Study Thai in Thailand: Learn a Language and Live for a Year Abroad

Explore Your Many Options at The Best Thai Language Schools

By Nathan Edgerton
Published 12/2014. Resources updated 5/10/2024 by Transitions Abroad

At a floating market in Thailand.

Whether you’re a traveler who’s been on the road for months and is finally looking to settle down for a while, or you’re looking to move abroad but want a soft landing in a new country, Thailand can be an attractive place to live. It’s the best country to stay in as a gateway to Southeast Asia, as it’s cheaper than Singapore and Malaysia but more comfortable and developed than Myanmar, Cambodia, Laos, and Vietnam.

Whether you plan to start a teaching stint, build a career in Southeast Asia, or try living abroad, Thailand is a great place to begin your journey. For an investment of about $1200-2000, you can get a year of Thai language lessons and a 1-year visa to live in Thailand.

Immerse Yourself in Thai Culture and Build Your Career

Learning Thai is, of course, one of the best ways to get to know Thailand. Knowing the language allows you to confidently enter many situations you would shy away from if you could speak only English. You can chat with people you meet on the street, try out plenty of local restaurants, order with assurance, and instantly gain the respect of everyone you meet.  

If you want to live in Thailand for the long term, learning the language is a huge asset. It’s difficult to find foreigners who can speak Thai, even in Bangkok and Chiang Mai, and it’s rarer still to find foreigners who can read and write Thai. Whether working as a teacher or in a company, knowing Thai will make you very important to your employer. I’ve been learning Thai for about 3 years now, and I can chat with people most of the evening, listen to news programs, watch movies, and read news stories and other texts. My studies have helped me to be able to answer the phone in Thai and read simple documents and emails without having to ask someone in the office to translate for me, which often comes in handy.

Thailand lacks skilled English speakers and regularly ranks near the bottom in international comparisons of English skill. Many Thai workers aren’t great with English, and at the same time, many Thai companies engage in international business and need people who can speak English well. You can be quite valuable to companies if you’re fluent in English and your Thai is very good.

An Affordable Way to Live Abroad

Thailand is an affordable yet comfortable place to live. In Bangkok, living is more costly. Yet, you can get a modest studio apartment with WIFI, TV, and air conditioning for about $325-$400 per month outside of the city center. You can eat at local restaurants for $2-5 per meal and go out for a pint for around $2-3. All in all, if you’re frugal, you can get by on $1000 per month; you can live quite comfortably on $1800 per month. I had a modest but furnished studio apartment with WIFI, air-conditioning, and TV just 10 minutes from the city center. I also had a gym membership and went out to eat for every meal. You can knock at least 25% off the cost if you live in Chiang Mai, and it’s cheaper still to live in smaller cities like Korat, Ayutthaya, or Chiang Rai.

You can check out the various costs via Numbeo for Bangkok and Thailand, which are itemized based on crowdsourced data.

As of 2024, the current cost to take the requisite courses in Thailand, including a Non-Immigrant ED visa, starts from $730 for a 6-month course to $1200 for a 14-month course at The Knowledge Thai language school in Bangkok, for example. Contact the language schools for more information.

About the Thai Language

Many foreigners believe that learning Thai is difficult because the language has more characters than English, the language is tonal, and the script is written without spaces in between words. However, there are a few reasons why learning Thai isn’t as hard as people believe.

Signs in Thai are everywhere on a busy street in Bangkok, Thailand.

The Thai language includes about 44 consonants and 18 vowels. Yet, some consonants are rarely used, and some vowels combine to form clusters, so it depends on what you choose to count. The best part about Thai script is that each letter or cluster of letters is pronounced the same way each time you see it. For example, consider how the “ough” cluster is pronounced differently in “cough,” “tough,” “bough,” and “ought.” On the other hand, in written Thai, it’s pretty easy to determine the pronunciation of a word from its written form.

Thai has 5 tones, so the meaning of a word can change depending on the tone used when it is pronounced. Foreigners worry that if they can’t get their tones perfect, Thai people won’t understand them. However, except for a few easily confused pairs (for example, the words for “near” and “far” are nearly pronounced the same way!), Thai people can generally understand what you mean based on the context, even though they may laugh because you said “horse” instead of “come.”

