Why is the 'h' in Thailand silent?

[infinity11]

Why is there an h at all?

Before i google it post it here just for you.

(Why is any letter silent for that matter )

[sdanielmcev]

T and th are different sounds. Why? Because people blindly follow 'authority' figures. Though tough, I'm through.

[JAS21]

Maybe the same reason why| p in bath is silent...

[CharlieH]

Another one with way too much time on their hands.

[ukrules]

It's not silent in the words Hua Hin.

[steve187]

Maybe the same reason why| p in bath is silent...

both the t and h are silent in barff

[manarak]

Because Prayuth ordered it to remain silent.

[HeijoshinCool]

After having driven through Arkansas and Tennessee, where celebrity chef Paula Dean is worshipped to the grave for her gravies, I'd say you could call those places Thailand, and feel free to pronounce the "h."

[tolsti]

Why is the 'h in herbs' silent in Amurrican?

[Gecko123]

Because in the Thai language Thailand is spelled with the letter 'taw thahan' (ท) which is a slightly aspirated 't' sound. By convention, the letter 'taw thahan' is transliterated into English as 'th' to reflect that it has a slightly aspirated 't' sound. This is as opposed to the letter 'taw tao' (ต), for example, which is unaspirated and transliterated into English as 't'.

[infinity11]

because then it would be thigh land

[NeverSure]

because then it would be thigh land

Why are the g and h silent in "thigh" then?

[arthurwait]

Maybe it's because I'm a Sarf Londoner.

[Patsycat]

I have a rather apealing lithp.

[Swiss1960]

when I tink doo much then i have to

[Swiss1960]

because then it would be thigh land

Why are the g and h silent in "thigh" then?

only in Sandmaneese...

[Loptr]

If you were to study the Thai language you would know why the H is silent...

[marko kok prong]

because then it would be thigh land

Years ago when i lived in Australia,my then wife's Mother and Father decided to go to Thailand for a holiday,he had never been out of Australia and did not want to go really,as i had been several times,he asked me what the food was like in thighland,when i stopped laughing,i told him the H was silent,but he would'nt have it,even admitting when they returned from the trip,he had a good time in Thighland.

[Toknarok]

Had a randy mate who went to Phuket simply because he thought it was called **** it.

[kannot]

Because Prayuth ordered it to remain silent.

No that would be "speech adjustment"

[chrisinth]

I've always called it Thighland.

My mystery has always been why did the get rid of the g & h and add the a?

[arthurwait]

Thighland a place with an unstable and cratered surface.

[KhunBENQ]

Better close this pandora box about Thai English transcription

Why an "H"? Because its the rule !

Someone here who believes in the logic of natural languages?

There are rules named RTGS, but who cares

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Royal_Thai_General_System_of_Transcription

The rules are unfit for English native speakers, as the vocals follow "rest of the world".

"U" is an "OO" for the English and so on.

Even better:

why an "H" in Baht?

The "H" is wrong by the rules and it should read "Bat".

Enough for that,

My advice: except you want to go into the details: forget it!

A complete utter mess.

BTW: who knows a place named "Phatthaya"

[infinity11]

some intellegent and funny replies thanks

[willyumiii]

If you were to study the Thai language you would know why the H is silent...

and just how do you spell Thailand in the Thai language?

study that!

[willyumiii]

Please,

when you work this one out,

can you tell us why " ph" ( as in phone ) and " gh" ( as in cough ) are pronounced as an "F"???

Been wondering all of my liphe, or is it lighe?

[Smokin Joe]

The way we treat "ough" is a good example why I think English must be at least ten times harder than learning Thai.

“Though the tough cough and hiccough plough him through”

[Richard W]

... can you tell us why " ph" ( as in phone ) and " gh" ( as in cough ) are pronounced as an "F"???

For the first one, it's because people decide to stop bothering to pronounce 'ph' and 'f' differently. When the Romans first paid attention to how Greeks spoke, the Greeks had a 'ph' sound which didn't sound at all like a Latin 'f', so the Romans wrote it 'ph'. Later, the Greeks changed the sound to 'f', but Western Europe north of the Alps mostly continues to write it 'ph' because it used not to sound the same way as Latin 'f'.

"Gh" is not pronounced as 'f' in English words; it is 'ugh' that is sometimes pronounced as 'f'. ('Van Gogh' is pronounced as though the second part were written 'Gough'.)

[Eliot Rosewater]

Why is the 'h in herbs' silent in Amurrican?

Since you appear to be such a genius, perhaps you can explain why is the "h" in "hour" is silent?