The official language of Thailand is Thai, a Siamese language closely related to Lao, Shan in Burma, and numerous smaller languages of southern China and northern Vietnam. It is the principal language of education and government and is spoken throughout the country. The standard is based on the dialect of Bangkok, and it is written in the Thai alphabet, an abugida that evolved from the Khmer script.
Several other Tai languages exist: Southern Thai is spoken in the southern provinces, and Lanna is spoken in the provinces that were formerly part of the independent kingdom of Lanna