Thai days of the week
Seven words, each starting with วัน wan, "day". Here they are with their tones, the planets behind the names and the color Thais give each day.
The seven days
Every day starts with วัน wan, "day", then the name of a planet. The romanization is the spelling ThaiCards shows on its cards, and the labels give the tone of each syllable from the app's tone engine.
| Thai | Meaning | Tones |
|---|---|---|
| วันจันทร์ wan chan | Monday | mid mid |
| วันอังคาร wan ang khaan | Tuesday | mid mid mid |
| วันพุธ wan phut | Wednesday | mid high |
| วันพฤหัสบดี wan pha rue hat sa baw dee | Thursday | mid high low mid mid |
| วันศุกร์ wan suk | Friday | mid low |
| วันเสาร์ wan sao | Saturday | mid rising |
| วันอาทิตย์ wan aa thit | Sunday | mid mid high |
Where the names come from
Thai days follow the same planets as the English and Latin names, so Monday is the Moon day and Saturday is Saturn day. In speech people often drop วัน and say only the second part: เสาร์ sao for Saturday, อาทิตย์ aa thit for Sunday.
- วันจันทร์ wan chan, Monday, named for the Moon
- วันอังคาร wan ang khaan, Tuesday, named for Mars
- วันพุธ wan phut, Wednesday, named for Mercury
- วันพฤหัสบดี wan pha rue hat sa baw dee, Thursday, named for Jupiter
- วันศุกร์ wan suk, Friday, named for Venus
- วันเสาร์ wan sao, Saturday, named for Saturn
- วันอาทิตย์ wan aa thit, Sunday, named for the Sun
Asking what day it is
"What day is today?" is วันนี้วันอะไร wan nee wan a rai, word for word "today day what". The answer repeats the pattern: วันนี้วันจันทร์ wan nee wan chan, "today is Monday". Thai has no "is" here; see the most common Thai words for how short Thai sentences are.
| Thai | Meaning | Tones |
|---|---|---|
| วัน wan | day | mid |
| วันนี้ wan nee | today | mid high |
| พรุ่งนี้ prung nee | tomorrow | falling high |
| เมื่อวาน muea wan | yesterday | falling mid |
| สัปดาห์ sap daa | week | low mid |
| เดือน duean | month | mid |
| ปี pee | year | mid |
Each day has a color
In Thailand every day of the week has a traditional color, and many people know the color of the day they were born on. You will see it on calendars and in the yellow worn for the King, who was born on a Monday. The color words are explained in the Thai colors guide.
| Day | Meaning | Color | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| วันอาทิตย์ wan aa thit | Sunday | แดง daeng | red |
| วันจันทร์ wan chan | Monday | เหลือง lueang | yellow |
| วันอังคาร wan ang khaan | Tuesday | ชมพู chompuu | pink |
| วันพุธ wan phut | Wednesday | เขียว khiao | green |
| วันพฤหัสบดี wan pha rue hat sa baw dee | Thursday | ส้ม som | orange |
| วันศุกร์ wan suk | Friday | ฟ้า faa | sky / light blue |
| วันเสาร์ wan sao | Saturday | ม่วง muang | purple |
Practice this in ThaiCards
The days of the week, today, tomorrow and yesterday are flashcards in the ThaiCards course with audio and tones, and spaced repetition brings each one back right before you would forget it.
Free to start: the Beginner Starter deck and the first 10 letters of the alphabet deck. Premium is $1.99 a month and opens every deck. No account needed to begin.