Thai

The ability to speak Thai will allow you to communicate with the Thai people (Thailand currently has a population of over 60 million), about 14 percent of whom are ethnic Chinese. Thai is the national language of the Kingdom of Thailand. It is the largest and best known member of the Tai language family. There are a large number of speakers of Tai languages and dialects in South Western China, Laos, Cambodia, Myanmar, and Vietnam. Thai is a tonal language like Chinese. There are five tones in Standard Thai.

Thai at The University of Hong Kong was established in 1997 with the support of the Royal Thai Consulate in Hong Kong. The University of Hong Kong is the only university in the territory where students can minor in Thai.

Students gain first-hand experience of the Thai language as well as of Thai culture through our courses and through occasional trips to Thai temples, markets, and festivals. We also strongly encourage our students to travel to Thailand during the course of their studies and participate in summer language courses at our partner institutions.