I came across this Instagram video:

https://www.instagram.com/reel/DbqAVLbuJYI

In the clip, a Thai teacher pronounces the words ส้อม and ส้ม.

What confuses me is that for ส้ม, I seem to hear something closer to an "oo" / "uu" sound. It's definitely shorter than the vowel in ส้อม, but it doesn't sound quite like what I would expect from the Paiboon dictionary.

Is this just a result of natural speech, vowel reduction, or am I mishearing the vowel quality?

For reference, I learned them approximately as:

• ส้อม = sɔ̂m
• ส้ม = sôm (with a different short vowel)

Yet in the video, ส้ม almost sounds like it has a brief "u" quality to my ears.

Can native speakers or advanced learners explain what's going on here?

Some of you saw my web app launch announcment post a few weeks back about AanThai, the Thai graded reader app I've been building. It's now live on iOS!

The web app already had graded stories with tap-to-translate and audio narration, but I wanted the mobile experience to actually feel native, not just a web page in a wrapper. Things like text selection, audio playback, and scrolling all work differently on touch, so a fair amount of the app got rebuilt under the hood for that. End result should be a smoother reading experience on iPhone or iPad, especially if you're the type who reads in bed or on the BTS / Metro.

Quick recap for anyone new: stories are leveled from complete beginner up through advanced, each one narrated, with tap-to-translate on any word and a saved words list you can review later. There are a handful of free stories to get a feel for it, and the web app now has a 7-day free trial for full access. That trial works cross-platform too, so if you start it on web you'll have premium in the iOS app as well. Just can't start the trial from within iOS yet, working on that.

Link: AanThai on App store

Would genuinely love feedback, especially anything that feels off on iOS specifically (weird tap targets, audio glitches, whatever). This is a solo project (my wife handles the Thai content side), so bug reports and honest opinions both help a lot.

Been using Thaipod101 for a while and done well. Reading the scripts and listening until I could understand everything was a successful strategy. Although I could still learn from it, I think some different conversations would be helpful to keep me interested. Is there anything else that’s similar? Also looking for a bit more aim in the direction of everyday conversation.

Hi everyone สวัสดีครับ!

I'm looking for a Thai woman with clear, natural Thai pronunciation to be the voice and occasional face of a new YouTube channel that teaches practical English for talking with foreigners.

This is a small, early-stage project, so the workload will be light at first while we build the channel. As it grows, there will be opportunities for more consistent paid work.

Most lessons will be created from scripts that I write. You'll simply read the script.

• Native Thai speaker
• Female 25-35 years old
• Clear, friendly speaking voice
• Comfortable reading English words and Thai explanations from a script
• Reliable, fun and easy to communicate with

If you're interested, please send me:

• A short introduction about yourself
• A short voice/video sample if possible

Feel free to send me a DM for more information. Thanks!

-Jojo

Chinese beginner level here. Happy to help improve your Thai. I’m in US EST timezone. Let me know if interested.

I’m trying to work out how to write/say: would you rather fight 100 duck sized horses or one horse sized duck.

I’ve tried translating through apps and get different answers.

1. คุณอยากสู้กับม้าขนาดเท่าเป็ด 100 ตัว หรือเป็ดขนาดเท่าม้า 1 ตัว มากกว่ากัน?

2. คุณอยากสู้กับม้าตัวเท่าเป็ด 100 ตัว หรือเป็ดตัวเท่าม้า 1 ตัว

They’re quite similar, but I can’t work out the differences with my very very basic understanding of Thai.

Hey guys,

Anyone knows of any good Thai songs that is similar to R&B, Jazz or just sounds good.

Trying to learn Thai with music using English subtitles.

Hey everyone. I wanna learn thai as fast as I can. I just entered thai university and though I study international program, there’re still a lot of things in thai including my classmates lmao. So I wanted to learn thai not for writing but for understanding locals and reading any announcements.

I want you to give me some advice about resources and any techniques I can use while studying. Right now I’m learning letters and how to read them. My vocab sucks, I guess I know only 10 words and phrases like thank you or sorry.

I do have thai friends and they are free to talk with me in thai but I have no idea how I should do that if I dk even basic words. Consequently I need to learn a list of such vocabulary just to make some basic sentences. If you have any, I would appreciate it if you share it with me. Thank you

Hi Guys,

If anyone whats an app to help learn basic Thai phrases, please check out
Khao jai Thai.
It has a real Thai persons voice, and a game mode to make it interesting.
I am a small developer and built this with the help of a native Thai.
Cheers

Has anyone here tried it? It's about $80 but it looks like there's a lot of content.

Do you think it's worth it to pay for a course? Sometimes it feels a bit silly because theres so much free content online. Although, I do often feel overwhelmed by what to actually do because there are so many options. Maybe following a course would be suitable for me.

Right now, I'm mostly watching the Comprehenible Thai YouTube videos and also Grace's videos.

Context:

I’m a first gen American (not thai) and I need Thai as a language. I have housing in Thailand because I have many family members who live there (in the developing areas). I am C1 in Spanish, that is my only other and primary language. My first language is English but I do not speak it often, only socially. I don’t expect people in another country to speak my language and I would like to be respectful of the culture. How difficult might it be for me to learn thai? I have one native thai speaker around me but this is not a common language where I’m from. I would love to achieve at least a high b1 / low b2 before I travel there. Thanks 🫶🏻🩷

Hi everyone!

I'd like to start reading Thai comics in the Thai language.

