Our professional Thai translators and interpreters are perfectly fluent in both Thai and English and are ready to provide you with professional business Thai translation services that are second to none. We don’t simply translate English to Thai and Thai to English; we take a holistic language conversion approach to the source content to ensure we convey the same meaning as the source, using Thai phrases that carry the same intent and thought as the original. This process is sometimes referred to as transcreation. We can confidently say we provide some of the best translations in Thailand with a speedy delivery time and can tailor the most efficient approach for our customers’ localization projects, guaranteeing the best result no matter how large the scope or urgent the request.
VEQTA provides a reliable Thai translation service, and our team provides prompt answers to client inquiries with friendly advice from our trusted sales staff or well-trained Project Management team. We have experience in Thai translation in most areas, such as:
Regardless of the type of Thai translator you are looking for, our Thai Translation Services team members in Bangkok can take care of your projects. Our Thai linguists make use of industry-standard tools referred to as CAT Tools. These are industry-standard localization translation software that enables the translators to maintain consistent terminology and quality throughout the source documents. For larger projects, our engineers and project managers manage this process by saving your translation into a Thai Translation Memory (TM), which can be leveraged for future use should you have similar projects in the future.
Regardless of whether you’re based in Thailand and would like to schedule in-depth Thai localization consultation meetings, or you are an overseas company requiring fast Thai translation services from an online translation agency – we can help!
We also have Thai desktop publishing staff available for retouching Thai text and fonts in Photoshop if you need material such as brochures or artwork localized. We are also able to fully localize Thai e-learning courses using programs such as Lectora, Storyline, or Authorware.
Thai translation services need to be provided by professionally qualified Thai linguists and editors with experience in business. At VEQTA, all our certified language professionals have a formal academic background and do not rely on machine translation. We also offer Thai language review of texts, typing, transcription, editing, and proofreading of any source that you may have available. Our team members have access to pertinent industry references, the latest official lexicons, industry-specific standardized translation dictionaries, and important online database references and Thai linguistic style guides, such as Microsoft Style guides.
We pay attention to details and Thai cultural appropriateness to ensure the translation is fully localized to avoid any misunderstanding or misinterpretation, both for translation from English to Thai and Thai to English. For example, when translating from Thai to English: Did you know that informal Thai text such as email drafts or chat extracts may contain the term ‘555’? In this instance, the Thai writer is not actually referring to the number 555 at all. The number five in Thai is pronounced as ‘ha’. So, by combining 555, it’s pronounced as ‘ha ha ha’ – just as if someone is laughing or like in English ‘LOL’ (laughing out loud). These are important details our localization team will inform you about, rather than just blatantly translating the source. Could you imagine if the Thai translation firm you hired didn’t bother to point this out to you and explained it as: ‘we translated it as 555 because that’s what it said in the source’?
Also, you may find that in Thai business documents, the year 2024 is actually written as 2567! This is because Thailand follows the Buddhist Calendar, which is 543 years ahead of the Gregorian calendar. These date and time notations may need to be clarified when translating into English. Our team is expert in managing this process to provide professional and hassle-free Thai translation services.
Our rate for Thai translation services is based on the number of words translated, and we offer some of the lowest translation rates in the marketplace. We also leverage repeated content in the source to ensure our price is cost-effective and that we always provide a competitive rate for all our clients. Additionally, we offer complimentary reviews of the translated content if required.
Thai, or Phasa-Thai, is the national language of Thailand and is a member of the Tai-Kadai language family. Many Thai words have their origin in Pali, Sanskrit, Old Khmer, and Mon language. Thai is a tonal language with five main tones with different pitches, which can be quite challenging for Westerners trying to learn Thai. Spoken Thai has many similarities with the Lao language and is believed to have originated in the area between Vietnam and China.
The Thai writing system has undergone little change since it was introduced in the third Sukhothai period by King Ramkhamhaeng in 1283. It’s interesting to note that inscriptions from the Sukhothai era do not need any additional Thai translation or clarification as the scripts can still be read and understood in their original form by all Thais. Even though the Thai writing system is standardized throughout the nation, there are significant regional dialects in spoken language:
North Eastern Thailand (Isan): Thais from this region sometimes refer to this dialect as ‘Lao’ in informal contexts, which also includes the numerous Lao dialects in Isan and surrounding areas, as the languages are closely related. The dialect, also casually referred to as ‘Isan Language,’ can be quite difficult to comprehend for Thais from other parts of Thailand.
