Thailand Language

Thailand's official language is Thai, a close relative to languages spoken in Burma and southern China. It is the primary language spoken and taught in the country and is based on a central Thai dialect. There are also a number of other dialects spoken in southern and northern provinces. Thai is a tonal language that uses long, short, high and low tones to distinguish the meaning of a word. For example, the word 'kao' means news, nine, come in, rice and knee and only the difference in tone establishes meaning.

The Thai alphabet is a script based on early Khmer script. English is also spoken throughout Thailand is actually a mandatory study at school. Despite this, the number of fluent English speakers in Thailand is low, particularly once you get outside the main cities. The main differences in the Thailand language is that women end a sentence with 'ka' while men end with 'krap'. Also, add mai at the end of a sentence to turn it into a question or at the beginning to create the negative. Below is an example of basic words and expressions in Thai.

Basic Words

Hello - Sawa dee
Thank you - Kob Khun krap/ka
How are you? - Khun sabai di mai?
I am fine thanks - Pom sabai di krap/ka
You're welcome - Yin dee krap/ka
Wait - Roh sakru
I - pom/chan
Come - ma
Come from - Pom ma/chan ma
I come from Australia - Pom ma/chan ma jak pratet Australia
I love Thailand - Pom/chan rak Meuang Thai
I love you - pom/chan rak khun
Leu - past tense meaning

Numbers

1 - neung
2 - song
3 - sam
4 - si
5 - ha
6 - hok
7 - chet
8 - pet
9 - kao
10 - sip
11 - sip et
12 - sip song
13 - sip sam
14 - sip si
15 - sip ha
20 - yee sip
21 - yee sip et
22 - yee sip song
23 - yee sip sam
24 - yee sip si
25 - yee sip ha
30 - sam sip
40 - si sip
50 - ha sip
60 - hok sip
70 - chet sip
80 - pet sip
90 - kao sip
100 - neung roi
150 - neung roi ha sip
500 - ha roi
1000 - neung pan
2000 - si pan