What order would you recommend learning the Thai alphabet, dictionary order or by class order? Dictionary order has the advantage of being able to quickly use a Thai dictionary and class order has the advantage of learning tones easier.

I can weave my way through a dictionary, no problem. But please don't ask me to recite the alphabet.......learning the alphabet by consonant class isn't a bad thing, but it won't help you with your dictionary.

I think that the consonents have been grouped carefully in order to make them memorable, at least the first 33 have; the consonent classes soon become a non-issue, so you I wouldn't change anything if I were you.

Useful to know both. Dictionary order so you can look up words in a dictionary and consonant class so you can work out the tone of a word when you see it written.

I learned them in consonant class order so I could work out the tones easier. As for dictionary order, after years of looking up words in 'Mary Hass' I know what page number each letter is but still can't recite the alphabet by rote.

I'm making it my new years resolution to learn that 'alphabet song' (along with the months of the year)

As far as my opinion is concerned, it's easier to memorize Thai consonants (and the tone rules) by learning them according to their classes, as they are introduced in "Thai for Beginners" by Benjawan Poomsan Becker.

Useful to know both. Dictionary order so you can look up words in a dictionary and consonant class so you can work out the tone of a word when you see it written.

I totally agree with you but I would recommend to learn the dictionary order after having mastered the whole alphabet (in order to avoid confusion). Using "Matichon Dictionary of the Thai Language" on a daily basis helped me get used to ก ไก่ ข ไข่.

I would say that you should know that the consonants have places in a 2-D grid - that way you learn alphabetical order and tone classes together. The only issues are whether you learn the high /s/ letters and non-nasal resonants where they come or where the Indians would have put them if they hadn't minded gaps.