Thai to English Transliteration

Before jotting down any knowledge here, it will be helpful to write down my system for converting Thai letters into English. This will cover all vowels and consonants in a consistent manner for beginners interested in learning the language. It is recommended that you memorise the Thai alphabet too, since this will help your studies and make your life in Thailand a lot easier.

Here are the Thai consonants written in English. Most are said following standard British pronunciation. The r sound is rolled with the tongue.

ไทย	English
บ	b
ฉ ช ฌ	ch
ฎ ด	d
ฝ ฟ	f
ก	g
ห ฮ	h
จ	j
ข ค ฆ	k
ล ฬ	l
ม	m
ณ น	n
ผ พ ภ	p
ร	r
ซ ศ ษ ส	s
ฐ ฑ ฒ ถ ท ธ	t
ว	w
ญ ย	y
ง	ng*
ฏ ต	dt*
ป	bp*

*More information on how to say these consonants will be included in later lessons.

Here are the vowels. A distinction has to be made for the long and short vowels in Thai as the length can change the meaning of the word. For this reason, it is important to get the pronunciation perfect so you aren't misunderstood. For the example words given, use English and not American pronunciation. Of course, it is better to hear someone say these sounds out loud first so ask a Thai friend if possible.

ไทย	English	Example Word
a	อะ	America
aa	อา	master
i	อิ	tip
ii	อี	keep
eu*	อึ	Not found in English*
eeu*	อื	Not found in English*
u	อุ	wood
uu	อู	food
e	เอะ	met
ee	เอ	whale
ae	แอะ	bed
aae	แอ	fair
o**	โอะ	lost
oo**	โอ	foam
oh**	เอาะ	lob
aw	ออ	wart
ua	อัวะ	lure
uua	อัว	sewer
ia	เอียะ	fear
iia	เอีย	weir
eua	เอือะ	Not found in English*
eeua	เอือ	Not found in English*
er	เออะ	dirt
eer	เออ	her
am	อำ	some
ai	ไอ ใอ	my
ao	เอา	loud
euy	เอย	Not found in English*
oy	โอย	toy

* More information on how to say these vowels will be included in later lessons

** Although these vowels are found in English, the actual Thai pronunciation is slightly different. To help you get the accent right, I will cover these vowels in later lessons as well.