Thai alphabet
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Thai Alphabet
The Thai alphabet has 44 consonants, 18 vowel forms, and 4 tone marks. Each consonant belongs to one of three classes — high, mid, or low — which determine the tone of a syllable.
Order:
Traditional Thai alphabetical order — consonants are arranged in the standard sequence from กอ ไก่ to ฮอ นกฮูก. This is the order used in Thai dictionaries, government documents, and all official contexts.
RTL School (Rak Thai Language) teaching order — consonants are arranged in the pedagogical sequence designed around the Thai tone system. Low Class consonants are taught first, followed by High Class, then Mid Class last.
Stroke guide
Practice writing
Cards marked with have an interactive stroke-order guide — click the icon to practise writing that letter step by step.
You can also drill the consonants with flashcards.
Click a class to highlight
Low Class — Common Aspirated & Spirants
Low Class — Sonorants
Low Class — Less Common
High Class
Mid Class
Obsolete
ซ
ซอ โซ่
sɔɔ sôo
โซ่
chain
Why Consonant Classes Matter
Every Thai consonant belongs to one of three classes — high, mid, or low. These classes are not about pronunciation: they determine the tone of a syllable when no tone mark is written. For example, a syllable starting with a mid-class consonant and ending in a stop (like ก, บ, ด) gets a low tone, while the same pattern with a low-class consonant gets a high tone. Mastering the classes is therefore essential for reading Thai correctly.
Consonants in Final Position
Although Thai has 44 consonant letters, only 9 sounds are permitted at the end of a syllable: the stops /k/, /p/, /t/ (pronounced without release), the nasals /m/, /n/, /ŋ/, and the glides /j/ and /w/. Many consonants that sound different at the start of a word share the same final sound — for instance, ด, ต, ถ, ท, ธ, ศ, ษ, ส all reduce to /t/ in final position.
Special Symbols
These are composite consonant-vowel symbols, not part of the 44-consonant alphabet. Each combines a consonant with a built-in vowel sound.
ฤ
รึ
ฤๅ
รือ
rɯ́
Composite letter (ร + vowel). Common in words like ฤดู "season", อังกฤษ "England". Pronounced /rɯ/, /ri/, or /rəː/ depending on the word.
ฦ
ลึ
ฦๅ
ลือ
lɯ́
obsolete
Obsolete composite letter (ล + vowel). Historically parallel to ฤ but with ล. Not used in modern Thai.
Practice the alphabet with flashcards
Thai vowels come in short and long pairs. They can appear before, after, above, or below a consonant.
◌ represents the position of a consonant
Short Vowels (9)
◌ะ
สระ อะ
sarà ʼà
/a/
after
◌ิ
สระ อิ
sarà ʼì
/i/
above
◌ึ
สระ อึ
sarà ʼɯ̀
/ɯ/
above
◌ุ
สระ อุ
sarà ʼù
/u/
below
เ◌ะ
สระ เอะ
sarà ʼè
/e/
around
แ◌ะ
สระ แอะ
sarà ʼɛ̀
/ɛ/
around
โ◌ะ
สระ โอะ
sarà ʼò
/o/
around
เ◌าะ
สระ เอาะ
sarà ʼɔ̀
/ɔ/
around
เ◌อะ
สระ เออะ
sarà ʼə̀
/ə/
around
Long Vowels (9)
◌า
สระ อา
sarà ʼāa
/aː/
after
◌ี
สระ อี
sarà ʼīi
/iː/
above
◌ือ
สระ อื
sarà ʼɯ̄ɯ
/ɯː/
above
◌ู
สระ อู
sarà ʼūu
/uː/
below
เ◌
สระ เอ
sarà ʼēe
/eː/
before
แ◌
สระ แอ
sarà ʼɛ̄ɛ
/ɛː/
before
โ◌
สระ โอ
sarà ʼōo
/oː/
before
◌อ
สระ ออ
sarà ʼɔ̄ɔ
/ɔː/
after
เ◌อ
สระ เออ
sarà ʼə̄ə
/əː/
around
Diphthongs (3)
เ◌ีย
สระ เอีย
sarà ʼia
/ia/
around
เ◌ือ
สระ เอือ
sarà ʼɯa
/ɯa/
around
◌ัว
สระ อัว
sarà ʼua
/ua/
around
Special Vowels (4)
◌ำ
สระ อำ
sarà ʼam
/am/
after
ไ◌
สระ ไอ
sarà ʼai
/ai/
before
ใ◌
สระ ใอ
sarà ʼai
/ai/
before
เ◌า
สระ เอา
sarà ʼao
/ao/
around
Thai has 5 tones: mid, low, falling, high, and rising. Four tone marks are used in writing.
◌่
ไม้เอก
mai ek
◌้
ไม้โท
mai tho
◌๊
ไม้ตรี
mai tri
◌๋
ไม้จัตวา
mai jattawa