How to read the signs

If you have purchased the ebook Read Thai in a Day then try simply to sound out the letters initially. Many signs do not use the standard font with the loops. Sometimes a loop will be shown as a bulge in the letter.

You will become familiar with different ways of printing or writing Thai in time. Don't worry about it. In the Thai Alphabet Guide a typical modern font is shown. Refer to this if you are unsure.

After sounding out the letters, go back and try to determine the correct tone.

1. Do you remember if the consonant is a boy, girl or kgatheuy?
2. If there is a tone mark then it is easy.
3. If there is no tone mark, is the syllable a singing sound or a dead sound?
4. Is the dead sound short (thin) or long (fat)?

Don't read the transliteration until after you have sounded out the word for yourself. The transliterations won't appear until you click the button.

Then check the translation. You'll be surprised at how many words you can guess or remember.

Transliteration Guide

The trouble about pronunciation systems for Thai is that there isn't one. In fact, there are several! I have even devised a system for the Read Thai in a Day ebook. All of them are different and each one is wrong! Even the Thai government's official system is inconsistent, doesn't take the tones in account and is a rough approximation at best.

If you rely on a pronunciation system to learn Thai then you will consistently learn to speak bad Thai. Americans asking a bemused Thai person in Bangkok for directions to Asok often require an "ass soak", while Brits for some reason want to buy "a sock".

The system used on this website is based more on the British way of saying things. It is at best a close approximation. "lor" is pronounced without sounding the "r" for instance. Brits will pronounce "law" like "lore" with a small rounded mouth and a silent "r", while Americans will say it with a more open mouth, closer to "la".

That is why it is so important to learn to read Thai. Use a transliteration guide as a quick 'n dirty approximation and then read the Thai to determine the actual pronunciation.

The international phonetic system is the only one that provides the most accurate and consistent guide. However, it is a learning exercise in itself and only of interest to linguophiles and linguists. Nevertheless, we may convert to this system as it is at least consistent and reasonably accurate.

Transliterations

Except for the letters described below, the system follows the usual sounds as in English (such as "d" for dog or "ch" for church).

a - as in pizza
aa - as in far but without pronouncing the "r"
e - as in pet
eh - as in fair (without the "r")
ae - as in bad but with the mouth in the position of saying "bed")
ee - as in feet
i - as in igloo
o - as in fought (and sometimes as in coat but with the mouth in a small "o")
u - as in book
oo - as in fool
er - as in rather (with the chin jutting out slightly)
eu - roughly as in sir (with the teeth clenched in a smile while saying "oo")

t - as in bottle (without voicing it and keeping the air in your mouth)
th - as in tea (the "h" signifying the explosion of air as in "harry")
k - as in carry (also with an explosion of air)
g - as in buckle (without voicing it and keeping the air in your mouth)
bp - as in trouble

Important. One final point to note about Thai is that the final consonant of a syllable is not pronounced. English people ever-so-slightly explode the final consonant so that we can hear it - and easily distinguish between, say, "bid" and "bit". We often give a tiny explosion of sound at the end of each word. So "shoot" becomes "shoot(eugh)" and "should" becomes "shud(eugh)"

In Thai, however, the final consonant is formed in the mouth, but never sounded. That is why you will see "ráp" for "ráb" and "rák" instead of "rág".

In time, your ear will be hear the subtle difference between the final consonants. When speaking, just remember not to sound the final consonant as we would do in English.