Thai Translation Research Articles

Validation of the Thai translation of the attitudes toward euthanasia scale

In Thailand, euthanasia has been a controversial topic for several decades. The assessment of attitudes toward euthanasia among medical students who will become future medical practitioners is essential for the progression of future legislation and practice. This study aimed to adapt and validate the Attitude Towards Euthanasia scale in the Thai context and measure its validity and reliability. First, the scale was translated into Thai by certified translation centers using the forward-backward technique. This cross-sectional study involved 112 Thai students. Self-reported online questionnaires and the Attitude Towards Euthanasia scale were used for data collection. The psychometric properties of the scale were analyzed using internal consistency (Cronbach's alpha and McDonald's Omega coefficient), reproducibility, exploratory factor analysis, and confirmatory factor analysis. Cronbach's alpha for the Thai Attitude Towards Euthanasia scale was 0.83, and the reproducibility was acceptable, with no statistically significant difference between the first and subsequent responses for each item. The two-factor model was extracted using exploratory factor analysis, and the values of the Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin criterion and Bartlett's test of sphericity all fell within a satisfactory range. Two- and four-factor models were analyzed for the confirmatory factor analysis, and the latter provided more acceptable model fit indices. In conclusion, the Thai Attitude Towards Euthanasia scale is valid for assessing attitudes toward euthanasia among Thai medical students.

Measurement properties of the Thai translation of the Recovery Assessment Scale - Domains and Stages (RAS-DS) and comparison of recovery experiences between Thai and Australian consumers living with serious mental illness.

Personal recovery, a western conceptualisation that focuses on hope and living meaningful lives of choice rather than focusing on symptom reduction, is a more recent concept in many Asian countries including Thailand. One way to promote recovery-oriented service delivery is to use outcome measures that capture self-reported personal recovery. This study aimed to evaluate a Thai translation of a self-report measure of mental health recovery, the Recovery Assessment Scale - Domains and Stages (RAS-DS). The study also explored the cultural similarities and differences between Thai (n = 190) and Australian (n = 301) recovery experiences by comparing Thai and Australian participant responses to RAS-DS items. Data were analysed using Rasch analysis. Analyses revealed that the Thai version of the RAS-DS had adequate measurement properties. Cultural comparisons suggested that most aspects contained within the RAS-DS appear to be applicable across both Thai and Australian contexts. Three findings suggest linguistic or cultural differences in Thai and Australian recovery experiences: (i) a ceiling effect for Thai participants, (ii) some items were "harder" or "easier" for one cultural group to endorse than the other, and (iii) a few items were "misfitting" for Thai participants.

Validating Thai translations of perceptual soundscape attributes: A non-Procrustean approach with a Procrustes projection

Measurement of a psychological construct across populations without a common linguistic medium often necessitates the development of multiple translations of the psychometric tool across multiple languages, dialects, or other population-specific variations. In this follow-up (Stage 2) study, a listening test using a shared set of 27 stimuli from the Soundscape Attribute Translation Project (SATP) was conducted with Thai-speaking participants using the set of Thai translations of the eight perceptual affective quality (PAQ) descriptors selected in earlier (Stage 1) work through a structured evaluation questionnaire. Principal component analysis was performed on the listening test data to obtain a rank-two reduction of the responses with maximal explained variance. In order to align the principal component space to the two-dimensional circumplex space, this work presents a simple and numerically stable method based on the orthogonal Procrustes projection, to find the optimal two-dimensional orthogonal transform that aligns the first two principal components with the axes corresponding to Pleasantness and Eventfulness as defined in ISO/TS 12913-3:2019. Analysis of the listening test responses indicated good to excellent interrater reliability, reflecting the general comprehensibility of the translations to laypersons. Subsequent analyses yielded a two-dimensional projection with ▪ explained variance and near-perfect alignment of the composite Pleasantness and Eventfulness axes. Angular locations of the individual translated PAQs are located within ▪ of their theoretically ideal locations and preserve angular ordering, albeit with imperfect equiangularity. Cross-analysis against the results from Stage 1 showed that the structured evaluation may be partially useful in anticipating potential imperfections of the PAQ translations and their angular locations in Stage 2.

