Counting in Thai: Numbers 1-100

One of my first blunders in Thailand: I wanted to buy two bottles of water at a market in Chiang Mai. I held up two fingers and said "two" — the vendor stared at me blankly. Only when another customer said "sǎawng" and held up two fingers did she understand. Thai numbers are one of those things you immediately need: when paying, in a taxi, at the market, when ordering food. There's no getting around them.

The good news? The Thai number system is surprisingly logical. Far more logical than English, actually. Once you know 1-10, you can build any combination up to 100 yourself. In this article I walk you through the complete system — with correct Paiboon+ romanization and tone marks.

The foundation: numbers 0-10

This is the core. Learn these ten numbers and you have the building blocks for everything up to 100 (and beyond). Pay close attention to the tone marks — in Thai a wrong tone can give you a completely different word.

• 0 — ศูนย์ — sǔun — zero

• 1 — หนึ่ง — nʉ̀ng — one

• 2 — สอง — sǎawng — two

• 3 — สาม — sǎam — three

• 4 — สี่ — sìi — four

• 5 — ห้า — hâa — five

• 6 — หก — hòk — six

• 7 — เจ็ด — jèt — seven

• 8 — แปด — bpɛ̀ɛt — eight

• 9 — เก้า — gâao — nine

• 10 — สิบ — sìp — ten

Tip: practice these numbers out loud. The tones make the difference. สี่ (sìi, four) has a low tone, while สี (sǐi, color) has a rising tone. Using your fingers in the early stages helps — Thai people do it too.

The system: numbers 11-19

Here's where it gets elegant. While English has irregular words like "eleven" and "twelve" that bear no resemblance to "one" and "two", Thai 11 is simply sìp-èt (ten-one). Completely logical.

There is one exception: when "1" appears as the final digit, it becomes èt (เอ็ด) rather than nʉ̀ng. This applies whenever 1 is the last digit, except for the number 1 itself.

• 11 — สิบเอ็ด — sìp-èt

• 12 — สิบสอง — sìp-sǎawng

• 13 — สิบสาม — sìp-sǎam

• 14 — สิบสี่ — sìp-sìi

• 15 — สิบห้า — sìp-hâa

• 16 — สิบหก — sìp-hòk

• 17 — สิบเจ็ด — sìp-jèt

• 18 — สิบแปด — sìp-bpɛ̀ɛt

• 19 — สิบเก้า — sìp-gâao

The tens: 20, 30, 40... 90

The pattern is simple: [digit] + sìp. So 30 = sǎam-sìp (three-ten), 40 = sìi-sìp (four-ten), and so on. There is one important exception: 20.

• 20 — ยี่สิบ — yîi-sìp (NOT sǎawng-sìp!)

• 30 — สามสิบ — sǎam-sìp

• 40 — สี่สิบ — sìi-sìp

• 50 — ห้าสิบ — hâa-sìp

• 60 — หกสิบ — hòk-sìp

• 70 — เจ็ดสิบ — jèt-sìp

• 80 — แปดสิบ — bpɛ̀ɛt-sìp

• 90 — เก้าสิบ — gâao-sìp

Remember: 20 is yîi-sìp, not sǎawng-sìp. This is the single most important irregularity in the whole system. You'll hear sǎawng-sìp occasionally, but yîi-sìp is the standard form used by native speakers.

Combining: any number up to 100

Now that you know the tens and units, you can build any number. The formula: [tens] + [units]. Remember the two exceptions: "20" = yîi-sìp, and "1" as the final digit = èt.

• 21 — ยี่สิบเอ็ด — yîi-sìp-èt

• 35 — สามสิบห้า — sǎam-sìp-hâa

• 47 — สี่สิบเจ็ด — sìi-sìp-jèt

• 69 — หกสิบเก้า — hòk-sìp-gâao

• 88 — แปดสิบแปด — bpɛ̀ɛt-sìp-bpɛ̀ɛt

• 100 — ร้อย — rɔ́ɔi — one hundred

Numbers in practice: where you'll actually use them

Numbers aren't abstract — you use them constantly throughout the day in Thailand. Here are the most common situations:

At markets and shops

"How much is this?" — nîi tâo-rài? (นี่เท่าไหร่?) is the sentence you'll use most. The answer always contains a number followed by bàat (บาท, baht). So "fifty baht" = hâa-sìp bàat. Knowing your numbers makes every market interaction independent.

