Thai Handwriting

[Sylvia58]

Hi,

Does anybody know where I can find a document showing on one side Thai ordinary printed letters (like in books) and on the other the equivalent but with handwriting (like in brochures or signs)?

I find it very difficult to read signs when they don't have all the loops and such.

Thanks in advance.

Sylvia

[eric67]

Hi Sylvia,

Do you mean something like this:

http://www.thai-language.com/ref/characterstyles ??

[DavidHouston]

Hi,

Does anybody know where I can find a document showing on one side Thai ordinary printed letters (like in books) and on the other the equivalent but with handwriting (like in brochures or signs)?

I find it very difficult to read signs when they don't have all the loops and such.

Thanks in advance.

Sylvia

I agree with you whole-heartedly. The character set that is similar to http://www.thai-language.com/ref/characterstyles&page=7 is often used in brochures and magazines and is at times an obstacle to sight reading. Seems to me that the "sans serif"-like font found in much of Thai printed matter is even less legible than this.

I have a book I bought in Thailand, "ออกแบบประดิษฐ์อักษร - Lettering" by สมคิด หงษ์วรรณ, 260 baht which contains style sheets for many varied types of Thai fonts and styles. It is an interesting book for those interested in the art of calligraphy. Since the book presents full alphabet and number sets in each of the styles, it is easy to compare stylings and legibility.

On the other hand, we use such a multiplicity of styles and fonts in English which are difficult for us to read as well.

[JetsetBkk]

The dictionary by Benjawan Poomsan Becker (ISBN 1-887521-14-3) has a section at the beginning called "Alphabet guide" that shows 12 different styles for each of the vowels and consonants.

[Sylvia58]

Yes, that's exactly what I mean, Eric, thank you so much to all of you !!!!

Do you know of a kind of chart showing the letters side by side, so I can know what they are?

Sylvia

Edited January 9, 2009 by Sylvia58

[JetsetBkk]

...Do you know of a kind of chart showing the letters side by side, so I can know what they are?

Sylvia

The dictionary by Benjawan Poomsan Becker has that:

[Sylvia58]

Hi Jetset,

Thanks, I'll have to look it up! Although I hate to buy a dictionary just for a few pages (I'm not English-speaking, so I'd rather buy a dictionary in my own language ).

Sylvia

[JetsetBkk]

Hi Jetset,

Thanks, I'll have to look it up! Although I hate to buy a dictionary just for a few pages (I'm not English-speaking, so I'd rather buy a dictionary in my own language ).

Sylvia

The other unique (?) feature of this dictionary is that it shows Thai words in both Thai and phonetic transliteration. So there are three sections:

English - Phonetic - Thai

Phonetic - Thai - English

Thai - Phonetic - English

[Sylvia58]

Thanks again, Jetset

Sylvia