This article was originally posted on WomenLearnThai.com.
Google goes virtual with Thai keyboards…
NOTE: The keyboard is no longer working. When I get a spare moment I’ll look into the fix (if there even is one).
The Thai keyboard is all thanks to the coders at Google, with their AJAX Language API.
As you can see, they have all sorts of programming bits on offer: Translation, transliteration, language detection and more.
And if you scroll way down at the bottom of that page, you’ll see this one: AJAX Language API for Virtual Keyboard.
And that’s what I’ve included on WLT’s resources: Thai Keyboard Input. Not because I need a Thai keyboard (my Mac comes with Thai keys) but because I wanted to see how it works.
Go ahead and play around with it. You’ll see it works just fine (well, it did … but doesn’t now).
When I sent Google’s API page over to Jay saying “I want one of these too!”, she asked “where, in your comments?”
Now, that’s a thought. Because apparently, you can code a keyboard into a blog’s comment area for visitors who don’t have a Thai keyboard handy.
But it sort of freaked me out as it then meant that people might feel obligated to start typing all sorts of stuff in the comments. In Thai. Or faux Thai even.
And I don’t believe this site is ready for that.
More free Thai keyboards…
Article on WLT: Thai Typing Tutors: aTypeTrainer4Mac.
Mister Kwai – Virtual Thai Keyboard
Note: check out the Thai-English-Thai dictionary (editable), along with the quizz generator (uses the dictionary).
Typing in Thai advice…
Thai Typing – The Key to A Hidden World
Tips on typing in Thai from Stuart Jay Raj.
These free Thai keyboard resources can be found at Learn Thai for FREE. Along with a zillion other free Thai resources.
That’s great! I’ll add those two into the post above after I have my dinner.
The comments are quite interesting in that post too. Ta!
Success! I read the (font) fixes on this site
and redownloaded the program from this site
Can see the fonts now, just have to practice.
Keith, I can type in Thai or English using my physical keyboard…so I’m guessing I have the driver installed? It’s only when I use the Typing Tutor that the program’s Thai fonts don’t appear. There are quite a few reports on the internet stating that this particular program has gremlins, so I’m not sure if its me or it. I taught myself to touch type in English using similar software and was hoping to do the same in Thai.
Keith, how’d you know that I used to spill beer over my keyboard? 🙂
These days I have a Mac bought in Thailand so I don’t need stickers. The keys come with both Thai and English.
If you are learning to type, the best way is to do it blind. That way you are not peeking and your typing will go faster. Start out with a couple of keys to practice and then build out from there.
I sound like I know what I’m talking about but I don’t -my typing is cacca! I learned how to type in Thai but then slacked off.
I have stickers on my laptop keyboard and one of those roll up keyboards connected to my desktop. The rolled up ones would definitely suit you Catherine, they are totally sealed so you can spill tea, coffee or any type of beer over them.
Is the problem, SNAP, that you don’t have the fonts installed? Google is your friend in this. I know that to get the keyboards working, I had to install the Thai keyboard driver. My problem is that the English bit of it is all wrong. It’s got # label where the £ key is and ” and @ the wrong way round. Very confusing
Hi Snap, I haven’t come across any Thai typing software for Windows. There has got to be others out there as the Windows market is quite big (bigger than the Mac anway).
THanks for the alert about the broken links. I changed one and deleted the other.
Hi Cat, hello way back here in 2009 😉 *waving*. I’ve had these darn stickers on my keyboard now for weeks…soooo time consuming, I have more speed (of a snail) using a virtual keyboard, but want to learn to touch type in Thai.
I’ve tried the link for the Window’s version, which is broken and downloaded the other V1.04c, from various sources…but no matter what I do, the program doesn’t display fonts, only gobbledy goop! I have service pack 3, like it requires.
Have there been any new programs developed that you know of?
Ta
Ben – ‘I have spilt beer / coke / green curry all over the damn thing, it refuses to die’ lol! You have one tough keyboard! I dumped Singha over my powerbook keyboard years back and it killed it dead. I was in Thailand on a holiday but had a deadline to get some material in. I missed the deadline flat.
expatudon – Lao, Thai and English? What a lucky boy! I envy him. Little kids are wonderful on computers. I was hired to teach a 3 year old Thai-English girl the computer when I lived on Borneo. She was brilliant. I stacked pillows high and put her in front of the keys, and away she went.
my 4 year old son as started to talk issan lao and Thai as good as is English so i have given him my old laptop to use with Thai and English keys
its great to see him flourish
LOL they do indeed, I don’t need a new lappy, I just need a new keyboard!
Actually I do need a new lappy as I have spilt beer / coke / green curry all over the damn thing, it refuses to die!
Will keep you posted on the Thai alphabet, that prog is very good at helping you remember stuff, I just need a day free to concentrate on it. Hard to come by. All the best. Ben
Hi Ben! I was wondering how you were getting along with the alphabet book. I pulled it out again just this week to see how I would view it. And except for the butt ugly graphics, I’m equally pleased with how the graphics jog the memory.
Keyboard stickers, oh dear. I imagine they also collect oil from your finger tips? I wonder what they’d be like with a Singha tipped over too?
(Please excuse the past Thailand memories… 🙂
Hi Catherine, great resource again! I actually have lots of grey stickers stuck to my keyboard, which is great for Thai people using my PC, but generally a pain as they peel off and catch all manner of biscuit crumbs / ants etc. BTW I’ve made a little progress with the Thai book, but still very early days! 🙂
Talen, do you have a Mac or PC? aTypeTrainer4Mac is wonderful if you have a Mac. The guy who wrote aTypeTrainer4Mac advised everyone to forgo getting a Thai keyboard or putting stickers on. He said to start out with a Thai typing tutor and just type blind. Each key is introduced gradually so by the end you’ll know them all.
But then, there is that whip deal… clearly, I need a bigger whip…
Have whip, will travel…
This very well might come in handy one day when I can actually use it. It’s getting to that point that is a little difficult. I actually bout those Thai stickers for my keyboard last year fully expecting to use them soon…looks like I over thought that one.
Life getting in the way is a problem. For me, it’s a daily struggle to keep myself on track (I need someone with a whip, for sure!)
i would love to be able to type in Thai and read but its going to take time
too many distraction s in my life at the moment all self induced of course
Jay is fabulous when it comes to saving me. Ok, there is that thing about her not wanting me to dig too deep into the code… I can do the little stuff, but not php. Nope, not me. And CSS? Hah! I’m the cut and paste queen of both and it still bites me in the butt at times.
When Jay mentioned how the Thai keyboard could work, I seriously did think about adding it in the comments here. But I’m just as serious about worrying about what would happen. Would someone type something that I cannot understand?
And you know me, I’d drive myself batty trying to figure out what it is. Slang is totally beyond me, but gobbledygook would be equally time-consuming.
I didn’t learn how to type properly until I was on an extended vacation in Scotland. I rented one of the furnished flats at Skein House for the duration. And since I was away from my stuff, I just went at it. I’m not brilliant, but I do touch type.
Maybe that’s what you need to do? Move to Aberdeen for a couple of weeks?
😀
Jay has come up trumps for you with this, another great innovation presented by Women Learning Thai. My problem is I have enough trouble finding the J’s on my own keyboard let alone tackling this one, my typing is rather pedestrian at best. The keyboard will be a great help to the many Thai’s living abroad and I must vote it a winner.