Northern Thai: The dialects in this region are referred to as Phasa Nuea (‘Phasa’ means language and ‘Nuea’ means north), Lanna, Kham Mueang, and Thai Yuan. These dialects date back to the time of the old Kingdom of Chiang Mai (Lanna) and surrounding areas and were in the past referred to as ‘Lao’ by Siamese Thais.
Southern Thai: Also referred to as Thai Tai, Pak Tai, or Phasa Tai. ‘Tai’ means ‘South’ and is spoken by people in the south of Thailand. Its typically fast pace can be confusing for Thais from other regions. If you hire an interpreter or Thai translator, for example, for a business meeting in Bangkok, it’s understood you will need a Central Thai speaker, and accents will normally not be an issue at all. Thai people speak Central Thai with a ‘neutral’ accent, but if you are traveling to regional Thailand, it’s good to be mindful of these accents and that Thai speakers can informally speak their local regional dialects in different social contexts.
The Thai alphabet has 44 consonants and 15 basic vowel characters. The language reads left to right with its characters placed horizontally without any space between the characters to form words and sentences. Vowels are placed above, below, before, or after the consonant they govern. Both the characters for vowels and some consonants can also be combined in different ways to form compound vowels.
It’s highly recommended that desktop publishing in Thai is done by a native Thai speaker. If time and money are invested in conveying a message into Thai, it’s essential to not falter at the finishing line and end up with poorly formatted text, as it’s likely to make your message fall on deaf ears or be misunderstood as a foreign message.
Check out the Voicebank portfolio from our Thai VoiceTalent Translators.
Not unlike Chinese, Thai also has unique pitch characteristics. The Thai language has five main tones that must be pronounced properly to be understood: mid, low, high, rising, and falling tones.
Oftentimes, we receive translations for review from other parties with vowels and tone marks that have been cut off, as well as unusual line breaks in print materials. It really needs to be checked by a Thai translator from a Thai localization firm such as VEQTA’s Thai team for the best outcome and to avoid any issues.
The Thai script is caseless and is used predominantly for the Thai writing system. The language uses a Unicode block (TIS-620), which is a language-specific character set and encoding standard for Thai Character Codes for Computers published by the Thai Industrial Standards Institute. As you may know, Unicode is a computing industry standard for the correct encoding and representation of text expressed in most of the world’s text processing. It represents a character mathematically while the visual rendering (font size, style, etc.) takes place in a web browser or software such as MS Word or other word processors.
A Thai desktop publisher who integrates the Thai translation using layout software such as InDesign or Illustrator needs to proceed with caution, as it is really easy to make a mistake for a non-Thai speaker because of the placement of the vowel well above or well below the consonant, as well as the tone marks. If a vowel or tone mark is cut off or missing as a consequence of copying and pasting into desktop publishing software, the text becomes unreadable or looks comical and unprofessional at best.
The Thai Industrial Standards Institute has defined an 8-bit standard for encoding Thai characters named TIS-620. MS Windows has supported this Unicode Thai standard since Windows 95.
Thai Language Support can be installed as a language pack for browsers such as Chrome or Internet Explorer, allowing you to render Thai fonts in your application. Some of the Unicode fonts that have the ability to display the Unicode Thai range of characters include Arial Unicode MS, Courier MonoThai, Free Monospaced Thai, Tahoma, and Zawgyi-One, to mention a few. Many of these fonts ship with Windows or can be obtained and used free of charge.
Just as with Western fonts, there is an array of fonts for Thai available with styled character appearances to best suit the medium and the content and context of the source text. It can be difficult to select a suitable font for a non-Thai person when you translate Thai language, as each font may have its own origin, e.g., traditional Thai style, modern corporate-looking, or more extravagant in appearance.
If you look around the internet for Thai fonts, you need to be aware that some fonts that can be downloaded require a license, and some fonts may have been developed for corporations that have invested a lot of money and time to create a font associated with their own brand or advertising campaign. However, due to the nature of the internet, this font is available to download online. So just as with Western fonts, you definitely don’t want to select a font that is heavily associated with a different company! It’s therefore wise to check these types of points with a Thai localization agency such as VEQTA’s Thai team, which has native Thai desktop publishers readily available.
