I tried to learn Thai some years ago. It was very difficult and have really never gotten back to learning more. The language structure was difficult for me as there is no verb congregation all verbs are present tense and the context around it denotes the time. The other difficulty for me is the tonality of the language. It is subtle and difficult to hear by an untrained ear. The same consonant sound has three tones, high tone, mid tone, and low tone. The tone changes the word completely. Two words that sound exactly the same to a western ear, are two different words to the Thai ear. Tone is everything. The language is unique in the world. Created in about 1200 the king of the newly unified Siam said his people would have a unique language, alphabet and numbering system. Based loosely on the Lao language the Thai language was born. The Thai language is phonetic however, once you learn the alphabet you will be able to read Thai easily. However that alone is a daunting task. There are 44 consonants divided into the three tones, high, medium and low. There are 32 vowels, long, short, single and compound. Four tone marks and no punctuation. One day I hope to go to Bangkok and stay 5 star hotel Bangkok and immerse myself in the learning of the language. When learning Thai you need to learn the alphabet first as transliterations of the language into other alphabets negate the tonality of the language. This is of paramount importance as I have said tone changes the meaning of a word completely. If there is a Thai temple in your area you can find monks willing to teach the language. THese belief is the more we understand each others languages the more we can understand each other and bring more peace in the world. Therefore the teaching is generally done on a donation only basis

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