Thai Keyboards and Typing in Thai
The Thai alphabet has 80 or so distinct symbols, which just
about fit onto a typical PC keyboard. However the layout bears no
resemblance to the QWERTY layout used in English and other languages -
typing in Thai means learning a completely new keyboard layout.  Basically
the keyboard is divided into three parts: on the left and right are
clusters of consonants, while the character components which make up
vowels and tone markers occupy the middle area. Thai does not have
upper / lower case; but as there are fewer actual keys than there are
Thai characters, the less-frequently used characters are relegated to
the "upper case" of a key, accessible via the shift button. The Thai
numbers are spread across the top keyboard row containing the Arabic
numbers; however, they do not correspond to the Arabic numbers; Thai
digit "1" (๑) is on the Arabic "2" key, and Arabic "6" and "7" are
occupied by various character marks.
Learning to type on a
Thai keyboard is quite useful for getting to know the individual
letters. The positioning of the consonants in particular helps get a
feel for their frequency in written Thai.
Alternative Layouts
The keyboard layout described here is known as the
"Kedmanee" or "Ketmanee" layout (เกษมณี), which derives from the
traditional
keyboard layout used for typewriters and is named after its designer,
Suwanprasert Ketmanee (สุวรรณประเสริฐ เกษมณี). It is the by far and
away the most common layout and the only one likely to be encountered
with Thai computers.
References
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