The Thai alphabet has an aesthetic appeal that has inspired many creative and artistic works. Since today is National Thai Language Day and to honour Thailand's mother tongue, here are a few noteworthy Thai-font-inspired works and the creative minds behind them.
Buddhism Meets Typography
Born in Roi Et, Isan artist Charoen Kulsuwan is best known for his unique way of blending typography design with literature to produce what is called in Thailand wannaroop, which loosely translates to images made of words. The art form is perhaps comparable to a concrete poem or shape poem.
Thai language in written form can look rather busy with vowel symbols that can go on the top, bottom, in front of, or even behind consonants. Not to mention, tone marks that go above the consonants. Therefore, it requires a very unique and keen eye to arrange and bend them into a pleasing form while keeping the letters instantly readable and Charoen certainly has it.
Inspired by words of wisdom in Buddhism, he has created many memorable images made of phrases or words related to Buddhist teaching. For example, a profile silhouette of a person meditating literally spelled out with the phrase, "Live with mindfulness". But his masterpiece is definitely the one where he uses the phrase, "Don't be selfish" to form the silhouette of Buddha's image. You may already have seen it as a sticker while growing up in Thailand and the iconic image turned 47 this year.
According to Khon Kaen University's Art & Culture Centre's website, Charoen was named an Isan legacy artist in 2008 by the university and his books about Buddhism, short stories and fiction have been published under several pen names, as well.
Edgy alphabet table
Remember the innocent alphabet table that helped you memorise all the 44 consonants? Kor kai (chicken), khor khai (egg), khor khwai (buffalo) and so on. It was given a gritty reboot by Hemarach Art and Design (fb.com/hemarachart) in 2019 with a nightmare-inducing twist.
The twenty-seventh letter por for pla (fish) is represented by a Leviathan-esque monster that looks like it comes straight out of Lovecraftian horror. The twenty-third letter thor for tha-han (soldiers) is represented by two uncles in soldier uniforms whose faces look very familiar. One of them is shooting at undying zombies with the Democracy Monument in the background. Gritty enough for you?
I'm pretty sure the Ministry of Education wouldn't adopt his version of Thai consonants anytime soon but I think there's nothing wrong with indulging in dark fantasy from time to time. If you want the full nightmare, he compiles them into a book and sells it for only B180. He also does the dark version of the A-Z alphabet chart where each letter is represented by monsters, deities and mythical creatures from different cultures, too.
Calligraffiti
Tanisorn Lertwimon, whose spray can name is Santi (peace), is a street artist who combines graffiti with calligraphy into a style he calls "calligraffiti", which has a similar vibe to wildstyle graffiti. He has adorned countless walls across the country with intricate designs of overlapping and interwoven Thai letters that beg you to take a closer look and figure them out while under a mesmerising spell.
According to his interview with Exotic Quixotic last year, the Poh Chang graduate has been honing his distinctive style for a decade. More recently, in January and February, he participated in a group exhibition at indoor skatepark P.Sherman The Enjoyable Ground on Arun Amarin Road. Check out his works at instagram.com/Santi_rupa.
Political Fonts
During the peak of the anti-government movement around late 2020, you may have witnessed many artists and illustrators expressing their political views through their works. One of the memorable expressions from that time was the spraying of the word feudalism in Thai on the surface of Ratchadamnoen Road by Headache Stencil, one of Thailand's best-known street artists. However, he isn't the only one the credit should go to.
According to an interview with Sanook, the graphic designer behind the PrachathipaType Facebook page is the creator of several Thai fonts that were used during the political movement. The graphic designer, who's in his 40s, saw his fonts as a way to contribute to the political movement so he tweaked his Maa Lai (zebra crossing) font and allowed Headache Stencil to spray the word which took him two hours to finish.
In response to the Parliament's rejection of charter amendments proposed by iLaw, which was signed by 100,000 people, in November the same year, the man behind PrachathipaType created another font by removing the head of each Thai letter. PrachathipaType's Hua Hai (missing head) font is based on TH Sarabun PSK font, which is used in government documents. The missing heads of Thai letters represent how the government disregarded people's wishes. A rather poetic response, if you ask me.
Work Work Work
Bangkok governance of Chadchart Sittipunt has given us so many viral and meme moments. But perhaps the one that stood out the most is also the simplest. I'm talking about his slogan of "Work Work Work", which appears in bright green font on his and his team's black T-shirts during his campaign for the 2022 Bangkok gubernatorial election.
According to an interview with The Matter, Waritthorn Suksabai, a member of Chadchart's design team, said they wanted to use a hand-written font to make Chadchart more approachable and the slogan was simply picked because it showed what a hard-working person Chadchart is. And it seems to be a very fitting slogan since post-election Chadchart has shown us Bangkokians that he seems to be working around the clock.
The bonus is that there are several parodies of this slogan to inspire laughter. If you can't work without coffee, go for "Work Coffee Work". If it's your last day at work, wear "Quit Quit Quit" with pride. No more eff to give? Why not wear "Slack off Slack off Slack off". Here's an affordable theme for an office party. Everyone wears simple T-shirts with funny slogans inspired by Chadchart's.
Thai consonants on famous murals
Roi Raeng Bundan Thai (fb.com/100RBDT), a project that gathers Thailand's cultural capital, way of living and local cultural identities, presented a unique take on how to present Thai consonants in March. They scanned the famous Ramakien mural of Wat Phra Kaew, which is a feat in itself, to find characters or images that correspond to the 44 letters.
Some of their findings are pretty amusing. Instead of finding a chicken egg to represent kor khai, they chose a picture of a giant grabbing a warrior monkey by his balls. You see, khai in Thai can mean animal eggs or family jewels. For jor jan (plate), they found a money's head on a plate with its exposed brain about to be eaten. Now I want to visit the mural again to see if there are any humorous and WTF scenarios I can find.
Thailand in Two Ways
Thai artist who goes by Buk Babor had a viral moment in January for designing a font that can be read in Thai and English. He found a way to acid-etch the word "Thailand" in gold on a distressed mirror, which can also be read as how it would be transliterated with Thai letters at the same time. I don't even think we have a term for such a clever thing yet.
Thai Alphabets on Runway
Pangina Heals, aka Pan Pan Narkprasert, made herstory in February by being the first Thai and Southeast Asian competitor on an international edition of RuPaul's Drag Race. Although Pagina was the robbed queen of the first season of RuPaul's Drag Race: UK Vs The World, she had a very memorable run, placing first in two episodes and serving many sickening lewks.
In the very first episode, Pan Pan wasted no time showcasing Thai culture and glided down the runway in an ethereal white Thai dress inspired by Thai goddesses, complete with a minimal chada headdress and matching ear cuffs. Look closer and you'll see all 44 Thai consonants embroidered on a sheer top. The dress is designed by Narong Ketkaew, who used more than 10,000 crystal beads to adorn the dress with them. Simply exquisite.
