Moradok Lanna🔍ไทย

The Lanna language and culture of Northern Thailand

Moradok Lanna (มรดกล้านนา, “the heritage of Lanna”) is a non-profit knowledge centre and community for the language, script, customs and literature of Lanna, the old kingdom of Northern Thailand centred on Chiang Mai. It was founded by Ajarn Jaree Soontornsing (อ.จรีย์ สุนทรสิงห์).

📚 Read our English articles 📖 Use the dictionary

Read in English

All 7 articles →
Khruba Siwichai: Lanna's Saint and the Doi Suthep RoadKhruba Siwichai is the monk Lanna honours as its saint. Read about his life in Li, his temple restorations, his clashes with the Sangha and the Doi Suthep road.
Phra Ubali Khunupamachan: Scholar Monk of Wat Phra SinghPhra Ubali Khunupamachan (Fu Attasivo), Phrae-born abbot of Wat Phra Singh, who built monastic schools in the North and edited the Soi Sangkon Vessantara.
Tung: Lanna Banners, Their Kinds and MeaningsTung are Lanna banners used at both festivals and funerals. Learn the main kinds, from tung chai to the three-tailed funeral tung, and why people offer them.
Sin Tin Chok: The Lanna Skirt with a Woven Chok HemSin tin chok is the Lanna tube skirt with a chok-woven hem. Learn its three parts, the kinds of sin, and the chok patterns of Mae Chaem, Doi Tao and Long.
King Mangrai: Founder of Chiang Mai and the Lanna KingdomPhaya Mangrai founded the Mangrai dynasty and Chiang Mai in 1296. Follow his path from Ngoen Yang to Wiang Kum Kam, the city's seven auspices and his true name.
Lanna Dance: Fingernail, Candle and Fon Choeng DancesLanna has several kinds of fon (dance). Learn how the fingernail, candle and martial fon choeng dances differ, with their music, costumes and Lanna words.

Each article is translated from our Thai original, with every Lanna word checked against the dictionary. More are on the way; the English RSS feed lists new ones.

🌟 Lanna word of the day

ลำไย
lam-yai auto
ลำไย

ไม้ต้น ผลกลม เปลือกสีน้ำตาลแกมเหลือง เนื้อในสีขาวใสรสหวาน เป็นพืชเศรษฐกิจในเขตเชียงใหม่ ลำพูน มีหลายพันธุ์ เช่น อีดอ เบี้ยวเขียว สีชมพู เป็นต้น

Top: the Lanna script. Then how to say it (tone marks: à low, â falling, á high, ǎ rising, none = mid; a doubled vowel is long), the reading in Thai letters, and the meaning in Thai. See it on the word page →

📖 The Lanna–Thai dictionary

Our main work is a dictionary of more than 17,000 words of Kham Mueang (คำเมือง), the Northern Thai language. Each entry shows the word in the Lanna script (Tai Tham), how it is read, and its meaning. The dictionary itself is written in Thai.

  1. Search with Thai letters. Type the word as Northern Thai speakers say it, or a Thai word for the meaning you want.
  2. Read the entry. You get the Lanna script, the reading and the Thai definition.
  3. Need English? Your browser’s translate feature can turn the Thai definition into English. The Lanna script and the reading stay as they are.

Try: ขันโตก (khantoke, the footed food tray) · กว่าง (kwang, the horned beetle) · ตุง (tung, the Lanna banner)

🎯 Learn and play

These tools use words from the dictionary. Their screens are in Thai for now; English labels are planned.

🤝 About Moradok Lanna

Moradok Lanna is a social service, run on a non-profit basis from Chiang Mai. Everything on the site is free to use, with no sign-up. It brings together the dictionary, articles and learning tools so that Lanna’s language and heritage stay alive for the next generation.

เกี่ยวกับมรดกล้านนา (About us, in Thai)