Thailand Languages

The national language of Thailand is Thai, spoken by about 53% of the population. Many more speak it as a second language. Lao is spoken by about 27%, and Chinese 12%. Malay is spoken by 4% and Khmer 3%. English is widely used in business, as are many of the Chinese dialects. Records were kept in Thai, Lao, Malay, Chinese and English.

Guidelines for Romanizing Thai Place Names
Refer to Thailand Gazetteers page: Thailand Gazetteers

Key Words
To find and use specific types of Thai records, you will need to know some key words in Thai. This section gives key genealogical terms in English and the Thai words with the same or similar meanings.

For example, in the first column you will find the English word marriage. In the second column you will find Thai words with meanings such as marry, marriage, wedding, wedlock, unite, joined, and other words used in Thai records to indicate marriage.

Calendar, Months, Days
To work with Thai family history records, you will need to understand the Thai calendar and know the related words in Thai. This section gives key calendar terms in English and the Thai words with the same or similar meanings.

Thai Calendars
The following Wikipedia.org articles explain the two Thai calendar systems:


 * Thai Lunar Calendar
 * Thai Solar Calendar