ไ — sara ai maimalai
«sara ai maimalai» is a vowel of the Thai script, read as “ai (everywhere else)”. The same diphthong ai; every ai-word outside the twenty-word list is written with this sign. For example, in the word “ไป” — to go. The Thai alphabet has 63 letters in total. Pairs with ใ: one sound, the split is tradition and the twenty-word list. On a carrier the character looks like this: ไอ. It appears, for example, in the word “ไม่ ใช่” — no.
In short
| Character | ไ |
| Name | sara ai maimalai |
| Sound | ai (everywhere else) |
| What it is | a vowel |
| On the carrier | ไอ |
In our course the character comes 49th of 67: the order here is not alphabetical but from familiar to unfamiliar, its neighbours in the course are ใ and า, appears in 381 words of this site.
How to type ไ
- 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+0E44 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 0E44.
- Unicode code point: U+0E44. With it, the character can be found in the character map of any system.
How it sounds
The same diphthong ai; every ai-word outside the twenty-word list is written with this sign
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.
- ไปпайto go
The character in the “vowels written before the consonant” group
The sign stands to the LEFT of the consonant, but the sound comes after it. So เ + ข + า makes เขา, read khao. This is the first habit to build. ใ and ไ are one sound, ai, in two signs: "the one in twenty words" and "all the rest".
Words with this character
- ไม่ ใช่май чайno
- สบายดี ไหม?сабайди май?how are you?
- คุณ เป็น อย่างไรкхун пен янграйhow are you? (polite)
- ไม่ค่อย สบายмайкхой сабайnot so well
- คุณ ชื่อ อะไร?кхун чыэ арай?what is your name?
- ยินดี ที่ ได้ รู้จักйинди ти дай руджакnice to meet you
- คุณ มา จาก ไหนкхун ма джак найwhere are you from?
- ไม่ เข้าใจмай кхаочайI don't understand
- พูด ภาษา อังกฤษ ได้ ไหม?пхуыт пхаса ангкрит дай май?do you speak English?
- เท่า ไหร่?тао рай?how much is it?
- ไวน์вайwine
- ผล ไม้пон майfruit
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 «sara ai maimalai» it is “ai (everywhere else)”, as in the word “ไป”), 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 ไ read?
As “ai (everywhere else)” — it is a vowel of the Thai script. The same diphthong ai; every ai-word outside the twenty-word list is written with this sign. For example, in the word “ไป” — to go.
What is the letter ไ called?
Sara ai maimalai. A character's name and its sound are different things in the Thai script: it is called “sara ai maimalai” and reads as “ai (everywhere else)”. Learn the second one: the name only helps when the alphabet is recited aloud.
What can ไ be confused with?
Pairs with ใ: one sound, the split is tradition and the twenty-word list. Similar characters are best studied side by side and deliberately compared: learned on different days, they stay separate and get mixed up at their first meeting inside a word.