Thai font · PAID
DB Fongnam
ดีบี ฟองน้ำ
Information verified as of July 2026
What DB Fongnam is
DB Fongnam (ดีบี ฟองน้ำ) is a geometric looped Thai body typeface by Parinya Rojarayanond, sold commercially by DB Designs Co., Ltd. — and one of the first Thai body typefaces designed from scratch in the early digital type era. The name means “bubble” or “sponge,” and the letterforms live up to it: round, smooth, and light on the page.
DB Fongnam belongs to the DB series that Suraphol Vesaratchavej and Parinya Rojarayanond built at Dear Book (later DB Design), which Wikipedia’s Thai typography article counts among the first refined Thai PostScript typefaces of the digital age. Where most early digital Thai fonts digitized existing metal or phototype models, DB Font’s own history article singles out DB FongNam as a body face designed anew for the new medium.
A Thai font-community thread on f0nt.com traces the design’s roots further back, to the Tom Lite prototype lettering drawn by Thongteum Saemsutt in the 1976–1987 period, and notes that DB Design later issued an updated version called DB NewFongnam. No documented release year for the original digital release is published by the foundry.
Character design and tone
DB Fongnam is drawn เกลี้ยงกลม เบา สบายตา — smooth, round, light, and easy on the eyes, in the foundry’s own words — with looped terminals over a strictly geometric skeleton. It reads as friendly without tipping into casual, which is why the foundry rates it for both official and informal use.
The DB Font history article points to the details that made it distinctive: geometric simplicity throughout, straight baselines on characters like บ, อ, and ย where earlier models curved, and a trademark diagonal-mouth ก. The loops stay small and consistent, so the texture at body sizes is even rather than busy — the classic mark of a Thai text face built for extended reading. A Latin companion is included, so mixed Thai-English copy sets in one family. For the anatomy behind looped versus loopless Thai letterforms, see our Thai typography guide.
Weights and availability
DB Designs sells DB Fongnam as a four-style family — Regular, Italic, Bold, and Bold Italic — for 1,070 THB, covering two weights plus their italics. The desktop license covers installation on 1–5 computers, and a separate webfont license covers 1 domain.
The family’s DNA also lives on elsewhere in the DB catalogue: in 2009 the foundry released DB PuiMake, developed directly from DB FongNam — the original Regular and Bold were reworked as Light and Medium, and new Regular and Bold weights were added to form a four-weight family. DB Fongnam is not on Google Fonts or any free CDN; purchase directly from DB Font.
Best use cases
DB Fongnam is a Thai body-text workhorse: the foundry tags it for clean, modern body-copy applications and rates it suitable for official and government contexts as well as informal ones. Strong briefs:
- Long-form editorial body text in magazines, reports, and books
- Government and corporate documents that need a looped, formal-legible Thai text face
- Brand body copy where a round, friendly-but-professional tone fits
- UI and web body text under the foundry’s webfont license (1 domain)
Where it doesn’t fit: display-first work at poster sizes — reach for a dedicated display face like DB Adman X — and zero-budget projects, where the open-licensed Sarabun is the natural free body-text alternative.
Pairings
Pair DB Fongnam’s round looped body text with a firmer geometric display voice for hierarchy. Three pairings that work:
- DB Adman X — same-foundry display geometric for headlines over Fongnam body copy
- Kanit — open-licensed loopless geometric sans for headings when the budget covers only one commercial family
- Prompt — rounded loopless geometric whose curves echo Fongnam’s at display sizes
Licensing
DB Fongnam is a paid commercial font: 1,070 THB for the four-style family, with a desktop license for 1–5 computers and a webfont license for 1 domain. There is no legal free download; check current terms on the DB Font licensing FAQ before deploying.
If the project has no font budget, the closest open-licensed routes are Sarabun for a modern Thai body-text standard, or the looped system faces Cordia New and Browallia New that ship with Windows. Browse the full Thai font library for more body-text options at every license tier.
Information verified as of July 2026
Sources
- DB Fongnam is sold by DB Designs Co., Ltd. as a family of four styles — Regular, Italic, Bold, and Bold Italic — priced at 1,070 THB with a desktop license covering 1-5 computers and a webfont license for 1 domain, and the foundry describes it as smooth, round, light, and easy on the eyes, suitable for both official and informal use.—DB Font official product page (accessed Jul 4, 2026)
- DB Font's history article calls DB FongNam one of the first Thai body typefaces designed anew in the early digital type era, noting its geometric simplicity, straight baselines on characters like บ อ ย, and a trademark diagonal-mouth ก; in 2009 the foundry released DB PuiMake, developed directly from DB FongNam.—DB Font article on DB PuiMake (accessed Jul 4, 2026)
- Wikipedia credits DB FongNam to designer Parinya Rojarayanond of DB Design and classifies it as a geometric (looped) Thai typeface; the DB series by Suraphol Vesaratchavej and Parinya Rojarayanond of Dear Book (later DB Design) was among the first refined Thai PostScript typefaces of the digital age.—Wikipedia — Thai typography (accessed Jul 4, 2026)
- A Thai font-community forum thread traces DB Fongnam's roots to the Tom Lite prototype lettering by Thongteum Saemsutt developed in the 1976-1987 period, and notes DB Design later issued an updated version called DB NewFongnam.—f0nt.com community forum (accessed Jul 4, 2026)