Thai Numbers: How to Count from 1 to 1,000,000

Thai numbers are one of the easiest parts of the language. There are ten basic words, two irregular forms to remember (one for 11, 21, 31… and one for 20), and every other number is built by putting words side by side, like in English. Learn the ten words below and you can already count to 99.

Every number in this article comes with its Thai script, its transliteration and its tone. The tone matters: สี่ sìi (4, low tone) and สี sǐi (color, rising tone) are different words.

The numbers 0 to 10

A few tips for pronunciation:

• bp in bpɛ̀ɛt (8) is an unaspirated p, between the English b and p. Say spin and keep the p from spin: that is the Thai ป.
• ʉ in nʉ̀ng (1) is the vowel of ee, said with your lips spread and your tongue pulled back. It has no English equivalent; the audio in the Thai alphabet guide lets you hear it.
• Doubled vowels (sǔun, sǎam, hâa) are long. Short and long vowels change the meaning in Thai, so hold them.

11 to 99: two irregular numbers

From 11 to 99, you build the number as tens + units, exactly like English “twenty-three”. Only two forms break the pattern:

1. 20 is ยี่สิบ yîi-sìp, not sɔ̌ɔng-sìp. The old word ยี่ yîi survives only here.
2. A final 1 becomes เอ็ด èt: 11 is สิบเอ็ด sìp-èt, 21 is ยี่สิบเอ็ด yîi-sìp-èt, 31 is สามสิบเอ็ด sǎam-sìp-èt.

That is the whole system up to 99. Note that 10 alone is just สิบ sìp, not “one ten”.

Hundreds, thousands and beyond

Thai has a separate word for every power of ten up to a million, including two that English lacks: ten thousand and a hundred thousand.

To say a round number, put the digit before the unit: 300 is สามร้อย sǎam-rɔ́ɔi, 5,000 is ห้าพัน hâa-pan, 20,000 is สองหมื่น sɔ̌ɔng-mʉ̀ʉn. For “one hundred” or “one thousand” you can say ร้อย rɔ́ɔi alone or หนึ่งร้อย nʉ̀ng-rɔ́ɔi; both are common.

Big numbers are read unit by unit, from the largest:

2,450 = สองพันสี่ร้อยห้าสิบ sɔ̌ɔng-pan sìi-rɔ́ɔi hâa-sìp

35,000 = สามหมื่นห้าพัน sǎam-mʉ̀ʉn hâa-pan (three ten-thousands, five thousands)

150,000 = หนึ่งแสนห้าหมื่น nʉ̀ng-sɛ̌ɛn hâa-mʉ̀ʉn

The trap for English speakers is 35,000: in Thai you do not say “thirty-five thousand” but “three mʉ̀ʉn, five pan”. Practise turning a few prices or salaries into mʉ̀ʉn and sɛ̌ɛn and it quickly becomes natural.

Reading Thai numerals

Thailand uses Arabic numerals (1, 2, 3) almost everywhere, but it also has its own digits: ๐ ๑ ๒ ๓ ๔ ๕ ๖ ๗ ๘ ๙. They work exactly like Arabic digits, in base ten, so ๒๕ is 25 and ๑๐๐ is 100.

You will see them on banknotes and coins, official documents, temple signs, some taxi plates and the price boards of traditional shops. The full list, with audio for each digit, is in the numerals section of our Thai alphabet guide.

Prices, money and shopping

Numbers are what you will use the most at the market or in a 7-Eleven. The currency is the baht, บาท bàat. Three phrases cover most situations:

You will also see เท่าไหร่ written เท่าไร, the more formal spelling; both are said tâo-rài. The little word ละ lá means “per”: กิโลละห้าสิบ gì-loo lá hâa-sìp is “fifty a kilo”. Sellers often drop the word bàat, so a price like hâa-sìp alone simply means 50 baht.

If you want to hear these phrases in a real situation, Hugo pays for fruit at a stall in the story At the market and buys snacks in At the 7-Eleven. Both are early levels.

Counting things: numbers and classifiers

One thing surprises learners: in Thai you cannot put a number directly before a noun. You say “cat two body” instead of “two cats”: แมวสองตัว mɛɛo sɔ̌ɔng dtua. The word after the number is a classifier, chosen according to the kind of thing you count: คน kon for people, ตัว dtua for animals and clothes, อัน an for small objects.

The order is always noun + number + classifier:

• นักเรียนสามคน nák-rian sǎam kon: three students
• เสื้อสองตัว sʉ̂a sɔ̌ɔng dtua: two shirts

Classifiers deserve an article of their own; for now, remember kon for people and an when you are not sure.

How to practise Thai numbers

• Say prices out loud. Every time you see a price in baht, read it in Thai in your head, especially prices above 10,000 to train mʉ̀ʉn and sɛ̌ɛn.
• Watch the tones from the start. sìi (4) and sǐi (color), hâa (5) and hǎa (to look for): getting the tone right is what makes a number understandable.
• Learn them in context. Numbers stick better when they belong to a scene: a price at a stall, a time, a bus number. That is how they appear in the Kru May stories, with every sentence read aloud at natural and slow speed.