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Thai is a Tai-Kadai language spoken mainly in Thailand by about 60 million people. Thai is the national and official language of Thailand, and the first language of the Central Thai people and vast majority of the Thai people. It is also spoken as a second language by about 15 million people in Thailand, where it is an official language, as well as by about 2 million people in Isan in northeast Thailand. It is also spoken by small minorities in Laos, Cambodia, Myanmar, and South Africa. Thai has its own script, which is used for writing most Thai documents. The Thai script is an abugida, which means that each consonant has an inherent vowel sound. The Thai script is also used to write Lao, Isan, and a number of other minority languages spoken in Thailand. Thai is a tonal language, which means that the meaning of a word can change depending on the tone in which it is spoken. Thai has five tones: high, middle, low, rising, and falling. Thai is a member of the Tai-Kadai language family, which includes a number of other languages spoken in southern China, Vietnam, Laos, and Thailand. The Tai-Kadai language family is thought to be related to the Austronesian language family, which includes languages spoken in Southeast Asia, the Pacific Islands, and Madagascar.

Language group

Tai languages

Language locales, regions and scripts

Thai
th
Thai, Thailand, Thai
th-Thai-TH
Thai, Thailand
th-TH
Thai, Thai
th-Thai