Thai numbers 1–100: build the patterns and understand prices

Thai numbers from 1 to 100 follow patterns you can build from the units and tens. The two early changes to remember are ยี่สิบ for twenty and เอ็ด for the final one in numbers such as eleven and thirty-one.

Practise recognising numbers out of order as well as counting upwards. A price, platform number or quantity usually arrives on its own, without the previous nine numbers to help you.

Learn the units and zero

The pronunciation hints below are approximate and do not mark the full tone pattern. Use the Thai spelling and a reliable spoken model when learning each word.

Arabic digits are common in Thailand, but the Thai digits represent the same values. For example, ๕๐ represents 50, not two unrelated quantities.

First cover the pronunciation column and identify the word from the number. Then reverse the task: listen to a spoken number and write its digits. These are different directions of recall, and both are useful.

Build eleven to nineteen

For twelve through nineteen, place the unit after สิบ, ten:

สิบสอง — sip song: twelve
สิบห้า — sip haa: fifteen
สิบเก้า — sip kao: nineteen

Eleven uses เอ็ด, not หนึ่ง: สิบเอ็ด — sip et. Within the range in this lesson, that form of one appears at the end of 21, 31, 41 and the other tens-plus-one numbers.

Say 11, 15, 12 and 19 in a mixed order. If you have to count from ten every time, keep practising this small set before adding all the tens.

Learn twenty, then build the remaining tens

Thirty to ninety use the unit followed by สิบ. Twenty has its own form, ยี่สิบ, so do not build it as สองสิบ.

You may also hear ร้อย on its own for one hundred when the context is clear. Start with หนึ่งร้อย so the place value is explicit while you practise.

Combine a tens value with a unit

Once you know a tens word, add the unit directly:

ยี่สิบสี่: twenty-four
สามสิบเจ็ด: thirty-seven
หกสิบแปด: sixty-eight
เก้าสิบเก้า: ninety-nine

For a final one, use the special form:

ยี่สิบเอ็ด: twenty-one
สี่สิบเอ็ด: forty-one
เก้าสิบเอ็ด: ninety-one

There is no extra word corresponding to English “and” in these examples. Keep the order as tens, then unit. A zero unit does not need to be pronounced after the tens value: 40 is simply สี่สิบ.

Hear a price and confirm it

บาท — baht is the currency word. An example price of 35 baht is สามสิบห้าบาท. These amounts are language exercises, not suggested current prices for particular products.

Practise this exchange:

A: อันนี้เท่าไร
How much is this?

B: สามสิบห้าบาท
Thirty-five baht.

A: สามสิบห้าบาทใช่ไหม
Thirty-five baht, right?

Add suitable polite endings as you learn the complete exchange. If the answer remains unclear, ask the person to write or show the amount. Confirming a figure matters more than appearing to have understood it immediately.

The coffee-ordering lesson gives you a place to use a quantity and a total in the same conversation.

Keep digit strings separate from quantities

Telephone numbers are normally read digit by digit. A digit 1 uses หนึ่ง in that task, rather than the เอ็ด used at the end of a number such as 21. A digit 2 remains สอง, rather than ยี่ from twenty.

Time expressions have additional conventions, so counting to 100 does not by itself teach you how to tell the time. For now, practise whole quantities and sequences of separate digits as distinct tasks.

Try six quick checks

Write the answer before looking below:

1. Build 18 in Thai.
2. Build 21 in Thai.
3. Build 47 in Thai.
4. Read แปดสิบ as digits.
5. Read ๙๕ as Arabic digits.
6. Say 61 baht.

The answers are สิบแปด, ยี่สิบเอ็ด, สี่สิบเจ็ด, 80, 95 and หกสิบเอ็ดบาท.

Repeat the exercise with changed units. If you mixed up two numbers, ask a partner to say that pair in an unpredictable order and identify which one you heard. Concentrate practice on the contrast instead of reciting the whole list again.