Learn Thai books we recommend for beginners

If you learn Thai you should learn it like any other language and that means you should immerse yourself in it as much as possible. To do this it makes sense to use multiple sources of learning materials. Books that teach the Thai language are probably the first that come to your mind. Of course you have the drawback with books that you don’t hear the sound of the language or the book just comes with one or two CDs that cover a few passages of the book. Another problem of learn Thai books is that most of them use their own transliteration scheme which makes it harder for you to learn from different books as you first have to learn their transliteration scheme.

Nevertheless there are some books that are worth checking out. They will help you especially if you want to look up words or check on some Thai grammar rules.

1. Thai: An Essential Grammar (Routledge Grammars)
This is a great Thai grammar reference that has short explanations for almost all Thai grammar rules. It is (unlike many Learn Thai books) very well structured and it takes you just a minute to look something up. Highly recommended. Another benefit is that its pretty much available everywhere. No matter if you order from Amazon or pick it up and Kinokuniya at Siam Paragorn in Bangkok.

2. Lonely Planet: Thai Phrase Book
This Learn Thai book is a handy, cheap and small guide to common Thai grammar rules and full of phrases and a small vocabulary section. It is great if you just visit Thailand on vacation but also for serious learners of the Thai language. The grammar section is spot on and probably the most comprehensive you can find in any book. Because it is very compact and just a few pages it only lists essential rules.

3. Thai-English English-Thai Dictionary for Non-Thai Speakers
This dictionary is a compact and very beginner friendly dictionary that lets you search for english words and also for transliterations of Thai words. While you might want to take the Lonely Planet Thai Phrase Book on the road this dictionary has many common words and is also one of the few dictionaries that offer you to look up transliterations.

4. Colloquial Thai: A Complete Language Course
This book is a good work book to go through but the structure and index makes it hard to look things up.

5. Thai for Beginners
This is one of the most common and widely available Learn Thai books that will give you a good idea of what the Thai language is all about.

6. Thai for Intermediate Learners
The second book of the series with a bit more advanced phrases and some more information about grammar and the alphabet.

If you look for a workbook we recommend Colloquial Thai over Benjawan Poomsam Beckers books (No. 5 & 6) because it covers more details. If you just want to get an idea what learning Thai is all about have a look at Beckers books.