Step by step
How to use the thai keyboard
- 1The keyboard above is already set to Thai; you can switch language from the list if you need another.
- 2Click the keys on screen, or just type — your own keyboard is remapped to the layout shown.
- 3Use Shift for the second layer, which carries the rest of the characters.
- 4Copy the text when you are done, or download it as a .txt file.
Why type Thai in a browser
Adding Thai to an operating system is a settings-menu expedition that ends in a keyboard you cannot see: the letters are not printed on your keys, so you are typing blind in a script you may have no muscle memory for, and you have changed a system-wide setting to write one line.
The usual workaround is worse — hunting characters in a character-map utility and pasting them one at a time, or copying words out of search results and hoping the spelling survived the trip.
A visible keyboard solves the specific problem of writing Thai occasionally: typing a Thai name, address or place for a form or a search, writing a short Thai message or greeting, or adding Thai text to a document or a design. Every key is on screen, the arrangement is the standard one, and when you are finished there is nothing to undo.
Shift is not capitals — it is more letters
Thai has 44 consonants, 15 vowel symbols and 4 tone marks, which is far more than a keyboard has keys. The Kedmanee layout, which this board follows, solves it by using both layers for letters: Shift does not produce capitals, because Thai has no case. It produces a different set of characters.
So half the alphabet lives on Shift, and it is not the rarer half in any simple sense — ฆ, ฌ, ญ and the digits are all up there. Reading the board is the only reliable way in, which is what an on-screen keyboard is for.
Vowels are the part that surprises alphabetic typists. A Thai vowel can sit before, after, above or below its consonant, and some wrap around it. เ is typed before the consonant it applies to even though it is pronounced after — เก is typed เ then ก.
Thai does not put spaces between words
Thai is written as a continuous run of characters, with spaces used to separate clauses and sentences rather than words. ฉันไปตลาด is four words and no spaces.
This is normal and correct, and it catches people who assume a missing space is an error. It also means Thai line-breaking and word-counting need dictionary knowledge rather than a space-splitting rule, which is why Thai word counts from generic tools are unreliable.
Tone marks stack above the consonant, alongside any vowel that also sits above it, so a single syllable can be three levels tall. Type consonant, then vowel, then tone mark; the renderer stacks them.
Kedmanee, Pattachote and the Thai encoding past
Kedmanee is the standard Thai layout and what almost every Thai typist uses. Pattachote is a rival arrangement designed to be more efficient, taught for years and never widely adopted — the Dvorak of Thai. This board is Kedmanee.
Thai's encoding history is simpler than India's: TIS-620 was the national standard before Unicode and mapped cleanly enough into it that the transition was less painful than elsewhere. Thai on the web today is overwhelmingly Unicode.
What this keyboard produces is Unicode Thai, which renders on any modern system and is what a form or a search will expect.
Type it, click it, or both
There are two ways to use the board and they work together. Click the keys on screen when you are hunting for a letter, and type on your own keyboard when you know where it is — your keys are remapped to the Thai layout either way, so switching between the two mid-word changes nothing.
The remapping is matched by physical key position, which is what makes it survive a non-QWERTY system underneath. A checkbox turns it off if you would rather type Latin into the same box.
None of it leaves your browser. The layouts are a small amount of data in the page and every keystroke is handled locally, so there is nothing to upload and nothing to trust with a name you are trying to spell correctly.
Answers
Frequently asked questions
Why does Shift give different letters instead of capitals?
Thai has no case. With 44 consonants and 15 vowel symbols, the layout uses both layers for letters — half the alphabet is on Shift.
Why is there no space between Thai words?
Thai does not use them. Spaces separate clauses and sentences, not words, so a continuous run is correct.
How do I type a vowel like เ?
Before the consonant it belongs to, even though it is pronounced after — เ then ก gives เก. That is how Thai is written and stored.
Does it work on a phone?
Yes. The on-screen layout is the one you tap, and the device's own keyboard is kept from opening on top of it so it does not cover the keys.
Can I use my own keyboard instead?
Yes, and it is on by default. Keys are remapped by physical position, so it lands correctly even if you already run AZERTY or Dvorak.