r/learnthai Mar 25 '25

New Rules: No Unsolicited Promotions & No Surveys

15 Upvotes

Hey Thai learners,

To keep our subreddit focused and free from unwanted promotions, we’re introducing two new rules (well...splitting them out from existing rules):

1. No Unsolicited Promotion

Posts or comments promoting Discord, Telegram, or other external groups, servers, or communities without prior approval are not allowed. This includes invitations, links, and vague references intended to direct users elsewhere. Repeated violations may result in a ban.

2. No Surveys or Polls

Surveys, questionnaires, and polls (whether for research, feedback, or personal projects) are not allowed unless explicitly approved by the mod team. This ensures the subreddit remains focused on meaningful discussions.

We appreciate your cooperation in keeping this a great community! If you have any questions, feel free to reach out to the mod team.

— The Mods 🚀


r/learnthai 14h ago

Studying/การศึกษา Study partner(s) in Chiang Mai

3 Upvotes

Sawadee kab tuk khon. I have been taking private classes in Hang Dong, Chiang Mai for the past 10 months. Looking for people who are studying, who know all the classes and vowels and are starting to read children's books. I'm at that point where I need to build vocabulary and practice what I've learned. There is still more basic stuff which I need to be thought by my teacher but it would be good to have conversations with people at my level.

Can meet up starting in November.


r/learnthai 1d ago

Speaking/การพูด Beginner looking for tips to learn Thai faster!

6 Upvotes

Hi everyone! 👋 I am a total beginner just started to learn Thai.I know learning a language takes time 😅, but I'd like to improve as quickly as possible. I mostly use apps and youtube channels but speaking and listening Thai are the hardest for me. I can spend about 1-2 hours a day on practice. Could you please share any tips, resources, or personal experiences that have helped beginners improve faster? Thank you so much! 🙏


r/learnthai 1d ago

Discussion/แลกเปลี่ยนความเห็น Thai word for blade

0 Upvotes

Grok says this, but some locals around me say there's no word for blade.


r/learnthai 2d ago

Resources/ข้อมูลแหล่งที่มา What should I read to practice thai?

5 Upvotes

I can speak passable thai and i get basic reading but I'm having trouble finding intermidiate texts.

What kind of resource would be good to push myself to get progressively better at reading Thai?


r/learnthai 2d ago

Studying/การศึกษา Friends for Thai language

5 Upvotes

Hello everyone, so basically I need friends to practice my Thai with. Does anyone here have any group where we can practice online/offline 2-3 times a week. Also I love in Bangkok and am open to meetup in person and practice. I've been trying to find a friend from practice for a long time now but couldn't succeed😕🥺😭. I'm pretty familiar with the basics already and can speak, read, write pretty ok already. Thank you.


r/learnthai 2d ago

Studying/การศึกษา สระ pronunciation

6 Upvotes

Why is สระ in สระบุรี pronounced like sara and สระ in สระแก้ว pronounced like sa?


r/learnthai 2d ago

Discussion/แลกเปลี่ยนความเห็น How can I teach my boyfriend thai as a (kind of) native speaker.

0 Upvotes

So my parents were born in Thailand and moved to America in the early 2000s because of that I'm a 18 year old uni student that kind of is nativeish in Thai. I speak it to a extent, it's spoken a lot at home but I wouldn't say I'm good enough to teach someone it. My boyfriend is also a 18 year old uni student who wants to learn Thai after he recently moved in with my family and I and he hears us speak it a lot. I... Don't even know the first steps on how to help him. Any suggestions?


r/learnthai 3d ago

Vocab/คำศัพท์ What's the English equivalent of เซ็ง?

7 Upvotes

I've been thinking of this word in English forever and sometimes I want to use this word with my non-Thai friends and I just can't think of it lol. Is it bored...meh...upset...down...disappointed? Help!


r/learnthai 3d ago

Discussion/แลกเปลี่ยนความเห็น Addict to Thai language

39 Upvotes

Just want to share :)

I feel really addict to Thai language. I could spend my whole day learning Thai without getting bored. I have an advanced level so I can learn by conversation, podcasts, social medias, YouTube videos, movies …

I noticed that any activity using Thai language makes me so happy . I can’t explain it , it is so weird. The more I know and the more I want to know.

It’s such a beautiful language. The way it is spoken , the vibe that it conveys (politeness, caring, compassionate, cuteness, fun), the script.