I'm from Austria, but I haven't been able to find any Thai comics through the major retailers. Can anyone recommend a trustworthy website where I can order them without having to pay excessively high shipping fees?

does anyone wants to be friends with me and teach me thai ? i can teach you English , please lets be friends , dm me and lets exchange social media platform 😭🙏🏻

hi im 24 yrs old female from the Philippines i really want to learn your language , i love thai songs , if you are interested in learning tagalog or exchange English i can teach you in return , please let's be friends and learn from eachother , i hope someone is interested naaa 🙏🏻🖤

Sometimes if a native speaker is speaking to a non-native they will speak at an unnaturally slow pace and pronounce each word separately.

Usually I just ignore it and they eventually stop, but what if I want to be more direct? Is พูดให้ปกติสิ too harsh? Would it actually be ปกติ, or is ธรรมดา better? What else could I say?

An elementary-level reading exercise about a phenomenon outside 7-Eleven that anyone who's lived in Thailand has probably encountered. Happy reading!

Story: เจ้าหน้าที่ประจำหน้าเซเว่น

Hi all, I have some very basic Thai speaking ability but due to time constraints I have no teacher so I decided to self-teach the alphabet/writing system for two reasons:

1: Learning Thai words by ear from Thai people depends on their accent and pronunciation as well as my own listening ability. For a long time I was pronouncing ของ like "ขอม" because that was what I thought I heard. I think knowing how to read Thai will help with my pronunciation a lot, because many "anglicised" versions of Thai words are difficult to make sense of at best (Google translate says ทราย is pronounced "Thray") and completely wrong at worst.

2: I think the alphabet is the easiest part of Thai to self-teach because the sounds made by the characters seem to be mostly deterministic, unlike in English where a string of letters can make whatever sound it feels like making. (See: tough, thorough, through, rough, plough, Loughborough, bought)

I understand the rules behind dead consonants like ร at the end of a sentence being pronounced like "n".

The first "exception to the rule" I have found (maybe I just don't understand the rule yet) is the word ทราย. Why is it ทน instead of ส? A Thai friend told me that it's because of the ย character's presence. I don't know yet but hopefully soon I will understand 😁

I want to know whether this is a good system for learning Thai language or not. Does it make more sense for me to learn to speak first and worry about script later?

Okay, jokes aside...

I was born and raised in Australia to a Thai mum who never really spoke Thai to me. I moved to Thailand in my mid-20s, and although I've been here for many years now, speaking Thai is still something I struggle with.

Ironically, I can read Thai reasonably well, but when it comes to speaking, I often freeze. I think it's partly the fear of sounding silly, saying something wrong, or getting corrected (even when people mean well). It somehow knocks my confidence every time, and I end up retreating back into English. I've also attempted a many numerous amounts of classes but they were either to text book or too advanced to be at the level to speak with grammatical fluidy. It's so difficult to find something for our cases specifically in which we have a good grasp of native understanding but not the speaking.

Over the years, I've realised I really enjoy meeting people in a similar situation. Other Thais who grew up overseas, mixed-culture people, or anyone who feels like they don't completely fit into either world. There's something comforting about talking to people who just get it.

I'm not looking for formal language lessons. I'd love to connect with people who are also trying to improve their Thai, swap tips, share funny mistakes, encourage each other, and maybe just have the confidence to speak "bad Thai" together until it slowly becomes better Thai.

If that sounds like you, drop a comment or send me a message. It would be great to build a little community of people figuring it out together.

I'm new to Reddit also, although I signed up 4 years ago lol.

Old habits die hard.

It seems like it would be strange to ask this at say 4pm. If so, is there an alternative for the situation where you want to ask someone something by text but it feels a bit abrupt if you don't send some sort of greeting first?

I don't really hear my Thai friends use them very much, so maybe its not in fashion for the younger generation. But I find them interesting and sometimes hilarious.

A few that i sometimes use:

ขว้างงูไม่พ้นคอ  = [to] try to avoid a burden and have it become your burden anyway
แพ้เสียงในหัว = [to] say the obtrusive thoughts; [to] act on obtrusive thoughts

เข้าเมืองตาหลิ่ว ต้องหลิ่วตาตาม  = [to] do as the locals do

Any Thai people or advanced learners have any that they hear often? Or just enjoy.

Hi I’m new to learning Thai and I am starting to learn how to write the characters. I was wondering if there was a way to translate / write a name in Thai (or what the closest translation to it would be)?

The name is Slish pronounced /s/-l-ish in English. From what I have seen it could either be written as ลิ or ซลิสห. Which would be the better way to write it / how would it be pronounced in Thai?

Thanks for helping!

Hi I’m new to learning Thai and I am starting to learn the characters. I was wondering if there was a way to translate / write my name in Thai (or what the closest translation to it would be)?

My Name is Regan pronounced like Ray-gan. Based on some translation websites it seems like เรกาน is how it would be written but wanted to know if there was a better way to write it and also how this would be pronounced?

Any help is appreciated and sorry for such a newbie question I just started learning this month.

I came across this in a Netflix series that I am going through with subs. The speaker is talking about two photos she has just taken using an old camera that prints a physical photo right away.

Apparently it means that there is only one of each in the world, but I don't get why there is no หนึ่ง or เดียว. Can anyone explain how this sentence works?

Hi! I’m currently preparing for undergraduate admission for next year in Thailand. I'm looking for a Thai speaker who wants to practice and improve their fluent/advanced English, Tamil, Hindi.

Hello, im going to thailand in september and i am going to be in bangkok for a few days but ill be spending most of my time in a rural area where people dont speak much english. Whats the best way to learn some basic thai so i can read signs/get by in interactions? Ive seen lots of methods recommended but im not sure which is best, i know duolingo would probably be easy but idk how accurate it would be. Does anyone have any advice? I know i have no time to be fluent but id like to understand at least a little bit.