Thai language basically consists of monosyllable words, whose meaning are complete by themselves. Its alphabet was created by King Ramkhamhaeng the Great in 1283 by modeling of the old Khmer characters. After a history of over 700 years,the Thai alphabet today comprises 44 letters (including 2 obsolete ones), representing 20 consonant phonemes, and 15 vowel signs, denoting 22 vowels, diphthongs and tripthongs.

As Thai is a tonal language with five different tones, it often confuses foreigners who are unused to this kind of language. For example, they have difficulty in distinguishing these 3 words from each other: "SUEA" with a rising tone, "SUEA" low tone, and "SUEA" falling tone wich meaning a tiger, a mat, and clothes respectively.

Like most languages of the world, Thai language is a complicated mixture of several sources. Many Thai words used today were derived from Pali, Sanskit, Khmer, Malay, English, and Chinese.

Thai words that tourists usually learn when they come to Thailand are "SAWADEE" that means "Hello", and "KOBKHUN MAK" that means "Thank you so much".

Theravada Buddhism is the professed religion of more than 90 parcent of all Thais, and casts strong influences on daily life.

Buddhism first appeared in Thailand during the 3rd Century BC at Nakhon Pathom, site of the world's tallest Buddhist monument, after the Indian Buddhist Emperor Asoka (267-227 BC) despatched missionaries to Southeast Asia to propanate the newly established faith.

Thais have always subscribed to the ideal of religious freedom. Thus, sizeable minorities of Muslims, Christians, Hindus, and Sikhs freely pursue their respective faiths.