Thai Lessons

Reading & Writing Thai

After you have mastered the Thai alphabet you can start to learn to read and write Thai with us step by step. Learning how to read and write Thai is optional but with our detailed theory lessons, practice lessons, intermediate reading lessons, writing exercises and more it is easier than you might think. We recommend just giving it a try!

Theory Lessons

Theory lessons are fundamental parts of this course, and they will help you to understand the underlying concepts of the Thai reading and writing system in no time. Every lesson covers a different aspect.

Practice Lessons

Every Theory lessons comes along with one or more practice lessons that will help you to test your knowledge and see more examples how certain concepts are used.

Charts & PDFs to print

Practice lessons usually come as videos, but we also offer PDF exercises to print out and complete on a regular basis. Along with PDF files you will also find charts and overviews for certain topics so you can easily look up key concepts and rules.

Watch or download example lessons below or continue to find out how to learn the Thai alphabet quickly and easily with mnemonics.

Reading & Writing Theory Lesson Index:
(20 Lessons / each has several dedicated practice lessons to practice what you have learned)
More information about our lessons in our 1 year curriculum.

1. Characteristics of the Thai Language
2. Consonants
3. Vowels
4. Tone Markers
5. Live Syllables and Dead Syllables
6. Tone Rules I
7. Tone Rules II
8. Tone Rules III
9. Tone Rules IV
10. Consonant Clusters
11. Real Clusters
12. Unreal Clusters and Leading Consonant Clusters
13. The Consonant “raw reua”
14. The Rare Vowels
15. Special Markers
16. Silent Vowels and Silent Consonants
17. Vowel “ai”
18. Thai Homophones
19. Thai Homographs
20. Thai Numbers

Reading & Writing Practice Lesson Index:
(53 Lessons)

1. Consonants
2. Consonants
3. Consonants
4. All Consonants PDFs
5. Vowels
6. Vowels
7. All Vowels PDFs
8. Tone Markers
9. Tone Markers PDFs
10. Live Syllables and Dead Syllables
11. Live Syllables and Dead Syllables PDFs
12. Tone Rules I
13. Tone Rules I PDFs
14. Tone Rules II
15. Tone Rules II PDFs
16. Tone Rules III
17. Tone Rules III PDFs
18. Tone Rules IV
19. Tone Rules IV PDFs
20. Consonant Clusters
21. Consonant Clusters PDFs
22. Real Clusters
23. Real Clusters PDFs
24. Unreal Clusters and Leading Consonant Clusters
25. Unreal Clusters and Leading Consonant Clusters PDFs
26. The Consonant “raw reua”
27. The Consonant “raw reua” PDFs
28. The Rare Vowels
29. The Rare Vowels PDFs
30. Special Markers
31. Special Markers PDFs
32. Silent Vowels and Silent Consonants
33. Silent Vowels and Silent Consonants PDFs
34. Vowel “ai”
35. Vowel “ai” PDFs
36. Thai Homophones
37. Thai Homophones PDFs
38. Thai Homographs
39. Thai Homographs PDFs
40. Thai Numbers
41. Thai Numbers PDFs
42. Let’s Read Lesson 1 (In these lessons you will practice how to read Thai sentences.)
43. Let’s Read Lesson 2
44. Let’s Read Lesson 3
45. Let’s Read Lesson 4
46. Let’s Read Lesson 5
47. Let’s Read Lesson 6
48. Let’s Read Lesson 7
49. Let’s Read Lesson 8
50. Let’s Read Lesson 9
51. Let’s Read Lesson 10
52. Let’s Read Lesson 11
53. Let’s Read Lesson 12

Reading Lesson Index:
(8 Lessons)

1. Reading Lesson (In these lessons you will practice reading short Thai texts)
2. Reading Lesson
3. Reading Lesson
4. Reading Lesson
5. Reading Lesson
6. Reading Lesson
7. Reading Lesson
8. Reading Lesson

Learn the Thai alphabet in hours!

The first step to learning to read and write Thai is mastering the Thai alphabet.

To speed up this process you can learn with the help of our Thai alphabet mnemonics. Mnemonics are basically visual memory aids that will help you to remember the sound, class and shape of each letter easily.

