa after the consonant: ตาdtaa (eye)
• ◌ีii above: ดีdii (good)
• ◌ูuu below: ดูduu (look)
• ◌อaw after: จอjaw (screen)

The dotted circle shows where the consonant goes.

Your first tone rule

These seven letters are mid class. A mid-class consonant with a long vowel and no tone mark has the mid tone: flat and relaxed, with no accent in our romanization. So every word in this lesson is mid tone: ปีbpii (year), ปูbpuu (crab), ดูดีduu-dii (good-looking).

Thai children learn these letters with a famously gruesome rhyme, ไก่จิกเด็กตายบนปากโอ่งgài jìk dèk dtaai bon bpàak òong, "a chicken pecked a child to death on the rim of a water jar". Each word starts with one of your seven new letters.