Official Concern:
While the official Thai language is widely spoken in Thailand, many Thais also speak and understand English, though more so in Bangkok and the main tourist areas. Because there are many Europeans and other Asians among visitors to Thailand, Thai people’s language skills often include these other languages to varying degrees. The Thai language is challenging to master, but Thais are happy to help foreigners learn a few words so they can get around. However, English is often the common currency for cross-cultural conversations as Thailand welcomes visitors worldwide. With so many visitors, Thailand’s communications system has many features that make it accessible to foreigners.
When it comes to using phones, it is possible to purchase a Thai SIM card at most international airports, and both rental phones and SIM cards are available in destinations such as Bangkok, Chiang Mai and Phuket. Postal workers generally speak some English, and there are internet cafes across Thailand with Skype headsets specifically for visitors who want to communicate with friends and family back home. Thailand’s communication system is modern and convenient for visitors.
Thai Language:
While Thai is the official language of Thailand, English is the second unofficial language. Of course, as tourists and business travelers from all over the world have traveled to Thailand, English has become the common language “currency,” although many of these visitors have learned to speak Thai. Consequently, population centers where many foreigners live, such as Bangkok, Chiang Mai and the islands, have many people who can speak Thai and English reasonably well. However, it can be difficult for visitors to choose Thai as it differs significantly from many foreign languages. The Thai language has five tones: high, middle, low, ascending, and traps, each changing the meaning of certain “words.” Visitors unfamiliar with tonal languages often struggle to pronounce even the most basic terms when learning to speak Thai. Still, with practice, visitors will find that Thais are happy to help. With your Thai language pronunciation. Written Thai is based on an alphabet adopted by the Khmer of Cambodia and is believed to have been standardized during the reign of King Ramkhamhaeng during the Sukhothai period. The Thai alphabet consists of 44 consonants, 18 vowels and four diphthongs (sound) notations. Learning to read Thai can be more complicated than learning how to pronounce it.
Language Barrier for Tourists:
Written words do not follow a direct sequence of letters, and written Thai does not use spaces between words. Fortunately, street signs are written in Thai and English, and many tourist areas offer maps, menus, and other literature. Thai and several other foreign languages. The transliteration of Thai words causes a problem encountered by foreigners trying to pronounce Thai words correctly into romanized characters. An obvious example would be the island of Phuket, pronounced “poo-ket” instead of “foo-ket,” as it would be pronounced in English. Also, there is no official word transcription standard and many Thais.
Words are spelled differently on different maps or street signs (i.e., even the BTS Skytrain has Chitlom and Chidlom stations). Although most Thais speak and understand the Central Thai dialect, there are several regional dialects, including those of Southern Thailand and Northeast Thailand, the latter being essentially just the Lao language (since most of the population is of Lao descent). In northern Thailand, the independent kingdoms of Lan Na and Chiang Mai from 1259 to 1939, locals still speak a particular form of Thai, all of whom can also talk to Central Thai. All variants of Thai use the same alphabet.
