Script guide › Brahmic / Indic
How to recognize Thai
Thai is one of 14 languages in Grafle's Brahmic / Indic group. Here's what it looks like, where you'll see it on signs, and how to tell it apart from its lookalikes.
Spot it fast
- Tiny circles (loops) where each stroke begins, tall 'crowned' letters, and stacked tone marks.
- No spaces between words.
What Thai looks like
มนุษย์ทั้งหลายเกิดมามีอิสระและเสมอภาคกัน
สวัสดีครับ/ค่ะ ยินดีที่ได้รู้จัก
กรุงเทพมหานครเป็นเมืองหลวงของประเทศไทย
Brahmic / Indic scripts: The scripts of South and Southeast Asia — letters hang from top bars, curl into loops, or stack vowel marks above and below.
Where you'll see it on signs
- Thailand
Easy to confuse with
- Lao — Thai letters start with tiny loops and wear pointed 'crowns'; Lao is rounder, simpler, with fewer letters.
- Khmer — Khmer is spikier and more ornate, with small subscript letters stacked underneath; Thai is simpler with its little start-loops.
- Burmese — Burmese is closed circles nearly everywhere; Thai has open loops, tall stems and pointed crowns.