Practice: numbers and prices
What you will be able to do
Understand any price you will hear at a market, in a taxi or at a counter, including the large units that rents and vehicles are quoted in.
Thai numbers are regular apart from two things: twenty is ยี่สิบ, not สองสิบ, and one becomes เอ็ด inside a compound. The part that catches people out later is the top of the ladder. Thai has a single word for every power of ten up to a million, so a rent quoted in หมื่น and a car quoted in แสน are single words where English needs two.
What number is this?
ยี่สิบ
ยี่สิบ is yîi-sìp, twenty. Not สองสิบ. That ยี่ appears nowhere else, so learn it as a one-off.
What number is this?
สิบเอ็ด
สิบเอ็ด is sìp-èt, eleven. One becomes เอ็ด in a compound, never หนึ่ง.
What number is this?
ยี่สิบเอ็ด
ยี่สิบเอ็ด is yîi-sìp-èt, twenty-one. Both irregularities at once.
What number is this?
ห้าสิบ
ห้าสิบ is hâa-sìp, fifty. Most street prices are round numbers like this one.
What number is this?
หนึ่งร้อย
หนึ่งร้อย is nèung-ráwy, one hundred.
What number is this?
หนึ่งพัน
หนึ่งพัน is nèung-phan, one thousand.
What number is this?
หนึ่งหมื่น
หนึ่งหมื่น is nèung-mèun, ten thousand. Thai names every power of ten, so this is one word where English needs two.
What number is this?
หนึ่งแสน
หนึ่งแสน is nèung-sǎen, one hundred thousand. Rents and second-hand motorbikes are quoted in หมื่น and แสน, so stopping at ten thousand leaves you guessing.
What number is this?
หนึ่งล้าน
หนึ่งล้าน is nèung-láan, one million. Condo prices live here.
What number is this?
สองร้อยห้าสิบ
สองร้อยห้าสิบ is sǎwng-ráwy-hâa-sìp, 250. After the two irregularities it is pure arithmetic.
What does this word mean?
ครึ่ง
ครึ่ง is khrêung, half, and it follows what it halves: ครึ่งชั่วโมง half an hour, ครึ่งกิโล half a kilo.
What does this mean?
ที่สอง
ที่ makes an ordinal, so ที่สอง is thîi-sǎwng, second. ชั้นที่สอง is the second floor.
What number is this, in Thai numerals?
๕๐
Thai digits are ๐๑๒๓๔๕๖๗๘๙. ๕๐ is 50. You will meet them on temple signage, government forms and dual-price notices, and a price written in Thai numerals is sometimes the Thai price.
Common mistake
Train the round numbers first: ยี่สิบ สามสิบ สี่สิบ ห้าสิบ ร้อย. Most street prices are round, so you will understand most of what you hear for a fraction of the work.
Next: Thai numbers and prices