Thailand

Thai

[tha] 1 (National). De facto national language. 60,200,000 in Thailand, all users. L1 users: 20,200,000 in Thailand (2000). L2 users: 40,000,000 (2001 A. Diller). Total users in all countries: 60,685,590 (as L1: 20,685,590; as L2: 40,000,000).

3 (Wider communication)

Thai, Northern

[nod] 3 (Wider communication). De facto language of provincial identity in northern provinces. Northern Thai is used as a language of wider communication among many of the tribal groups in Northern Thailand (Herington et al 2013). 6,000,000 in Thailand (1983 SIL). Total users in all countries: 6,029,500.

4 (Educational)

Malay, Pattani

[mfa] 4 (Educational). 1,470,000 (2010 census).

5 (Dispersed)

Akha

[ahk] 5* (Dispersed). 56,600 in Thailand (Bradley 2007a).

Chinese, Hakka

[hak] 5* (Dispersed). 79,000 in Thailand (Leclerc 2019a), based on ethnicity.

Chinese, Mandarin

[cmn] 5* (Dispersed). 76,000 in Thailand (Leclerc 2019a), based on ethnicity.

Chinese, Min Nan

[nan] 5* (Dispersed). 1,520,000 in Thailand (Leclerc 2019a). 1,060,000 Chaochow, 17,600 Fujian, 5,880 Hainanese (1984).

Chinese, Yue

[yue] 5* (Dispersed). 40,000 in Thailand (Leclerc 2019a), based on ethnicity.

Karen, S’gaw

[ksw] 5* (Dispersed). 200,000 in Thailand (2006 Mahidol University). Total Karen: 441,000 (2010 census).

Lahu

[lhu] 5* (Dispersed). 32,000 in Thailand (Johnstone and Mandryk 2001).

Lisu

[lis] 5* (Dispersed). 40,000 in Thailand (Bradley 2007b).

Lü

[khb] 5 (Dispersed). 83,000 in Thailand (Johnstone and Mandryk 2001).

Shan

[shn] 5* (Dispersed). 95,000 in Thailand (2006 Mahidol University).

Vietnamese

[vie] 5* (Dispersed). 8,280 in Thailand (2010 census).

Wa, Parauk

[prk] 5 (Dispersed). 6,700 in Thailand (2008 P. Hopple).

5 (Developing)

Chinese, Min Dong

[cdo] 5* (Developing).

Hmong Daw

[mww] 5* (Developing). 32,400 in Thailand (2000).

Iu Mien

[ium] 5* (Developing). 45,000 in Thailand (Leclerc 2019a), based on ethnicity.

Karen, Pwo Northern

[pww] 5* (Developing). 60,000 (1983 SIL). Total Karen: 441,000 (2010 census).

Khmer, Northern

[kxm] 5* (Developing). 1,400,000 (2006 Mahidol University), decreasing. Very few monolinguals.

Khmu

[kjg] 5* (Developing). 10,600 in Thailand (Michaud 2016), based on ethnicity.

Khün

[kkh] 5* (Developing). 6,280 in Thailand (2000).

Mal

[mlf] 5* (Developing). 3,500 in Thailand (1982 SIL).

Tai Dam

[blt] 5* (Developing). 700 in Thailand (2004).

Bisu

[bzi] 5 (Developing). 700 (2016 K. Person). No monolinguals (2015 K. Person). Ethnic population: 700 (2018 K. Person).

Lawa, Western

[lcp] 5 (Developing). 8,000 (Nahhas 2011). Ethnic population: 8,500 (Nahhas 2011).

Prai

[prt] 5 (Developing). 20,000 in Thailand (2001 D. Jordon). Possibly 3,000 Ban Wen dialect speakers. Total users in all countries: 48,700.

Thai Sign Language

[tsq] 5 (Developing). 200,000 (2008 WFD). Estimated 90,000–300,000 deaf (2008 WFD); another older estimate: 51,000 profoundly, prelingually deaf people in Thailand (1997 C. Reilly).

