How to Tell Time in Thai: A Cultural Clock Guide

No matter which culture you’re from, you’ve seen nothing like the Thai time-telling system. Imagine this: you just landed in Thailand, full of excitement and anticipation. You arrange to meet a Thai friend for dinner at the coolest sky bar in the city. “Meet me at 2,” they say.

Never learning how time works in Thai, you’re confused. You’re sure that you heard the number two. But how can someone have dinner at 2? Surely, time-telling can’t be that different across the globe… right?

As a Thai person and your go-to cultural travel expert, I am sorry to say that it is hella different. But I’m here to help unpack how to tell time in Thai, and explain to you how the Thai clock system has become so… unconventional.

You’ll finally understand how Thais tell time, including how we call 8 PM “two.” Keep reading to unravel one of Thailand’s most surprising quirks and learn how not to show up six hours early for dinner.

Note: I first published this post in February of 2024. I’ve updated it to include deeper, more up-to-date, and more beneficial information for you.

How to Tell Time in Thai

For those who know a bit of Thai, they’d be able to tell you that the Thai clock system is one of the most ridiculous in the world.

While most countries do the 24-hour system, and the US does “AM” and “PM,” Thailand has… 5 sections of the day. Let’s unpack this together!

The Thai Clock System

When it comes to the official way of telling time in Thai, we, of course, use the 24-hour system just like everyone else. On the news or official announcements, you’ll see times listed from 1:00 to 24:00 (or 0:00).

It’s the colloquial way of telling time that will trip anyone up.

In casual speech, we divide the 24-hour day into 5 sections, challenging the way many foreigners are accustomed to reading time.

Understanding the basic structure of the Thai time system, including the division of the day and the use of different terms for morning, afternoon, evening, and night, is your first step.

And to help you digest all this information, I will also tell you exactly how this colloquial system of telling time came to be.

How to Tell Time in Thai (By Daypart)

First, let’s take a look at the division of a Thai person’s day.

Morning (6 AM to 11 AM)

The morning, or Cháo (เช้า) is when the city comes to life. From monks collecting alms at dawn to the bustling street markets preparing for the day.

In this section of the day, we say 6 “Mōng Cháo” to 11 Mōng Cháo (โมงเช้า). Sometimes the word “morning” is omitted, leaving only Mōng (โมง), and it’s implied that we’re talking about morning hours.

As for noon, we say Tîang (เที่ยง), which means “Middle” or “Mid.”

The Older Way to Tell Time (Morning Only)

The morning is the trickiest of the day because there’s also an older way to number the hours.

Sometimes, if you’re talking to an older Thai person (maybe 60+ years old), they will call 7 AM “1 Mōng Cháo,” and then “2 Mōng Cháo” for 8 AM, and so on… ending at “5 Morning O’clock.”

You don’t need to memorize this older version. You just have to keep it in your mind for a bit. It will make sense later when we get to the origin story.

Afternoon (1 PM to 4 PM)

The hottest time of the day… This is where most Thais will either stay cooped up in their offices or escape into malls and coffee shops to stay cool.

The word Mōng is still used, but the word afternoon, Bàai (บ่าย), is added to the front of the number. So 2 PM would be Bàai 2 Mōng. Number 1 is omitted, so 1 PM is Bàai Mōng.

To shorten everything up (except Bàai mōng for 1 PM), you can omit the word Mōng and say Bàai 2, Bàai 3, and so on. They literally mean “Afternoon 2, afternoon 3, afternoon 4.”

Evening (5 PM to 6 PM)

When the light starts to turn golden and the temperature drops, that’s when you change from Bàai to Yēn (เย็น), which means “evening.”

Originally, 5 PM was considered an afternoon hour and was called “Bàai 5.” But that word has fallen out of use conversationally because it just didn’t feel right. In most cultures, 5 PM feels more like the evening than the scorching afternoon, doesn’t it?

Today, we call these 2 hours “5 Mōng Yēn” and “6 Mōng Yēn.”

Night (7 PM to Midnight)

Mmm… The time for night market visits and lively street food stalls and the trickiest part of the day to express for foreigners. Knowing how to say times like “seven in the evening” will allow you to catch up with your Thai friends for dinner without feeling dumbstruck.