Read more about our desktop publishing services: Desktop Publishing in Thai and all major languages.
We provide Thai terminology specialists for English to Thai and Thai to English translation; linguists, editors, reviewers, and Subject Matter Experts (SME). SMEs work together with the editor as advisors for specific relevant industry terminology. Depending on the industry, this pertains to using accepted technical terms, references, industry lexicons, commonly used industry jargon, as well as formal references that may be available. For example, MS Style guides with rules that define language and style conventions and general localization guidelines for use in technical publications or market-specific data formats.
SMEs come from various industry branches or fields of specialization, such as IT/SAP/ERP, Legal Field, Finance, ISO, Pharmaceutical and Medicine, Health and Nutrition, Marketing, Medical, Manufacturing, Safety Data, Chemicals, Heavy Industries, Finance and Accounting, or even literature. We also provide SME gaming fanatics who get involved in Thai localization for games and massive multiplayer online role-playing games in Thailand (MMO).
Thai documents and corporate content we translate to and from Thai include:
The above Thai documents are often scanned PDFs, which we may need to process with Thai Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software that can discern Thai characters and produce an editable source for the Thai translators. The linguists may need to transcribe (retype) the content in Thai in addition to the OCR scanning for uneditable documents.
The process of translating a website from Thai or into Thai:
Analyze the English or Thai web platform, the build environment, Thai static content, dynamic database-driven content, Content Management System (CMS) e.g., WordPress or Joomla, etc., or any script files or plug-ins associated with the platform.
Establish Thai content integration requirements from the end client depending on the end client’s webmaster’s requirements. Full content integration or partial content integration, e.g., delivery of bilingual files where the user will toggle between English and Thai, localized target-only files, or bilingual content prepared for integration.
Identify any candidate terms that need special attention or research, such as Thai industry jargon, acronyms, or Thai terms that may need to stay in English/Thai. Such terms may be researched particularly for the Thai locale, translated and reviewed by terminologists, and included in a project-specific, purpose-built bilingual glossary with approved Thai terminology as reviewed by the client’s stakeholders.
Special terminology may be included in a term base by the translators and as approved by Thai reviewers and stakeholders as accepted technical Thai terminology. This may include legacy terminology from previously translated references or translations stored in Translation Memories.
A style guide is a document outlining how the brand of the company ‘speaks’ and includes in-house terminology, industry-preferred terminology or legacy terms, product or service terminology, and names. It’s very useful for guiding the Thai linguists to convey the same name recognition from the source language. This includes guidance on the use of terms familiar to the corporate culture of the organization, as well as how to translate measurements, units, currencies, destinations, acronyms, etc. Larger companies may already have guidelines, standards, or references, but if none exist, the translator or project manager may work with the end client to create a style guide based on input from the client in conjunction with recommendations from our Thai team.
The source files are prepared in external software that enables us to ‘lock’ any code or non-translatable items so the translators do not touch any code by mistake. The translators translate the content in a so-called CAT Tool, which is software with functionality that flags previously translated terms and matches old segments with new segments. This allows the translator to remember how terms have been translated earlier in the files for a consistent and professional Thai translation. Using industry best practices, the main translation phase involves using experienced Thai translators who translate in a three-step process of translation, editing, and revision/proof-checking. The translators are carefully vetted and have undergone thorough Thai translation language testing in their respective fields of specialization.
After the translation phase and content integration, it’s wise to carry out Thai linguistic testing of the online platform. This should be done in a timely manner in a sandbox environment and not on the live site. The Thai linguists will go through and check that all items display correctly, checking for truncated Thai characters, line breaks, translations in menus that may have expanded when translated and are only displaying partially, omitted items, overlapping content, or other content errors. The findings are documented in a linguistic bug report with recommendations for remedial action. The process is repeated until the bugs have been corrected.
