Texts in Thai
Short texts in Thai with a translation alongside and comprehension questions, levels A1–B1. The first ones need two or three hundred everyday words; the B1 texts need about three thousand. The translation stands next to it whole, not word by word: stopping at every other word tears the sentence apart.
All texts
- 📖An ordinary dayA1 · Hello! My name is Mana, and I live here. In the morning I drink coffee and eat bread.…
- 📖At the marketA2 · Tomorrow we are going to the market. The market is close to the house. At the market…
- 📖A morning at the marketA1 · Today I went to the market with Mom, in the morning. There are many people at the market.…
- 📖Our apartmentA2 · My apartment is on the fourth floor. There are two rooms and a bathroom. The room has a…
- 📖A visit to the doctorA2 · Yesterday my head hurt and I had a temperature. I went to the doctor with Mom. There were…
- 📖Three seasonsA2 · This city has three seasons. In the hot season it is very hot. In the rainy season it…
- 📖My jobA2 · I work in an office. I have ten colleagues. Every day at nine there is a meeting. There…
- 📖By train to the mountainsA2 · On Monday I will go to see the mountains. I have already booked a return ticket. The…
- 📖Saturday at the seaA2 · On Saturday the family goes to the beach. The weather is fine, and the sun is very hot.…
- 📖A jacket that fitsA2 · The old jacket is short and narrow. On Tuesday I went to a clothes shop. I tried the…
- 📖A quarrel and a make-upA2 · Yesterday a friend quarreled with me. He is very angry. I apologized, but he keeps…
- 📖An evening at a restaurantA2 · On Saturday Mom and I went to a restaurant. I asked for a table for two and a menu. Mom…
- 📖Seven missed callsA2 · On Monday I worked all day and did not look at my phone. In the evening I saw seven…
- 📖A haircut before the holidayA2 · The holiday is soon, so I went to the barbershop. It is close to the house; I walked…
- 📖A concert in the parkA2 · On Saturday a friend and I went to a concert in the park. There was a crowd; everyone was…
- 📖Sunday at the templeA2 · On Sunday my family went to the temple. Grandma goes to the temple every week. At the…
- 📖A house with a yardA2 · The family rented a new house: there is a yard and a fence. The roof is fine, but the…
- 📖The first yearA2 · This year my elder brother entered the university. He studies at the history department.…
- 📖Where the money goesB1 · Our family makes a budget every month. The income arrives in the bank account. First we…
- 📖Three days at the hospitalB1 · Yesterday late at night my stomach hurt badly. The family called an ambulance. At the…
- 📖The contract is signedB1 · Last month I went to an interview. I passed the interview and got the job. I signed an…
- 📖Setting up the apartmentA2 · Last month we moved into a new apartment. The apartment came without furniture. First we…
- 📖On the road to the seaA2 · This year we rented a car and went to the sea together. First we buckled up and checked…
- 📖A sister and social mediaB1 · My younger sister has many followers on social media. She posts photos of food every day.…
- 📖A report at the police stationB1 · Yesterday a bag was stolen at the market. I went to report it to the police. The officers…
- 📖Not sure yetB1 · There is an offer of a new job in another city. On one hand, the salary is higher. On the…
- 📖Five papers in orderA2 · Last year I filed an application for a work permit. First I made a translation of the…
- 📖The neighbor upstairsA2 · The man upstairs is Uncle Somchai; he is fifty. He has gray hair, a long beard and…
- 📖An old friendB1 · My friend Natasha and I have known each other since childhood. Then a big…
- 📖Sunday lunchA2 · Every Sunday my family cooks together. Mom makes pasta with beef. Dad loves…
- 📖Shopping on the day offB1 · On my day off I went to the mall with a friend. We wanted to buy a new jacket. In the…
- 📖The washing machine is noisyB1 · A misfortune happened to our washing machine. You turn it on — it makes a loud noise.…
- 📖A night of thunderstormA2 · Last night there was a big thunderstorm. The thunder rolled very loudly, and the rain…
- 📖The car will not startB1 · Yesterday morning my car would not start. I called a technician to come look at it. The…
- 📖A year of ThaiB1 · A year ago I signed up for a Thai course at a school near home. Back then I spoke little…
- 📖Grandmother's villageA2 · Grandmother was born in a small village in the south. As a child she helped her mother…
- 📖A talk in the waiting roomB1 · On Monday a colleague called about a new job. He spoke very fast, and I could not keep up…
- 📖The first year of one's own businessB1 · Last year I left the factory and opened my own shop. The first client came through…
- 📖An order onlineA2 · Yesterday I bought shoes in an online shop. I chose payment on delivery; the delivery…
- 📖Our streetA2 · Five hundred people live in our estate. My childhood friend lives in this estate too.…
- 📖An evening at the theaterB1 · For my birthday this year a friend gave me a theater ticket. The director is famous, and…
- 📖The first marathonB1 · Last year I did no sport at all. Now I run every morning at the stadium. Before running I…
- 📖Measurements for a cupboardA2 · Before buying a new cupboard I first measured the bedroom. The room is three meters wide…
- 📖A month without cigarettesB1 · I smoked for ten years; every morning I drank coffee and smoked. Last year, after an…
- 📖A wedding at grandmother's houseA2 · My elder sister's wedding was held at our grandmother's house. In the morning Mom laid a…
- 📖The residents' meetingB1 · On Sunday the residents of the building gathered to talk about the old doors. The head of…
- 📖The exam passed first timeB1 · Last week I took an exam at a language school. Before the exam the teacher said: stay…
- 📖The old chestA2 · At grandmother's house there is an old cupboard; it is fifty years old. The cupboard is…
- 📖A path across the meadowB1 · Last week a friend and I went to the forest. The map said to go around the hill, but we…
- 📖Counting the waterB1 · Last month Dad began writing down the water meter readings. The water became three times…
- 📖The repair dragged onB1 · Last month we began renovating the kitchen. We thought we would finish in two weeks, but…
- 📖An experiment in classA2 · On Monday the science class ran an experiment. Each group took a water sample from three…
- 📖A village over thirty yearsB1 · Grandmother's village has stood by the river a long time. In the old days each family…
- 📖The river below the factoryB1 · Before, the factory dumped wastewater into the river every day. The fish in the river…
- 📖A day at the workshopA2 · The first day at the workshop began at eight. Before the start everyone received an…
- 📖A story from the stationB1 · Once I was waiting for a train at the station; the train was forty minutes late. Just…
- 📖The neighbor who keeps his wordB1 · My neighbor is a reserved man; he hardly talks with anyone. At first everyone thought him…
How to read a text in a language you barely know
First pass — all the way through, without peeking at the translation. The goal is not to understand but to catch familiar words: there will be more of them than you expect, and that feeling matters more than any rule.
Second pass — with the translation beside you. Now it becomes clear what exactly was in the way: an unknown word, a construction you did not get, or just reading speed.
Third pass — all the way through again. The second pass brings noticeably more, and this step is what makes reading useful: it turns analysis into recognition.
Frequently asked
What level do you need to read texts in Thai?
A1–B1. For the first texts the letters and two or three hundred everyday words are enough; the B1 texts need about three thousand. The translation sits next to it, so an unknown word does not stop the reading.
How many times should you reread the text?
Three times: without the translation, with it, and without it again. The third pass is what all of this is for — the second time you recognize noticeably more.