I've only just started to try and learn to read and write Thai so please excuse me.

I'm aware that sometimes vowels are unwriten but, and I know there's a rule for this, but sometimes I see a word written in Thai and there appears to be missing consonants. Can't think of an example right now.

But more confusingly I have seen extra, unpronounced consonants. For example the spelling of Monday in Thai, with what appears to be the 't' and 'r' sounding consonants at the end. (No Thai keyborad here). What are they doing there?

My basic text book doesn't seem to explain this.

Thanks.

I've only just started to try and learn to read and write Thai so please excuse me.

I'm aware that sometimes vowels are unwriten but, and I know there's a rule for this, but sometimes I see a word written in Thai and there appears to be missing consonants.  Can't think of an example right now.

But more confusingly I have seen extra, unpronounced consonants.  For example the spelling of Monday in Thai, with what appears to be the 't' and 'r' sounding consonants at the end.  (No Thai keyborad here).  What are they doing there?

My basic text book doesn't seem to explain this.

Thanks.

Extra consonants usually appear in loan words. Formal Thai owes a large part of it's vocabulary to Sanskrit, Pali and Khmer. Why? The first two because of religion and the third because the Khmer kingdom used to be the super power of the South East Asian mainland.

There is really no reliable way to predict the appearace of exactly which consonants are added, even if you are quite familiar with Sanskrit or Pali (like RichardW on this forum). Just cram and cram. My own spelling is terrible, but I read almost effortlessly in Thai now. You just have to learn the rules for which letters to ignore and which ones to pronounce. It takes a while, but patience will get you there.

Hmm, for monday there are lots of extra consonants, but at least the "r" in the end has the "silent" symbol above it.

The most commonly used unwritten vowel is the short "o" sound, like in Thonburi(ธนบุรี), jon (จนpoor), kon (คนperson). It's pretty easy to spot. The other is where a consonant is given a short "ah" sound when followed by another consonant.

There is also the double-r, which is read as -un, like in sun (สรร) or hunsa (หรรษา).

Like meadish says, a lot of these complicated spellings (and silent consonants) are leftovers from other languages. The majority of common Thai words are pretty straightforward, and so it's just a matter of practice.

However, it can get a bit complicated when you see long Thai words and can't figure out which consonants get what treatment.

Hmm, for monday there are lots of extra consonants, but at least the "r" in the end has the "silent" symbol above it.

The most commonly used unwritten vowel is the short "o" sound, like in Thonburi(ธนบุรี), jon (จนpoor), kon (คนperson).  It's pretty easy to spot.  The other is where a consonant is given a short "ah" sound when followed by another consonant.

There is also the double-r, which is read as -un, like in sun (สรร) or hunsa (หรรษา). 

Like meadish says, a lot of these complicated spellings (and silent consonants) are leftovers from other languages.  The majority of common Thai words are pretty straightforward, and so it's just a matter of practice.

However, it can get a bit complicated when you see long Thai words and can't figure out which consonants get what treatment.

When you learn the thai alphabet you are taught how the letters are pronounced...Gaw -Gai is pronounced gaw not as a G if there is no other indicators and the letter is not the last pronounced letter of the word. that is why there is no short "o" vowel in those examples. so the first letter of khon is pronounced kaw the second letter as the last letter is shortened to the N sound not the naw sound....there are exceptions to this but it is a basic guide.

I didnt see any extra consonants in the word for monday except the last silent one... The silent last consonant in Thai is merely for spelling purposes.

A lot of people say that the French gave the Viets a language and then misspelt it for them....Thai is little bit like that.......You think you have worked something out and then find that there are even more variations or exceptions to the rule....