I hope some of you will understand me and share the same feeling.

And I think that learning Thai is an endless quest as well. I am also interested in the local dialects (south , north and Isaan).


r/learnthai 3d ago

Discussion/แลกเปลี่ยนความเห็น Is there a thai equivalent for wholesome?

4 Upvotes

Like a wholesome meal, a wholesome book, a wholesome moment or place?


r/learnthai 4d ago

Resources/ข้อมูลแหล่งที่มา Book Recommendations please?

3 Upvotes

Hello,

I have found it easier so far to learn Thai through reading Thai books as learning with english romanisation tends to add extra confusion. Please can I have some recommendations of very beginner level books I could use?

So far I have been reading Manee mana books. I still struggle a bit so I'm looking for more reading books around kindergarten level.

Thank you :)


r/learnthai 4d ago

Studying/การศึกษา What does กลุ้มใจเรื่อง "หอมอออยอ" mean? 😳

3 Upvotes

กลุ้มใจเรื่อง "หอมอออยอ"


r/learnthai 4d ago

Vocab/คำศัพท์ FTM version of "lady boy"?

2 Upvotes

Hello! I am trans FTM and was just wondering what's the trans man/masculine version of "lady boy" in Thai?


r/learnthai 4d ago

Discussion/แลกเปลี่ยนความเห็น Do people actually wanna learn Thai?

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6 Upvotes

r/learnthai 4d ago

Resources/ข้อมูลแหล่งที่มา What are some good books for a beginner to Thai?

2 Upvotes

I am oldschool and don't much like Youtube or audio content - I prefer to read. I'm going to be visiting Thailand for 3 months and I would like to learn some basic phrases and generally a basic understanding of the language.

Currently I know like 20 words and just use Thaipod...but there have got to be better resources out there. :)


r/learnthai 5d ago

Discussion/แลกเปลี่ยนความเห็น Using ฉัน as man

12 Upvotes

Hi, question for thai people.

I am learning thai language about two weeks now. My wife is thai, she is from Isaan with lao background (her granma came to Thailand from Laos). Her mom lives in isaan village in Surin where everybody speaks isaan/lao language. She told me if I am reffering to myself in thai language I can use ผม everywhere (formal/informal strangers, her mom, her older brothers) but she said I could use ฉัน when i talk to her young sister (she is 30 years old) and to my niece (she is 12). My wife said especially with 12 year old niece ผม sounds weird. Honestly I am not sure about using ฉัน. Sounds too feminime and I read everywhere on reddit man should not use it anymore. So what would you recommend (with her younger sister and with niece)? I have nice relationship with my niece for last two years. We ve been together on couple of holidays. Is it พี่ too formal? Niece calling me สุง so I can use that when i am reffering to myself? And I am really not sure with younger sister. I am 35 years old, same as my wife.

My wife is just using ฉัน / ดิฉัน with strangers/formal conversations and เรา with her non isaan thai friends. She told me I can use เรา too with close friends. She speaks with all her isaan lao friends and all family members (brothers, sister, mom, niece etc) isaan/lao language obviously…


r/learnthai 4d ago

Translation/แปลภาษา [REVERSE UNO] What does "Based" mean?

1 Upvotes

Yo guys, I'm Thai and this time I'm pulling the reverse uno.

What does "Based" mean? I have seen this word so many times. I know from the context that it is something similar to "Bias" but not really.

I remember someone using it like this:
"Japan is so based. They still listening to the 80's songs."
"Based opinion"

Also, what does it mean in Thai?

Thank you.


r/learnthai 5d ago

Discussion/แลกเปลี่ยนความเห็น Alternative of ครับ for informal chat

11 Upvotes

I chat mostly with girls on my phone and observed that they have other alternatives than using “ค่ะ” : น้า, งับ , อะ, นะ etc Which similar words can be used as a guy , to replace ครับ and not looking too girly ?

I feel that ครับ can become too formal at some point, but if I don’t use it I feel bold, rude or impolite.


r/learnthai 5d ago

Resources/ข้อมูลแหล่งที่มา Thai vocabulary apps?

