Thai Retail & E-Commerce Translation

About the Thai Language

Thai is the national and official language of Thailand and the first language of the Thai people and the vast majority of Thai Chinese. It is a member of the Tai group of the Tai–Kadai language family.

Thai is natively spoken by, according to Ethnologue, over 20 million people (2000). In reality, the number of native Thai speakers is likely to be much higher, since the Thai citizens throughout central Thailand learn it as their first language while the populations of western and eastern parts of Thailand, which has since ancient times formed the core territory of Siam, also speak central Thai as their first language. Moreover, most Thais in the northern and the northeastern (Isaan) parts of the country today are bilingual speakers of Central Thai and their respective regional dialects due to the fact that (Central) Thai is the language of television, education, news reporting, and all forms of media. A recent research found that the speakers of the Northern Thai language (or Kham Mueang) have become so few, as most people in northern Thailand now invariably speak standard Thai, such that they are now using mostly central Thai words and seasoning their speech only with "kham mueang" accent.

Standard Thai is based on the Ayutthaya dialect, and the register in the educated classes. In addition to Central Thai, Thailand is home to other related Tai languages. Although some linguists classify these dialects as related but distinct languages, there is a high degree of mutual intelligibility between these regional dialects/languages. Nonetheless, it is often claimed that the language policy of the Thai government[citation needed] has shaped the dominant view that these languages are only regional variants or dialects of the "same" Thai language, or as "different kinds of Thai".

Thai Translation Expertise

Thai is a tonal language with five tones that affect meaning, and its written form lacks spaces between words, requiring translators to segment text based on linguistic knowledge rather than visual cues. The language has an elaborate system of pronouns and particles reflecting social hierarchy, and royal, religious, and common registers use entirely different vocabulary for the same concepts. Legal and official Thai documents employ a formal register with Pali and Sanskrit loanwords that differs significantly from everyday spoken Thai.

Thai uses its own abugida script with 44 consonant symbols and 15 vowel symbols that can appear above, below, before, or after the consonant they modify. The script is written left to right without spaces between words, and tone marks appear above consonants. Transliteration into English follows the Royal Thai General System, though personal names often use idiosyncratic romanisation.

Common Thai Documents

Commonly translated documents include สูติบัตร (birth certificates), ทะเบียนสมรส (marriage certificates), ทะเบียนบ้าน (house registration books), police clearance certificates from the Royal Thai Police, and academic transcripts from Thai universities.

NAATI offers certification for Thai translators, and certified practitioners are available in cities with significant Thai communities. NAATI-certified Thai translations are accepted by the Department of Home Affairs and other Australian authorities for immigration and official purposes.

About the Thai Language

Thai has no verb conjugation whatsoever — tense, mood, and aspect are all conveyed through separate particles and context rather than changes to the verb itself. The Thai alphabet has 44 consonant symbols but only 21 distinct consonant sounds, because many consonants have been retained from older pronunciations and are now used primarily to indicate the tone class of a syllable. Bangkok's ceremonial name in Thai is 168 characters long, making it the longest place name in the world — locals simply call it "Krung Thep."