1. What are some pitfalls to avoid, specific to Thai, a client should be aware of when translating into this language?
In Thai:
• The passive voice is only used in a negative sense.
For example:
Eng: Transactions in security will not be permitted by the system if this field is not checked.
Thai: ระบบจะไม่อนุญาตให้ทำธุรกรรมในหลักทรัพย์นี้หากไม่เลือกฟิลด์นี้ในระบบ
• Usage in Thai is classified based
on social rank, seniority, etc., which the translator
must take into account when selecting an accurate
translation.
For example:
“Eat” can be translated in several ways based on the subject.
2. What are characteristics of Thai that are unique or different from English and/or other languages?
The characteristics of Thai that are unique or different from English are:
• Thai has tone marks.
• Thai words are written consecutively
without spaces until the end of a sentence.
• Thai uses spacing as a separator
without the commas, colons, semi-colons, dashes,
em-dashes, etc., that English uses.
• There are no full stops at the end
of sentences.
• There are no capital letters in Thai.
• Thai uses adverbs to express distinctions
of time. Verbs do not have present, past or future
tenses.
3. How do these characteristics make it important to use properly qualified, professional translators?
It is important for Thai translators to:
• Be highly proficient in the grammar
of both the source and the target language.
• Be able to create correct sentence
structure in the target language.
• Have a refined sense of word choices.
4. Do you know of examples where translation or localization mistakes have occurred with Thai, such as problems with text expansion, date/time formats, counting errors, character encoding, etc., or mistakes with the translation itself? Perhaps you’ve been asked to review a translation that did not seem to be the work of a properly qualified, professional translator.
I have seen the following types of mistakes:
• Full stops have not been deleted.
Eng: Indicates the stock type classification for
security.
Thai (incorrect): ระบุการจัดประเภทหุ้นสำหรับหลักทรัพย.
(correct): ระบุการจัดประเภทหุ้นสำหรับหลักทรัพย
• Date/Time format was left unchanged
Eng: (month/day/year) 03/15/08
Thai (incorrect): (month/day/year) 03/15/08
(correct): (day/month/year) 15/03/08
• Collocation
Eng: Never give others the opportunity to look over
your shoulder if you are working on sensitive material.
Thai (incorrect): ห้ามมิให้บุคคลอื่นๆ มีโอกาสมองข้ามหัวไหล่ของคุณเพื่อดูข้อมูลลับเฉพาะที่คุณกำลังดำเนินการอยู่
(correct):ระวังอย่าเปิดโอกาสให้บุคคลอื่นแอบมองเมื่อคุณกำลังดำเนินการข้อมูลที่เป็นความลับอยู่
5. Relate an example or two of times you found a website page or form difficult to use because it was poorly localized. How might a business lose money, prestige, or incur legal risk due to this bad translation?
• Obviously, for any business, its
image will look doubtful to the target audience
or anyone who sees such errors in translation.
• A business could find itself in trouble
in terms of legal issues and company management
if the translation is not accurate.
• It is possible the business could
lose prospective income.
• For the health care industry, unclear
information due to a bad translation could put customers’
lives at risk.
6. If possible, provide one example of a particular phrase or concept that only a properly qualified, professional translator would be able to correctly communicate.
Below is an example that only a qualified chemical translator should translate.
Eng: Drug-induced hypokalaemia may enhance the curariform effect of skeletal muscle relaxants (e.g., tubocurarine).
Thai (incorrect): ยาที่ทำให้เกิดภาวะโพแทสเซียมต่ำ อาจส่งผลให้เกิดอาการชาในยาผ่อนคล้ายกล้ามเนื้อกระดูก (เช่น ทูโบคูรารีน)
(correct): ภาวะโปแตสเซียมต่ำที่เกิดจากยาอาจไปเพิ่มฤทธิ์คลายกล้ามเนื้อของยาคลายกล้ามเนื้อได้ (เช่น ทูโบคูรารีน)