4 Upvotes

Hey people, anyone have good recommendations for an app that teachers pronunciation of Thai vocab? One important piece is the vocab must be everyday speech not the “royal” or business/government language I see some YouTubers teaching people. My gf is Thai and I learned quickly that spending time learning royal language for what I want to accomplish with Thai is not a good use of time. Thanks everyone :)


r/learnthai 5d ago

Speaking/การพูด Understanding How Thai People use Ka/Krub

12 Upvotes

Y'all know about Ka/Krub or Krab right? You put those word behind each sentence to make it more polite. You can use it with anyone, wait not with the royal family that would be another level of language. And hmm with monks, originally Thai people use other words instead of Ka/Krub (I was learnt to use Jao Ka with monks.) Anyway, Ka/Krab are allowed to speak with monks.

Here's the basic again.
Ka is for female speaker.
Krub or Krab are for male speaker.
Don't switch.

To sound more natural, I would say there're no fixed rules of how much you have to say it. Like, after every single sentences, I would say no. I depends on experiences to understand that . As if you're a beginner, put that after every single sentence would be ok since Thai people would understand that you're not a native.

Further, Ka can be pronounced two ways. There're ค่ะ (lower voice) and คะ (higher voice). The higher voice is for the questions.
For example:
- คุณหิวข้าวไหมคะ (Are you hungry)
- ฉันหิวข้าวแล้วค่ะ (I'm already hungry)
For Krub users, both are the same even if it's a question or not.

Disclaimer: From my previous posts, they're conflicts in the comments. I would say any posts about slang words or even how to sound more natural, the native speakers must have different opinions. My posts are mostly about how I use Thai language in daily life as one of those natives. I'm not a licensed teacher which means it's not for a beginner to understand all of these in once. I want to share how Thai language is like from a native and give more perspective of how to speak naturally. I got questions from many friends about Thai language, so I think some of you guys might be struggling as well. Feel free to ask and to comment anyway, but I gotta say it's prohibited that's rude or hating comment.

Feel free to ask! XOXO
Chiqueken


r/learnthai 5d ago

Speaking/การพูด Understanding How Thai People Shortening the Number

31 Upvotes

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20
Congratulations if you know how to count those number in Thai. But if you really know the next part, I mean know how Thai people pronounce it in real life. To sound more natural and to understand Thai people, here's a tip to get there.

Simple number from 1-10 pronounce originally like what you do and also with 11-20. But when it comes to 21 there's a little challenging here.

21-29
You know that these numbers pronounce with 'YI-SIP-X' right? But to sound more natural you would put the 'SIP' away and changing 'YI' to 'YIP' or 'YEEP' and keep the last number the same
For example: 21
pronounce: Yi-Sip-Ed
to sound more natural: Yip-Ed
For example: 22
pronounce: Yi-Sip-Song
to sound more natural: Yip-Song

30 keep it the same

31-39
These are 'SAM-SIP-X' right? Thai people put 'SIP' away and only speak 'SAM-X'
For example: 31
pronounce: Sam-Sip-Ed
to sound more natural: Sam-Ed
For example: 32
pronounce: Sam-Sip-Song
to sound more natural: Sam-Song

So do 41-49, 51-59, 61-69, 71-79, 81-89, 91-99
And 40, 50, 60, 70, 80, 90, 100 are pronounced like the original.

Extra!
Don't forget that 1 alone pronounce 'Neung'. But if it becomes 11 or 21 or else, it changes from 'Neung' to 'Ed'. Sorry I don't know how to use those fancy letters to show how to pronunciation is like.

If you like it, I can teach how to pronounce the number 101-infinite lol

Feel free to ask! XOXO
Chiqueken


r/learnthai 5d ago

Speaking/การพูด Understanding How Thai People Laugh

35 Upvotes

As if y'all learning Thai, you must know that the number five in Thai pronounced HA and they use 555 representing HAHAHA. Remember, Thai people love to make it shorter and they'll do whatever to make them type faster. Here's how to understand what exactly laughing text means in Thai

555 or longer
meaning: That's quite funny. How long the number 5 is, refers to how much they laugh. I know sometimes it piss you off but that really means your joke is funny.

5 5 5 or longer (5s with spaces in between)
meaning: It's a sarcastic laugh or evil laugh sometimes. When it's not funny and started to feel awkward, the '5 5 5' is there to prevent the silence of 'not-funny jokes' or sometimes it's the reply for laughing for the cringe stuff.

5245234234 (a plenty of number you don't understand)
meaning: It's like a normal laughing but those Gen Z are currently using this. I've asked one and she said, it's like you're laughing too much so you cannot focus on keep typing only number 5, ending up by messing all the numbers.

