Shangri Lingua

How to say “far” in Thai

ไกล

glai

/klaj/

ไกล means far.

Pronunciation and usage

Tone: mid

Listen closely for its opposite, ใกล้ (glâi), “near”. The sounds are the same, and only the tone is different.

Reading the romanization: the mark over a vowel shows its tone. bp and dt are a p and a t with no puff of air, while plain p, t and k have the puff. The IPA shows the exact sounds, and Learn the IPA explains how to read it.

Examples

  • บ้านของฉันอยู่ไกล

    bâan kǒng chǎn yòo glai/bâːn kʰɔ̌ːŋ t͡ɕʰǎn jùː klaj/

    My house is far away.

How it’s spelled

Thai is written in a fixed order, which isn’t always the order you hear. Here’s each letter of ไกล in the order you’d write it.

  • ไ

    The vowel “ai”. Written first, but heard after the consonant.

    sara ai mai malai

    Tall, with a wave across the top. Compare ใ.

  • ก

    “g” starts the word.

    ko kai, from ไก่ (chicken)Mid class

    No loop at all: a beak at the top left and two legs. Compare ภ and ถ, which add a loop.

  • ล

    “l” joins the ก, so the word starts “gl”.

    lo ling, from ลิง (monkey)Low class

    An arch with a loop at the foot on the left. Compare ส.

Why the tone is mid

  1. It starts with ก, which is mid class.
  2. There’s no tone mark, so the kind of syllable decides.
  3. It ends on a vowel that always counts as live.
  4. Mid class and live gives a mid tone.

New to consonant classes and live or dead syllables? See how Thai tones work.

Learn to write it

The Shangri Lingua app teaches ไกล in its Thai writing course. You write the word one letter at a time, with your finger or Apple Pencil, and the app checks each letter and gives you more help if you get stuck. Get it on the App Store.

More getting around

Browse all Thai vocabulary.