Thai Bites Extended Edition - Transliterating Thai using IPA with Stuart Jay Raj

Transliteration is a contentious issue in the Thai learning community. Some people swear by it and some people swear by avoiding transliterations all together.

I encourage everyone to jump into the Thai script and associate each letter shape with its correct sound from the get go.
Most learners will have some period however where a more familiar transliteration system is required. It's dangerous to fall into the trap of using 'Karaoke Thai' where we use familiar letters from English or other languages that we know to represent what we think are the same or similar sounds. In many cases these sounds could be totally different to the Thai ear, resulting in misunderstanding and learners' motivation is quashed.
I have opted to stick with the International Phonetic Alphabet in Cracking Thai Fundamentals as the standard for transliteration when needed. In this extended Thai Bite, I introduce the Thai sound system with IPA - consonants first and then vowels.
Here is an overview of the main IPA sounds:
Consonants
ก k ค kʰ ง ŋ
จ c ช cʰ ญ ɲ
ด d ต t ท tʰ น n
บ b ป p พ pʰ ฟ f ม m
ส s
ห h
อ ɔ
Semi Vowels
ย j (i) ร r ล l ว w (u)
Short Long Extended
อะ a อา a: อา a:
อิ i อี i: เอีย i:a
อึ ɯ อือ ɯ: เอือ ɯ:a
อุ u อู u: อัว u:a

Short Long
โอะ o โอ o:
เอาะ ɔ ออ ɔ:
เออะ ə เออ ə:
เอะ e เอ e:
แอะ æ แอ æ:

Other Diphthongs
เอา au
อำ am
ไอ ai
ใอ ai

เอว e:w
อุย ui
อวย u:ai
ออย ɔ:i

Short Long
เอะ e เอ e:
แอะ æ แอ æ:

There are many other vowel combinations that can be created using these base IPA letters.
I will leave it to you to explore.

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