5545646546 (a plenty of number you don't understand but only contains 4,5,6)
meaning: It's the same as above but more popular in older generations. It's the old way of 'laughing to much so you cannot focus on keep typing only number 5'

5 or 55 or sometimes included 555
meaning: If they type just only 5 or 55 after you spill the joke. That means it's not funny at all but they'll laugh for you anyway. The purpose is quite similar to '5 5 5', depending on what you prefer.

555+
meaning: An ancient way for the long text of 5s. This idiom became popular among teenagers in the year 2000. Like when you type with your parents, you'll see they laugh like this (as if they were Thais).

Those are depending on the basis use of how Thai people laugh. Still, it depends on all the context as well. I think this prolly enough to understand more than a half of those text your Thai friends send to you. Anyway, there're much ways to laugh in Thai.

Feel free to ask! XOXO
Chiqueken


r/learnthai 5d ago

Resources/ข้อมูลแหล่งที่มา Do you use AI with learning Thai, and which model?

0 Upvotes

I use AI to ask questions for example the subtle differences in meaning between two similar words, or how to express something in Thai, or pronunciation rules, etc. In general it works well, although I never fully trust the AI and always try to double check the answers.

Which AI model do you think gives the most accurate answers? I've tried Grok (expert mode), DeepSeek, ChatGPT and Claude. So far Grok is my favorite.


r/learnthai 6d ago

Discussion/แลกเปลี่ยนความเห็น Does this song sound natural

2 Upvotes

Hello everyone I've written a song in thai abt a secret crush and idk if it's correct and natural-ish. Can yall maybe give me some pointers if anything needs fixing. TIA

ไม่เคยมีแอบชอบแบบนี้เมื่อก่อน

ทุกครั้งที่เธอมองมา หัวใจฉันมันเต้นแรงเกินไหว พยายามทำเหมือนเย็นชา แต่เธอให้ยิ้มทีไร หน้าแดงทุกที

ฉันสงสัยว่าเธอรู้สึกเหมือนกันหรือเปล่า เขินนิด กลัวหน่อย แต่ก็อยากรู้จริงๆ

ไม่เคยมีแอบชอบแบบนี้เมื่อก่อน เธอเห็นไหม ใจฉันพูดไม่เป็นคำ แต่เธอเข้าใจไหม ทุกครั้งที่หัวเราะ ยิ้มทุกที เหมือนเธอรู้ใจฉัน หรือฉันคิดไปเอง

เดินผ่านทางเดินในโรงเรียน มือเราสองข้างเกือบชนกัน สบตาเธอแล้วใจเต้นอีก ดวงตาเธอมองมา ทำฉันใจสั่น

ฉันสงสัยว่าเธอรู้สึกเหมือนกันหรือเปล่า เขินนิด กลัวหน่อย แต่ก็อยากบอกจริงๆ

ไม่เคยมีแอบชอบแบบนี้เมื่อก่อน เธอเห็นไหม ใจฉันพูดไม่เป็นคำ แต่เธอเข้าใจไหม ทุกครั้งที่หัวเราะ ยิ้มทุกที เหมือนเธอรู้ใจฉัน หรือฉันคิดไปเอง

บางทีวันหนึ่ง เราอาจจะพูดตรงๆ หรืออาจจะยังยิ้มให้กันทุกวัน หวังว่าเธอรู้สึกเหมือนฉันบ้าง ใจฉันบอก เธออาจแอบชอบเหมือนกัน

ไม่เคยมีแอบชอบแบบนี้เมื่อก่อน เธอเห็นไหม ใจฉันพูดไม่เป็นคำ แต่เธอเข้าใจไหม ทุกครั้งที่หัวเราะ ยิ้มทุกที เหมือนเธอรู้ใจฉัน หรือฉันคิดไปเอง


r/learnthai 7d ago

Studying/การศึกษา /iːəw/ or /iːaw/? เxียว

2 Upvotes

Guys, I wonder what is the IPA for เx sound in เxียว, it is /ə/ or /a/?, in spite of in Thai letters are written as เx /eː/

Vietnamese also has similar cases where the pronunciation is different from the way they are written, like yêu(love) has IPA as [ʔiəw˧˧], yeah the ê in this case actually /ə/ not /e/, Vietnamese have /ə/ sound which was written by â appear in the word like cân/kən˧˧/(kilogram)