44 consonants, grouped by class
Print chartEvery consonant belongs to one of three classes — mid, high or low. Class isn’t about how the letter sounds; it’s the first thing that decides a syllable’s tone. Grouping the alphabet this way, rather than alphabetically, means you learn each letter next to the rule it feeds — so tone is never a separate thing to memorise later.
The vowels, grouped by length
Print vowelsThai vowels are written around the consonant — before it, after it, above or below — so each one here shows a dotted circle (◌) where the consonant goes. What matters for tone is length: a short vowel can close a syllable off as “dead”, a long one leaves it “live”, and that decides which tone the same letters produce. So they’re split into short and long — the very distinction the tone rules turn on.
The tone marks
Four marks written above the consonant (◌) override a syllable’s tone. Which tone each one makes depends on the consonant’s class, so they’re learned alongside the letters, not after them.