A lot of businesses are now expanding to Thailand, which is why the demand for Thai to English translation and vice versa is higher than ever before. This Southeast Asian country is home to 68.8 million people and is a popular tourist destination, thanks to cities like Bangkok. Aside from its large population and its popularity among tourists, Thailand has also become a premier place for businesses to expand their products and services. The mark of any good business is its willingness for expansion and growth. As you continue to expand your company, you may come across some issues associated with the language barrier. A language barrier pops up when you want to explain your product or service to a customer base that doesn’t speak the same language as you do. This can be frustrating and can lead to misunderstandings and low sales rates in the area you’ve expanded to. According to The World Bank, a trusted source of funding and knowledge for developing countries, Thailand is “one of the great development success stories.” Its economy is fast-growing with a GDP of $408.6 billion, making it a great place to expand business as many will begin to move to or visit Thailand for commerce. But the problem is the language barrier. The Thai language, like most languages, differs based on who you’re talking to and if you’re talking in the past, present, or future tenses. To help you better understand, here are a few reasons why having a good Thai translation for your company’s materials and website is important to your business:
YOU WON’T OFFEND YOUR CUSTOMERS
As with pretty much any language, there are words that may sound similar to others that could be unpleasant. A good Thai translator will be able to tell you the difference between these words and make sure you don’t include incorrect translations in your business materials or online. This is the best way to keep your new Thai customers happy without offending them with inappropriate translations.
BREAKS THE LANGUAGE BARRIER
As stated before, having a good Thai translation for your business and business materials is paramount to your success in a country that is home to people who don’t speak your language. By breaking through the language barrier with a good translation of what your business has to offer its customers, you can effectively break the language barrier and expand your customer base.
REDUCE CONFUSION
Believe it or not, a lot of companies may just copy and paste their existing information into a translator program. A lot of times, this program won’t fully understand the sentence and will end up translating the information incorrectly. Think of the English language. For example, the word “read.” This word is spelled the same for the present and past tense. That can be confusing for someone who isn’t familiar with the language. By using a competent Thai translator, you can accurately and fully translate your business materials so they are easy to read and understand in every language.
CONNECT WITH THE LOCALS
Nothing brings people together more than being able to understand them. You build trust with customers when you are able to offer information to them in their native tongue. Skillful Thai English translators can provide you with accurate information that will have your Thai customers feeling confident about their decision to work with you. You will gain loyal Thai customers thanks to your willingness to properly translate your company’s information for them to read and understand.
If you or any of your office staff wish to learn Thai or gain a deeper understanding of the Thai language, its alphabet, and pronunciation, we strongly recommend checking out this very effective course on learning Thai: learnthaifromawhiteguy.com.
CONCLUSION
As you can see, there are several reasons why having a good English to Thai translation is important to your business. Not only can you build numerous positive relationships with your Thai customer base, but you can also be confident that you will increase sales and bring more money to your business. For more information on how we at VEQTA can help you, give us a call or send us an email today.
Still not convinced if your company needs a Thai translation solution? Then continue to read more on the investment climate that may require future Thai localization needs.
VEQTA’s translations team in Thailand provides Thai translation and localization services for all major industries. We also provide voiceover and dubbing services for your e-learning course, corporate presentation, broadcasting commercial, interactive voice response system (IVR), or nearly any recording needs. We also provide dubbing for MMORPG games.
We provide voiceover and localization in over 50 languages, which is why all our translation and voiceover projects follow our proven processes for the best result. For all voiceover projects, we work with experienced and enthusiastic voice talents who are expatriates living in Asia. We also use language monitors who supervise the voiceover artist in the studio to ensure the recording is perfect and free from mispronunciation. We also make use of pronunciation guides and record the voiceover talents in a state-of-the-art recording studio. We also have audio engineers who clean the audio and can integrate the audio into your video, e-learning course, or any other file format.
Contact us today for an obligation free quotation estimate, we’re happy to assess your files, pages and content to scope your project.
Our native Thai translators will be assigned on the project according to their experience with similar content. We only use experienced native translators who have been thoroughly vetted by language testing proficiency tests.
Once the translation has passed certain quality criteria, it’s passed to the Editor. The Thai Editor is a senior translator who will go through and polish the text, e.g correcting syntax, grammar and flow.
As a final quality assurance step, we will go through the Thai documents again to give it an overall quality check, check on typos, any missing content and correct any inconsistencies in the translation.
A dedicated team of Thai translators who combines Experience, Specialized Subject Matter Expertise with Translation Practices to deliver quality second to none.
Fast, Accurate & Affordable Translation Solutions!
Singapore: +65 6829 7058
Malaysia: +60 3 2776 6812
Thailand: +66 98357 8074
info@veqta.com