The illustration with the turtle above shows the Thai letter “thaw mon-tho”. By remembering the picture of a turtle at the beach you remember the…

Shape
because the letter shape looks similar to a turtle.
Sound
because the initial sound of the letter is “T” like “t” in turtle.
Class
the turtle is on the beach, the beach stands for low class consonants.

We also suggest a short story for the picture that makes it even easier to keep it in mind.

Let’s have a look at this in detail:
The initial sound is indicated by the first word that describes the scene on the image, while the final sound is indicated by the second word (if there is one).

The background indicates the class of the letter. We have a beach scenery for low class consonants, a park / forest scenery for middle class and mountains for high class consonants (from the lowest ground the beach to the highest the mountains).

Of course we have illustrations and different backgrounds for all the Thai vowels you need to know as well.

Thai alphabet backgrounds

Along with the illustrations you can hear the sound, see an animation of how the letter is written in Thai, see examples of words that use this letter and see different ways of writing the letter. You can also download and print a writing exercise for each letter.

Learning the Thai alphabet has never been easier. Take the shortcut to learn to read and write Thai and use our mnemonics to learn the Thai alphabet in no time.

Learn more about all the features of our LTP Premium Course.

Thai Vocabulary Lessons

Learn over 4000 of the most common Thai words

Besides conversation lessons you can build up your vocabulary with our vocabulary lessons. In each lesson you learn about 10 words. You can take a lesson with you or import the words into your vocabulary trainer to test yourself.

Extended Vocabulary Lessons

In these lessons you not only learn new words and phrases, you also see one or more example sentences showing how to use them. This helps you to feel confident about how to use a word or phrase within a sentence, reinforces grammar rules and makes them become second nature.

Vocabulary Trainer

To make learning vocabulary complete you can use the LTP vocabulary trainer. You can test and rate how well you know certain words or phrases from our lessons, listen to them, and organize them in lists according to topics or how well you recall them.

The settings allow you to learn the way you want to, no matter whether you want to see Thai first, English first, the transliteration first or a combination of them.

Beginner Vocabulary Lesson Index:
(318 Lessons)
More information about our lessons (including all intermediate and advanced lessons) in our 1 year curriculum.