The Revised Second Victim Experience and Support Tool: Thai Translation and Psychometric Evaluation.

Background and Purpose: Nurses are vulnerable to being second victims, resulting in physio-psychological problems and leaving their profession. Exploring second victims requires reliable instruments. This study aimed to translate the Revised Second Victim Experience and Support Tool (SVEST-R) and evaluate its psychometric properties. Methods: The translation process applied the World Health Organization guidelines and validated the Thai version of the SVEST-R (Thai-SVEST-R) with 400 registered nurses. Results: Part A of the scale had a highly constructed validity with a significantly good model fit and was equivalent to the original SVEST-R. For Part B, the test-retest reliability value was satisfactory. Conclusions: Thai-SVEST-R demonstrates evidence of validity and reliability, indicating the scale's value for measuring Thai nurses' experiences as second victims.

Listening to the Other: Kuang’s Babel, Postcolonialism, and Bible Translation

Despite its influence in the broader academy, postcolonial thought has had minimal impact on the study of Bible translation. This article examines postcolonialism, drawing out common themes from the contested descriptions of the discipline, and briefly reviews some of the ways postcolonial thought has contributed to Missiology, Biblical Studies, and Translation Studies. It then explores the general lack of interaction between postcolonial criticism and studies of Bible translation and suggests ways that attending to postcolonial critiques could benefit the field. The article concludes with a case study using the history of Thai translations of the Bible to illustrate some of the benefits that could be brought to studies of Bible translation by an increased sensitivity to postcolonial thought.

The Thai Translation of Un violador en tu camino: A Multimodal Critical Discourse Analysis

In Thailand, the advocacy group Feminist Liberation that emerged alongside the pro-democracy protests in mid-2020 following the COVID-19 pandemic translated Un violador en tu camino , a song composed and performed publicly by Chilean feminist collective Las Tesis and since hailed as a feminist anthem, into Thai as Sita Lui Fai and adapted the original choreography to construct their public discourse around gender-based violence. To answer the overarching question of how transnational feminism was enabled by translation, this paper investigates how the Chilean feminist discourse has changed upon introduction into the target context using Kress and van Leeuwen’s (2006) multimodal critical discourse analysis of the Thai translation and its choreography. The results show that while both versions similarly highlight the structural cause of gender-based violence, the Chilean lyrics place greater focus on feminist theoretical pedagogy in contrast to the Thai translation’s function as an affective vehicle for anger as exemplified by the adoption of a more colloquial term for “patriarchy”, the choice of specific pronouns to challenge Thai seniority culture, and the emotionally charged modifications to the original choreography. With multiple references to the monarchy, the song has been re-signified to reflect the reality of gender oppression specific to Thailand. Translation has thus served as a tool through which transnational feminism has been fostered. Feminist Liberation’s collaboration with other advocacy groups additionally indicated their intersectional framework where LGBTQ+ rights, reproductive healthcare, students’ rights are inextricably linked to the goal of gender equality.

Arundhati Roy in Thai : compromising the linguistic hybridity in translation

The article examines the Thai translations of Arundhati Roy's novels, The God of Small Things and The Ministry of Utmost Happiness, which feature linguistic hybridity that addresses the complex, intermingling realities of the former colonized space. Using Klinger's (2015) concepts of symbolic and iconic hybridity to explain the motivation behind the use of non-standard language in Roy's postcolonial novels and their Thai translations, this article argues that the Thai versions fell short of retaining a reasonable degree of linguistic hybridity because the translator chose a compromising method of making Roy's novels more understandable to Thai readers. By compromising, the translator used a specific method of transliterating Pali-Sanskrit etymological terms, a cushioning strategy, and footnotes. The translations appear to contradict the author's viewpoint on the dynamics of core and periphery languages. Multicultural expressions that are meant to symbolically represent different levels of power in the real world are ignored, thereby failing to convey Roy's intention of defying former colonial monolingual practice and breaking free from such a legacy.

The effects of cognitive behavioural therapy on depression, anxiety, stress, and self-esteem in public health students, Thailand.

