Thai font · FREE
Sawasdee
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 Sawasdee
Sawasdee 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 Sawasdee is
Sawasdee is a free, GPL-licensed loopless (ไม่มีหัว) Thai sans by Pol Udomwittayanukul, distributed with the TLWG National Fonts. It is one of the few free loopless Thai faces from the National Fonts era, giving open-source projects a modern, headless Thai voice long before the OFL loopless boom.
According to Wikipedia’s National Fonts entry, Sawasdee carries the copyright “Pol Udomwittayanukul, 2007” and is released under the GNU GPL by the Thai Linux Working Group. Where Garuda and Loma are looped document faces, Sawasdee drops the loops for a cleaner, more contemporary silhouette.
For designers browsing the ThaiGraph font library, Sawasdee is the free National set’s answer to the loopless trend that later defined faces like Kanit and Prompt.
Character design and tone
Sawasdee is a loopless Thai sans that removes the traditional consonant loops in favour of open, terminal-cut forms, giving Thai text a cleaner and more modern silhouette than the looped National faces. The tone is simple and contemporary rather than decorative.
Dropping the loop on consonants like ก, ถ and ภ is the defining move of loopless Thai, a category we cover in the Thai typography guide; it modernises the texture but demands open apertures to stay legible, which Sawasdee generally maintains at reading sizes. Strokes are close to monoline, keeping the overall feel plain and functional.
The Latin companion is a simple sans, adequate for mixed Thai–English text where a headless, modern look is wanted without paying for a commercial family.
Weights and availability
Sawasdee ships Regular and Bold, each with an oblique companion — four TrueType files in total — and is free to download. Get it from the Thai Font Collection on GitHub, packaged with the rest of the TLWG National Fonts.
The font is not on Google Fonts, but it is bundled in the fonts-tlwg package and installed on most Linux systems, so it is a broadly available free loopless Thai option.
Best use cases
Sawasdee is the right choice when a project needs a free, modern, loopless Thai voice without a commercial licence. Strong briefs:
- Open-source software and Linux localisation wanting a headless, modern Thai UI face
- Budget branding and signage that need a loopless look for free
- Simple headings and short display text in non-profit and community design
- Bilingual layouts that want a clean, contemporary Thai–Latin pairing at no cost
- Prototypes and drafts standing in for a commercial loopless family
Where it doesn’t fit: premium branding and long-form web deployment — for those, an OFL loopless face like Kanit or Prompt brings wider weights and webfont builds.
Pairings
Sawasdee pairs with a looped Thai body face for contrast or with a modern loopless sans for consistency. Three pairings:
- Sarabun — a looped OFL body sans to carry paragraphs beneath loopless Sawasdee headings
- Prompt — a rounder OFL loopless sans for a modern headline over Sawasdee text
- Kanit — the geometric OFL loopless standard when you outgrow Sawasdee’s two weights
Licensing
Sawasdee is free software by Pol Udomwittayanukul, released under the GNU General Public License and distributed by TLWG, 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 loopless Thai sans with webfont support, see Kanit or browse the loopless category.
Frequently asked questions about Sawasdee
Is Sawasdee free for commercial use?
Yes — Sawasdee 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 Sawasdee have?
Sawasdee 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 Sawasdee support Latin and English characters?
Yes — Sawasdee 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 Sawasdee?
Get Sawasdee from 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 Sawasdee?
The closest alternatives to Sawasdee are Kanit, Mitr, K2D. 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 Sawasdee?
Sawasdee was designed by Pol Udomwittayanukul at TLWG, released in 2007. Full designer credit and the primary source are listed at the bottom of this page.
Information verified as of July 2026
Sources
- Sawasdee is a loopless Thai sans-serif carrying 'Copyright (C) 2007 Pol Udomwittayanukul', released under the GNU GPL and distributed as part of the TLWG National Fonts package.—National Fonts — Wikipedia (accessed Jul 16, 2026)
- Sawasdee is distributed as a free TrueType family in the Thai Font Collection, shipping Regular, Bold, Oblique and Bold Oblique styles.—Thai Font Collection (jeffmcneill) — nectec-tlwg folder (accessed Jul 16, 2026)