Known as the “Land of Smiles”, the language of the warm locals of Thailand has a major contribution to this uniqueness and the country Thailand does not disappoint the world — whether it is the travel experience or the uniqueness they can represent.
There are almost 73 living languages in Thailand!
However, do you know what the most spoken Thailand language is?
If you answered Thai, you are in the right direction. Thailand’s national language is spoken by approximately 88 per cent of the country’s population of around 69 million people.
Thai
The Thai language, historically known as Siamese, has a complex yet dynamic blend of historical background. It is part of the larger Tai language family that emerged from the Proto-Tai. Their speakers migrated to South East Asia over 2,000 years ago, and it was first written in 1283.
The interesting fact about the Thai language resembles the original and today’s form of it.
As the official language and the most common one, the Thai language was translated into the Roman alphabet, although it has its own language. This is done to ease the communication of those who speak Western languages.
Nevertheless, Thai is not a monolith as there are different dialects of the Thai language spoken throughout the country. As Thai is a tonal language where the meaning changes depending on one’s tone, the tone and consonants’ fine differences make it incomprehensible for different dialect users.
Phu Thai, Shan, Southern Thai, Nyaw, Northern Thai, Song, Isan, Phuan, and Lu are included in regional Thai dialects.
Other foreign loanwords are also included in Thai, for instance — Chinese, Sanskrit, Khmer, Pāli, Portuguese, and more.
Of course, there are other languages spoken in Thailand. Check out the article below: