The Thai language has five tones, neutral tone, low tone, the falling tone, high tone and rising tone.
The same syllable with a different tone will sometimes radically different meanings.
A good understanding of tone is a prerequisite to learning capital of the Thai language.
Before detailing the rules governing the tone of a syllable, I offer a record of these five tones.
Listen and repeat, make sure you understand the difference between these five tones is crucial.
1. Initial consonant + long vowel = rising tone
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 khaa |
haa |
siia |
phii |
| leg | Search | Broken / Lose | Phantom |
2. Initial consonant + short vowel = low tone
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 |
 |
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 khi |
tchae |
thaw |
tha |
These examples are meaningless but this rule applies to words with more syllables
3. Initial consonant + any vowel + final consonant k, p, t = low tone
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 |
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| sak |
so:ht |
khap |
khaat |
| Only | Single | Drive | Torn |
4. Initial consonant + any vowel + final consonant ng, n, m = rising tone
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 |
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| tchan |
fan |
thoong |
saawng |
| I (female) | Dream | Bag | Two |
5. Initial consonant + any vowel + accent
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 |
 |
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| Low tone | Falling tone | don't exist | don't exist |
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