section_path: Forms/Khlong
section_name: Khlong
paragraph_text: Khlong
  
  The khlong (โคลง,) is among the oldest Thai poetic forms. This is reflected in its requirements on the tone markings of certain syllables, which must be marked with mai ek (ไม้เอก, Thai pronunciation:, ◌่) or mai tho (ไม้โท,, ◌้). This was likely derived from when the Thai language had three tones (as opposed to today's five, a split which occurred during the Ayutthaya Kingdom period), two of which corresponded directly to the aforementioned marks. It is usually regarded as an advanced and sophisticated poetic form.
  
  In khlong, a stanza (bot, บท, Thai pronunciation:) has a number of lines (bat, บาท, Thai pronunciation:, from Pali and Sanskrit pāda), depending on the type. The bat are subdivided into two wak (วรรค, Thai pronunciation:, from Sanskrit varga). The first wak has five syllables, the second has a variable number, also depending on the type, and may be optional. The type of khlong is named by the number of bat in a stanza; it may also be divided into two main types: khlong suphap (โคลงสุภาพ,) and khlong dan (โคลงดั้น,). The two differ in the number of syllables in the second wak of the final bat and inter-stanza rhyming rules.