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iOS7 Thai font...

Same engineer as old maps app? The Thai font on the Thai keyboard is standard, unadulterated font. iMessage, folder names, Notes and every other app or instance of writing in Thai, however, uses a bold/italicized/nouveau font that is generally only used in advertising. Shame on you Apple, probably disenfranchised a country, but how can I get the standard font in above apps mentioned the same as it shows on the keyboard?


Standard (keyboard only): อรุณสวัสดิ์ (good morning) , ข้าวเหนียว (sticky rice) <<-- font not supported in iOS7, try to get same characters after "upgrading"

iPhone 5, iOS 7

Posted on Sep 18, 2013 8:44 PM

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22 replies

Sep 20, 2013 12:03 PM in response to robfromelk grove village

User uploaded fileI have the same problem. I learned Thai about 4 years ago and can read well. But, I never learned the "modern' font (as I heard it called before). I see it everywhere all over Thailand and can make out the letters if I look at it for a few minutes. It's usually only on advertisments or at food park menu's so I never really needed to learn it. Now I am totally screwed, I can no longer read any text messages or emails on my iPhone from my Thai friends. I can decipher them but cannot read like normal. I have to spend about a minute on each word until I figure out what the letter is. Imagine a little kid trying to read cursive handwriting prior to learning it. In the modern font the letter 'ร' looks like 's', for example. Thats how different some of the characters are. This is not good. Notice the text box in the pic as I type. The keyboard shows the normal font but the iPhones displays the unreadable modern stuff. If you can read what I typed there then you know I'm not happy with it, lol.

User uploaded file

Jan 14, 2014 5:22 AM in response to orish1

Apple won't let me provide information to solve this problem (saying it's "off topic"). I think it's perfectly relevant because it gets round the technical limitation of not being able to change the font to something that everybody can recognize.


The way round it is (for the human) to learn to recognize the new font. And this is what I'm suggesting you do in the meantime.


I have a handout that I can send you that shows the relationship between the modern font and the standard "classic" font. Contact me via my profile and I'll send you a copy. Only a few letters look very different from their classic version; and these are the ones that you need to focus on.


Some basics that might help in the meantime.


  • Modern fonts mimic "lazy" handwriting.
  • Thai letters are written starting from the initial loop.
  • So when you write fast, the initial loops tend to get left out – or they become strokes or blobs rather than actual loops – kind of what happens in our script in cursive handwriting.
  • This affects some letters when written lazily, particularly:
    • The starts from the bottom, so if you write it fast and don’t bother with the loop, it almost looks like our “S”. It helps to think of a snake, rearing its head as it’s about to strike.
    • The also starts from the bottom, and when written fast and lazily looks a bit like our “C” written backwards. Think of a cartoon face with a wiggly ear on the right.
  • The backwards "G" is actually the written quickly or stylistically. Very often, you will see it simply as an "O".
  • Finally, the "U" is simply the U-boat and the upside down "U" is the chicken without its beak .)


Basically, the modern stylized fonts are the minimalist versions of the classic letters: everything that is unnecessary is eliminated and all that's left are the bits that identify the letter uniquely.

Sep 22, 2013 7:25 AM in response to robfromelk grove village

That's really difficult to read "modern" Thai font. The system font for iOS 7 is "Sukhumvit", as opposed to "Thonburi" which was used on Versions 1-6. In my opinion this is a great mistake of apple engineering. Apple should keep the simplicity in the acts, fonts are for reading not for make marketing campaign.


I would like to known what thai people think about that.

As I am thai student for 6 years, I am not able to read the ******* sukhumvit font.


Wish a solution for this issue!!!

Sep 28, 2013 12:57 AM in response to robfromelk grove village

I agree, reading Thai "modern" font is a problem for people who have learned Thai as a new language as well as for Thais in general.

Fonts taught in school are "basic" and sometimes "script" (at higher schooling levels).


I have this problem on all my devices (iPhones, iPads, Mac Book) since it is an OS issue, unfortunately iOS is not one of the feedback options on the feedback page.

Oct 10, 2013 8:46 AM in response to robfromelk grove village

I have the same problem. I am trying to learn thai. After two weeks' hard working, I finally can remember all of the thai alphabet. But suddenly the font changes and I don't know any of them. They should put a warning saying thai font changes dramatically, reconsider before you update your iOS/app. Now I am trying to get my iOS/apps back to previous version. Errrrr

Jan 14, 2014 5:27 PM in response to orish1

I think you folks should be happy to know that on iOS 7.1, Apple has get rid of those modern font and changed back to Thonburi font, the font that was used on the old version of iOS (6 and below).


iOS 7.1 is still in beta testing.


anyway, I love the modern font 😟 and totally agree to the idea that there should an option for the user to choose between modern and classic font.

Jan 15, 2014 12:40 AM in response to BangkokMark

It's been nearly 4 months since I posted that screenshot and my trouble. At first trying to read Sukhumvit font was like a 6 year old trying to read cursive. Now, after being forced immersed in this font on my phone for 4 months I have a good grasp on it. I just kept my phone language and region settings to Thai. I was forced to learn it this way. So before I was like a 6 year old; now I'm about a 9 year old who can score a "B" or "C" on a cursive test. I would still rather have the option to switch back and forth. Also I cannot find the new sukhumvit font on Pages or on my MacBook. I was hoping to make some flash cards. I found a lot of Thai font files I added to my Mac, but none that were exactly the same as this iOS7 font

Feb 10, 2014 9:44 AM in response to jibbies

I'm not happy to know that iOS 7.1 will revert back to Thonburi. Just as with Roman alphabets, real-world Thai script employs a broad range of typefaces, and those without heads are so common as to be roughly equivalent to sans-serif in Roman fonts.


Me, I have at least 100 Thai fonts on my Mac and think that Thonburi, while serviceable, is one of the least inspired ever. As for iOS 7, Sukhumvit seems a good fit and I find it at least as easy to read as Thonburi.


But that's just me and I do agree that at least one user choice, as in serif or sans-serif, would be fair.

Feb 21, 2014 5:36 PM in response to jibbies

There is no doubt that Sukhumvit font is prettier, but the smaller font size also raises difficulty on reading it.

I'm thai, using iPhone 5, i couldn't read thai on my iPhone since last year. Not only my eyesight problem, but it's really very small. I love iPhone when I started to use iPhone 4, so I'll capture the screen every time that I want to read Thai. There is no problem on English & Chinese fonts.

I hope that the problem of Thai font size would be solved 'coz I really love iPhone and want to continue using it.


LittleCat

Mar 15, 2014 1:04 PM in response to BangkokMark

I wish I never complained about the new font. I was disappointed when I posted back in October because I couldn't read the modern font. Now I just installed the current update and found that the font was reverted back to the traditional style. Over the last few months of being immersed in the new font I picked it up and was able to read it without a problem and evolved into really liking it. It's very beneficial to know that font as you see it everywhere in Thailand. My iPhone actually forced me to learn something that I needed to learn. Now I wish I had it back again.

iOS7 Thai font...

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