Four special vowels: ไ ใ เ◌า ◌ำ

Four very common vowels look different from the rest. They are short, yet the syllable counts as live, because each one ends in a y, w or m sound.

• ไ◌ai and ใ◌ai both sound like "eye": ไปbpai (go), ใจjai (heart)
• เ◌าao like the "ow" in "cow": เอาao (take, want)
• ◌ำam like the "um" in "drum": ดำdam (black)

Two ways to write ai

ไ◌ai, called ไม้มลายmái-má-laai, is the normal one. ใ◌ai, ไม้ม้วนmái-múan or "the rolled one", appears in only about twenty words, and you'll meet most of them early: ใจjai, ใบbai, ในnai, ใช่châi, ใช้chái, ใส่sài, ใครkrai, ใกล้glâi, ใหม่mài, ใหญ่yài. Thai children memorise them in a rhyme; you can simply learn each one as it comes.

The tone stays mid

Because these syllables are live, a mid-class consonant keeps the mid tone: ไปbpai, never bpài. Your tone table so far:

• mid class, live syllable: mid tone (ไปbpai, ดีdii)
• mid class, dead syllable: low tone (จากjàak)

Building words

Thai builds many words from short pieces, and ใจjai (heart) is the champion:

• ใจดีjai-dii kind: "heart good"
• ดีใจdii-jai glad: "good heart"
• เบาใจbao-jai relieved: "light heart"

Learn the pieces and long words become easy to read.

Typical mistake: reading เอาao as "ee-aa". The เee and the ◌าaa here are two halves of one vowel, and together they say ao.