Others may disagree with every word of my post but this is what has worked for me. There is a website with free and inexpensive paid memberships that has been helpful to me. LearnWithOliver dot com Tons of activities, it took me a while to realize how good it was. Paid membership is like 10 USD a month and includes sound files and I regret not paying for it sooner. To learn the alphabet, get an English alphabet for Thai speakers kid's book. I'm talking about the English alphabet book for Thai kids learning English . Make sure it has the little pictures of animals and common items and Thai transliteration of the English word. You know how to say elephant and you can see how the English sounds would be written using the Thai Characters. Then you know the sounds of the Thai characters, voila! Tones are less of an issue than you might think. I copy the Thai phrase I am trying to learn into Google translate, listen to Google's pronunciation and then see if I can say it so the app understands me. If the translate app understands me, Thai people usually will as well. As far as reading and tone marks, much like the International Phonetic Alphabet, not as vital any more because of sound files on phone apps and websites you can just hear the words. IMHO the time and effort you would spend learning tone rules and consonant classes is better spent learning to say words and phrases so a translation app understands you and then trying it out on Thai people. Also, with respect to tones, if you learn phrases more than words, tones won't be a problem. Thai people will know from context if you mean dog or horse, tiger or shirt, or other words that sound close. Be realistic, over about age 12 years, any language you learn you will have an accent. Also, leave your pride at home, if someone laughs when you speak it is because it sounds funny, they aren't laughing at you. Also, learn to laugh at your mistakes rather than getting frustrated. If you do this while learning you will also do it while trying to speak to someone and they will be more likely to help you. Even Thais that speak English well are likely to remember the struggle of learning and will be glad to help you. Those who don't speak English well are going through the same things as you and will understand and usually laugh along with you. Learn the (simple, crude?) translation of this phrase "I try to learn Thai language but what I learn today I forget tomorrow". Almost always gets a big laugh. "ผม พยายาม เรียน ภาษาไทย. แต่ วันนี้ เรียน พรุ่งนี้ ลืม ครับ" Thai people have repeatedly complimented me on the liberal use of the word Khap at the end of utterances. I highly recommend practicing saying it when you are drilling and then you will say it when you speak. It is called the polite particle, but really if you don't say it your speech is impolite. Last comments, the book GG recommends is very good, one big reason being the large type face makes the Thai readable. Also, Everyday Thai for Beginners by Wiworn Kesavatana-Dohrs (Author). The best thing about this one is the sound files and exercises are in Thai only so you are forced to learn without translating. I still recall the phrase I drilled in this book before I tell the taxi driver where to turn. This one looks expensive compared to others (38 USD) but it is that much better. Good luck.
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