The Thai alphabet is the writing system used for Thai. Its roots lie in the ancient Brahmi writing tradition, and its spelling reflects Sanskrit and Pali influences.
It has 44 consonant letters, including two that are no longer used in everyday writing. Thai runs from left to right, with no uppercase or lowercase letters. Spaces usually separate phrases rather than individual words. The script also has its own numerals and punctuation.
Thai vowels are traditionally taught as 32 written forms, including combinations and some rare forms. Vowel signs can appear before, after, above or below a consonant.
Thai has five spoken tones but only four written tone marks. The consonants and spelling rules also help determine the tone. The ‘khaa’ examples below show how a change of tone can change a word’s meaning.
