Thai character ru

The whole Thai word determines ฤ’s reading. ฤ is used mainly in Sanskrit-derived Thai words, preserving Sanskrit vocalic r: an r that forms a syllable instead of acting as a consonant.

In poetic Thai, standalone ฤ can mean “or,” act as a question-ending particle, or mean “not.” This is a literary use.

Thai writing developed from Old Khmer within the Indic script tradition. Sukhothai inscriptions are generally treated as the earliest surviving Thai-script setting, in the late 13th century; that dates the script’s surviving record, not ฤ’s first appearance.