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 is a structured self-paced course. 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.
A structured, self-paced course built specifically to read the Thai script and predict tones from spelling rules — consonant classes, tone marks and all — with SM-2 spaced repetition across 12+ Thai-specific card types
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 →