How do I know what tone a Thai word is?

Three things decide it: the class of the initial consonant (mid, high or low), the tone mark if there is one, and whether the syllable is live or dead. There are fifteen combinations in total.

Why does the same tone mark give different tones?

Because the mark combines with the consonant class. Mai ek on a low-class consonant gives a falling tone; on a mid or high consonant it gives a low tone.

Tool

Find the tone, and the rule behind it

Type one Thai syllable and you get the tone, plus every step that led to it. Do that a dozen times and you stop needing the tool.

Thai syllable

Want to learn the rules rather than look them up? All fifteen lines are here.

Verdict

What this tool refuses to do

Where a rule alone cannot get it right, it says so instead of guessing. A confidently wrong tone is how you learn a word wrong.

One syllable at a time

Give it a whole word like สบาย sabai and it will ask you to split it yourself. Working out where a Thai syllable ends takes a dictionary, not a rule.

Clusters and silenced letters

A consonant cluster, or anything carrying ◌์, comes back untouched. Both change which letter the tone is read from.

Ambiguous vowel length

When the spelling could be read long or short, it tells you which reading it used rather than picking one quietly.

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