Thai script

Thai
อักษรไทย
Script type
CreatorRamkhamhaeng the Great
Time period
1283–present
DirectionLeft-to-right Edit this on Wikidata
LanguagesStandard form:
Thai, Southern Thai
Non-standard form:
Lanna, Isan, Phu Thai, Pattani Malay, Urak Lawoi, Phuan and others
Related scripts
Parent systems
Child systems
Tai Viet
Sister systems
Fakkham
ISO 15924
ISO 15924Thai (352), ​Thai
Unicode
Unicode alias
Thai
U+0E00–U+0E7F
 This article contains phonetic transcriptions in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA). For an introductory guide on IPA symbols, see Help:IPA. For the distinction between [ ], / / and ⟨ ⟩, see IPA § Brackets and transcription delimiters.

The Thai script (Thai: อักษรไทย, RTGSakson thai, pronounced [ʔàksɔ̌ːn tʰāj]) is the abugida used to write Thai, Southern Thai and many other languages spoken in Thailand. The Thai script itself (as used to write Thai) has 44 consonant symbols (Thai: พยัญชนะ, phayanchana), 16 vowel symbols (Thai: สระ, sara) that combine into at least 32 vowel forms, four tone diacritics (Thai: วรรณยุกต์ or วรรณยุต, wannayuk or wannayut), and other diacritics.

Although commonly referred to as the Thai alphabet, the script is in fact not a true alphabet but an abugida, a writing system in which the full characters represent consonants with diacritical marks for vowels; the absence of a vowel diacritic gives an implied 'a' or 'o'. Consonants are written horizontally from left to right, and vowels following a consonant in speech are written above, below, to the left or to the right of it, or a combination of those.