Thai, Southern

[sou] 5 (Developing). De facto language of provincial identity in southeasternmost 15 provinces. 4,500,000 in Thailand (2006 Mahidol University). Total users in all countries: 4,508,200.

6a (Vigorous)

Akeu

[aeu] 6a (Vigorous). 400 in Thailand (2006 E. Johnson).

Ban Khor Sign Language

[bfk] 6a (Vigorous). 400 (Nonaka 2009), all users. Conservative estimate: 15%–25% of the village signs to some extent. L1 users: 16 (Nonaka 2009). 16 deaf users, plus an unknown number of hearing L1 users.

Blang

[blr] 6a (Vigorous). 1,200 in Thailand (1998 SIL).

Hmong Njua

[hnj] 6a* (Vigorous). 60,000 in Thailand (Hattaway 2003).

Karen, Phrae Pwo

[kjt] 6a (Vigorous). 6,000 (Dawkins and Phillips 2009a). Total Karen: 441,000 (2010 census).

Lawa, Eastern

[lwl] 6a (Vigorous). 7,000 (Nahhas 2011). Ethnic population: 8,000 (Nahhas 2011).

Malay, Satun

[meo] 6a* (Vigorous).

Mlabri

[mra] 6a (Vigorous). 400 in Thailand (2017 F. Lipsius), increasing. Ethnic population: 400 (2017 F. Lipsius). Total users in all countries: 440.

Mok

[mqt] 6a (Vigorous). 700 in Thailand (2018 S. Devereux).

Nyaw

[nyw] 6a* (Vigorous). 80,000 (Hattaway 2005).

Phu Thai

[pht] 6a* (Vigorous). 470,000 in Thailand (2006 Mahidol University). Total users in all countries: 897,000.

Phuan

[phu] 6a* (Vigorous). 200,000 in Thailand (2006 Mahidol University). Total users in all countries: 316,000.

[sss] 6a (Vigorous). 70,000 in Thailand (2006 Mahidol University).

Ten’edn

[tnz] 6a (Vigorous). 350 in Thailand (2014 SIL). Total users in all countries: 365.

Thai, Northeastern

[tts] 6a (Vigorous). De facto language of provincial identity in east, northeast provinces. 15,000,000 (1983 SIL). At least 1,000,000 in Bangkok. Kalerng has a few thousand speakers (1990 A. Diller).

6b (Threatened)

Aheu

[thm] 6b (Threatened). 450 in Thailand (Bradley 2007b). Ethnic population: 1,500 (Bradley 2007b). Total users in all countries: 700.

Bru, Western

[brv] 6b (Threatened). 20,000 in Thailand (1991).

Cham, Western

[cja] 6b* (Threatened). 4,000 in Thailand.

Kayah, Eastern

[eky] 6b* (Threatened). 18,000 in Thailand (2000). 2 camps of 15,000 refugees from Myanmar.

Kuay

[kdt] 6b (Threatened). 400,000 in Thailand (2006 Mahidol University). Few monolinguals. Total users in all countries: 456,600.

Lahu Si

[lhi] 6b (Threatened). 15,000 in Thailand (2007).

Moken

[mwt] 6b* (Threatened). 2,000 in Thailand (Bradley 2007a).

Moklen

[mkm] 6b (Threatened). 2,750 (Larish 2005), decreasing. Ethnic population: 4,000 (2000 D. Bradley).

Mon

[mnw] 6b* (Threatened). 108,000 in Thailand (2000). 70,000–120,000, total population (Bauer 1984). 1983 census estimated 100,000; about 50,000 L1 speakers (Foster 1972; Smalley 1994). Ethnic population: 200,000 (Bradley 2007a).

Mpi

[mpz] 6b (Threatened). 900 (Nahhas 2007), decreasing. Ethnic population: 1,500 (Nahhas 2007).

Nyeu

[nyl] 6b* (Threatened). 3,000 (Phimjun 2004).

Pa’o

[blk] 6b* (Threatened). 740 in Thailand (2000).

