Translate an Excel file into Thai

Thai script in cells: row height, line breaks, fonts

Thai is written without spaces between words. A space marks the end of a sentence or separates items in a list. In a cell with text wrapping turned on, the software therefore has to guess where to break the line, using a dictionary. Depending on your Excel version, operating system and font, a break may fall in the middle of a word. A sentence may also stay on one line as a single block and spill into the next cell.

Vowels and tone marks sit above and below the consonants. In ที่นี่ or ปู่, the stacked marks need more vertical room than Latin text. A row whose height was set manually will not grow on its own, so the tops of tone marks or the bottoms of subscript vowels can be clipped on screen and in print.

Then there is the font. A Latin font such as Calibri has no Thai characters, so Thai text is displayed in a fallback font with a different apparent size and baseline. Thai fonts such as Leelawadee UI, Tahoma or TH Sarabun New render more evenly. Some, such as TH Sarabun New, look small at the same point size and are often set larger.

Numbers, dates and plurals: what a Thai reader expects

Manuce does not touch numbers, dates or amounts: they stay exactly as they are. A few Thai conventions are therefore yours to set if your recipient expects them.

• Dates: the Buddhist Era (พ.ศ.) is in common use in Thailand, particularly in official paperwork. Its years run 543 ahead, so 2024 is 2567. Your dates stay Gregorian. If the reader expects Buddhist Era years, change the cell's display format rather than the value, so calculations remain correct.
• Digits: Thai digits (๑ ๒ ๓) exist, but Western digits are widely used. Your figures stay in Western digits.
• Currency: nothing is converted to baht. A figure in pounds, dollars or euros keeps its currency and format.
• Plurals: Thai has a single form (CLDR category "other"). A label such as "Item(s) ordered" becomes one form, and quantities use a classifier: "3 items" is 3 รายการ. Bracketed plural endings simply disappear.

What Manuce returns, and what it does not do

You get your own .xlsx file back, with Thai text in place in every text cell on every sheet. Column widths, colours, borders, number formats, filters and merged cells are preserved. A calculated cell keeps its formula and keeps calculating. You also receive a Word version, a PDF and the plain text, which are handy for review by a Thai speaker who does not work in Excel.

What is not done:

• sheet tab names, cell comments, charts, and shapes or text boxes placed on the sheet are not translated;
• a narrow column is not widened, so a Thai label may be cut off on screen, just as an overlong label was in the original;
• text written inside a formula stays in the source language, because the formula is not changed;
• Manuce does not produce sworn or certified translations: for an official document required by a Thai authority, you need a sworn translator.

Thai carries a language supplement: a ×1.6 coefficient applies to the per-word rate.

Preparing the workbook before upload

• Move text out of formulas. With =IF(C2>0,"Paid","Pending"), the result will always show "Paid" in the source language. Put "Paid" and "Pending" in two cells and reference them: they will be translated to ชำระแล้ว and รอดำเนินการ, and the formula will display Thai.
• Check lookups on text. A VLOOKUP searching for the string "London" in a column of labels will find nothing once that column is in Thai. Lookups on numeric codes or references stay safe, because numbers do not change.
• Move into cells any text from text boxes or comments that you want translated.
• List the tabs and chart titles you will need to rename in Thai yourself after delivery.

Checking the Thai file you receive

1. Open the workbook on a machine with a Thai font installed, and apply it to the translated ranges if the rendering looks uneven.
2. Auto-fit row heights, then check that the tone marks in words such as สินค้า are not clipped.
3. Look through wrapped cells: if a break splits a word, widen the column rather than inserting a manual line break.
4. Reopen the filters: the listed values are now in Thai. If you re-sort a translated column, the order will differ from the original. Sort on a code column if order matters.
5. Check in the free sample, then in the file, that brand names and references meant to stay unchanged have not been translated.

In practice

1. Move text from formulas, text boxes and comments into cells.
2. Upload the .xlsx: the quote appears straight away, based on the exact word count.
3. Read the free sample and check terms that must stay unchanged.
4. Download the workbook, then fix the Thai font, row heights and narrow columns.
5. Rename sheet tabs and chart titles in Thai yourself.