ก — ko kai (chicken)
«ko kai (chicken)» is a consonant of the Thai script, read as “k, no puff of air”. Middle class. The k of "ski" — no puff of air after it; at the end of a syllable the k closes without release. For example, in the word “ไก่” — chicken. The Thai alphabet has 63 letters in total. It appears, for example, in the word “กรุณา” — please (as a request).
In short
| Character | ก |
| Name | ko kai (chicken) |
| Sound | k, no puff of air |
| What it is | a consonant |
In our course the character comes 1st of 67: the order here is not alphabetical but from familiar to unfamiliar, after it comes จ, appears in roughly every fifth word on this site.
How to type ก
- On a phone: add the Thai keyboard in the keyboard settings (Gboard on Android; Keyboards in the iPhone settings).
- In Word on Windows: type U+0E01 and press Alt+X right after it — the code turns into the character.
- On a Mac: switch to the Unicode Hex Input source, hold Option and type 0E01.
- Unicode code point: U+0E01. With it, the character can be found in the character map of any system.
How it sounds
Middle class. The k of "ski" — no puff of air after it; at the end of a syllable the k closes without release
The character in a word
A lone character is hard to remember: memory holds on to meaning, and a letter has none. The word it stands in provides that anchor.
- ไก่гайchicken
The character in the “middle class — nine consonants” group
อักษรกลาง. Reading starts from these nine. A live syllable with no tone mark takes the even mid tone; a dead one takes the low tone. They are also the only class that regularly takes the three-stroke mark ๊ and the rising hook ๋.
Words with this character
- กรุณาкарунаplease (as a request)
- แล้ว เจอกันлаэо джёканbye
- เยี่ยม มากйиам макgreat
- ลา ก่อนлаа конgoodbye
- พวก คุณпхуак кхунyou (plural)
- ยินดี ที่ ได้ รู้จักйинди ти дай руджакnice to meet you
- พวก เขาпхуак кхаоthey
- คุณ มา จาก ไหนкхун ма джак найwhere are you from?
- พูด อีกครั้งпхуыт иккхрангsay it again, please
- พูด ภาษา อังกฤษ ได้ ไหม?пхуыт пхаса ангкрит дай май?do you speak English?
- กาแฟкафэcoffee
- ร้าน กาแฟран кафэcoffeehouse
How to remember this character
A single letter is the hardest thing to remember: memory has nothing to hold on to — a character has no meaning. A three-step loop works: see the character, try to recall the sound (for «ko kai (chicken)» it is “k, no puff of air”, as in the word “ไก่”), see the right answer.
And come back to it the next day, not in an hour: a check a day or two later beats a check the same day. Nobody holds the whole alphabet — 63 letters — at once.
- It is better to test yourself the next day than at the end of the same session. That is why a word comes back to you tomorrow.checked many timesAdesope, Trevisan & Sundararajan, 2017, Review of Educational Research 87(3) · g = 0.82 when tested a day or two later, against 0.56 on the same day.
- Studying a little every day gets more into your head than spending the same total time in one sitting.checked many timesDonovan & Radosevich, 1999, Journal of Applied Psychology 84(5) · 63 studies compared, difference d = 0.46 — a sizeable figure for a learning effect.
Frequently asked
How does the Thai character ก read?
As “k, no puff of air” — it is a consonant of the Thai script. Middle class. The k of "ski" — no puff of air after it; at the end of a syllable the k closes without release. For example, in the word “ไก่” — chicken.
What is the letter ก called?
Ko kai (chicken). A character's name and its sound are different things in the Thai script: it is called “ko kai (chicken)” and reads as “k, no puff of air”. Learn the second one: the name only helps when the alphabet is recited aloud.