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Pronunciation Guide

I’m of the camp that nothing represents the spoken Thai language better phonetically than the Thai alphabet itself. Like most other books on the Thai language, I recommend that you learn how to read the alphabet if you’re ever going to be in Thailand, even if for only a short time. However, to be fair, learning a new alphabet using completely foreign characters is tough and can take some time. Simply refer to the succeeding pages for the phonetic equivalent of Thai characters and the guide on using the different tone marks.

Initial Consonants

Take note of the difference between initial and final consonants. The most foreign consonants are [dt], [pb], [ñ], [’], and [ng] when these are the initial consonants.

Final Consonants

The final consonants are not nearly as aspirated as they are in English. Because these final consonants are “swallowed,” only six distinct sounds remain: [k],

[t], [p], [m], [n], [ng], and a guttural stop that follows some vowels.

Vowels

Notice the distinction between long and short vowels. One key to sounding good in Thai is in mastering this subtle difference. Even though every difference between long and short vowels is not transcribed here, these charts can be referred to for clarification throughout. The more difficult of the vowels below to find an English equivalent to are [ue], [er], [ui], and the subtle difference that occurs between [oe] and [oh]. Listen to a native speaker for a better understanding and try to mimic their pronunciation.

Diphthongs

For diphthongs (two vowels thrown together), it is imperative again to listen to a native speaker pronounce them, as many are hard to transcribe. The more trying ones are [eri], [uea], [ooi], [ueoi], [eho], and [aeo].

Tones

Below is a list of the different tone marks in both Thai and the transliteration that this book uses. There are five major tones in central Thai: middle, low, falling, high and rising. For the transliteration of this book, unless otherwise indicated by one of the tone marks below, a syllable in the phonetic translation will always be a middle tone. Any other tone (low, falling, high or rising) will use one of the tone marks below in the left-hand column. Learning how to read tones in Thai depends on four factors: vowel length, class of initial consonant, syllable ending, and the tone mark used. However, there’s not room in a book like this to explain how to read them in great detail. If you don’t know how to read tones in Thai yet, the phonetic English system has been transcribed throughout for your convenience. Just look for the mark above the vowel in the phonetic English to know which tone to pronounce (See below).