I am asking this question heare because it is mainly Teachers or people that live in Thailand who might know of or have used any books on this subject.

Hello. I have decided and been recommended that I should begin to learn to read and write Thai.

Could you recommend any good books for this as there are many on the markes and I dont know which are good and more importantly which are rubbish.

Thanks.....slippery

Thai for Beginners (Benjawan Poomsan Becker) is one I am using. It is used as standard by TLC in Hua Hin and most students seem to like it. It costs 300 baht. It is well laid out into lessons and covers reading and writing.

P&M

Per previous poster I used the "Thai for Beginners" (Benjawan Poomsan Becker)and find it quite good. I also used the other two in the same series (Intermediate, Advanced) by K. Benjawan. But be very aware that those books are only adjuncts. You can only learn the very difficult pronunciation and nuances by personal interaction with Thai teacher. Audio and video will help but just not enough. I would suggest the use of flash cards to memorize the alphabet and the vocabulary in the books. If you do use the books then ensure that you have the vocabulary for each section down pat before proceeding to the next section. Good luck, it's not easy. I am fluent in four languages and can hack along in several others, but can barely muddle along in Thai after five years of trying.

Edited January 3, 201016 yr by keeniau96

I'll add myself to that list. Benjawan's books are great, and while you're learning, her Thai to English dictionary with transliteration is the best on the market.

Along with the Thai for Beginners book I learned to read using a couple of cds that I bought in a book store in CM 6 years ago. One was the Domnern- Sathienpong dictionary disc and I forget the name of the other. They ran on my old system (windows 98) but when I upgraded they wouldn't run so I flung them. Being interactive it was very helping being able to hear the words.

Check out a good bookstore and see what they have.

In my opinion "Teach yourself Thai" by David Smythe is by far the best book for learning the script. He takes you through it in a logical, progressive manner, rather than other books that just throw rules at you. I learned how to read by myself using it and I highly recommend it.

Moved to the Thai Language Subforum (the teaching subforum is for *foreign* teachers in Thailand, primarily).