By Quick facts
- Name in Thai
- ภาษาไทย (phasa thai)
- Language family
- Kra–Dai › Tai
- Writing system
- Thai script — abugida (syllabic), left to right
- Where it began
- Sukhothai
- Main countries
- Thailand
- ISO 639-3 code
tha
Where Thai ranks
Thai is the 30th most-spoken language in the world by total speakers [1,2]. Here it is among its neighbours in the ranking, on one scale.
“How are you?” in Thai
สบายดีไหม
sà-baai dee măi?
How are you?
Phrases: Omniglot — Useful phrases in Thai [6]. Other languages' phrases come from the sources on their own pages. Synthetic voice (ElevenLabs Eleven v3, voice “Sia”). Pronunciation is approximate and may not match a native speaker; Cantonese and Wu Chinese are not voiced because the model reads Chinese characters with Mandarin sounds.
A short history
Thai is a Tai language of the Kra–Dai family and the national language of Thailand[3].
Its script descends from Old Khmer; the stele of King Ram Khamhaeng of Sukhothai, dated 1292, records the creation of the Thai script and was added to UNESCO's Memory of the World in 2003, though some scholars have questioned its age[4,5].
The design of Thai script
An abugida with 44 consonants, vowel signs written before, after, above or below the consonant, and tone marks[7]. It descends from Old Khmer, and the Ram Khamhaeng inscription, dated 1292, is traditionally its earliest record[5,4].
Abugida (syllabic). Each consonant carries a vowel, changed by marks attached to it.
- Kind
- Abugida (syllabic)
- Direction
- Left to right
- Took shape
- The Sukhothai script of the late 13th century, from Old Khmer
- Line of descent
- Brahmi → Pallava → Old Khmer → Sukhothai → Thai
- Traditional surface
- Palm leaves
- Own digits
- ๐ ๑ ๒ ๓ ๔ ๕ ๖ ๗ ๘ ๙
- Also writes
- No other language among the 38 is written mainly in Thai script.
- Brahmi
- Pallava
- Old Khmer
- Sukhothai
- Thai
A word for every letter
Each consonant is named with a word that starts with it: ก is ko kai, 'k as in chicken', and ข is kho khai, 'kh as in egg', the way English children learn 'A for apple'[7].
No spaces between words
Thai writes words together and uses spaces between phrases and sentences, so software needs a dictionary to know where it may break a line[8].
Three classes for five tones
Consonants fall into high, mid and low classes, and the class together with the tone mark and syllable type tells the reader which of five tones to use[7,3].
Politeness depends on who speaks
Thai speakers end polite sentences with ครับ (kráp) if they are men and ค่ะ (kâ) if they are women, so even 'hello' is gendered[6].
Explore the letters
ko kai — chicken
The first letter, k
1 / 14 · playing — pick a letter to stop
Numbers in Thai script
Thai's relatives among the 38
Thai belongs to the Kra–Dai family (Tai). These are the other languages with 50 million or more speakers in the same family; the closest — in the same branch — come first.
No other language among the 38 belongs to the Kra–Dai family.
Thai across the hub
The main page compares all 38 languages. Each link opens it on Thai.
- Preview it in the explorer →with all 38 side by side
- Hear it in the voice tour →“How are you?” in every language, spoken in turn
- Trace its script's family tree →from the first alphabets and Chinese oracle bones
- Compare its digits →ten ways to write 0–9
- See its share of speakers →an interactive breakdown by script, family and region
Frequently asked questions
How many people speak Thai?
About 71 million people speak Thai: 27 million as a first language and 44 million as a second, according to Ethnologue's 2026 figures. That makes it the 30th most-spoken language in the world by total speakers.
What script is Thai written in?
Thai is written in the Thai script, an abugida: each consonant carries a vowel, changed by marks attached to it. It runs left to right.
How do you say "How are you?" in Thai?
In Thai, "How are you?" is สบายดีไหม (sà-baai dee măi?).
Where is Thai spoken?
Thai is spoken mainly in Thailand. It began in Sukhothai.
How old is the Thai script?
The Thai script descends from Old Khmer; the Ram Khamhaeng inscription of 1292 is traditionally its earliest record. Its family line runs Brahmi → Pallava → Old Khmer → Sukhothai → Thai.
Sources
- Ethnologue — What are the top 200 most spoken languages? (2026)
- Wikipedia — List of languages by total number of speakers (Ethnologue 2026 figures, retrieved October 2026)
- Encyclopaedia Britannica — Thai language
- UNESCO Silk Roads — The King Ram Khamhaeng Inscription
- Omniglot — Sukhothai script
- Omniglot — Useful phrases in Thai
- Omniglot — Thai alphabet
- The Unicode Standard 17.0, chapter 16: Southeast Asia-I (Thai)
Checked October 25, 2026. Speaker numbers are Ethnologue's 2026 estimates, which count each language separately (Arabic and Chinese varieties are listed one by one). Maps shade whole countries, not regions within them. Found an error? Tell us.
Keep reading
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