Thai six-hour clock
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Thais use two systems for telling the time: the 24-hour clock and the traditional Thai six hour clock.
The latter system has been used in some form since the days of the Ayutthaya kingdom, but was codified in its present form in 1901 by King Chulalongkorn (in Royal Gazette 17:206); it is now used in colloquial speech only. It works by dividing the day into four equal parts, then counting the hours within each part. However most commonly used nowadays is a combination of the traditional six hour counting with a twelve hour counting, where the second quarter is counted as in the 12-hour clock. In the traditional system, the hours are named as follows:
| 24-hour | 12-hour | 6-hour | Pronunciation | Thai | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 01 | 1 a.m. | night 1 | ti nueng | ตีหนึ่ง | ti = strike, nueng = one |
| 02 | 2 a.m. | night 2 | ti song | ตีสอง | song = two |
| 03 | 3 a.m. | night 3 | ti sam | ตีสาม | sam = three |
| 04 | 4 a.m. | night 4 | ti si | ตีสี่ | si = four |
| 05 | 5 a.m. | night 5 | ti ha | ตีห้า | ha = five |
| 06 | 6 a.m. | 6 morning | hok mong chao | หกโมงเช้า | hok = six, chao = morning |
| 07 | 7 a.m. | 1 morning | (nueng) mong chao | (หนึ่ง)โมงเช้า | mong = chime |
| 08 | 8 a.m. | 2 morning | song mong chao | สองโมงเช้า | |
| 09 | 9 a.m. | 3 morning | sam mong chao | สามโมงเช้า | |
| 10 | 10 a.m. | 4 morning | si mong chao | สีโมงเช้า | |
| 11 | 11 a.m. | 5 morning | ha mong chao | ห้าโมงเช้า | |
| 12 | noon | noon | thiang wan | เที่ยงวัน | thiang = just, wan = day |
| 13 | 1 p.m. | afternoon 1 | bai mong | บ่ายโมง | bai = afternoon |
| 14 | 2 p.m. | afternoon 2 | bai song (mong) | บ่ายสอง(โมง) | |
| 15 | 3 p.m. | afternoon 3 | bai sam (mong) | บ่ายสาม(โมง) | |
| 16 | 4 p.m. | 4 evening | si mong yen | สี่โมงเย็น | yen = evening |
| 17 | 5 p.m. | 5 evening | ha mong yen | ห้าโมงเย็น | |
| 18 | 6 p.m. | 6 evening | hok mong yen | หกโมงเย็น | |
| 19 | 7 p.m. | 1 late | nueng thum | หนึ่งทุ่ม | thum = drumbeat |
| 20 | 8 p.m. | 2 late | song thum | สองทุ่ม | |
| 21 | 9 p.m. | 3 late | sam thum | สามทุ่ม | |
| 22 | 10 p.m. | 4 late | si thum | สี่ทุ่ม | |
| 23 | 11 p.m. | 5 late | ha thum | ห้าทุ่ม | |
| 24 | midnight | midnight | thiang khuen | เที่ยงคืน | khuen = night |
In addition, midnight is sometimes referred to as song yaam (สองยาม); this is a relic of the pre-codified system.