This study aimed to investigate the effect of group cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) on depression, anxiety, stress, and self-esteem in public health students at the University in Southern Thailand. The study employed a quasi-experimental, one-group, and pre-test -post-test design. Purposive sampling was employed to include 31 students, selected from those with screening indicating mild to moderate depression. While 28 of them (90.3%) were female, three (9.7%) were male. Their age range was 18-21 years, averaging 19.5 years. The instruments were the Thai translation of the Depression, Anxiety, and Stress Scale (DASS-21) and the Thai version of the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale (RSES), which were evaluated and produced high validity and reliability results. Data was collected through online questionnaires. A pre-test and a post-test were utilized to measure the participants' depression, anxiety, stress, and self-esteem before and after participating in a group CBT, comprising eight sessions in two months. Revealed significant improvements in depression (P = .001), anxiety (P = .040), and stress (P = .002), while self-esteem (P = .465, >.05) was not significant. Group CBT sessions were effective at relieving depression, anxiety, and stress, but not self-esteem. Accordingly, further studies might consider these results and expand on this topic by broadening the population to different majors.

Strategies for Thai Translation of Guangxi Intangible Cultural Heritage List in the Context of Belt and Road Initiative

In the context of the Belt and Road, Guangxi is an important gateway to Southeast Asian countries. Thailand is an important country along the Belt and Road, while Guangxi has many ethnic minorities and a rich historical and cultural heritage. To date, there are 49 national intangible cultural heritage items in Guangxi, which cover a wide range of cultural contents and have a strong ethnic and cultural flavour of Guangxi. The translation of these items will help Thailand to better understand Guangxi's culture and help "Chinese culture to go out". This paper discusses the principles and methods of Thai translation of the list of intangible cultural heritage of Guangxi to help the research of Thai translation of intangible cultural heritage and the foreign promotion of Chinese intangible heritage.

The Arizona Sexual Experiences Scale-the Thai Translation (ASEX-Thai): Reliability and validity in Thai patients with mental disorders.

Background: Sexual dysfunction is common among patients with mental disorders but receives less clinical attention, especially in Thailand and other Asian countries. The Arizona Sexual Experiences Scale-the Thai Translation (ASEX-Thai), a self-rated, brief, questionnaire is a potential tool for screening for sexual dysfunction in this population. Our study aimed to assess the reliability and validity of ASEX-Thai in Thai patients with mental disorders. Methods: We enrolled 202 patients from an outpatient psychiatric department at atertiary hospital in Bangkok, Thailand. Demographic data, clinical data, and diagnosis of sexual dysfunction were assessed. ASEX-Thai was done, and we analyzed the test's psychometric properties. Results:Most participants were diagnosed with major depressive disorder (48%). There was a positive correlation between the ASEX-Thai and sexual dysfunction diagnosis (r = 0.402, p < 0.001). The KMO coefficient was 0.77 and Barlett's sphericity test was significant (χ 2= 409.76, p<0.001). A score of ≥ 17 points of the ASEX-Thai was the most suitable for sexual dysfunction screening (sensitivity 77.23 %, and specificity 58.42 %). For reliability, the Cronbach's alpha coefficient (0.831) showed good internal consistency. Conclusions: The ASEX-Thai is a valid and reliable self-rated questionnaire for screening for sexual dysfunction among Thai patients with mental disorders. The test could help clinicians to evaluate this undetected condition and deliver proper interventions.

The Arizona Sexual Experiences Scale-the Thai Translation (ASEX-Thai): Reliability and validity in Thai patients with mental disorders

