Every Thai consonant belongs to one of three classes: mid, high, or low. Consonant class is one of the three inputs to tone (class + tone mark + live/dead). This is the core of Thai tones.
The "neutral" class. With no tone mark on a live syllable, the default tone is mid.
No mark (สามัญ)
→ Mid tone (live) · Low tone (dead)
◌่ mai ek
→ Low tone
◌้ mai tho
→ Falling tone
◌๊ mai tri
→ High tone
◌๋ mai jattawa
→ Rising tone
A tone class of voiceless sounds — aspirated stops and fricatives alike. With no tone mark on a live syllable, the default tone is rising.
No mark (สามัญ)
→ Rising tone (live) · Low tone (dead)
◌่ mai ek
→ Low tone
◌้ mai tho
→ Falling tone
◌๊ mai tri
→ No standard tone (nonstandard combo)
◌๋ mai jattawa
→ No standard tone (nonstandard combo)
Largest class — voiced sonorants and voiced stops. With no tone mark on a live syllable, the default tone is mid. Dead syllables differ — see the tone flowchart lesson.
No mark (สามัญ)
→ Mid tone (live) · High or Falling tone (dead)
◌่ mai ek
→ Falling tone
◌้ mai tho
→ High tone
◌๊ mai tri
→ No standard tone (nonstandard combo)
◌๋ mai jattawa
→ No standard tone (nonstandard combo)
Key insight
Mid-class consonants accept all 5 tone marks with predictable results — learn mid class first. High and low classes have different (but learnable) mappings. Remember: the “no mark” tone depends on whether the syllable is live or dead.