Languages of Thailand - wikipedia Languages of Thailand An ethnolinguistic map of Thailand. Thailand, and its neighbor Laos, are dominated by languages of the Southwestern Tai family. Karen languages are spoken along the border with Burma, Khmer is spoken near Cambodia and Malay in the south near Malaysia. The following table comprises all 62 ethnic groups recognised by the Royal Thai Government in the 2011 Country Report to the UN Committee responsible for the International Convention for the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination, available from the Department of Rights and Liberties Promotion of the Thai Ministry of Justice. Five language families of Thailand recognised by the Royal Thai Government Tai Austroasiatic Sino - Tibetan Austronesian Hmong - Mien 24 Groups 22 groups 11 Groups 3 Groups 2 Groups Kaleung Kasong Guong ( Ugong ) Malay ( Malayu / Nayu / Yawi Hmong ( Meo ) Kammuang / Yuan ( Northern Thai ) Kuy / Kuay Karen ( 7 subfamilies ) Moken / Moklen Mien ( Yao ) Tai Dam Khmu - Sgaw Karen Urak Lawoi Nyaw Thailand Khmer, Northern Khmer - Pwo Karen Tai Khun Chong - Kaya Karen Central Thai Sa - oc - Bwe Karen Thai Korat Sakai ( Kensiw / Manique ) - Pa - O Karen Thai Takbai Samre - Padaung Karen Thai Loei So ( Thavuang ) - Kayo Karen Tai Lu So Jingpaw / Kachin Tai Ya Nyah Kur ( Chaobon ) Chinese Tai Yai, Shan Nyeu Yunnanese Chinese Southern Thai Bru ( Kha ) Bisu Phu Thai Plang ( Samtao ) Burmese Phuan Palaung ( Dala - ang ) Lahu ( Muzur ) Yong Mon Lisu Yoy Mal - Pray ( Lua / Tin ) Akha Lao Khrang Mlabri ( Tongluang ) Mpi Lao Ngaew Lamet ( Lua ) Lao Ti Lavua ( Lawa / Lua ) Lao Wiang / Lao Klang Wa Lao Lom Vietnamese Lao Isan Saek The following table shows all the language families of Northeast Thailand, as recognised in the same report. Language families of Northeast Thailand Tai Language Family Persons Austroasiatic Language Family Persons Lao Esan / Thai Lao 13,000,000 Thailand Khmer / Northern Khmer 1,400,000 Central Thai 800,000 Kuy / Kuay ( Suay ) 400,000 Thai Khorat / Tai Beung / Tai Deung 600,000 So 70,000 Thai - Loei Bru combined Phu Thai 500,000 Vietnamese 20,000 Ngaw 500,000 Ngeu 10,000 Kaleung 200,000 for Ngah Kur / Chao Bon / Khon Dong 7,000 Yoy Kaleung, Yoy and Phuan So ( Thavaung ) 1,500 Phuan combined Mon 1,000 Tai - dam ( Song ) ( not specified ) Total : 16,103,000 Total : 1,909,000 Cannot specify ethnicity and amount : 3,288,000 21,300,000 Note that population numbers are for the Northeast region only. Languages may have additional speakers outside the Northeast. The Thai hill tribes speak numerous small languages, many Chinese retain varieties of Chinese, and there are half a dozen sign languages. The Ethnologue reports 73 living languages are used in Thailand. The Royal Thai Government 's 2011 Country Report to the Committee Responsible for the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination, relying mainly on the 2005 Ethnolinguistic Maps of Thailand data, lists 62 languages. Contents 1 Thai 2 Minority languages 2.1 Tribal languages 2.2 Sign language 3 Most widely spoken language 4 Provincial language data 5 See also 6 Further reading 7 References 8 External links Thai The official language of Thailand is Thai, a Siamese language closely related to Lao, Shan in Burma, and numerous smaller languages of southern China and northern Vietnam. It is the principal language of education and government and is spoken throughout the country. The standard is written in the Thai alphabet, an abugida that evolved from the Khmer script. Several other Tai languages exist : Southern Thai is spoken in the southern provinces, and Lanna is spoken in the provinces that were formerly part of the independent kingdom of Lanna. Minority languages Thailand is also host to several minority languages. The largest minority language