1. Adjectives that describe feelings
2. Adjectives that describe people
3. Adjectives that describe people
4. Adjectives that describe things
5. Adjectives that describe things
6. Body Parts
7. Body Parts
8. Body Parts
9. Time
10. Time
11. Time
12. Time
13. Time
14. Time
15. Time
16. Time
17. Time
18. Time
19. Time
20. Conjunctions
21. Conjunctions
22. Conjunctions
23. Conjunctions
24. Conjunctions
25. Prepositions
26. Prepositions
27. Prepositions
28. Prepositions
29. Prepositions
30. Prepositions
31. Prepositions
32. Prepositions
33. Prepositions
34. Days of the Week
35. Months of the Year
36. Family
37. Family
38. Family
39. Verbs
40. Verbs
41. Verbs
42. Professions
43. Groceries
44. Groceries
45. Thai Spices
46. Drinks
47. Vehicles
48. Pets and Animals
49. Animals
50. Aquatic Animals
51. Verbs
52. Verbs
53. Verbs
54. Verbs
55. Verbs
56. Verbs
57. Verbs
58. Verbs
59. Verbs
60. Verbs
61. Thai Fruits
62. Cooking
63. Cooking
64. Drug Store
65. Health Problems
66. Cleaning
67. Banking
68. Banking
69. Airport
70. Train Station
71. Post Office
72. Book Store
73. Movie Theater
74. Museum and Gallery
75. Verbs
76. Verbs
77. Verbs
78. Verbs
79. Verbs
80. Verbs
81. School
82. School
83. School Related Verbs
84. Business
85. Business
86. Business
87. Verbs
88. Verbs
89. Country
90. Country
91. Language
92. Language
93. Sound
94. Heart Words
95. Heart Words
96. Marriage
97. Marriage
98. Health
99. Health
100. Health
101. Electronics Store
102. Electronics Store
103. Electronics and Hardware Store
104. Music
105. Religion
106. Clothing
107. Clothing
108. Clothing
109. Clothing
110. Accessories
111. Shoes
112. Shoes
113. Oil
114. Tourist Attractions
115. Tourist Attractions
116. Tourist Activities
117. Camping
118. Entertainment
119. Sport
120. Climate
121. Fruits
122. Vegetables
123. Vegetables
124. Spices and Seasonings
125. Spices and Seasonings
126. Insects
127. Insects
128. Bee
129. Birds
130. Adjectives
131. Adjectives
132. Adjectives
133. Adjectives
134. Adjectives
135. Water Words
136. Line Words
137. Weapons
138. Weapons
139. War
140. Education
141. Education
142. Education
143. Education
144. Education
145. Age
146. Colors
147. Colors
148. Animals
149. Animals
150. Animals
151. Animals
152. Astronomy
153. Astronomy
154. Astronomy
155. Beach
156. Verbs
157. Verbs
158. Verbs
159. Body Care
160. Human Related Words
161. Human Related Words
162. Human Related Words
163. Babies and Children
164. Birth
165. Death
166. Boat and Ship Related Words
167. Boat and Ship Related Words
168. Birds
169. Birds
170. Car Parts
171. Car Parts
172. Car Related Words
173. Business
174. Business
175. Business
176. Calender
177. Calender
178. Directions
179. Regions
180. Health Related Words
181. House
182. House
183. House
184. House
185. House
186. Opposing Words
187. Opposing Words
188. Opposing Words
189. Opposing Words
190. Opposing Words
191. People
192. People
193. Personal Characteristics
194. Personal Characteristics
195. Sizes and Shapes
196. Sizes and Shapes
197. Verbs
198. Verbs
199. Verbs
200. Verbs
201. Verbs
202. Verbs
203. Verbs
204. Verbs
205. Verbs
206. Verbs
208. Miscellaneous Nouns
209. Miscellaneous Nouns
210. Miscellaneous Nouns
211. Miscellaneous Nouns
212. Miscellaneous Nouns
213. Miscellaneous Nouns
214. Miscellaneous Nouns
215. Miscellaneous Nouns
216. Miscellaneous Nouns
217. Miscellaneous Nouns
218. Miscellaneous Nouns
219. Miscellaneous Nouns
220. Miscellaneous Nouns
221. Miscellaneous Nouns
222. Miscellaneous Nouns
223. Adverbs
224. Adverbs
225. Adverbs
226. Adverbs
227. Adjectives
228. Adjectives
229. Adjectives
230. Adjectives
231. Adjectives
232. Adjectives
233. Adjectives
234. Adjectives
235. Adjectives
236. Human Related Words
237. Human Related Words
238. Human Related Words
239. Human Related Words
240. Human Related Words
241. Human Related Words
242. Human Related Words
243. Human Related Words
244. Human Related Words
245. Human Related Words
246. Human Related Words
247. Human Related Words
248. Human Related Words
249. Human Related Words
250. Measurement Related Words
251. Measurement Related Words
252. Climate
253. Climate
254. Places
255. Places
256. Abstract Nouns
257. Abstract Nouns
258. Official Documents
259. Forms
261. Verbs
262. Verbs
263. Verbs
264. Verbs
265. Verbs
266. Verbs
267. Verbs
268. Verbs
269. Verbs
270. Verbs
271. Verbs
272. Verbs
273. Verbs
274. Verbs
275. Verbs
276. Verbs
277. Verbs
278. Verbs
279. Verbs
280. Verbs
281. Verbs
282. Verbs
283. Verbs
284. Verbs
285. Verbs
286. Verbs
287. Verbs
288. Verbs
289. Verbs
290. Verbs
291. Verbs
292. Verbs
293. Verbs
294. Verbs
295. Verbs
296. Verbs
297. Verbs
298. Verbs
299. Verbs
300. Verbs
301. Verbs
302. Verbs
303. Verbs
304. Verbs
305. Verbs
306. Verbs
307. Verbs
308. Verbs
309. Verbs
310. Verbs
311. Verbs
312. Verbs
313. Verbs
314. Verbs
315. Verbs
316. Verbs
317. Verbs
318. Verbs

Thai grammar & word usage lessons

Thai Grammar Lessons
Learn everything you need to know about Thai grammar and word usage from telling the time to picking the right words step by step, with in-depth explanations and lots of practical examples.