Background: Sexual dysfunction is common among patients with mental disorders but receives less clinical attention, especially in Thailand and other Asian countries. The Arizona Sexual Experiences Scale-the Thai Translation (ASEX-Thai), a self-rated, brief, questionnaire is a potential tool for screening for sexual dysfunction in this population. Our study aimed to assess the reliability and validity of ASEX-Thai in Thai patients with mental disorders. Methods: We enrolled 202 patients from an outpatient psychiatric department at a tertiary hospital in Bangkok, Thailand. Demographic data, clinical data, and diagnosis of sexual dysfunction were assessed. ASEX-Thai was done, and we analyzed the test’s psychometric properties. Results: Most participants were diagnosed with major depressive disorder (48%). There was a positive correlation between the ASEX-Thai and sexual dysfunction diagnosis (r = 0.402, p < 0.001). The KMO coefficient was 0.77 and Barlett’s sphericity test was significant (χ 2 = 409.76, p<0.001). A score of ≥ 17 points of the ASEX-Thai was the most suitable for sexual dysfunction screening (sensitivity 77.23 %, and specificity 58.42 %). For reliability, the Cronbach’s alpha coefficient (0.831) showed good internal consistency. Conclusions: The ASEX-Thai is a valid and reliable self-rated questionnaire for screening for sexual dysfunction among Thai patients with mental disorders. The test could help clinicians to evaluate this undetected condition and deliver proper interventions.

Is it Possible to Maintain Information Flow in Japanese into Thai Translation? A Study of Connecting Clauses

Abstract This paper investigates the ordering of connecting subordinate and coordinate clauses in Japanese-Thai translation to examine whether it is possible to maintain information flow from the source text. Japanese preposed clauses were translated using both preposed and postposed clauses in the Thai translated text. Preposed clauses were used widely when they provided: 1) listed information; 2) grounded information for comprehending main clauses; 3) the framework within which main clauses are held; 4) temporal sequences; and 5) information linking prior context to a new discourse topic. Postposed clauses were used mainly to modify main clauses. In cases where clauses provided the information needed to comprehend subsequent clauses, professional translators attempted to place the clause sentence initially, despite a preference for sentence-final occurrence arising from Thai syntactic constraints. This demonstrated norms in Japanese-Thai translation in terms of awareness among professional translators of the significance of information flow in the source text.

The Arizona Sexual Experiences Scale-the Thai Translation (ASEX-Thai): Reliability and validity in Thai patients with mental disorders.

Background: Sexual dysfunction is common among patients with mental disorders but receives less clinical attention, especially in Thailand and other Asian countries. The Arizona Sexual Experiences Scale-the Thai Translation (ASEX-Thai), a self-rated, brief, questionnaire is a potential tool for screening for sexual dysfunction in this population. Our study aimed to assess the reliability and validity of ASEX-Thai in Thai patients with mental disorders. Methods: We enrolled 202 patients from an outpatient psychiatric department at atertiary hospital in Bangkok, Thailand. Demographic data, clinical data, and diagnosis of sexual dysfunction were assessed. ASEX-Thai was done, and we analyzed the test's psychometric properties. Results: Most participants were diagnosed with major depressive disorder (48%). A score of ≥ 17 points of the ASEX-Thai was the most suitable for sexual dysfunction screening (sensitivity 77.23 %, and specificity 58.42 %). For reliability, the Cronbach's alpha coefficient (0.831) showed good internal consistency. Conclusions: The ASEX-Thai is a valid and reliable self-rated questionnaire for screening for sexual dysfunction among Thai patients with mental disorders. The test could help clinicians to evaluate this undetected condition and deliver proper interventions.

Validation of the Thai Version of the Movement Disorder Society-Sponsored Revision of the Unified Parkinson's Disease Rating Scale.

ObjectiveThis study aims to validate the Thai translation of the Movement Disorder Society-sponsored revision of the Unified Parkinson’s Disease Rating Scale (MDS-UPDRS).MethodsThe English version was translated into Thai and then back-translated into English. The translated version underwent 2 rounds of cognitive pretesting to assess the ease of comprehension, ease of use and comfort with the scale. Then, it underwent large clinimetric testing.ResultsThe Thai version was validated in 354 PD patients. The comparative fit index (CFI) for all four parts of the Thai version of the MDS-UPDRS was 0.93 or greater. Exploratory factor analysis identified isolated item differences in factor structure between the Thai and English versions.ConclusionThe overall factor structure of the Thai version was consistent with that of the English version based on the high CFIs (all CFI ≥ 0.90). Hence, it can be designated the official Thai version of the MDS-UPDRS.

