# Thailand pronunciation **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [August 7, 2020, 11:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thailand-pronunciation/917541 "2020-08-07T23:39:29Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Marvin\_the\_Martian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/marvin_the_martian/32/2898_2.png) [@Marvin\_the\_Martian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marvin_the_Martian)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2020, 11:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thailand-pronunciation/917541/1 "2020-08-07T23:39:29Z")
Looking for a GQ fact check on Dinesh D’Souza’s claim that “most of the English-speaking world” pronounces Thailand “thigh-land” rather than “tie-land”. ---
**Author:** ![mixdenny](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mixdenny/32/2962_2.png) [@mixdenny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mixdenny)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2020, 11:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thailand-pronunciation/917541/2 "2020-08-07T23:42:23Z")
I just asked my (Thai) wife and she never heard of it. Dennis ---
**Author:** ![Pleonast](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pleonast/32/1183_2.png) [@Pleonast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pleonast)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2020, 11:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thailand-pronunciation/917541/3 "2020-08-07T23:45:33Z")
I have always heard it pronounced like “tie-land”, growing up in Ohio and living in California. It’s often misspelled as “Tailand” and sometimes confused with “Taiwan”. ---
**Author:** ![Fiendish\_Astronaut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fiendish_astronaut/32/3295_2.png) [@Fiendish\_Astronaut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiendish_Astronaut)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2020, 12:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thailand-pronunciation/917541/4 "2020-08-08T00:01:53Z")
I don’t believe the “th” sound (θ) exists in Thai. The H is supposed to aspirate the sound of the preceding consonant - so you’re supposed to say a hard T and then pronounce the H with a very short, almost imperceptible puff of air immediately afterward. ---
**Author:** ![mixdenny](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mixdenny/32/2962_2.png) [@mixdenny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mixdenny)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2020, 12:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thailand-pronunciation/917541/5 "2020-08-08T00:09:32Z")
> [@Fiendish\_Astronaut](#): > > I don’t believe the “th” sound (θ) exists in Thai. That might be. My wife once asked me to buy Thera-Flu cold remedy for her except she pronounced it, “tunga-flu”. I still remind her of that one. ---
**Author:** ![Marvin\_the\_Martian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/marvin_the_martian/32/2898_2.png) [@Marvin\_the\_Martian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marvin_the_Martian)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2020, 12:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thailand-pronunciation/917541/6 "2020-08-08T00:36:08Z")
The person I am trying to fact check specifically claims that non-US English speakers pronounce the word as “thigh-land”. He says it doesn’t matter how the Thai pronounce it. He is defending an American who pronounced it “thigh-land” by saying that as a cosmopolitan world traveler the person picked up the pronunciation overseas in other English-speaking countries. Any Brits, Aussies, Kiwis, etc. want to chime in? ---
**Author:** ![Fiendish\_Astronaut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fiendish_astronaut/32/3295_2.png) [@Fiendish\_Astronaut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiendish_Astronaut)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2020, 12:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thailand-pronunciation/917541/7 "2020-08-08T00:42:57Z")
Well okay, in addition to the way the Thai’s say it, as a Brit I have never ever heard of anybody ever saying Thighland. And Thai food’s a big deal in the UK so I hear the word “Thai” fairly frequently. Also, I spent maybe up to three months in Thailand while travelling over the years and have met countless travellers from all parts of the world, English-speaking or otherwise. There was no question about how to pronounce it. Even Trump knew the correct pronunciation as he corrected himself immediately afterwards, so this Dinesh D’Souza fellow sounds like he’s a bit of a lost puppy. ---
**Author:** ![galen\_ubal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/galen_ubal/32/4440_2.png) [@galen\_ubal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/galen_ubal)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2020, 12:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thailand-pronunciation/917541/8 "2020-08-08T00:49:54Z")
> [@Marvin\_the\_Martian](#): > > The person I am trying to fact check specifically claims that non-US English speakers pronounce the word as “thigh-land”. He says it doesn’t matter how the Thai pronounce it. He is defending an American who pronounced it “thigh-land” by saying that as a cosmopolitan world traveler the person picked up the pronunciation overseas in other English-speaking countries Utter nonsense. Aussies pronounce it “Tie” and “Tie-land”. (cite, living in Australia for 15 years) ---
**Author:** ![HMS\_Irruncible](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hms_irruncible/32/7394_2.png) [@HMS\_Irruncible](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HMS_Irruncible)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2020, 12:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thailand-pronunciation/917541/9 "2020-08-08T00:55:19Z")
> [@Marvin\_the\_Martian](#): > > Looking for a GQ fact check on Dinesh D’Souza’s claim that “most of the English-speaking world” pronounces Thailand “thigh-land” rather than “tie-land”. As I read the tweet in question, this claim depends entirety on the assertion that Indian people say “Thigh-land”, and there are 1.2 billion people living in India, and all of them speak English, therefore this meets the definition of “most English speakers”. I don’t know if we can meaningfully agree on whether India equals “most English speakers”, but maybe someone can confirm how Indian people actually say it? ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2020, 1:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thailand-pronunciation/917541/10 "2020-08-08T01:00:51Z")
