Thai Translation Services

Where Thai is spoken and where your translation is accepted

Thai is the official language of Thailand, and more than 60 million people use it, as a first or a second language. Until 1939 the country was called Siam, and the language was known in English as Siamese. Thai is also spoken by the communities that settled in the United States, Australia, the United Kingdom and Germany, where many families need Thai birth, marriage and civil records for immigration, study and work. The destination decides the type of translation.

Thai translation services for Thailand and the Thai communities abroad

Thai has regional varieties, but documents from Thailand are written in Standard Thai, with their own script, calendar and formats. A good translation reads the script correctly, converts the dates, keeps the names as in your other documents and reads naturally to whoever receives it.

• Script: Thai has its own alphabet, with 44 consonants and vowel signs written before, after, above or below the consonant, as in ก, ข and ค. Words are written without spaces between them, and a space marks the end of a phrase. Thai has five tones, marked with four tone signs, so the same syllable can mean different things.
• Regions and registers: Standard Thai, based on the speech of central Thailand, is the language of documents. The northeast speaks Isan, close to Lao, and the north and the south have their own varieties. Thai also has a polite register and a special vocabulary for the royal family, which appears in official texts.
• Names: Thai documents give the title, the given name and then the surname, as in นาย (Mr.), นาง (Mrs.) and นางสาว (Miss). Surnames became mandatory by law in 1913, and many are long and unique to one family. The same name can be romanized in different ways, such as Somchai or Somchay, so tell us the spelling used in your passport when you order.
• Dates and numbers: Thailand uses the Buddhist Era, which is 543 years ahead, so 3 ตุลาคม 2569 is October 3, 2026, and the translation converts the year. Thai has its own digits, from ๐ to ๙, which appear on many official documents, while decimals and thousands follow the US style, as in 1,500.00.
• Documents from Thailand: the birth certificate (สูติบัตร, suti bat), the house registration book (ทะเบียนบ้าน, tabian ban), the national ID card (บัตรประจำตัวประชาชน), with its 13-digit number, the marriage certificate and the name change certificate. The translation reproduces every stamp, seal and note.