is Lao, a dialect of Isan spoken in the northeastern provinces. The region in where it is traditionally spoken was historically part of the Lao kingdom of Lan Xang. In the far south, Yawi, a dialect of Malay, is the primary language of the Malay Muslims. Varieties of Chinese are also spoken by the large Thai Chinese population, with the Teochew dialect being best represented. Tribal languages Numerous tribal languages are also spoken, including those belonging to : The Mon -- Khmer family, such as Mon, Khmer, Mlabri, Lawa and Orang Asli. The Austronesian family, such as Urak Lawoi ' and Moken. The Sino - Tibetan family such as Akhan, and Karen. Other Tai languages such as Nyaw, Phu Thai, Yoy and Saek. Hmong is a member of the Hmong -- Mien languages, which is now regarded as a language family of its own. Sign language Several village sign languages are reported among the hill tribes, though it is not clear whether these are independent languages, as only Ban Khor Sign Language has been described. Two related deaf - community sign languages developed in Chiangmai and Bangkok ; the national Thai Sign Language developed from these under the influence of American Sign Language. English is a mandatory school subject, but the number of fluent speakers remains very low, especially outside the cities. Most widely spoken language The following table shows official first languages in Thailand with equal to or more than 400,000 speakers according to the Royal Thai Government 's 2011 Country Report to the Committee Responsible for the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination, mainly using the Ethnolinguistic Maps of Thailand data. Official first languages of Thailand with equal to or more than 400,000 speakers Language Speakers Language Family Central Thai 20.0 million Tai - Kadai Lao 15.2 million Tai - Kadai Kham Muang ( Northern Thai ) 6.0 million Tai - Kadai Pak Tai ( Southern Thai ) 4.5 million Tai - Kadai Northern Khmer 1.4 million Austroasiatic Yawi 1.4 million Austronesian Ngaw 0.5 million Tai - Kadai Phu Thai 0.5 million Tai - Kadai Karen 0.4 million Sino - Tibetan Kuy 0.4 million Austroasiatic Languages in Thailand with more than 1 million speakers according to Ethnologue Language Code Speakers Language Family Central Thai mbf 60 million Tai - Kadai Isan tts 23 million Tai - Kadai Northern Thai nod 6 million Tai - Kadai Southern Thai sou 4.5 million Tai - Kadai Northern Khmer kxm 1.4 million Austroasiatic Yawi mfa 1 million Austronesian The following table employs 2000 census data. Caution should be exercised with Thai census data on first language. In Thai censuses, the four largest Tai - Kadai languages of Thailand ( in order, Central Thai, Isan ( majority Lao ), Kam Mueang, Pak Tai ) are not provided as options for language or ethnic group. People stating such a language as a first language, including Lao, are allocated to ' Thai '. This explains the disparity between the two tables. For instance, self - reporting as Lao has been prohibited, due to the prohibition of the Lao ethnonym in the context of describing Thai citizens, for approximately one hundred years. This was due to the promotion of a ' Thai ' national identity to cement Siamese claims over the Lao city - states of what is now Northern and Northeast Thailand following the 1893 Franco Siamese War and subsequent threat posed by French Indochina to Lao tributary states of Siam. The birth of a homogenizing Thai ethnocentric national identity sufficient to begin transforming Siam from an absolute monarchy into a modern nation - state was achieved by assimilating the Lao within this Thai ' identity ', equivalent to what is now known as the Tai -- Kadai_languages, under a ' Greater Thai Empire ', and can be traced back to at least 1902. This homogenization began affecting the Thai