Thai reading guides

Free guides and reference pages for reading real Thai: the news, formal written Thai and the CU-TFL reading test. Start with How to read Thai news if you are new to reading Thai newspapers.

Reading Thai news

• How to read Thai news
  Formal written Thai, headline words, connectors, reporting verbs, dates and a daily routine.
• Written vs spoken Thai
  87 formal word pairs, the five levels of Thai and the patterns that build formal Thai.
• Thai abbreviations list
  111 abbreviations from the news: ครม., กทม., ส.ส., ministries, agencies, titles and units.
• How to read Thai without spaces
  Script clues, function words and a step-by-step method, with practice sentences.
• Buddhist Era converter
  Convert พ.ศ. and ค.ศ., short years like ปี 71, and the Thai fiscal year.

CU-TFL and Thai tests

• CU-TFL reading section guide
  What the Chulalongkorn Thai test's reading paper asks and how to prepare.
• Free CU-TFL reading practice test
  A notice and a news passage with 12 questions, answers and explanations.
• Thai proficiency tests compared
  CU-TFL, MU-Thai and TPA: skills, format and levels.

Vocabulary

• Thai news vocabulary by topic
  Word lists from real news: politics, economy, health, environment, society and law.
• Government and politics vocabulary
  The words of Cabinet, parliament and elections.
• Economy and business vocabulary
  Budgets, prices, trade and work.
• Health and medicine vocabulary
  Disease control, treatment and public health.
• Law and rights vocabulary
  Courts, laws and rights.