Real-time diabetic retinopathy screening by deep learning in a multisite national screening programme: a prospective interventional cohort study

Diabetic retinopathy is a leading cause of preventable blindness, especially in low-income and middle-income countries (LMICs). Deep-learning systems have the potential to enhance diabetic retinopathy screenings in these settings, yet prospective studies assessing their usability and performance are scarce. We did a prospective interventional cohort study to evaluate the real-world performance and feasibility of deploying a deep-learning system into the health-care system of Thailand. Patients with diabetes and listed on the national diabetes registry, aged 18 years or older, able to have their fundus photograph taken for at least one eye, and due for screening as per the Thai Ministry of Public Health guidelines were eligible for inclusion. Eligible patients were screened with the deep-learning system at nine primary care sites under Thailand's national diabetic retinopathy screening programme. Patients with a previous diagnosis of diabetic macular oedema, severe non-proliferative diabetic retinopathy, or proliferative diabetic retinopathy; previous laser treatment of the retina or retinal surgery; other non-diabetic retinopathy eye disease requiring referral to an ophthalmologist; or inability to have fundus photograph taken of both eyes for any reason were excluded. Deep-learning system-based interpretations of patient fundus images and referral recommendations were provided in real time. As a safety mechanism, regional retina specialists over-read each image. Performance of the deep-learning system (accuracy, sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value [PPV], and negative predictive value [NPV]) were measured against an adjudicated reference standard, provided by fellowship-trained retina specialists. This study is registered with the Thai national clinical trials registry, TCRT20190902002. Between Dec 12, 2018, and March 29, 2020, 7940 patients were screened for inclusion. 7651 (96·3%) patients were eligible for study analysis, and 2412 (31·5%) patients were referred for diabetic retinopathy, diabetic macular oedema, ungradable images, or low visual acuity. For vision-threatening diabetic retinopathy, the deep-learning system had an accuracy of 94·7% (95% CI 93·0-96·2), sensitivity of 91·4% (87·1-95·0), and specificity of 95·4% (94·1-96·7). The retina specialist over-readers had an accuracy of 93·5 (91·7-95·0; p=0·17), a sensitivity of 84·8% (79·4-90·0; p=0·024), and specificity of 95·5% (94·1-96·7; p=0·98). The PPV for the deep-learning system was 79·2 (95% CI 73·8-84·3) compared with 75·6 (69·8-81·1) for the over-readers. The NPV for the deep-learning system was 95·5 (92·8-97·9) compared with 92·4 (89·3-95·5) for the over-readers. A deep-learning system can deliver real-time diabetic retinopathy detection capability similar to retina specialists in community-based screening settings. Socioenvironmental factors and workflows must be taken into consideration when implementing a deep-learning system within a large-scale screening programme in LMICs. Google and Rajavithi Hospital, Bangkok, Thailand. For the Thai translation of the abstract see Supplementary Materials section.

Light Verb Constructions in German and Their Equivalents in Thai: A Contrastive Analysis through the Example of the Constitutional Texts

The present article is a contrastive analysis that deals with light verb constructions in German and their equivalents in Thai. The purpose of the study is to answer the following questions: 1) Which light verb constructions occur in the constitutional texts? How can they be categorized?; 2) Which forms occur in Thai as equivalents of German light verb constructions? How can they be categorized?; 3) What is the difference between the use of the light verb constructions in the original German text and in the German translation text?; 4) What is the difference between the use of the Thai equivalents of German light verb constructions in the original Thai text and in the Thai translation text? For the analysis, a bidirectional parallel corpus consisting of constitutional German and Thai texts and their translation into the other language was used. The results of this contrastive study can explain both differences and similarities between the two languages and the original and translated texts, such as morphological forms, active and passive meaning, and degree of structural strength, including the most frequently occurring light verb constructions and light verbs in the constitutional texts. In addition, it was found that Thai equivalents have a greater variety and the proportion of passive meaning in German is a little larger than in their Thai equivalents

Towards the Study of Political Text and Translation in Thailand: A Case Study of Thai Translations of Biden’s Inaugural Address