Every grammar rule you learn comes along with several examples to illustrate how to use it. We break down more complicated concepts into several pieces with individual examples for easy “digestion”. While going over the examples you will also learn new helpful phrases and develop a natural feeling for the Thai sentence structure (which is pretty easy and straight forward once you understand it).

Thai speaking habits and word usage

Not sure when to use a certain word or phrase? If something is appropriate to say? Just started to learn Thai and you want to be confident to form different types of sentences?

Especially in intermediate Grammar & Word Usage lessons we help you to understand when to use a certain word and when not to.

Thai word usage example

The word “ao (เอา)” literally means “to take / to get”.
ex.
Which one will you get?
คุณ จะ เอา อัน ไหน
khun jà ao an năi
you will take “classifier for things” which

The word “ao” also means “to want (something in return)”. You use it with this meaning when you want to clarify the reason of a certain action or the reason why someone does something . In this case, the word “ao” is usually followed by a noun and both appear at the end of a sentence.
ex.
That girl just works to show off.
ผู้หญิง คน นั้น แค่ ทำงาน เอา หน้า
phû-yĭng khon nán khâe tham-ngaan ao nâa
girl “classifier for person” that just work want face

The word “ao” can also mean “to have sex”. In this case the word “ao” is usually followed by the word “kan” (each other) to express that an action involves more than one person. So be careful while using the the word “kan” after the word “ao”.

In the Thai language people usually omit an object when it is obvious what is meant because of the context of the conversation. For example, you and your friends are about to have dinner and want to get the dishes from the kitchen. You might say to one of your friends…

Let’s go get the dishes.
ไป เอา จาน กัน เถอะ
pai ao jaan kan thèr
go get dish “each other” let’s

But if you omit the object “dish”, it will sound like…

Let’s have sex.
ไป เอา กัน เถอะ
pai ao kan thèr
go “have sex” “each other” let’s

Not sure if it is appropriate to say that if you for example visit the family of your Thai partner the first time and just want to be polite and help to carry the dishes…

Better get it right!

Review what you have learned

Make sure what you have learned sticks with you. In our review lessons you can test and reinforce what you have learned and see the words, grammar rules and other concepts in a different context.

Beginner review lessons start with a quick practice of the key vocabulary for this lesson and are followed by English – Thai and Thai – English translation exercises.

Beginner Grammar Lesson Index:
(41 Lessons / each has a dedicated review lesson about the same topic)
More information about our lessons (including all intermediate and advanced lessons) in our 1 year curriculum.

1. Introduction to the Thai Language
2. Personal Pronouns
3. Conditional Questions
4. Confirmation Questions
5. Question Words I
6. Question Words II
7. Question Words III
8. Pronunciation I
9. Counting Numbers
10. Telling the Time I
11. Telling the Time II
12. Calender
13. Family and Kin Terms
14. Intermediate Personal Pronouns
15. Present Tense
16. Future Tense
17. Past Tense and Present Perfect Tense
18. Negative Sentences
19. Verb to be and Stative Verbs
20. Modal Auxiliary Verbs I
21. Modal Auxiliary Verbs II
22. Secondary Verbs
23. Pronunciation II
24. Adjectives I
25. Adjectives II
26. Adverbs I
27. Adverbs II
28. Adverbs III
29. Classifiers
30. Pronunciation III
31. Possessive Adjectives and Possessive Pronouns
32. Relative Pronouns and Indefinite Pronouns
33. Location Words and Prepositions
34. Prepositions
35. Comparison I
36. Comparison II
37. Causatives
38. Conjunction “that”
39. Subordinate Clauses I
40. Subordinate Clauses II
41. Pronunciation IV

Speak & understand real street Thai

Thai Language Conversation Lesson Instead of learning outdated dictionary Thai you learn real modern “Bangkok Thai” as it is spoken today. “Bangkok Thai” is the standard Thai you would also learn in a language school but we take this a step further and besides formal you also learn informal spoken Thai.

