า — sara au
«sara au» is a vowel of the Thai script, read as “au, wrapping the consonant”. The diphthong au as in "cloud"; it hugs the consonant from both sides — เ + ข + า = เขา, khao. For example, in the word “เขา” — he; mountain. The Thai alphabet has 63 letters in total. The only vowel written on both sides of the consonant. The char here is its right half; the left half is sara e. On a carrier the character looks like this: เา. It appears, for example, in the word “สวัสดี ตอน บ่าย” — good afternoon.
In short
| Character | า |
| Name | sara au |
| Sound | au, wrapping the consonant |
| What it is | a vowel |
| On the carrier | เา |
In our course the character comes 50th of 67: the order here is not alphabetical but from familiar to unfamiliar, its neighbours in the course are ไ and ะ, appears in roughly every other word on this site.
How to type า
- 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+0E32 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 0E32.
- Unicode code point: U+0E32. With it, the character can be found in the character map of any system.
How it sounds
The diphthong au as in "cloud"; it hugs the consonant from both sides — เ + ข + า = เขา, khao
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.
- เขาкхаоhe; mountain
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
- สวัสดี ตอน บ่ายсаватди тон байgood afternoon
- กรุณาкарунаplease (as a request)
- สบายดี ไหม?сабайди май?how are you?
- คุณ เป็น อย่างไรкхун пен янграйhow are you? (polite)
- สบายดีсабайдиfine
- ไม่ค่อย สบายмайкхой сабайnot so well
- เยี่ยม มากйиам макgreat
- ลา ก่อนлаа конgoodbye
- สวัสดี ตอน เช้าсаватди тон чаоgood morning
- เขาкхаоhe
- เราраоwe
- เรา สอง คนрао сонг кхонthe two of us
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 au» it is “au, wrapping the consonant”, as in the word “เขา”), 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 า read?
As “au, wrapping the consonant” — it is a vowel of the Thai script. The diphthong au as in "cloud"; it hugs the consonant from both sides — เ + ข + า = เขา, khao. For example, in the word “เขา” — he; mountain.
What is the letter า called?
Sara au. A character's name and its sound are different things in the Thai script: it is called “sara au” and reads as “au, wrapping the consonant”. Learn the second one: the name only helps when the alphabet is recited aloud.