First things first. We don’t use the numbers 7 to 11. It’s numbers 1 through 5 for you, my friends.

And the word for nighttime o’clock is Tôom (ทุ่ม). So now we have “1 Tôom” through “5 Tôom.” instead of 7 PM through 11 PM. Yes, it takes some getting used to.

For midnight, we say Tîang Kūen (เที่ยงคืน), which translates directly to “Midnight.”

Late Night (1 AM to 5 AM)

The late night is quieter but still holds its charm for night owls exploring the local clubs or sipping wine on their balconies by the river.

For these hours, we say Dtēe (ตี) followed by the number. So, Dtēe 1 through Dtēe 5. The “dt” sound is a heavy T that lives closer to the tip of your tongue, similar to the Spanish T.

The Story Behind Thai Timekeeping

Is your head spinning already? I don’t blame you. Maybe go grab yourself a glass of water and walk around for a bit. But if you’re too curious about how we started telling time this way, keep reading!

Back in the early days of Siam, one could only find a clock inside public gathering places like city halls or temples. So, to keep people in private households on the same page, a few loud instruments were used around the city to signal the changing of the hours.

Daytime: The Gong

When the sun was out, a giant gong was struck at the change of every hour. The word “Mōng” is an imitation of the sound the gong makes when struck.

Morning Hours

Starting at 6 AM, the time-teller would strike the gong rapidly multiple times to signal the transition from night to day.

Originally, this hour was called Yâm Rôong (ย่ำรุ่ง), which means “Daybreak.” But as the country became more westernized, the number 6 was used to become more similar to the rest of the world.

At 7 AM, the gong was struck once. For 8 AM, twice… and up to 5 times for 11 AM. This was why an older person would call 7 AM “1 Morning O’Clock.”

Just like how we revolutionized 6 AM, we started using the numbers 7 through 11 to become more universal. But the word “Mōng” for the gong sound remains.

Afternoon Hours

There are no available references today that talk about how midday was signaled, but once the afternoon begins, the gong would sound once at 1 PM, two at 2 PM, and so on until 5 times at 5 PM.

Because the sound was still “Mōng” just like in the morning, the word afternoon (Bàai) was added to help differentiate the two parts of the day.

Nighttime: The Drum

At 6 PM, a giant drum was struck rapidly to signal “the nightfall” or “Yâm kâm (ย่ำค่ำ),” which became 6 PM to become more universal. Now, you can probably guess where the word “Tôom” came from… Yes, it’s the sound that the giant drum made.

Once 7 PM hits, we’re back to the 1 to 5 system again with the drum, which is why it’s 1 tôom through 5 tôom instead of 7 to 11. This way of counting the night hours hasn’t changed today.

The Ungodly Hours: The Plaque

Again, no available references today that talk about how midnight was signaled either. But once the later night hours started, a plaque-like instrument was used to signal the hours to night shift workers.

The plaque sound was soft, so it didn’t wake up the whole city every hour.

The word “dtēe” means “to hit” the plaque, from once at the first hour through 5 times at the 5th before the gong sounded again for daybreak.

Asking for the Time Like a Local

Asking for the time in Thai, luckily, does not require you to memorize all the different words for O’clock. Most of the time, only the word “Mōng” is casually used to ask for time. You can ask someone, “Gèe mōng láew ká?” and it won’t sound strange, even if it’s nighttime.

You can also ask “Gèe tôom láew” if you know for sure the time is somewhere between 7 to 11 PM. But even then, the word mōng would sound just as fine.

Common Questions

Final Thoughts

And there you have it! There’s a reason for everything, even when the reason didn’t help relieve the craziness.

For learners of the Thai language, this will help you remember how to tell time in Thai more quickly, though now that you understand exactly why we do it this way!

Had fun reading deep cultural information? Maybe you’ll enjoy my guide to understanding Thai culture!

Coming to Thailand?

I have a travel-specific list of basic Thai phrases to help you communicate more easily on your trip. I promise they’re all things you’ll get to use instead of just random phrases like “You’re beautiful.”

Find all the inspirations and ideas you need to plan your trip on my Thailand Cultural Travel page.

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