Maybe you know this from your country, people in different areas have different ways of speaking their language. When you learn Thai speaking habits and listen to conversations you will listen to Bangkok Thai and learn how to speak like a native Thai living in Bangkok.

Just speaking Thai isn’t enough

After running the course for a year we had many people who were happy how well they could speak Thai but some had problems understanding native Thai speakers. To help them train their listening skills and have natural conversations with Thais we have added over 150 beginner, intermediate and advanced conversation lessons to the course.

Conversation Lessons

Conversation lessons come in two different flavours. Some are like interviews in which you hear a single native Thai speaker speaking and some are dialogue lessons in which two or more people talk to each other.

Learn to understand TV Thai

Thai in news reports or documentaries is different from Thai spoken on the street. We want you to be able to get as much language input as possible from different sources. That’s why we have advanced news report lesson cycles in which you can learn this more formal way of speaking Thai.

Beginner Conversation Lesson Index:
(55 Lessons)
More information about our lessons in our 1 year curriculum.

1. A couple talks about a girl.
2. A woman talks to a tailor about clothing that suits her kid.
3. A couple enjoys the sunset together.
4. A guy talks to his ex-girlfriend about the time they had.
5. A girl blames a kid because this kid threw away stuff of her ex-boyfriend.
6. A hit man who wants to stop his dirty work asks his mom to start a new life with him.
7. A nurse speaks to a guy who broke his leg.
8. Two teenagers who accidentally met make a plan for the evening.
9. A kid talks to a shop owner to reduce the price of some wood building blocks.
10. Two girls talk about their plans for Valentine’s day.
11. A woman talks to an older guy who owns a theater.
12. A man wants to get more information about a woman named Daao.
13. Three high school kids make plans for the future.
14. A woman asks a man about his girlfriend and his past.
15. A man really wants to convince a woman to have sex.
16. Two fat teenagers come up with excuses to order more food.
17. Two old friends meet each other after the one of them was some time abroad. 18. Two drunk guys talk about the wife of one of them.
19. A man and a woman eat out in a very fancy restaurant.
20. Two old friends talk about their lives and what they are currently up to.
21. A man and a woman talk in a restaurant.
22. Two girls talk about building school for kids of a hill tribe.
23. A company owner gives an instruction to a secretary.
24. A couple plan their wedding ceremony together with the hotel manager.
25. A couple in a photo studio talk with each other.
26. Kong and Pat have a chat while they are peeing next to each other.
27. Khun Pradit, a taxi driver talks about taking foreigners to massage parlours.
28. Khun Pradit talks about the strangest thing that ever happened to him.
29. Khun Pradit talks about the farthest place he has ever taken someone to.
30. Khun Pradit talks about finding a cell phone in his taxi.
31. Khun Winai, another taxi driver, talks about what he has done before.
32. Khun Winai talks about places he likes.
33. Khun Winai talks about going home to visit his family.
34. Khun Winai talks about being stuck in the traffic.
35. Khun Kowit talks about his daily routine.
36. Khun Niphon talks about how he got this job and what he thinks about it.
37. Khun Niphon talks about problems he had while he was working.
38. Khun Niphon explains the sort of problems he ran into while working as a security guard.
39. Kao talks to Nong O about the year 2009 and her plans for it.
40. Kao talks to Nong O what she did on New Year and they also talk a little bit about Chiang-rai.
41. Nong O talks about the traditional way of welcoming the New Year in northern Thailand.
42. Kao and Nong O continue talking about northern Thai New Year’s traditions.
43. Kao speaks about her family and the death of her father’s friend.
44. Khun Bank who is a photographer talks about what he is doing.
45. Khun Bank talks about photography.
46. Khun Bank talks about photo project he had.
47. Khun Bank talks about the problems he has with modern digital cameras.
48. Khun Bank talks about a place in northern Thailand he absolutely loves it.
49. A couple, Diaw and Top, talk about what they should cook for their dinner.
50. Khun Yo who is a teacher talks about how to be a good teacher in Thailand.
51. A couple, Diaw and Top, talk about where they should go this summer holiday.
52. Khun Yo talks about how to deal with her students.
53. Diaw and Top talk about the upcoming vacation on the beach.
54. Khun Prii-chaa talks about turtledoves.
55. Top talks about problems with seasickness.

