Thailand Lexicon

THAILEX Travel Dictionary is an illustrated trilingual reference guide on Thailand and is entirely and single-handedly written, translated and composed by Yves Masure. It deals primarily with Thai art, culture and history, as well as with the many cities and places of interest. Because of the direct and inextricable relationship of religion, architecture, ethnology, tradition and nature, it also gives extensive attention to these subjects. Over eighty maps are included to help the reader locate the many places whilst countless unique photos illustrate the explanations. This work is designed to operate like a website with all the ease of use and tools that you would expect. The lay-out is best viewed on your computer with the font set-up in Tahoma and the HTML encoding either in Auto-Select or in Western European (Windows). The set-up in any other script or encoding will most likely result in the lay-out and fonts being displayed out of proportion. This work is designed to be viewed with a screen resolution set at 800 x 600 (256 colours or higher) and text size setting at medium. For a wide screen view use the F11 button.

 

 

THAILEX 4th Edition IN THE PRESS (January 2007)

 

The Author

Yves Masure studied Thai at the Institute of Languages of the Ramkhamhaeng University in Bangkok, theology, several modern and classical languages, and gained an in-depth knowledge of classical and oriental literature as an autodidact. Yves Masure also graduated in graphic art and web design at Netdesign in Bangkok. He has travelled and lived in Thailand since 1993 where he has worked as a senior manager for Thailand's largest importer and distributor of foreign literature and has long been active in the travel industry, both as a tour leader and self-employed tour operator. Besides this he is a travel writer and translator. This travel dictionary is the result of more than a decade of travel, research, translation and archiving.

 

 

Text & Translations

The original text of this work was written in Dutch with most of the research done from Thai and English sources. Afterward, the text was translated -sometimes back- into English and Thai, adding electronic links to enable the reader to switch languages easily. An attempt has been made to translate each section as precise as possible to the original wording, though due to the individual character of each language minor deviations in syntax and vocabulary may occur. All translations have been made by the author himself.

 

 

THAILEX 3rd Edition IN THE PRESS (February 2005)

    

 

Use

Capital letters are used, where the word is considered to be a proper name. Since the use of capital letters is non-existent in most of the original languages, it is at the discretion of the interpreter. So, e.g. Buddha (capital letter) refers to the 'Enlightened One'; whilst buddha (small letter) indicates someone 'who is enlightened'. Vowels in the transcription of foreign words followed by an h are to be pronounced long, like e.g. ah, oh, uh, and ih. Consonants of foreign words followed by an h are to be pronounced as aspirated. A ph-sound is therefore not like a French f-sound, which is written similar! In our transliterations the aspirated sound is not always taken into account, due to complexity of some of the words. A g should sound like a 'hard' g like in the French word garçon or the English word guy. In transliteration sometimes a k is used instead, with or without a cross-reference. Sometimes the pronunciation of a word lies between two sounds in the English language e.g. between d and  t. In the transliteration of such words either one or the other, or both possibilities may be given e.g.  the Pali word dhamma, which in Thai transcribes as thamma. A v sound in Thai lies in between v and w, in transliterations they are often mixed up with each other e.g. Wachirawut which may also be written as Vachiravut. Sanskrit words that have an equivalent in Pali, or vice versa, are used intermingled, often with cross-references via links. The same rule applies for words from Thai: the more popular or logical transcription is explained. If, due to the complexity of the pronunciation of foreign words in each language, more than one option for transliteration is possible, the most evident one was chosen, but often other transliterations may also be possible. To avoid inaccuracies and where useful Thai script is given. This script is readable without the need for any additional fonts.

 

 

THAILEX 1st Edition IN THE PRESS (October 2003)

 

Lexicon

The lexicon is the main thrust of this work and aims to clarify names and terminology. It primarily deals with words from Thai art, culture and history. Because of the direct and inextricable relationship of religion, architecture, ethnology, tradition and nature, it also gives extensive attention to these subjects. Also because of the early Indianisation of Southeast Asia, many words and terms derive directly from Hinduism, which is interwoven with Thai culture. Many words are derived from a foreign tongue, such as Thai, Sanskrit, Pali, Hindi, Khmer, etc. and without the existence of an official system for transcription and often no exact equivalent in English. The nearest or best transliteration is used. Sometimes the same word will appear with a different spelling e.g. durian and thurian. When an obvious and clear English equivalent exists, this is usually chosen. In some instances different options are given and these are cross-referenced by links.

 

 

Note of Thanks

A number of assistants and helpers have joined in over time and I would like to give a note of thanks to everyone who in any way contributed or helped in the completion of this work, either by giving advice and information, or by granting permission to make pictures in places where it is normally not allowed or evident. Because of the breadth it is impossible to name everyone, yet it is befitting to mention the following institutions and people: Ramkhamhaeng University Bangkok, Netdesign Bangkok, the National Museum in Bangkok, the Ramkamhaeng Museum in Sukhothai, the Board of Wat Maha Sri Mariamman Umadevi in Bangkok, Asian Sense in Jomtien, and all colleagues and friends in the tourist and educational sector of Thailand and beyond, and last but not least, Mike Turner for proof reading the script in English, and Kittisak Buaban (กิตติศักดิ์ บัวบาล), Yodkamon Ponyota (ยอดกมล พลโยธา) and Supharoek Nuammee (ศุภฤกษ์ นวมมี) for assisting with advice and corrections in the Thai language.

 

 

Copyright

All lay-out, text and illustrations in this work are the property of the author-publisher and protected by copyright. Photos are marked both visible and invisible and therefore recognisable and subject to protection. No part of this work may be copied, reproduced or electronically saved without prior and explicit permission of the owner. By opening the website or starting the Thailex CDrom the user accepts these conditions. At the bottom of each page is an e-mail address where any information concerning this topic can be requested. To allow a quick and smooth navigation it is permitted to copy the contents of the CD or website once-only and at your own risk onto your computer hard disk. All photos are property of Yves Masure and were made by the author himself, except for the following pictures which were donated, purchased or scanned from sources where no copyright was mentioned nor claimed: Phi Tah Khohn donated by Hidde de Haan; Phra Pathom Chedi and Golden Triangle donated by Philip Masure; moonstone and mongkon donated by Mike Turner; Prang Sahm Yod donated by Watcharapong Thammachai (วัชรพงษ์ธรรมชัย); Hmong family and Loimi Akha purchased from Tham Lodge (Mae Hong Son); klot purchased from Khun Vorapot (คุณวรพจน์); traditional massage scanned from an advertisement flyer.