The existing literature concerning the translation of political discourse in Thailand remains limited. To encourage more research in this area, this paper proposes a model for analysing the translation of political texts in the Thai context. Drawing upon Munday’s (2012, 2018) appraisal approach to translation and Schäffner’s (2004, 2012) analysis of the political context around translation, this paper offers a two-level methodology for investigating the Thai-English and English-Thai translation of political texts. The case of US President Biden’s 2021 inaugural address was chosen for testing the model. The findings reveal that the two Thai news agencies translated only some parts of the speech, resulting in a selective re-presentation of Biden’s political discourse. The ideological presentations of the two Thai versions are strikingly different: one representing a faithful portrayal of the original standpoint and the other with a stronger attitude in numerous ideology-laden terms. This paper also discusses the epitextual and contextual elements of the translations in question.

Corpus stylistics and colour symbolism in The Great Gatsby and its Thai translations

The present study adopts a corpus stylistic approach to: (1) examine a relationship between textual patterns of colour words in The Great Gatsby and their symbolic interpretations and (2) investigate the ways those patterns are handled in Thai translations. Distribution and co-occurrence patterns were analysed for colour words that are key in the novel: white, grey, yellow and lavender. The density and frequent patterns of each word are argued to foreground an association between the colour word and particular concepts, pointing to symbolic meaning potentials related to the novel’s themes of socioeconomic inequality and destructive wealth. The textual patterns are compared with what occurs in three Thai translations of the novel. While most of the colour images are directly translated, non-equivalents tend to be applied to figurative uses of the colour terms. This results in some changes in textual patterns of the colour words in the translated texts, which can in turn affect readers’ interpretations of colour symbolism in the novel.

Translating Innocence: A Case Study of English-Thai Translations of John Boyne’s The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas and Emma Donoghue’s Room

This article discusses the English-to-Thai translations of two contemporary novels: Room by Emma Donoghue and The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas by John Boyne. These two selected texts present some linguistic challenges to the translators because of the narrations which are meant to reveal the innocent perspectives of young children. Since the main characters in both stories are too young to fully comprehend the adverse situations they are faced with, the language used in the narratives concomitantly exhibits linguistic peculiarities highlighting the discrepancy between the reality and the characters’ viewpoints. What merits a close examination is how such peculiarities are transposed to the translated versions. Do the Thai translations of both novels successfully convey the innocence of the protagonists embodied in the language of the source texts? In addressing these questions, our discussion will incorporate the concept of equivalence in tandem with verbal incongruity to analyze the transferal of meanings from the source texts to the translated texts in the target language.

Use of the Montreal Cognitive Assessment Thai Version to Discriminate Amnestic Mild Cognitive Impairment from Alzheimer’s Disease and Healthy Controls: Machine Learning Results

Background: The Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) is an effective and applicable screening instrument to confirm the diagnosis of amnestic mild cognitive impairment (aMCI) from patients with Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and healthy controls (HCs). Objectives: This study aimed to determine the reliability and validity of the following: (a) Thai translation of the MoCA (MoCA-Thai) and (b) delineate the key features of aMCI based on the MoCA subdomains. Methods: This study included 60 HCs, 61 aMCI patients, and 60 AD patients. The MoCA-Thai shows adequate psychometric properties including internal consistency, concurrent validity, test-retest validity, and inter-rater reliability. Results: The MoCA-Thai may be employed as a diagnostic criterion to make the diagnosis of aMCI, whereby aMCI patients are discriminated from HC with an area under the receiver-operating characteristic (AUC-ROC) curve of 0.813 and from AD patients with an AUC-ROC curve of 0.938. The best cutoff scores of the MoCA-Thai to discriminate aMCI from HC is ≤24 and from AD > 16. Neural network analysis showed that (a) aberrations in recall was the most important feature of aMCI versus HC with impairments in language and orientation being the second and third most important features and (b) aberrations in visuospatial skills and executive functions were the most important features of AD versus aMCI and that impairments in recall, language, and orientation but not attention, concentration, and working memory, further discriminated AD from aMCI. Conclusions: The MoCA-Thai is an appropriate cognitive assessment tool to be used in the Thai population for the diagnosis of aMCI and AD.