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How to pronounce the Thai alphabet

I am an absolute beginner with the Thai language. I am trying to understand the pronunciation of the Thai alphabet. Several sources show the Thai symbols, but I am not sure if the pronunciation they are giving me is just for the symbol itself or for the example provided with it. Let me try to clarify. smiley

Most examples show  as "ko kai" and then says "chicken" after that. So is "ko kai" how you say the letter, or is that only how you say chicken? Kind of like the english way of saying A is for apple, B is for boy, etc. 

Thank you for any help in clearing up my confusion. Hopefully the way I worded the question did not confuse everyone here. laugh

Oh...and any recommendations of books, apps or software for learning this language, I would appreciate.


PS: Immerse yourself in these free Thai lessons: Class: BodyHow to say Good Bye?Basic PrepositionsIntroducing Family Members

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Wishuda profile picture WishudaJune 2019

The pattern we call Thai characters is "--o + word". The word has meaning and represents the sound" :-)

For example, ก is pronounced as "k" (approximately) in English The name of ก is "ko kai". Kai (ไก่) means chicken.

ข is pronounced as "Kh" with rising tone in English. The name of ข is "kho khai". Khai (ไข่) means egg.

Yes, it is pretty much like A in apple.. But apple is also a part of the character's name :-)

vincent profile picture vincentOctober 2021
Here a nice summary about Thai Alphabet and Pronunciation with videos and text :
https://polyglotclub.com/wiki/Language/Thai/Pronunciation/Alphabet-and-Pronunciation
pattanunw profile picture pattanunwJuly 2019
Let try to speak Thai language with native speaker like me. Hope we can learn each other language together.