Sabai ใอ
ใอ sara ai
Short 'ai' with mai muan - 20 specific words only. Vowel 18 of 19, and a short one, which is half of what decides the tone of the syllable it sits in.
Length short
Sound ai
How it is written
The อ in the form above is a placeholder for whichever consonant the vowel attaches to, not part of the vowel itself.
This one is written before the consonant even though it is pronounced after it, which is the single most confusing thing about reading Thai for the first week.
Why the length matters
A short vowel makes an open syllable dead, and live or dead is one of the three things that decide a syllable's tone.
Words that use it
ใจjai
heart / mindใสsǎi
Clear / see-throughใบbai
Counting word for leaves and containersใช่châi
Yesใกล้glâi
Nearใหญ่yài
Bigใหม่mài
Newใจดีjai dee
Kind-heartedดีใจdee jai
Happy / gladทำใจtham jai
To come to terms with somethingตกใจdtòk jai
Startledสองใบsǒrng bai
Two sheetsขอบใจkhòrp jai
Thanks (said to someone younger)Examples from the course rather than a complete list, so the occasional word may only look like it uses this vowel.
วันละตัวก็พอ
wan la tua ko phoOne letter a day is enough
Drill all 68 characters in the app
Listening and recall drills, with audio on every character.
What free includes