Saek

[skb] 6b (Threatened). Total L1 speakers in Laos and Thailand: 10,000 with a total ethnic population of 20,000. The majority of the speakers are in Laos (Bradley 2007a).

Tai Ya

[cuu] 6b (Threatened). 400 in Thailand (Dawkins and Kirkland 2008), decreasing. Ethnic population: 1,000 (Dawkins and Kirkland 2008).

Thai Song

[soa] 6b (Threatened). 45,000 (Schliesinger 2001).

Yong

[yno] 6b (Threatened). 12,600 (2000).

Yoy

[yoy] 6b (Threatened). 7,000 in Thailand (Schliesinger 2001). Total users in all countries: 9,000.

7 (Shifting)

Chong

[cog] 7 (Shifting). 500 in Thailand (Bradley 2007b), decreasing. Ethnic population: 2,000 (Bradley 2007b).

Jehai

[jhi] 7 (Shifting). Ethnic population: 150 (Bradley 2007a).

Karen, Pwo West-Central Thailand

[kjp] 7 (Shifting). 50,000 in Thailand (1998). Total Karen: 441,000 (2010 census.

Nyahkur

[cbn] 7 (Shifting). 1,500 (2006 C. Shimmin), decreasing. No monolinguals. It appears the last monolingual speakers likely died out no later than the 1950s (2017 C. Shimmin). Ethnic population: 3,000 (Thongkum 1984).

Urak Lawoi’

[urk] 7 (Shifting). 5,000 (2012 S. Pattemore). Ethnic population: 3,000 (Bradley 2007b).

8a (Moribund)

Chiangmai Sign Language

[csd] 8a (Moribund). 10 (2019 J. Woodward), decreasing. 10 is an estimated maximum.

Palaung, Pale

[pce] 8a (Moribund). 5,000 in Thailand (1989).

Ugong

[ugo] 8a (Moribund). 150 (Bradley 2007b). Ethnic population: 500 (Bradley 2007b).

8b (Nearly extinct)

Kensiu

[kns] 8b (Nearly extinct). 9 in Thailand (2015 N. Bishop). Ethnic population: 250 (Bradley 2007a).

Khamen Padong

[scq] 8b (Nearly extinct). 20 in Thailand (Bradley 2007b).

Kintaq

[knq] 8b (Nearly extinct). 1 in Thailand (2017 N. Bishop).

Samre

[sxm] 8b (Nearly extinct). 10 in Thailand (Ploykaew 2001). 10–20 semi-speakers (Ploykaew 2001).

Unestablished

Bengali

[ben] Unestablished. 35,000 in Thailand (Leclerc 2019a), based on ethnicity.

Burmese

[mya] Unestablished. 828,000 in Thailand (2010 census).

English

[eng] Unestablished. 18,924,000 in Thailand, all users. L1 users: 324,000 in Thailand (2010 census). L2 users: 18,600,000 (2019).

French

[fra] Unestablished. 580,900 in Thailand, all users. L1 users: 13,900 in Thailand (2010 census). L2 users: 567,000 (Beck et al 2018).

German, Standard

[deu] Unestablished. 11,100 in Thailand (2010 census).

Hindi

[hin] Unestablished. 22,900 in Thailand (2010 census).

Japanese

[jpn] Unestablished. 70,700 in Thailand (2010 census).

Korean

[kor] Unestablished. 20,200 in Thailand (2019 Korean Ministry of Foreign Affairs), based on nationality.

Lao

[lao] Unestablished. 60,200 in Thailand (2010 census).

Punjabi, Eastern

[pan] Unestablished. 62,000 in Thailand (Leclerc 2019a), based on ethnicity.

Rohingya

[rhg] Unestablished. 5,000 in Thailand (2017 The Arakan Project), based on nationality.

Sinhala

[sin] Unestablished. 72,000 in Thailand (Leclerc 2019a).

Tamil

[tam] Unestablished. 38,000 in Thailand (Leclerc 2019a), based on ethnicity.

Thailand

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