Typewriters with the capability to print the Thai script were first developed in 1891 by Edwin Hunter McFarland, based on double-keyboard Smith Premier models. They became widely popular, especially for government use, though their production was discontinued in 1915 and newer shift-based layouts were subsequently developed by Edwin's brother George B. McFarland. The traditional keyboard layout, now known as Kedmanee, was introduced in 1931 and became the de facto standard, remaining popular even when the newer Pattachote layout, introduced in 1965, was officially endorsed by the government but failed to gain traction. The use of typewriters rapidly declined toward the end of the 20th century, when they were displaced by personal computers, though their layouts served as precursors to those of modern computer keyboards.
The typewriter modified Thai typography and orthography in several ways, most significantly expediting the obsolescence of the consonants kho khuat and kho khon, which were left out of the earliest typewriters due to space limitations.