Thai Internationalization

Thai Internationalization (I18n) can be defined as the process of enabling back-end technologies to function or support Thai. Localization, on the other hand, deals primarily with the front-end or linguistic and cosmetic aspects of a Thai software application or Web site, including locale-specific content, cultural correctness, translations, and design.

Some of the reasons for internationalizing are to ensure your Thai application or Web site:

• Supports non-English characters and the bidirectional (right-to-left) writing system used in Thai;
• Sorts based on Thai language rules;
• Allows the externalization of all translatable text strings (i.e., separating text from code);
• Handles the different address, time, date, and numerical formats used in Thai.

The process of Thai internationalization may include the following four steps:

1. Discovery - Includes the preparation of a Thai internationalization kit and an analysis of the current internationalization readiness of the source Web site or software application.
2. Assessment - Includes review and analysis of the following:
   • Source architecture and source code of Web site or software application.
   • Global marketing plans and requirements.
   • Design, development and build processes.
   • Current I18N and localization strategies.
3. Implementation - Includes the following:
   • Externalizing text strings for ease of localization.
   • Resolving any currency, time, date, or numbers issues.
   • Enabling double-byte characters or bidirectional writing.
   • Creating an I18n-friendly build methodology.
   • Preparing an I18n test plan.
   • Preparing a localization kit.
   • Carrying out training on I18n.
   • Introduction of I18n tools and any required tool training.
4. Testing - Includes client-driven I18n and DBCS-enablement testing, bug reporting/fixing and regression testing.