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History of the Thai language

Thai is the national language of Thailand, spoken by around eighty percent

of the sixty million residents of the South-East Asian country.

Linguists consider it an "uninflected, primarily monosyllabic,

tonal language" in the "Ka-Tai group."

The spoken language is believed to have originated in the area

which is now the border between Vietnam and China,

an idea which provides clues to the origin of the Thai people,

an area of continued scholarly debate. Linguistically,

the language is related to languages spoken in eastern Burma,

northern Vietnam, Yunnan, and Laos.

The written Thai Language was introduced

by the third Sukothai period king, Ramkamhaeng, in 1283.

This writing system has undergone little change since its introduction,

so inscriptions from the Sukothai era can be read by modern Thai readers.

The writing was based on Pali, Sanskrit, and Indian concepts,

and many Mon and Khmer words entered the language.