Finally, even though Thai is written without spaces between words, you can use various strategies to separate them. It all becomes easier as your vocabulary improves. Still, certain characters appear only at the beginning of syllables, and others appear only at the end. After a while, you’ll be able to break down strings of text quite easily.

Schools and Language Programs

Hundreds of schools around Thailand offer language courses and education visas for foreigners. Most schools are in Bangkok, Chiang Mai, Phuket, and Pattaya, but there are some in smaller cities. Prices range from $1200-$2000 for the language study hours necessary for a one-year Non-Immigrant visa.

You’ll do most of your studying in group classes with about 6-12 other students. Most Thai teachers can speak English fairly well and can explain the grammar and vocabulary, if necessary. In some schools, students learn speaking before writing, while in other schools, speaking, listening, reading, and writing are taught at the same time.

Schools in Bangkok include The Knowledge, Pro Language, Walen, Language Express, AUA, and AAA. Some of these schools also have branches in other cities around Thailand, but there’s no clear leader in the market as of yet. There are hundreds of different schools throughout Thailand.

Depending upon the language school or institution, you will need to pass tests periodically, by quarter or semester or the school's determination, to continue to be eligible to use your extended visa to remain in Thailand. As always, check with the school to which you are applying for the requirements.

Visa Application Process

It’s possible to apply for a study visa whether you’re already in Thailand or still living abroad. After you apply to a school and pay the study fee, the school will begin to process your paperwork and send it to the Ministry of Education to get your letter of approval. After submitting your paperwork, it usually takes about five weeks to get your approval letter back from your home country. Once you get the letter, you can take it to a Thai embassy to apply for your education visa.

If you’re currently living abroad, the school can send the paperwork to you, and you can apply for an education visa at the Thai embassy in the country where you’re living. If you’re currently in Thailand, after you get the letter from the Ministry of Education, you’ll have to travel to a neighboring country, such as Indonesia, to apply for an education visa from the Thai embassy there. Students of certain nationalities, however, are required to apply for an education visa at the Thai embassy in their home country.

As mentioned, once you’ve gotten your visa and begun classes, you’ll have to take a test once every four months to prove you’ve been studying diligently. After one year, if you wish to continue learning, you’ll have to reapply for a new education visa.

Additional Thai Language Study Resources

In addition to your courses, many good books, podcasts, apps, and computer programs are available to help in your studies. One of the best books for beginners is Complete Thai by David Smyth. The book introduces critical vocabulary for everyday interactions. Also, it introduces the consonants and vowels bit by bit so that by the end of the book, you’ve encountered the entire alphabet, some basic rules of reading and writing, and also built up familiarity with basic grammar and vocabulary.

After you’ve learned the alphabet, the next book to use to continue your studies is Everyday Thai for Beginners by Wiworn Kesavatana Dohrs. This textbook is perhaps the best organized for study. Yet, it assumes that the student already knows the Thai alphabet, so it’s not appropriate for absolute beginners. Essential Thai by James Higbie is a helpful grammar manual for beginning learners.

There are many helpful apps that you can download for Apple and Android devices. L-Lingo Thai uses pictures, spoken cues, and written cues to teach basic vocabulary and some simple conversations. WordUp Thai is a dictionary app with thousands of words which lets you make customized study lists of the words you want to know, then automatically creates quizzes to help you study those words.

Finally, after you’ve learned the alphabet and learned to write some simple words and sentences, one of the most productive things you can do is to learn to type in Thai. If you can only write by hand, you’ll rarely have the opportunity to practice writing Thai outside of the classroom. However, if you learn to type Thai, you can practice by chatting with your friends online, giving you many more opportunities to improve.Try the website Branah.com for a helpful tool to help you get used to finding the characters on the keyboard. After just a few hours of practice, you should know where most characters are found on the keyboard.

Nathan Edgerton moved to Southeast Asia in 2007 to teach at Can Tho University in southern Vietnam. What was supposed to be one year eventually became more than 16. In the meantime, he taught at a public school in Singapore for a year and a half, worked as a writer in Chiang Mai, Thailand, and cycled across Vietnam.

He has lived in Bangkok for over 12+ years, where he studied for a master's degree at Chulalongkorn University and then worked as Director of Studies at The Knowledge, a Thai language school near the city center.