Product Description

This practical dictionary is designed to help English speakers communicate in Thai. It is equally useful for those who can read the Thai alphabet and those who can't. Most Thai-English dictionaries either use Thai script exclusively for the Thai entries (making them difficult for westerners to use) or use only phonetic transliteration (making it impossible to look up a word in Thai script). This dictionary solves these problems by dividing the entries into three sections: Section One [English-Phonetic-Thai], Section Two [Phonetic-Thai-English] and Section Three [Thai-Phonetic-English]. The transliteration system is the same as that used in Paiboon Publishing's other books. You will find most of the vocabulary you are likely to need in everyday life, including basic medical, cultural, political and scientific terms.

Here are some of the features:

 Consistent and accurate phonetic transcription of Thai sounds for those unable to read the Thai alphabet
 A comprehensive guide to pronunciation
 Thai script for those who read Thai
 All entries organized in three easy to use sections
 Thai alphabet guide showing different styles of Thai script to help you read shop signs and newspaper headlines

It's the ONE Dictionary You Can Really Use!

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #74543 in Books
• Published on: 2002-01-01
• Released on: 2002-01-01
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 658 pages

About the Author
Benjawan Poomsan Becker was born in Bangkok and spent her childhood in Yasothon, a small province in Northeast Thailand. Her family is ethnic Laotian, so she grew up speaking both Thai and Lao. She graduated from Khon Kaen University in Thailand in 1990, with a B.A. in English. Benjawan gained extensive experience teaching Thai to foreigners while studying for her M.A. in Japan with the Japan-Thailand Trade Association and Berlitz Language School, and in the US with Thai temples, Stanford University and private students. She now resides in Berkeley, California where she continues to write and publish books on the Thai and Lao languages. She also has a translation and interpretation business. Her books include "Thai for Beginners", "Thai for Intermediate Learners", "Thai for Advanced Readers", "Thai-English/English-Thai Dictionary for Non-Thai Speakers", "Improving Your Thai Pronunciation", "Practical Thai Conversation DVD Series", the popular "Speak Like a Thai Series" and many other titles on the Thai language.

Customer Reviews

Not the end-all and be-all but necessary...
Bad news:
Print is too small. Anyone with eyes over 40 years old will be looking for a magnifying glass to supplement their glasses, just as one needs one to read the message he is printing here. But dictionaries are supposed to be reference materials, not teaching resources. I wrote to the publisher and asked if there was a version for people with real eyes. His response was that what you see (or don't see) is what you get.
In both Thailand and the U.S. I haunted bookstore after bookstore for a more flexible dictionary and found none.
Good news: in conjunction with other learning guides, this dictionary is the best. If you want to learn pronunciation, get something on disk.
Until someone comes out with something in larger print, this is as good as you'll get.

Thai Dictionary
This is the best dictionary on Thai I have seen to date, and I have looked at a lot of them. Although the transliteration
system (The Romanized version for English speakers) is probably the most unique and difficult to learn and remember, will easily result in the most accurate pronounciation. The transliteration system is worth learning, and puts all other transliteration systems in second class (as far as winding up with the correct pronounciation) at best.

The book has English-to-Romanized-Thai, Romanized-Thai-to English, and "real"-Thai-script-to-English, easily making
it the most useful of all the ones I have seen to date.

As this dictionary is fairly comprehensive, it is also a bit thick, making it a little difficult to travel with, but this dictionary is a MUST for anyone trying to learn any Thai at
all.

Thai-English/English-Thai Dictionary
The beginning has very useful information to decipher this difficult language (vocabaluary, how to write the letters, what the different fonts look like). Then there is a large section for English-Thai (the Thai script is small, so you need a magnifiying glass for it), then a section of English written Thai - Thai script (very good but you have to learn how to write the English equivalent of Thai sounds). Third section is Thai script to English. I have many Thai books and dictionaries, but this one is the most requested by my friends learning Thai.