What's the best way to learn Thai online?
There's no single best way to learn Thai online — the format matters as much as the brand. Pimsleur is a fixed audio course, ThaiPod101 is an open lesson library, italki is live tutoring with a real person, and Jam Kham makes two structured self-paced courses, Read Thai for the script and Speak Thai for phrases before a trip. Below is why, with sources.
We make one of the four, and we've listed them alphabetically by mode below — not by preference. We're not pretending the other three are worse at their own mode; we're telling you which one fits how you actually want to study.
The four delivery modes, one app each
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Pimsleur — best for audio course
If you want a fixed program you can follow by ear, Pimsleur's Thai course is built around its audio method — 30-minute lessons you listen and respond to out loud, promising to get you "speaking right from the first day."
Audio-first ear training you can do hands-free while driving or walking
Read the full comparison → -
ThaiPod101 — best for lesson library
If you'd rather browse than follow a set track, ThaiPod101 is an open library — its own site describes it as "1000s of Lessons by Real Teachers" — including a dedicated pathway on reading the script.
A very large library of native-audio lessons for building listening comprehension
Read the full comparison → -
italki — best for live tutoring
If you want a real person adjusting to your questions and your schedule, italki books you a live, one-to-one lesson with an independent Thai tutor — each tutor sets their own lesson plan, so what you study is built around you rather than a fixed syllabus.
Live one-to-one tutoring with native speakers, scheduled around you
Read the full comparison → -
Jam Kham — best for structured self-paced course
If you'd rather work through a fixed curriculum on your own schedule than book time with a person, Jam Kham lays out reading the Thai script and the tone rules as a sequence of lessons, reviewed with spaced repetition so what you learn actually sticks.
Two self-paced courses. Read Thai teaches you to read the Thai script and predict tones from spelling rules, with SM-2 spaced repetition across six card formats. Speak Thai teaches travel phrases in 12 situation packs, with reviews paced to your trip date and the first 30 phrases free
See the Read Thai course →
Not on this list: Anki and Ling
Both teach Thai, but neither is a delivery mode in the sense this page uses — they're practice tools you'd use inside whichever mode above you pick, not a way instruction reaches you on their own.
- Anki: Total control over your own spaced-repetition decks, free on desktop and Android.
- Ling: Dialogue-based conversation practice with native speaker audio.
Comparing apps instead of study modes? See the full app-by-app roundup, which covers both of these.
See how Thai reading actually works
Here for the structured, self-paced lane? Try it free, no card needed.
Sound out your first Thai word →No account, no card — just the alphabet.
If a self-paced course is your mode
Jam Kham teaches the script and tone rules as a structured course you work through at your own pace. Start free, first 3 modules, no card needed.
Start reading Thai today
Start the reading course →First 3 modules free — no card, and they don't expire.
See how Jam Kham compares to each option above, one by one →