Yes, with the thumb-ring type of draw, you use the right hand to draw and the arrow rests on the right side instead of left as in Western archery. Arrow-on-the-left-side works with two or three finger draws because the pull of the drawing fingers rotates the arrow shaft towards the left side of the handle. The reverse is true for thumb-draw.
Thumb rings are generally not perfectly circular inside or out, so commercial pipe of any kind is seldom a good choice to try and make a ring. There are a number of makers of traditional thrum-rings of several different styles.
We (the Asian Traditional Archery community) generally recommend that someone start learning thumb-ring with a 20-30# bow, but you certainly can start heavier, you just have to work up to full draw.
If you PM me I can give you some links to Asian Traditional archery organization and suppliers who can help you, without violating Trad Gang rules about mentioning other sites and organizations...