This week in Thai

Voice: In Thai language, different wording is used depending whether you identify as male or female. You can choose your preference here. Male speakers use ครับ; female speakers use ค่ะ for statements and คะ for questions. Polite endings, personal pronouns, and pronunciation guides follow your choice. Note: The audio recordings are currently only available if you choose the female option.

Romanization: Thai language is written in Thai script. It looks like this: เรียนภาษาไทย. Since you are here, you probably cannot read that, yet. Therefore, there are many transcription systems to convert Thai script into the more familiar A to Z alphabet. RTGS is the official Thai transcription system used on road signs and in official documents. Paiboon adds tone and vowel-length guidance. IPA, the International Phonetic Alphabet, uses symbols for speech sounds. Select any combination to compare them, or none to practise reading Thai script on its own.

Thai font: This website also allows you to choose between two different fonts for the Thai script. The classic font is easier to read, but many places will use a more modern font which can be harder to read for beginners. If you want to learn reading Thai script, you can first start with the classic font and then move on to the modern one.