In a taxi or tuk-tuk

Drivers always quote a price. When you hear "rɔ́ɔi-hâa-sìp" you know that's 150 baht. Useful for negotiating: "rɔ́ɔi bàat dâai mái?" (100 baht, is that okay?). Without number knowledge, you're at a significant disadvantage.

Ordering at restaurants

At a restaurant you use numbers with classifiers. Ordering two beers: biia sǎawng kùat (beer two bottles). The structure is always: [item] + [number] + [classifier]. This seems complex but quickly becomes natural. Read more about ordering food in Thai in our detailed guide.

Classifiers: the Thai counting system

An important difference from English: Thai uses classifiers (ลักษณนาม, láksànànaam) when counting things. Think of English "two cups of coffee" or "three sheets of paper" — but applied to almost everything. The most common classifiers:

• คน (khon) — for people: sǎam khon = three people

• ตัว (dtua) — for animals: sǎawng dtua = two animals

• อัน (an) — for small objects: sìi an = four items

• ขวด (kùat) — for bottles: nʉ̀ng kùat = one bottle

• จาน (jaan) — for plates of food: sǎawng jaan = two dishes

• แก้ว (gɛ̂ɛo) — for glasses: nʉ̀ng gɛ̂ɛo = one glass

As a beginner you can always fall back on the universal classifier อัน (an). Thai people understand you perfectly even with imperfect classifiers. According to research from Thammasat University Faculty of Liberal Arts, Thai has over 100 classifiers — but these six will carry you through the vast majority of real-world situations.

Common mistakes with Thai numbers

After months in Thailand I've collected the most common mistakes foreigners (including myself) make:

1. Saying sǎawng-sìp instead of yîi-sìp for 20 — you'll be understood, but it sounds unnatural to native speakers. Like saying "two-ten" in English.

2. Saying nʉ̀ng instead of èt in compound numbers — 21 is sìp-èt, not sìp-nʉ̀ng. This is the single most common beginner mistake.

3. Ignoring the tones — hâa (five, falling tone) sounds completely different from hǎa (to look for, rising tone). Practice tones together with the numbers, not separately. Learn more in our guide to Thai tones.

4. Speaking too fast — take your time. Thai speakers deliberately slow down for numbers in transactions. You can do the same.

Hand gestures: counting the Thai way

In Thailand people count with one hand, not two. Fingers go up starting from the pinky: pinky = 1, ring finger = 2, middle finger = 3, index finger = 4, thumb = 5. Six through ten uses the other hand. This is useful to know — at busy markets vendors often use only hand gestures to indicate prices.

Thai numerals

Thailand has its own set of numerals you'll see on price tags, buses, and official documents. In practice Arabic numerals (1, 2, 3) are also widely used, but it helps to recognize the Thai versions. Want to learn the Thai script? See our guide on learning Thai script.

• ๐ ๑ ๒ ๓ ๔ ๕ ๖ ๗ ๘ ๙ = 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9

Tip: Thai 0 (๐) looks like a small circle, and ๑ (one) looks like a fishhook. You'll learn them fastest by spotting them in the wild — on bus numbers, price labels, and house numbers around town.

Frequently asked questions

How do you say 100, 1,000, and 1,000,000 in Thai?

100 = ร้อย (rɔ́ɔi), 1,000 = พัน (phan), 10,000 = หมื่น (mʉ̀ʉn), 100,000 = แสน (sɛ̌ɛn), 1,000,000 = ล้าน (láan). The pattern works the same way: 200 = sǎawng-rɔ́ɔi, 5,000 = hâa-phan.

Why is 20 different from all the other tens?

The word yîi-sìp is a historical contraction. In archaic Thai the original word was longer, and yîi is a remnant of that. Compare it to English "twenty" which doesn't look like "two-ten" either. Every language has a few of these historical leftovers.

Do I need to be able to read Thai numerals?

Not necessarily — most places use Arabic numerals. But on local buses, temple inscriptions, and some market stalls you'll see Thai numerals. Being able to recognize ๐-๙ is useful but not essential for beginners. Focus first on speaking and listening.

Practice: the fastest way to learn Thai numbers

Learning numbers is most effective when you connect them to real situations. My tip: practice by "reading" prices on Thai websites or restaurant menus. See ฿59? Say out loud "hâa-sìp-gâao bàat". Change your phone alarm labels to Thai numbers. Count the steps in your building. The more actively you use the system, the faster it becomes automatic.

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