census from 1904 onwards. The 2011 Country Report data is therefore more comprehensive and better differentiates between the large Tai - Kadai languages of Thailand. As a country submission to a UN convention ratified by Thailand, it is also arguably more authoritative. Population of Thailand above the age of 5 by language ( UN statistics 2000 ) Language Language family No. of speakers Thai Tai - Kadai 52,325,037 Khmer Austroasiatic 1,291,024 Malay Austronesian 1,202,911 Karen Sino - Tibetan 317,968 Chinese Sino - Tibetan 231,350 Miao Hmong - Mien 112,686 Lahu Sino - Tibetan 70,058 Burmese Sino - Tibetan 67,061 Akha Sino - Tibetan 54,241 English Indo - European 48,202 Tai Tai - Kadai 44,004 Japanese Japonic 38,565 Lawa Austroasiatic 31,583 Lisu Sino - Tibetan 25,037 Vietnamese Austroasiatic 24,476 Yao Hmong - Mien 21,238 Khmu Austroasiatic 6,246 Indian Indo - European 5,598 Haw Yunnanese Sino - Tibetan 3,247 Htin Austroasiatic 2,317 Others 33,481 Unknown 325,134 Total : 56,281,538 Provincial language data Khmer speakers as a percentage of the total population in various provinces of Thailand Province Khmer % in 1990 Khmer % in 2000 Buriram 0.3 % 27.6 % Chanthaburi 0.6 % 1.6 % Maha Sarakham 0.2 % 0.3 % Roi Et 0.4 % 0.5 % Sa Kaew N / A 1.9 % Sisaket 30.2 % 26.2 % Surin 63.4 % 47.2 % Trat 0.4 % 2.1 % Ubon Ratchathani 0.8 % 0.3 % See also Demographics of Thailand Further reading L - Thongkum, Theraphan. 1985. Minority Languages of Thailand. In Science of Language Papers : Languages and Dialects. vol 5. Department of Linguistics, Faculty of Arts, Chulalongkorn University. Suwilai Premsrirat. 2004. `` Using GIS For Displaying An Ethnolinguistic Map of Thailand. '' In Papers from the Eleventh Annual Meeting of the Southeast Asian Linguistics Society, edited by Somsonge Burusphat. Tempe, Arizona, 599 - 617. Arizona State University, Program for Southeast Asian Studies. References ^ Jump up to : International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination ; Reports submitted by States parties under article 9 of the Convention : Thailand ( PDF ) ( in English with appended Thai government translation ). United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination. 28 July 2011. Retrieved 8 October 2016. CS1 maint : Unrecognized language ( link ) ^ Jump up to : Ethnolinguistic Maps of Thailand ( PDF ) ( in Thai ). Office of the National Culture Commission. 2004. Retrieved 8 October 2016. ^ Jump up to : Draper, John ; Kamnuansilpa, Peerasit ( 2016 ). `` The Thai Lao Question : The Reappearance of Thailand 's Ethnic Lao Community and Related Policy Questions ''. Asian Ethnicity. doi : 10.1080 / 14631369.2016. 1258300. Retrieved 23 November 2016. Jump up ^ Luangthongkum, Theraphan. ( 2007 ). The Position of Non-Thai Languages in Thailand. In Lee Hock Guan & L. Suryadinata ( Eds. ), Language, nation and development in Southeast Asia ( pp. 181 - 194 ). Singapore : ISEAS Publishing. Jump up ^ Breazeale, Kennon. ( 1975 ). The integration of the Lao states. PhD. dissertation, Oxford University. Jump up ^ Grabowsky, Volker. ( 1996 ). The Thai census of 1904 : Translation and analysis. In Journal of the Siam Society, 84 ( 1 ) : 49 - 85. Jump up ^ Streckfuss, D. ( 1993 ). The mixed colonial legacy in Siam : Origins of Thai racialist thought, 1890 - 1910. In L.J. Sears ( Ed. ), Autonomous histories, particular truths : Essays in honor of John R.W. Smail ( pp. 123 - 154 ). Madison, Wisconsin : University of Wisconsin - Madison. Jump up ^ Population by language, sex and urban / rural residence, UNSD Demographic Statistics, United Nations Statistics Division, UNdata, last update 5 July 2013. Jump up ^ `` burirum. xls '' ( PDF ). Retrieved 2017 - 03 - 08. Jump up ^ http://web.nso.go.th/pop2000/finalrep/chanburifn.pdf Jump up ^ `` mahakam. xls '' ( PDF ). Retrieved 2017 - 03 - 08. Jump up ^ http://web.nso.go.th/pop2000/finalrep/roietfn.pdf Jump up ^ `` Sakaeo : Key indicators of the population and households, Population and Housing Census 1990 and 2000 '' ( PDF ). Retrieved 2017 - 03 - 08. Jump up ^ `` Si Sa Ket : Key indicators of the population and households, Population and Housing Census 1990 and 2000 '' ( PDF ). Retrieved 2017 - 03 - 08. Jump up ^ `` Surin : Key indicators of the population and households, Population and Housing Census 1990 and 2000 '' ( PDF ). Retrieved 2017 - 03 - 08. Jump up ^ http://web.nso.go.th/pop2000/finalrep/tratfn.pdf Jump up ^ `` Ubon Ratchathani : Key indicators of the population and households, Population and Housing Census 1990 and 2000 '' ( PDF ). Retrieved 2017 - 03 - 08. External links Languages of Thailand at Muturzikin.com Languages of Thailand at Ethnologue Languages of Thailand Official language Thai Indigenous languages Austroasiatic Bru Chong Chung Jahai Kensiu Khmer Northern Western Kintaq Kuy Mlabri Mon Nyah Kur Palaung Ten'edn Thavung Vietnamese Austronesian Cham Malay Bangkok Malay Pattani Malay Satun Malay Moken Urak Lawoi ' Hmong - Mien Hmong Iu Mien Sino - Tibetan Akha Eastern Pwo Lisu Nuosu Mpi Northern Pwo Phrae Pwo Red Karen ( Eastern Kayah ) S'gaw Karen Ugong Tai - Kadai Isan Khün Northern Thai Lao Phu Thai Phuan Shan Southern Thai Tai Lü Tai Nüa Thai Song Sign languages Thai Sign Language Ban Khor Sign Thailand articles History Prehistory Peopling Tai peoples Early history Initial states Sukhothai Kingdom Ayutthaya Kingdom Thonburi Kingdom Rattanakosin era Siamese Revolution 1932 -- 1973 since 1973 Geography Cities and towns Climate Ecoregions Environmental issues Islands Mountains Protected areas Regions Rivers Volcanoes Wildlife World Heritage Sites Politics Constitution Monarchy ( list ) Elections Parliament Government Prime Minister ( list ) Cabinet Ministries Administrative divisions Foreign relations Human rights Judiciary Law Lèse majesté Localism Military Police Political parties Economy Agriculture Banks central bank Baht ( currency ) Car industry Energy Stock Exchange Telecommunications Internet telephone numbers Tourism Transport Society Crime Demographics Education Ethnic groups Languages Health hospitals Religion Women LGBT Racism Culture Architecture Art Birth Cinema Clothing Cuisine Dance Etiquette Folklore Literature Names Marriage Media television Martial arts Music Public holidays Sports Symbols anthem emblem flag Thai people Time lunar calendar solar calendar Video gaming Outline Index Portal Languages of Asia Sovereign states Afghanistan Armenia Azerbaijan Bahrain Bangladesh Bhutan Brunei Cambodia China Cyprus East Timor ( Timor - Leste ) Egypt Georgia India Indonesia Iran Iraq Israel Japan Jordan Kazakhstan North Korea South Korea Kuwait Kyrgyzstan Laos Lebanon Malaysia Maldives Mongolia Myanmar Nepal Oman Pakistan Philippines Qatar Russia Saudi Arabia Singapore Sri Lanka Syria Tajikistan Thailand Turkey Turkmenistan United Arab Emirates Uzbekistan Vietnam Yemen States with limited recognition Abkhazia Artsakh Northern Cyprus Palestine South Ossetia Taiwan Dependencies and other territories British Indian Ocean Territory Christmas Island Cocos ( Keeling ) Islands Hong Kong Macau Retrieved from `` https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Languages_of_Thailand&oldid=841600361 '' Categories : Languages of Thailand Hidden categories : CS1 maint : Unrecognized language CS1 Thai - language sources ( th ) All articles with failed verification Articles with failed verification from May 2018 Talk Contents About Wikipedia Languages Français ไทย Tiếng Việt Edit links This page was last edited on 16 May 2018, at 20 : 35. 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Question: what is the official language spoken in thailand
Answer: Thai