Thai font · FREE
Norasi
Information verified as of July 2026
How to install & use
- Windows — Download the .zip, unzip it, then right-click the .ttf/.otf file → “Install”.
- macOS — Double-click the .ttf/.otf file, then click “Install Font” in Font Book.
- Web — Self-host the font files and declare them with @font-face in your CSS.
Preview Norasi
Norasi is a foundry/desktop font, so it can’t be embedded as a free webfont for a live preview here. See the specimen above for the real letterforms, or load your own text into the Thai Font Tester to compare it against the free Google Fonts alternatives.
What Norasi is
Norasi is a free, GPL-licensed Thai serif from the National Font Project — a bookish looped text face released in 1999 and later folded into the National Fonts maintained by the Thai Linux Working Group. It ships six styles including true italics and is one of the few free Thai serifs built for long-form reading.
Per Wikipedia’s National Fonts entry, Norasi carries the copyright line “The National Font Project (v.beta), 1999” and credits Yannis Haralambous, Virach Sornlertlamvanich and Anutara Tantraporn — a lineage that connects it to serious digital-typography research rather than a commercial foundry.
For designers browsing the ThaiGraph font library, Norasi is the free, open answer to the question of what a Thai book serif looks like when it is engineered for the page rather than the headline.
Character design and tone
Norasi is a looped (มีหัว) Thai serif with modest stroke contrast and calm, even proportions tuned for continuous reading. Where a display face shouts, Norasi settles into the paragraph, which is exactly why it has served as a default free Thai text serif for years.
The looped consonant heads on ก, ถ and ภ are drawn conservatively so that words hold their traditional silhouette at body sizes — the legibility logic explained in our Thai typography guide. Tone marks and vowel signs sit at a consistent weight, keeping the vertical stack readable through dense Thai text.
The Latin companion is a genuine text serif with matching contrast, which makes Norasi more comfortable than most free Thai faces for bilingual books, reports and academic documents.
Weights and availability
Norasi ships Regular and Bold, each with italic and oblique companions — six TrueType files in total — and is free to download. Get it from the Thai Font Collection on GitHub, packaged with the other TLWG National Fonts.
The font is not on Google Fonts, but it is bundled in the fonts-tlwg package and preinstalled on most Linux systems, so it is widely available even where commercial Thai serifs are not.
Best use cases
Norasi is the right pick when a Thai layout needs a free, readable serif for long-form text. Strong briefs:
- Thai-language books, theses and academic papers requiring a licence-free text serif
- Bilingual reports and documents where Thai and Latin must share one serif voice
- Open-source and Linux documentation needing a default reading face
- Non-profit and budget publishing that cannot license commercial Thai serifs
- Editorial layouts that want a calmer, more traditional tone than a sans
Where it doesn’t fit: display and branding — for expressive serif Thai with modern weight ranges, a Google Fonts release like Maitree offers more flexibility.
Pairings
Norasi pairs with a quiet Thai body sans for captions and UI, or stands alone across a whole document. Three pairings:
- Sarabun — OFL body sans for captions, tables and footnotes under a Norasi text face
- TH Sarabun New — the government-standard sans for official document furniture
- Maitree — a modern OFL Thai serif to swap in where you need more weights
Licensing
Norasi is free software from the National Font Project, maintained by TLWG under the GNU General Public License, so it is free to use, modify and redistribute. Verify the terms in the fonts-tlwg licence file and download from the Thai Font Collection. For a modern SIL OFL Thai serif in the same reading role, see Maitree or browse the free fonts category.
Frequently asked questions about Norasi
Is Norasi free for commercial use?
Yes — Norasi is free for both personal and commercial use. You can use it in client work, apps, products, and websites at no cost, and self-host or embed it. The only OFL condition is that you don’t sell the font files on their own.
How many weights does Norasi have?
Norasi ships in 2 weights: Regular, Bold. Pick a heavier weight for display and headlines, and a Regular or lighter weight for body text and long-form reading.
Does Norasi support Latin and English characters?
Yes — Norasi includes a Latin character set alongside Thai, so it can set English and Thai in one typeface. That makes it a practical choice for bilingual branding, packaging, and UI.
Where can I download Norasi?
Get Norasi from National Font Project / TLWG. Use the download/license button at the top of this page for the official source — avoid third-party font sites, which often ship outdated or unlicensed files.
What fonts are similar to Norasi?
The closest alternatives to Norasi are Maitree, Taviraj, Cordia New. They share a similar style and use case, so they’re the first faces to compare if you need a different weight range, license, or price.
Who designed Norasi?
Norasi was designed by Yannis Haralambous, Virach Sornlertlamvanich, Anutara Tantraporn at National Font Project / TLWG, released in 1999. Full designer credit and the primary source are listed at the bottom of this page.
Information verified as of July 2026
Sources
- Norasi originated in the National Font Project (Copyright 1999, v.beta), credited to Yannis Haralambous, Virach Sornlertlamvanich and Anutara Tantraporn, and is one of the original National Fonts later maintained under the GNU GPL by the Thai Linux Working Group.—National Fonts — Wikipedia (accessed Jul 16, 2026)
- Norasi is distributed as a free TrueType family in the Thai Font Collection, shipping Regular, Bold, Italic, Bold Italic, Oblique and Bold Oblique styles.—Thai Font Collection (jeffmcneill) — nectec-tlwg folder (accessed Jul 16, 2026)