ฐ — tho than (base)
«tho than (base)» is a consonant of the Thai script, read as “th (spare, Pali loans)”. High class. The aspirated t of ถ; kept for Pali and Sanskrit spellings. For example, in the word “ฐาน” — base, pedestal. The Thai alphabet has 63 letters in total. It appears, for example, in the word “รัฐ” — state (power).
In short
| Character | ฐ |
| Name | tho than (base) |
| Sound | th (spare, Pali loans) |
| What it is | a consonant |
In our course the character comes 13th of 67: the order here is not alphabetical but from familiar to unfamiliar, its neighbours in the course are ฉ and ถ, appears in 11 words of this site.
How to type ฐ
- 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+0E10 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 0E10.
- Unicode code point: U+0E10. With it, the character can be found in the character map of any system.
How it sounds
High class. The aspirated t of ถ; kept for Pali and Sanskrit spellings
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.
- ฐานтханbase, pedestal
The character in the “high class — eleven consonants” group
อักษรสูง. A live syllable with no mark reads rising, a dead one reads low. The silent letter ห lives here. In front of another consonant it makes no sound of its own, but it lifts the pair into the high class.
- ขkh (aspirated k)kho khai (egg)
- ฃkh (obsolete, as ข)kho khuat (bottle)
- ฉch (aspirated)cho ching (curtain)
- ถth (aspirated t)tho thung (bag)
- ผph (aspirated p)pho phueng (bee)
- ฝf (high class)fo fa (lid)
- ศs (spare, Pali loans)so sala (pavilion)
- ษs (rare, Sanskrit)so ruesi (hermit)
- สs (the common one)so suea (tiger)
- หh (silent class shifter)ho hip (chest)
Words with this character
- รัฐратstate (power)
- รัฐ บาลрат тхабанgovernment; cabinet
- การ ประดิษฐ์кан прадитinvention
- ปัญญา ประดิษฐ์панйа прадитartificial intelligence
- หลัก ฐานлак тхаанproof; evidence
- พื้น ฐานпын тхаанgrounds; basis
- สมมติ ฐานсаммот тхаанhypothesis
- มาตรฐานматратхаанstandard; norm
- อิฐитbrick
- ฐาน รากтхаан раакfoundation
- อูฐуутcamel
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 «tho than (base)» it is “th (spare, Pali loans)”, as in the word “ฐาน”), 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 ฐ read?
As “th (spare, Pali loans)” — it is a consonant of the Thai script. High class. The aspirated t of ถ; kept for Pali and Sanskrit spellings. For example, in the word “ฐาน” — base, pedestal.
What is the letter ฐ called?
Tho than (base). A character's name and its sound are different things in the Thai script: it is called “tho than (base)” and reads as “th (spare, Pali loans)”. Learn the second one: the name only helps when the alphabet is recited aloud.