The Languages spoken in Thailand

The official and national language of Thailand is Thai which belongs to the Tai-Kadai family, spoken by 60 million people in Southeast Asian region and one of the ancient languages in East and South-East Asia. Linguistically, the language is associated with languages expressed in northern Vietnam, Yunnan, Laos and eastern Burma (Myanmar).

English is considered as the second language in Thailand which is taught in universities, public schools and generally understood and spoken in Bangkok. Thailand also spoke languages such as Chinese, Malay, Mon-Khmer, Lao and different regional dialects like Phuan, Lua, Shan, Thai Dam and Southern Thai (Pak Dtai). Aside from these, Nyaw is another language used in the provinces of Nakhon Phanom, Udon Thani, Sakhon Nakhon and some part of Northeast Thailand.

The Thai alphabet contains 44 consonants and 32 vowels that combine to create syllabic sounds. It was King Rham Khamhaeng who introduced the Thai script in 1283 and developed by Sanskrit. The inscription is pondered to be an influential cause as well as greatest accomplishment of Thai literature. Grammar of Thai language is simpler than Western languages grammar. Most of westerns concentrate on communicating rather than writing. The pronunciation of words in Thai alphabet is irrespective to its explanation. While Thai is tonal, some words have a definite pitch individuality that must be expressed to be correctly understood. Thai and Chinese are both similar as monosyllabic tonal languages. Thai languages manipulate five tones namely falling, low, mid, high and rising to alter the interpretation of an individual syllable.