Thai vowels, short and long
What you will be able to do
Recognise all 32 Thai vowel forms, know the length of each, and read the shortened shapes they turn into when a final consonant follows.
Thai vowels are written around the consonant: before it, after it, above it, below it, or wrapped on several sides at once. The อ in this chart is a placeholder standing in for whatever consonant the vowel attaches to; it is not part of the vowel. The consonant is ALWAYS pronounced first, whatever the vowel's position on the page. เก is gee, not eek. Length is not decoration. Thai distinguishes short from long vowels, and the difference changes the word: เขา (khǎo, he or she) against ขาว (khǎao, white). Length also decides the tone of dead syllables on low-class consonants, which is why the tone table has separate columns for short and long. Thai teaching tradition counts 32 vowels, and all 32 are below: twelve short and long pairs, the four letters that fuse a consonant with a vowel (ฤ ฤๅ ฦ ฦๅ), and the four that already contain their own final consonant (ไ ใ เ-า -ำ), which is exactly why none of those four can take another one. One note on the romanisation used here. Length is shown in the Length column rather than by doubling every vowel, so a few pairs share a spelling: เอาะ and ออ are both aw, อึ and อือ are both eu. Where two rows look the same, the Length column is the difference.
The 32 vowels
- อะ-ashort
- อา-aalong
- อิ-ishort
- อี-iilong
- อึ-eushort
- อือ-eulong, written อื before a final
- อุ-ushort
- อู-uulong
- เอะ-eshort
- เอ-eelong
- แอะ-aeshort
- แอ-aaelong
- โอะ-oshort
- โอ-oolong
- เอาะ-awshort
- ออ-awlong
- เออะ-oeshort
- เออ-oelong
- เอียะ-iashort
- เอีย-iialong
- เอือะ-euashort
- เอือ-eualong
- อัวะ-uashort
- อัว-uualong
- ฤrí, réua letter, not a mark
- ฤๅreulong, rare
- ฦleuobsolete
- ฦๅleuobsolete, long
- ไอ-aicarries its own final
- ใอ-aisame sound, 20 words only
- เอา-aocarries its own final
- อำ-amcarries its own final
When a final consonant follows
This is the step that stalls most readers. The 32 forms above are how a vowel is written on its own. Add a final consonant and several of them shrink, move, or disappear from the page entirely, which is why คน (khon) contains no visible vowel at all and เด็ก (dèk) contains a mark that is in no chart of vowels.
| On its own | Sound | With a final | Example |
|---|---|---|---|
| อะ | -a | อั | กัน gan, to block |
| อิ | -i | unchanged | กิน gin, to eat |
| อึ | -eu | unchanged | ขึ้น khêun, to go up |
| อือ | -eu long | อื | ยืน yeun, to stand |
| อุ | -u | unchanged | คุณ khun, you |
| เอะ | -e | เอ็ | เด็ก dèk, child |
| เอ | -ee | unchanged | เพลง phleeng, song |
| แอะ | -ae | แอ็ | แข็ง khǎeng, hard |
| แอ | -aae | unchanged | แดง daaeng, red |
| โอะ | -o | nothing is written | คน khon, person |
| โอ | -oo | unchanged | โดน doon, to get hit |
| เอาะ | -aw | อ็อ | ล็อก láwk, to lock |
| ออ | -aw long | unchanged | สอง sǎwng, two |
| เออ | -oe | เอิ | เดิน doen, to walk |
| เอีย | -iia | unchanged | เขียน khǐian, to write |
| เอือ | -eua | unchanged | เดือน deuan, month |
| อัว | -uua | อว | ควร khuuan, ought to |
Marks that only exist inside a vowel
None of these is a vowel by itself and none is a tone mark, which is why they are easy to meet without ever being taught. Two of them, อั and อ็, are the whole reason the shortened forms above are readable.
- อัmái hǎn-aa-gàatthe short -a when a final follows: กัน gan
- อ็mái dtài-khúushortens the vowel under it: เด็ก dèk, แข็ง khǎeng
- ๅlák-khāang-yaaolengthens ฤ and ฦ, and appears nowhere else
- อaw àanga consonant that also serves as a vowel carrier: มือ meu
- วwaw wǎaenconsonant, and the -uua vowel with a final: ควร khuuan
- ยyaw yákconsonant, and part of เ-ีย and ไ-: เขียน khǐian
Common mistake
The pre-posed vowels เ แ โ ไ ใ are the ones that trip every learner: your eye meets the vowel first but your mouth says the consonant first. Train the jump deliberately, and it becomes automatic within a week. The second trap is quieter: โอะ is simply not written when a final follows, so คน looks like two consonants with nothing between them. If a syllable seems to have no vowel, it is this one.