Thailand's official national language is Thai, as spoken and written in Central Thailand. Dialects are spoken in rural areas.

Written Thai consists of an alphabet of 44 consonants and 32 vowels that combine to form syllabic sounds. There are 5 tones in Thai, including low, mid, falling, high and rising. For example, depending on the tone, the syllable mai can mean 'new', 'burn', 'wood', 'not?' or ' not'. You should now appreciate the importance of tones in the Thai language.

Here are some common Thai phrases that may be useful to you when you visit Thailand.