ฐ

Thai letter tho thaan (ฐ)

High-class consonant 16 of 44. It is written ฐ ฐาน in full, the way Thai children learn it, and sounds like "th" at the start of a syllable.

Class high Initial th Final t
ฐ tho thaan

Remember it

A pedestal base - solid and wide at the bottom.

Thai children learn the letter by its full name, ฐ ฐาน tho thaan, picture and all. Say the whole thing and the shape comes with it.

What its class does to the tone

High class cannot take mai tri or mai chattawa, and an unmarked live syllable comes out rising rather than mid. These three lines cover most of what you will meet, and they hold for ฐ exactly as they do for every other high-class letter.

live syllable, no mark rising tone ขา khǎa Leg
with mai ek low tone ไข่ khài Egg
with mai tho falling tone ข้าว khâo Rice

The examples are whichever high-class word shows the rule most clearly. The full grid for all three classes is here.

Letters that sound the same

6 letters, one sound. Which one a word uses is spelling history rather than pronunciation, so these are learned as part of the word.

Words that use it

Every line here is one you will meet again in a lesson. Press play to hear it.

ฐานthǎan
base / pedestal
ฐานะthǎa ná
status / position
มาตรฐานmâat-dtrà-thǎan
Standard
หลักฐานlàk thǎan
Evidence
อธิษฐานà thít thǎan
To make a wish
ประดิษฐ์bprà dìt
To make or invent
ขออธิษฐานก่อนนะkhǒr à thít thǎan gòrn ná
Let me make a wish first
มีหลักฐานไหมครับmee làk thǎan mǎi khráp
Is there any evidence?
Changdee, a Sabai Thai companion
วันละตัวก็พอ wan la tua ko phoOne letter a day is enough

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