Thai font · PAID

PSL Kittithada

พีเอสแอล กิตติธาดา

By Narongsak Chaiwong

Typography & Licensing Specialist, ThaiGraph · April 16, 2026

Information verified as of April 2026

What PSL Kittithada is

PSL Kittithada is a commercial Thai display serif from PSL Smart Font, one of the longest-running Thai type foundries, designed for newspaper and magazine headline use. It ships in multiple weights under commercial per-user licensing — no free tier.

PSL Smart Font has been supplying Thai type to the country’s print industry since the 1990s, and PSL Kittithada is one of its most recognisable display releases. The font has been a staple of Thai tabloid headlines, weekly magazine titles, and commercial print design for decades.

The design carries a specifically Thai commercial-display tone that is hard to replicate in free fonts. It reads as newspaper-confident and magazine-loud — built to stop the reader at a newsstand rather than to nestle into a long-form page.

Character design and tone

PSL Kittithada uses pronounced stroke contrast, heavy looped consonants, and emphatic terminals that give Thai headlines a punchy, commercial-print energy. The face is drawn for display, with proportions and contrast calibrated for 40-100pt use rather than body text.

Loops on ก, ถ, ภ are drawn as full, confident circles with noticeable weight. Terminals on ก, ง, and ร are cut hard rather than flared, producing a silhouette that reads as assertive rather than elegant. Stroke contrast is high — thin strokes sit noticeably lighter against robust verticals, which is what gives the face its newspaper-headline tone.

Tone marks and vowel signs are drawn large and visible, consistent with display use where micro-detail matters less than overall silhouette. The Latin companion (where shipped) is a Thai-designed Latin display serif that prioritises matching Thai rhythm over classical Latin letterform conventions.

Weights and availability

PSL Kittithada ships in multiple weights — typically Light, Regular, and Bold in the base release, with additional cuts available in expanded family packages. Purchase from PSL Smart Font under commercial per-user or site-wide licensing.

The font is not on Google Fonts, Adobe Fonts, or any free CDN. Thai commercial publishers typically license the full PSL catalogue under corporate agreements rather than buying individual typefaces.

Best use cases

PSL Kittithada is the correct Thai display face for commercial print journalism and high-volume magazine headline work. Strong briefs:

• Thai tabloid and newspaper headlines where the typography must read at newsstand distance
• Weekly and monthly Thai magazine title design — entertainment, sports, lifestyle
• Advertising and promotional print — sale flyers, in-store signage, door-drop leaflets
• Commercial packaging where confident display Thai reads as “trusted Thai brand”
• Event posters for concerts, festivals, and large public events in Thailand

Where it doesn’t fit: body text (display-only), web-first brands targeting younger audiences (use Charm or Pridi Bold), and projects where budget doesn’t justify commercial licensing.

Pairings

PSL Kittithada pairs with quiet body Thai sans or with the rest of the PSL catalogue for internal consistency. Three pairings:

• Sarabun — open-licensed Thai body sans for paragraphs under PSL Kittithada headlines
• Angsana New — Windows-bundled Thai serif body for legacy print workflows
• PSL Display — other PSL Smart Font families for unified commercial-print systems

Licensing

PSL Kittithada is commercial proprietary software from PSL Smart Font, licensed per-user and per-application. Embedding in third-party products, web-font deployment, and redistribution all require separate commercial licenses. Licensing must be verified directly with PSL Smart Font. For similar Thai display serif character under an open licence, see Charm or Pridi Bold.

Information verified as of April 2026