A Short History About Thai Script
King Ramkhamhaeng was not only a valiant
and wise ruler, but he also cares a lot about the welfare
of his people.
The Thai script (writing) was created by King Ramkhamhaeng,
the second son of King Si Intharathit of Sukhothai who had
freed Thailand from the Khmer.
King Ramkhamhaeng was also the most successful monarch ever
to rule the Sukhothai kingdom.
In order to be truly independent from the influences of the Mon and the Khmer,
he created “The Sukhothai Script” in 1283 A.D and it was
the earliest Thai writing that was pure Thai.
The Sukhothai Script was actually originated from the ancient
Brahmi script of South India called “Grantha”.
In 1357, King Li Thai (grandson of King Ramkhamhaeng),
created a new script called “King Li Thai script”. In 1680,
the King Narai script was introduced and it has now become
the national Thai script.
Thai consonant class is needed for pronunciation…
The modern Thai script now uses an alphabet of 44 consonants, 32 vowels
and four tone marks.
The consonants are then divided into 3 classes, high, medium
and low. Please note that the classes are completely arbitrary though.
A low consonant might sound like a high tone and
the opposite is also true.
You can find view the original article here at
(http://mythaisensei.com/thai_writing/thai_writing_intro.html)