When it comes to calligraphy in Asia, China and Japan are usually front and center thanks to traditions stretching back to the early days of the written word. But Thailand shouldn’t be overlooked. The country now boasts a large and innovative scene that embraces everything from contemporary calligraphy and calligraffiti to script-based tattoo art. Although the scene is barely a decade old, there are already hundreds of calligraphists putting the country on the map.

These calligraphy-driven works appear as bold, hard-edged blackwork tattoos; figurative art built with lettering that creates the shapes of skulls and animals; installation work covering walls, floors, and ceilings; and mural art stretching down entire streets. Styles include European gothic calligraphy, Chicano styles from the US, experimental and Thai fonts blended with all the above.

English text is the most common, but Thai scripts appear alongside it too. Although it’s impossible to say exactly how many artists there are, since they come from all over the country, there are now 4,000 members in the Lettering Outlaws Thailand Facebook group. Some notable names today are Shi Lin, Sivakorn Soichampar, Watchara Tick, and Aumpol Mest, and WS Whitebear.

提及亚洲书法，中国和日本可能是你最先想到的国家，其毕竟拥有着悠久的书面文字传统。在如今蓬勃发展的泰国艺术场景中，当代书法、书法涂鸦和书法纹身艺术家们纷纷现身。仅短短十年时间里，当地便涌现出数百名书法艺术家，让这个东南亚国家在书法艺术领域占据一席之地。

与传统意义上的书法略显不同，泰国的书法艺术更具当代的多元气质，既有醒目硬朗的暗黑色系纹身（Black Work）；利用字体勾勒骷髅和动物图案的具象艺术（Figurative Art）；也有覆盖墙壁、地板和天花板的装置艺术作品；甚至与壁画艺术也有联系。作品中的字体包括欧洲哥特体、加州奇卡诺（Chicano）花体字、实验性作品以及泰文与上述字体风格的形式融合。这些作品通常以泰文和英语并重，字里行间表达了哲学或政治话题，也不乏一些牢骚和愤怒的观点。

创作泰国书法的艺术家分布于泰国各地，来自不同背景。现阶段，虽不能确切地统计具体从行人数，但在 Facebook 上一个名为“涉法字体“（Lettering Outlaws Thailand）的小组上，已有四千名成员在内，其中包括 Shi Lin、Sivakorn Soichampar、 Watchara Tick、Aumpol Mest 以及 WS Whitebear 等等当地稍有名气的艺术家。