Thai Numbers, Numerals and Counting
Thai’s are always talking numbers; the prices of things, lottery numbers, lucky phone numbers! So let’s get learning Thai numbers and numerals in, saam… song… neung!
Counting in Thai is pretty easy. If you memorize just 17 words, you can count up to the millions. Knowing the numbers and being able to count come in handy when haggling prices in Thailand.
The numbers 1-10 are the foundation of all the others.
| Arabic Numerals | Thai Numerals | Thai Word | Pronunciation |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0 | ๐ | ศูนย์ | sŏon |
| 1 | ๑ | หนึ่ง | nèung |
| 2 | ๒ | สอง | sŏng |
| 3 | ๓ | สาม | săam |
| 4 | ๔ | สี่ | sèe |
| 5 | ๕ | ห ้า | hâa |
| 6 | ๖ | หก | hòk |
| 7 | ๗ | เจ็ด | jèt |
| 8 | ๘ | แปด | bpà et |
| 9 | ๙ | เก ้า | gâo |
| 10 | ๑๐ | สิบ | sìp |
As you can see above, the Thai language has its own set of numerals, but you’ll mostly see the standard Arabic/Western numerals.
You might spot the Thai numerals in government and official documents, legal documents, religious texts, textbook page numbers, and anything else related to Thai tradition or history. One common use for Thai numerals is in double pricing situations. The price for Thais is written in Thai numerals, while the more expensive price for foreigners is written in Arabic numerals. If you learn the Thai numerals, you’ll have a better chance of only paying the Thai price!
Interestingly, when doing math, Thai students usually use Arabic numerals for calculations but write the answers in Thai numerals.
Next we have the numbers 12-19, which are the same as 2-9 except with the number ten , สิบ ( sìp ), in front of them.
11 is slightly different, as from 11 onwards whenever หนึ่ง ( nèung , the number 1) is the last word in a number it becomes
เอ็ด ( è t ) instead.
| Arabic Numeral | Thai Numeral | Thai Word | Pronunciation |
|---|---|---|---|
| 11 | ๑๑ | สิบเอ็ด | sìp èt |
| 12 | ๑๒ | สิบสอง | sìp sŏng |
| 13 | ๑๓ | สิบสาม | sìp săam |
| 14 | ๑๔ | สิบสี่ | sìp sèe |
| 15 | ๑๕ | สิบห | sìp hâa |
| 16 | ๑๖ | สิบหก | sìp hò k |
| 17 | ๑๗ | สิบเจ็ด | sìp jè t |
| 18 | ๑๘ | สิบแปด | sìp bpàet |
| 19 | ๑๙ | สิบเก ้า | sìp gâo |
For the numbers greater than 19, the multiple of ten is placed before the สิบ sìp at the start of the number. For
instance, 30 is สามสิบ săam sìp which if translated literally is just “three ten”. Numbers in the twenties are an
exception though, as 20 is ยี่สิบ yêe sìp not สอง สิบ sŏng sìp.
| Arabic Numerals | Thai Numerals | Thai Word | Pronunciation |
|---|---|---|---|
| 20 | ๒๐ | ยี่สิบ | yêe sìp |
| 21 | ๒๑ | ยี่สิบเอ็ด | yêe-sìp-èt |
| 22 | ๒๒ | ยี่สิบสอง | yêe-sìp-sŏng |
| 23 | ๒๓ | ยี่สิบสาม | yêe-sìp-săam |
| 30 | ๓๐ | สามสิบ | săam sìp |
| 31 | ๓๑ | สามสิบเอ็ด | săam-sìp-èt |
| 32 | ๓๒ | สามสิบสอง | săam-sìp-sŏng |
| 40 | ๔๐ | สี่สิบ | sèe sìp |
| 50 | ๕๐ | ห ้าสิบ | hâa sìp |
| 60 | ๖๐ | หกสิบ | hòk sìp |
| 70 | ๗๐ | เจ็ดสิบ | jèt sìp |
| 80 | ๘๐ | แปดสิบ | bpàet sìp |
| 90 | 90 ๙๐ | เก ้าสิบ | gâo sìp |
| 99 | ๙๙ | เก ้าสิบเก ้า | gâo-sìp-gâo |
Above 99 we have 100 which is ร ้อย rói and 1000 พัน pan.
| Arabic Numerals | Thai Numerals | Thai Word | Pronunciation |
|---|---|---|---|
| 100 | ๑๐๐ | หนึ่งร ้อย | nèung rói |
| 200 | ๒๐๐ | สองร ้อย | sŏng ró i |
| 555 | ๕๕๕ | ห ้าร ้อยห ้าสิบห ้า | hâa-ró i-hâa-sì p-hâa |
| 1000 | ๑๐๐๐ | หนึ่งพัน | nèung pan |
| 9999 | ๙๙๙๙ | เก ้าพันเก ้าร ้อยเก ้าสิบเก ้า | gâo-pan-gâo-ró i-gâo-sìp-gâo |
Thai is a bit different from English as it also has separate words for these bigger numbers:
10,000 (หมื่น , mèun )
100,000 (แสน , săen )
1,000,000 (ล ้าน ,láan )
| Arabic Numerals | Thai Numerals | Thai Word | Pronunciation |
|---|---|---|---|
| 10,000 | ๑๐ ,๐๐๐ | หนึ่งหมื่น | nèung mèun |
| 123,45 | ๑๒๓ ,๔๕๖ | หนึ่งแสนสองหมื่นสามพันสี่ร ้อยห ้าสิบหก | nèung săensŏng mèun săam pan sèe rói hâa sìp hòk |
| 1,999,999 | ๑ ,๙๙๙ ,๙๙๙ | หนึ่งล ้านเก ้าแสนเก ้าหมื่นเก ้าพันเก ้าร ้อยเก ้าสิบเก ้า | nèung láan gâo săen gâo mèun gâo pan gâo rói gâo sìp gâo |
In everyday language, the number 1 is often skipped when it comes first in a number, except for itself, of course. And as you might guess, words like nèung, rói, pan, mèun, and săen are also commonly dropped when they’re the last words in a bigger number.
For example, the word ‘rói’ can be dropped when it’s the last word and the number is greater than 1000. Similarly, the letter ‘pan’ can be dropped when it’s the last word and the number is greater than 10,000.
Take the number 1600 as an example. Its full pronunciation is nèung pan hòk rói, but in everyday conversations, people usually shorten it to just pan hòk.
So that wraps up pretty much all you’ll ever need to know about Thai numbers and numerals. Don’t worry if you haven’t memorized everything, as you’ll pick up the details in everyday use. But you should have a much better idea about what to listen for next time you are in Seven 11, and you can always read the total off the screen to check you got it right!
