ฐ Thai letter tho than

What ฐ means

It is a consonant, not a word meaning “base.” Tho than, also written tho thaan, begins ฐาน (“base”) with an aspirated t—a t released with a puff of air. In รัฐ (“state”), it ends the syllable as t.

ฐ belongs to the high consonant class, a spelling group used in Thai tone rules. “High” does not mean you always pronounce it with a high pitch; the rest of the syllable matters too.

Why does ฐ sound like ถ?

Modern Thai keeps spellings that reflect older sound distinctions. In Pali and Sanskrit, ancient Indian languages, the corresponding consonant is represented in Latin letters as ṭh. Modern Thai pronounces ฐ and ถ alike at the start of a syllable, but you cannot swap them in a word.

Thai writing developed from Old Khmer writing rather than starting from scratch. The Ram Khamhaeng inscription, a text carved in stone usually dated 1292, provides early evidence of Thai writing. That dates the wider script tradition, not the first appearance of this exact letter.

Part of the collection

ก

Thai Alphabet & Letters

Who writes ฐ

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Don't confuse it with

3

ถ

Thai Character Tho Thung

Matches ฐ in initial sound and high consonant class, but belongs in different spellings.

ฑ

Thai Character Tho Nangmontho

Also commonly written th in Latin letters, but belongs to the low consonant class, which follows different tone rules.

ท

Thai Character Tho Thahan

Has the same initial aspirated t sound, but is low-class. Matching sounds do not make these letters interchangeable.

Alphabet

Thai alphabet57 letters

ฯๆกขฃคฅฆงจฉชซฌญฎฏฐฑฒณดตถทธนบปผฝพฟภมยรฤลฦวศษสหฬอฮะาๅำเแโใไ

Worth knowing

Thai alphabet charts documented in 2026 pair ฐ ฐาน (“base” or “foundation”) to help learners remember which letter is meant.

Questions people ask

1

Why does ฐ show as a box on some devices?

Because that device's fonts have no glyph for it. The character is still correct and still copies correctly — the box is a missing glyph, not a broken character.