Thai speaking countries
Thai is the official language in Thailand and is spoken in 2 other countries as monther tongue by a part of the population. The Thai language (native name: ไทย) has its roots in the Tai–Kadai language family.As a percentage of the total population, the largest share of around 53 percent is in Thailand. A total of about 39.8 million people worldwide speak Thai as their mother tongue.
| Country | Region | Official language | Distribution | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Thailand | Southeast Asia | yes | 52.6 % | 37,662,000 |
| Vietnam | Southeast Asia | no | 1.6 % | 1,559,000 |
| Laos | Southeast Asia | no | 7.8 % | 579,000 |
Unless otherwise described in the text, this page is about native speakers — not the total number of speakers. How many people understand or speak Thai as a subsequently learned language is not the subject of this page. Countries where native speakers make up only a few thousand, or even a few hundred people, or countries with a percentage well below 1% are unlikely to be listed here.