Dinesh D’Souza isn’t a reliable source of any factual information. In fact he’s kind of the opposite. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2020, 1:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thailand-pronunciation/917541/11 "2020-08-08T01:01:02Z")
I’ve lived my entire life in an English-speaking country. I’ve only heard Thailand pronounced thigh-land twice. The first time was by a six-year-old who was reading it off a map. ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2020, 1:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thailand-pronunciation/917541/12 "2020-08-08T01:07:55Z")
> [@HMS\_Irruncible](#): > > As I read the tweet in question, this claim depends entirety on the assertion that Indian people say “Thigh-land”, and there are 1.2 billion people living in India, and all of them speak English, therefore this meets the definition of “most English speakers”. Does he count English-speaking Chinese? Because there are a lot of them, too. Anyway, I grew up in the Northeast of the US, and I’ve only heard “Tie Land”, never “Thigh Land”. ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2020, 1:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thailand-pronunciation/917541/13 "2020-08-08T01:08:53Z")
> [@HMS\_Irruncible](#): > > As I read the tweet in question, this claim depends entirety on the assertion that Indian people say “Thigh-land”, and there are 1.2 billion people living in India, and all of them speak English, therefore this meets the definition of “most English speakers”. Wikipedia implies English proficiency in India is in the very low double digits, (while it certainly is more influential than its size due to having official support and being popular with business). Even if Wikipedia is off and it is actually triple this amount, it’s still not the majority of English speakers in the world (And of course there’s the open question of whether they tend to pronounce it “thigh-land”.) ---
**Author:** ![Marvin\_the\_Martian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/marvin_the_martian/32/2898_2.png) [@Marvin\_the\_Martian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marvin_the_Martian)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2020, 3:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thailand-pronunciation/917541/14 "2020-08-08T03:27:00Z")
> [@Fiendish\_Astronaut](#): > > Even Trump knew the correct pronunciation as he corrected himself immediately afterwards, so this Dinesh D’Souza fellow sounds like he’s a bit of a lost puppy. I know, but I always like to sift such comments for potential grains of truth before I bash them. In this case it seems I will need an electron microscope. Or maybe it’s just really, really powerful “homeopathic truth”. ---
**Author:** ![Monty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/monty/32/47_2.png) [@Monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monty)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2020, 4:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thailand-pronunciation/917541/15 "2020-08-08T04:14:56Z")
> [@Marvin\_the\_Martian](#): > > The person I am trying to fact check specifically claims that non-US English speakers pronounce the word as “thigh-land”. Korean, like a lot of other languages, does not have the English “th” sound found in the English word “thigh”. The Korean word for _Thailand_ is _태국_ (‘Tae-guk’, ‘ae’ sounds like the ‘ay’ in English ‘May’ and ‘u’ sounds like the ‘oo’ in English ‘boot’) with an aspiration on the ‘T’. My wife, a native Korean speaker, speaks English and uses the standard American English version of the word, NOT “Thigh Land”. I have never, not even once, heard the word pronounced like the English word “thigh”. Is that how a certain resident of 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue pronounced it recently? ---
**Author:** ![Monty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/monty/32/47_2.png) [@Monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monty)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2020, 4:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thailand-pronunciation/917541/16 "2020-08-08T04:16:26Z")
> [@HMS\_Irruncible](#): > > As I read the tweet in question, this claim depends entirety on the assertion that Indian people say “Thigh-land”, and there are 1.2 billion people living in India, and all of them speak English, therefore this meets the definition of “most English speakers”. That’s an interesting assertion that tweeter made that everyone in India speaks English. ---
**Author:** ![GreenWyvern](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/greenwyvern/32/2834_2.png) [@GreenWyvern](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GreenWyvern)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2020, 4:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thailand-pronunciation/917541/17 "2020-08-08T04:33:46Z")
In South Africa, I’ve never heard it pronounced anything other than Tie-land, even by Indian people. On the face of it, Dinesh D’Souza is wrong. He needs to provide some videos of news broadcasts, etc. to back up his claim, but I doubt that he’ll be able to. It sounds like he’s trying to cover up his own ignorant mispronunciation. ---
**Author:** ![Kamino\_Neko](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kamino_neko/32/34_2.png) [@Kamino\_Neko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kamino_Neko)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2020, 6:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thailand-pronunciation/917541/18 "2020-08-08T06:28:53Z")
Never heard ‘Thighland’ in Canada. ---
**Author:** ![kambuckta](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/53a042/32.png) [@kambuckta](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kambuckta)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2020, 7:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thailand-pronunciation/917541/19 "2020-08-08T07:59:37Z")
Aussie here. It’s Tie-land. ---
**Author:** ![Aspidistra](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aspidistra/32/3894_2.png) [@Aspidistra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aspidistra)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2020, 10:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thailand-pronunciation/917541/20 "2020-08-08T10:34:32Z")
It’s so completely Tie-land. Five-year-olds know it’s Tie-land. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thailand-pronunciation/917541.md?page=2)