Thailand language
The Kingdom of Thailand is a country belonging to Asia, whose capital is Bangkok. It has a population of 69 million inhabitants (20th) and an area of 513,120 km 2 (50th). Its human development index is high (83rd) and its official currency is the Thai baht. But what language is spoken in Thailand?
What language do they speak in Thailand?
Thailand has one official language, Thai.
Also, the Royal Government of Thailand recognizes 62 minority languages since 2011. These languages are divided into 5 language families: Tai-Kadai, Austroasiatic, Sino-Tibetian, Austronesian and Hmong-Mien.
The most widely spoken languages (including official and recognized) are Central Thai (20 million), Lao (15.2 million), Northern Thai (6 million), Southern Thai (4.5 million), Northern Khmer (1.4 million), Yawi (1.4 million), Ngaw (0.5 million), Phu Thai (0.5 million), Karen (0.4 million) and Kuy (0.4 million).
The most common immigrant languages are Burmese (828,000), Japanese (70,000), Hindi (22,900), and Vietnamese (8,280).
English is a compulsory language in schools, but the number of people who speak it is low. Only 27% of the population speaks English (the majority in urban areas). Being a country with a large number of tourists, in the most touristic places it is easier to find someone who speaks English (normally at a medium-low level).
The Thai language
Thai (ภาษาไทย) is the official language of the country, and is the main language of education and government, and is spoken throughout the country. The standard language is based on the central dialect. It has its own Thai alphabet (it’s actually an abugida), with 44 consonant symbols and 15 vowel symbols. In addition, it is a tonal language (it has 4 tones).
Share which languages are spoken in Thailand.
