Thai alphabet · consonants

Thai consonants: all 44 letters, their classes and sounds

Hear every consonant, see which class it belongs to and how it sounds at the start and at the end of a syllable.

Quick answer

Thai has 44 consonants (42 in use) for 21 sounds. Each one has a name made of its sound and a keyword, like กอ ไก่gaw gài ("g as in chicken"), and belongs to one of three classes: 9 mid, 11 high and 24 low. The class, together with the syllable type and tone marks, decides the tone.

Thai consonant chart

Tap a letter to hear its name, or filter by class.

All 44 consonants with English sounds

Start sound = how the letter sounds at the beginning of a syllable; end sound = as a final consonant.

Letter	Name	Meaning	Class	Start	End
ก	กอ ไก่ gaw gài	chicken	mid	g	k
ข	ขอ ไข่ kǎw kài	egg	high	k	k
ฃ	ฃอ ขวด kǎw kùat	bottle (obsolete)	high	k	–
ค	คอ ควาย kaw kwaai	buffalo	low	k	k
ฅ	ฅอ คน kaw kon	person (obsolete)	low	k	–
ฆ	ฆอ ระฆัง kaw rá-kang	temple bell	low	k	k
ง	งอ งู ngaw nguu	snake	low	ng	ng
จ	จอ จาน jaw jaan	plate	mid	j	t
ฉ	ฉอ ฉิ่ง chǎw chìng	small cymbals	high	ch	–
ช	ชอ ช้าง chaw cháang	elephant	low	ch	t
ซ	ซอ โซ่ saw sôo	chain	low	s	t
ฌ	ฌอ เฌอ chaw choe	tree	low	ch	–
ญ	ญอ หญิง yaw yǐng	woman	low	y	n
ฎ	ฎอ ชฎา daw chá-daa	dancer's headdress	mid	d	t
ฏ	ฏอ ปฏัก dtaw bpà-dtàk	goad (spear)	mid	dt	t
ฐ	ฐอ ฐาน tǎw tǎan	pedestal	high	t	t
ฑ	ฑอ มณโฑ taw mon-too	Montho (a queen in the Ramakien)	low	t	t
ฒ	ฒอ ผู้เฒ่า taw pûu-tâo	old man	low	t	t
ณ	ณอ เณร naw neen	novice monk	low	n	n
ด	ดอ เด็ก daw dèk	child	mid	d	t
ต	ตอ เต่า dtaw dtào	turtle	mid	dt	t
ถ	ถอ ถุง tǎw tǔng	bag	high	t	t
ท	ทอ ทหาร taw tá-hǎan	soldier	low	t	t
ธ	ธอ ธง taw tong	flag	low	t	t
น	นอ หนู naw nǔu	mouse	low	n	n
บ	บอ ใบไม้ baw bai-máai	leaf	mid	b	p
ป	ปอ ปลา bpaw bplaa	fish	mid	bp	p
ผ	ผอ ผึ้ง pǎw pûeng	bee	high	p	–
ฝ	ฝอ ฝา fǎw fǎa	lid	high	f	–
พ	พอ พาน paw paan	offering tray	low	p	p
ฟ	ฟอ ฟัน faw fan	tooth	low	f	p
ภ	ภอ สำเภา paw sǎm-pao	Chinese junk (sailing ship)	low	p	p
ม	มอ ม้า maw máa	horse	low	m	m
ย	ยอ ยักษ์ yaw yák	giant	low	y	y
ร	รอ เรือ raw ruea	boat	low	r	n
ล	ลอ ลิง law ling	monkey	low	l	n
ว	วอ แหวน waw wǎen	ring	low	w	w
ศ	ศอ ศาลา sǎw sǎa-laa	pavilion	high	s	t
ษ	ษอ ฤๅษี sǎw ruue-sǐi	hermit	high	s	t
ส	สอ เสือ sǎw sǔea	tiger	high	s	t
ห	หอ หีบ hǎw hìip	chest (box)	high	h	–
ฬ	ฬอ จุฬา law jù-laa	star-shaped kite	low	l	n
อ	ออ อ่าง aw àang	basin	mid	–	–
ฮ	ฮอ นกฮูก haw nók-hûuk	owl	low	h	–

Mid, high and low class

Learn each letter together with its class: it is the key to reading tones.

Mid class

9 letters

ก จ ฎ ฏ ด ต บ ป อ

Live syllables are mid tone, dead ones low. The only class that uses all four tone marks.

Remember them with

ไก่ จิก เด็ก ตาย บน ปาก โอ่งgài jìk dèk dtaai bon bpàak òong

“A chicken pecked a child to death on the rim of a jar”: ก จ ด ต บ ป อ (plus ฎ ฏ, which sound like ด ต)

High class

11 letters

ข ฃ ฉ ฐ ถ ผ ฝ ศ ษ ส ห

Live syllables are rising, dead ones low. Used with ◌่ (low) and ◌้ (falling).

Remember them with

ผี ฝาก ถุง ข้าว สาร ให้ ฉันpǐi fàak tǔng kâao-sǎan hâi chǎn

“A ghost left a bag of rice with me”: ผ ฝ ถ ข ส ห ฉ (plus ฐ ฃ ศ ษ, which share their sounds)

Low class

24 letters

ค ฅ ฆ ง ช ซ ฌ ญ ฑ ฒ ณ ท ธ น พ ฟ ภ ม ย ร ล ว ฬ ฮ

Live syllables are mid tone; dead ones are high (short vowel) or falling (long vowel). ◌่ gives falling, ◌้ high.

Every letter that is not mid or high is low class: the biggest group, so learn the other two and you know this one too.

See how class, syllable type and tone marks combine in the Thai tone rules chart.

One sound, several letters

These letters sound the same at the start of a syllable. Their class (colour) is what tells them apart.

Sounds at the end of a syllable

As a final consonant, letters collapse into just a few sounds. k, t and p are not released: close your mouth or tongue and stop.

Never used as a final: ฉ ฌ ผ ฝ ห อ ฮ.

Quiz: what sound does it make?

10 random consonants. How many do you know?

Question 1 of 10 Score 0

What sound does this letter make at the start of a word?

ฝ

More about Thai script

Thai consonants FAQ

How many consonants are in the Thai alphabet?

44. Two of them (ฃ and ฅ) are obsolete, so 42 are used today. They spell 21 different consonant sounds, which is why several letters share a sound.

What are the three Thai consonant classes?

Mid (9 letters), high (11) and low (24). The class is part of the spelling system: with the vowel length, the final sound and any tone mark, it tells you the tone of the syllable.

Why does Thai have so many letters for the same sound?

Many come from Sanskrit and Pali, which had sounds Thai doesn’t distinguish any more. The extra letters keep those spellings, and they still matter because letters with the same sound can belong to different classes, like ข (high) and ค (low).

Which Thai consonant is silent?

อ (o ang) has no sound of its own at the start of a syllable: it holds a vowel when a syllable starts with a vowel sound, as in อา (aa). ห is also silent before ง ญ น ม ย ร ล ว, where it makes the syllable follow the high-class tone rules, as in หมา (mǎa, dog).

Do Thai consonants sound different at the end of a word?

Yes. At the end of a syllable most letters fall into a few sounds: k, t, p, m, n, ng, w and y. For example ด, ท and ส all sound like t at the end: ขวด (kùat), บาท (bàat), รส (rót).