Writing Thai neatly
Back to school!
I am old enough to remember being punished at school for my bad handwriting. Kept after class, chastised by irate teachers who were pulling their hair out (even the bald ones) All because my handwriting was near on illegible. Now my handwriting is still lousy, but only one person has to read it after all.
It is with these thoughts in mind that I set about trying to make sure I didn't make the same mistakes in adulthood. I copied out religiously the Thai characters hundreds and hundreds of times. Drew grids like the one below for each letter and carefully (like a monk) inscribed the characters.
Now I am proud to say my Thai handwriting is near perfect (for a farlang) However I have to endure the never ending comments of my Thai friends "Oh your writing is so beautiful - same dek"
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Yes these are how Thai characters are supposed to be written. Once you have mastered them try reducing the scale by a quarter. Write notes on a Bangkok bus going at normal speed on Sukhumvit road. Look at the love letters your wife and girlfriends send you. Finally realize - hey! no one writes like this apart from kids and farlangs!!