Intermediate Conversation Lesson Index:
(58 Lessons)

1. Khun Prii-chaa talks about raising birds, one of his favorite hobbies.
2. Diaw and Top make fun about Top’s overweight.
3. Khun Priichaa talks about the bird competition and their bird society.
4. Two girls, Wah and Bell, talk about their friends and where they plan to go during their summer holiday.
5. Khun Priichaa talks about how to make his bird tweet in a competition.
6. A couple, Paeng and Boy, talk about the transcript of their final exam.
7. Khun Sampan talks about how he became a street food vendor.
8. A couple, Paeng and Boy, talk about working as government officers.
9. Paeng asks khun Sampan about his chicken noodle business.
10. Paeng asks Boy about his plan to take over his uncle’s soapy massage business.
11. Khun Tui, who owns a dormitory for university students, talks about rules and regulations in his dormitory.
12. Paeng and Boy talk about Boy’s plan to open his soapy massage place.
13. Paeng asks Khun Sampan about his noodle recipe and how much money he makes every day.
14. Khun Tui talks about problems he is having with pets in his dormitory.
15. Khun Tui talks about how he takes care of his tenants and what he expects from them.
16. Pii laa asks her neighbor’s kids if they have done some cheeky stuff.
17. Khun Preaw talks about her first pregnancy.
18. Pii Laa asks her neighbor’s kids what kind of sport they do.
19. Khun Preaw talks about how she felt when she found out that she was pregnant.
20. Pii Laa and the kids talk to each other about their medals.
21. Khun Preaw talks about her worries during her pregnancy.
22. Pii laa talks to her neighbor’s kids if they play computer game sometimes.
23. Khun Preaw talks about how she plans to give birth to her baby.
24. Kaao talks about his younger brother, Kawt.
25. Khun Preaw talks about her plan to raise her baby.
26. Pii Laa and the kids talk about visiting relatives and the Rocket Festival.
27. Khun Sanchai, an engineer, talks about his work and his business.
28. Pii Bon explains how to make Som-tum.
29. Khun Sanchai continues to talk about his work.
30. Pii Bon continues to explain how to make Som-tum.
31. Khun Sanchai talks about how hard his work is.
32. Pii Bon explains why she uses tamarind juice in her Som-tum.
33. Uncle Paw talks about his hobby.
34. Uncle Paw talks about what he is doing now after his retirement.
35. Uncle Paw talks about talking about what he will do today.
36. Uncle Paw talks about talking about how he thinks about his hobby.
37. Nong Tik asks Pii Aud if he wants to buy a new house.
38. Paa Nid asks Nong Muay if her mom is at home. (Isaan dialect)
39. Pii Aud and Nong Tik continue talking about buying a new house.
40. Paa Nid asks Nong Muay what she did at the Khao-din zoo. (Isaan dialect)
41. Pii Aud asks Nong Tik whose phone number she is going to give to him.
42. Pii Aud recommends an interesting restaurant to Nong Tik.
43. Na Wan asks Nong O from where she is coming from. (Northern dialect)
44. Jit talks to Kawn about what she bought for him.
45. Na Wan suggests Nong O how she can prevent having a cold in winter. (Northern dialect)
46. Kawn talks to Jit about her car.
47. Khun Naowarat talks about his job. (Southern dialect)
48. Kawn and Jit evaluate some solutions for her car.
49. Khun Naowarat talks about the hotel he is working in. (Southern dialect)
50. Kawn and Jit finally have come to a decision about her car.
51. Nong Ann asks if she can see some pictures form Pii Ae.
52. Pii Ae complains about his camera.
53. Pii Ae and Nong Ann compare his pictures to his friend’s pictures.
54. Nong Ann asks Pii Ae about how Koh Samed has changed.
55. Khun Muay brought Khun Ooy some books from the library.
56. Khun Muay suggests Khun Ooy to extend the time for borrowing the books from the library.
57. Khun Ooy makes a decision on some books that she will borrow.
58. Khun Muay recommends Khun Ooy another book that she likes.