<P> Note that population numbers are for the Northeast region only . Languages may have additional speakers outside the Northeast . </P> <P> The Thai hill tribes speak numerous small languages, many Chinese retain varieties of Chinese, and there are half a dozen sign languages . The Ethnologue reports 73 living languages are used in Thailand . The Royal Thai Government's 2011 Country Report to the Committee Responsible for the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination, relying mainly on the 2005 Ethnolinguistic Maps of Thailand data, lists 62 languages . </P> <P> 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 written in the Thai alphabet, an abugida that evolved from the Khmer script . </P> <P> 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 . </P>

What is the official language spoken in thailand