Whether you're paying for a boat ticket, haggling over a price in the local market, or dissecting the menu prices at a local restaurant, knowing how to count in Thai is very useful.
In my opinion, learning the Thai numbers is one of the easiest aspects of the language to learn, largely because you hear numbers being spoken in so many aspects of daily life that they are easily picked up and remembered.
In this language-learning post, I cover numbers 0-20, multiples of 10, multiples of one hundred, one thousand, and even a million. You'll also learn the Thai number symbols, which can be used to create and write any number you like.
It's super easy to pick up. You'll immediately identify patterns in counting that will enable you to learn really fast.
I've included the transliterations for you, too, so if you aren't familiar with the Thai script you can still get to grips with a close pronunciation.
Please note that my interpretation of the Thai script may differ slightly from others you come across, but I always try my best to translate exactly how it sounds in English, so that you can get as close to the sound as possible – and most importantly so Thai people will understand you!
You might also like to take this opportunity to practice your Thai writing. The words aren't very long, and numbers 0-20 in particular are fairly easy to write.
Let's get started.
Learn to Count in Thai: Numbers 0-19
0. ศูนย์ – Soon (zero)
1. หนึ่ง – Neung (one)
2. สอง – Song (two)
3. สาม – Sam (three)
4. สี่ – See (four)
5. ห้า – Haa (five)
6. หก – Hok (six)
7. เจ็ด – Jet (seven)
8. แปด – Bpaaet (eight)
9. เก้า – Kao (nine)
10. สิบ – Sip (ten)
11. สิบเอ็ด – Sip-et (eleven)
12. สิบสอง – Sip-song (twelve)
13. สิบสาม – Sip-sam (thirteen)
14. สิบสี่ – Sip-see (fourteen)
15. สิบห้า – Sip-ha (fifteen)
16. สิบหก – Sip-hok (sixteen)
17. สิบเจ็ด -Sib-jet (seventeen)
18. สิบแปด – Sib-bpaaet (eighteen)
19. สิบเก้า – Sib-kao (nineteen)
Thai Number Symbols
Before we go any further, now is a good time to introduce you to the traditional Thai number symbols.
You will commonly see these used to represent numbers 1-9. For example, instead of seeing the written number for 1 (หนึ่ง), you may see the symbol instead, which is ๑.
Here are the number symbols.
1. ๑
2. ๒
3. ๓
4. ๔
5. ๕
6. ๖
7. ๗
8. ๘
9. ๙
The symbol for zero is ๐.
You can mix and match these symbols to create a number. For example:
- 21 would be ๒๑
- 30 would be ๓๐
- 100 would be ๑๐๐
Bear in mind that you can use English written numbers in Thailand. Many Thais, particularly the younger generation, are very used to seeing and writing English numbers.
Now let's move on to multiples of ten.
Counting in Multiples of Ten: Numbers 20 – 90
20. ยี่สิบ – Yee sip (twenty)
Note that counting ones within any multiple of 10, such as 20, 30, 40, etc, is really simple. You just use the numbers you learned for 1-9 , with the exception of number one (หนึ่ง – Nung), which becomes ‘et', like this:
- Yee sip et
- Yee sip song
- Yee sip sam
- Yee sip see
And the same applies to all the multiples of 10 below, which I'll provide a few more examples for so that you get the idea,
30. สามสิบ – Saem sib (thirty)
- Sam sip et
- Sam sip song
- Sam sip saem
- Sam sip see
40. สี่สิบ – See sip (forty)
- See sip et
- See sip song
- See sip saem
- See sip see
50. ห้าสิบ – Haa sip (fifty)
60. หกสิบ – Hok sip (sixty)
70. เจ็ดสิบ – Jet sip (seventy)
80. แปดสิบ – Bpaaet sip (eighty)
90. เก้าสิบ – Kao sip (ninety)
Counting from 100 – 1,000,000
Now let's look at one hundred (100) onwards.
- One hundred: หนึ่งร้อย – Neung rói
It's really easy to count on from one hundred. Just use the numbers from 1-9 and add them in front of the word ‘roy'. Song rói, Sam rói, See rói, etc.
- One thousand: หนึ่งพัน – Neung pan
Again, simply count on: Song pan, Sam pan, See pan, etc.
- Ten thousand: หนึ่งหมื่น – Neung meuun
And we apply the same principal again: Song meuun, Sam meuun, See meuun, etc.
- One hundred thousand: หนึ่งแสน – Neung saen
Yes, that's right, we count on using our numbers 1-9 again: Song saen, Sam saen, See saen.
- One million: หนึ่งล้าน – Neung laan
You've guess it! Two million is Song laan, three million is Sam laan, and so it continues…
A Thai Numbers Test for You
If you've been paying attention, which I'm sure you have, you'll now be able to count in Thai. You will have noticed the simple patterns the numbers adopt as they increase in value.
For example, you should be able to work out that 320 is Sam rói yee sip. All I did there was add the number 20 to the number 300.
So here's a little task for you: Can you work out what two thousand, two hundred and fifty two is (2,252)?
Leave your answer in the comments section, along with any questions you may have.
I hope you found this count in Thai lesson useful.
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