Low cost translation services over the internet for Thai language: New business plan for Thailand
By Jon Fernquest
If people can't read and understand the
information for your product, they won't buy the product.Thai companies selling products to foreigners face the same basic problem as foreign companies selling products to Thais: they need to be understood in a different language.
If the translation is critical for your business, a rough machine translation with Google Translate, for instance, just isn't enough.
A San Francisco company specializing in low-cost translation over the internet is opening up an office in Bangkok.
Today's article discusses their business strategy and explains who they think their customers are going to be:
50% - Mice (meeting, incentive,
convention and exhibition)
20% - Financial sector
30% - Hotels, airlines, law firms
20% - Financial sector
30% - Hotels, airlines, law firms
Google Translate - a free translation
service provided by Google online over the internet including
Vietnamese but not Thai yet (See Wikipedia)
Mice (meeting, incentive, convention and exhibition) - tourism invoving meetings for large groups (an industry or trade showing products or meeting of people all having the same job such as computer programmers or doctors)
patron saint - in Catholic Christianity religion a saint who is regarded as a helper in heaven of a nation, place, craft, activity, class, or person (See Wikipedia) ผู้อุปถ้มภ์
Mice (meeting, incentive, convention and exhibition) - tourism invoving meetings for large groups (an industry or trade showing products or meeting of people all having the same job such as computer programmers or doctors)
patron saint - in Catholic Christianity religion a saint who is regarded as a helper in heaven of a nation, place, craft, activity, class, or person (See Wikipedia) ผู้อุปถ้มภ์
(Photo on right is of Saint Jerome the Catholic patron saint of translators)
Here is the article in full:
TRANSLATION SERVICES
Elanex wants Thai presence
By: PORNNALAT PRACHYAKORNPublished: 7/01/2009 at 12:00 AM
BusinessElanex Inc, a global translation services and technology company, plans to build a stronger presence in Southeast Asia through a new sales office in Thailand.
BusinessElanex Inc - a
business translation company that operates over the internet based in
San Francisco (See website)
a presence - being in a place การปรากฏตัว
(a company) builds a stronger presence in Southeast Asia - doing a lot of business in Southeast Asia ขยายธุรกิจในเอเชียอาคเนย์
a presence - being in a place การปรากฏตัว
(a company) builds a stronger presence in Southeast Asia - doing a lot of business in Southeast Asia ขยายธุรกิจในเอเชียอาคเนย์
Calvin Lee, Elanex's general manager for Thailand and Indochina, said the company aimed to use the Thailand office as the hub to enter 10 countries in the region.
''There are fewer competitors here, compared with a location such as Singapore, with only five or six local translation companies. These companies mostly offer only English to Thai translation or vice versa,'' said Mr Lee, a 29-year-old Malaysian national. ''And only one or two of them can provide English translation that is up to standard.''
Elanex has 25,000 human translators worldwide and provides 24-hour online translation services in 126 languages for tasks as personal as love letters and for technical documents including a space manual.
translation that is up to
standard - quality of translation is equal to or greater
than standard การแปลที่ถูกต้องได้คุณภาพ
a standard - a fixed level of quality or achievement มาตราฐาน
technical - involving materials, processes, and machines to do specialised work เฉพาะทาง
technical documents - writing that describes how to do specialised work (so translation must be accurate or work will be inaccurate) เอกสารเฉพาะทาง
a standard - a fixed level of quality or achievement มาตราฐาน
technical - involving materials, processes, and machines to do specialised work เฉพาะทาง
technical documents - writing that describes how to do specialised work (so translation must be accurate or work will be inaccurate) เอกสารเฉพาะทาง
The San Francisco-based company expects half its Thailand clients to be from the growing Mice (meeting, incentive, convention and exhibition) industry, 20% from the financial sector and the rest from hotels, airlines and law firms.
Currently, the company has been talking to about 30 clients. Of these, 21 are foreign and nine are Thai companies, including spa businesses, hotels and legal firms.
Mr Lee expects cheaper prices to attract companies that need translation to expand their markets but are tightening their belts due to the global economic crisis.
''Our price is about 30% cheaper than other leading translation companies. Our translation technology helps save cost and time and ensure quality and consistent translation,'' he said.
Elanex expects the Thai office to generate US$1 million in translation revenue in 2009. It hopes to become the leader in the Thai market by 2011 with estimated revenue of $5 million.
companies tightening their belts
- companies spendling less money บริษัทต่างๆ
พยายามลดต้นทุน หรือประหยัดทุกวิถีทาง
translation technology - software used to help translators โปรแกรมที่ใช้แปลภาษา
consistent - doing a task the same way (not changing all the time) อย่างสม่ำเสมอ อย่างเสมอต้นเสมอปลาย
a consistent translation - always translate a phrase the same way (not changing all the time which makes it difficult to read)
translation technology - software used to help translators โปรแกรมที่ใช้แปลภาษา
consistent - doing a task the same way (not changing all the time) อย่างสม่ำเสมอ อย่างเสมอต้นเสมอปลาย
a consistent translation - always translate a phrase the same way (not changing all the time which makes it difficult to read)
According to the research and consulting firm Common Sense Advisory Inc, the world language services market is expected to reach $24 billion by 2012, up from $14.25 billion in 2008 with a compounded annual growth rate of 14.6%. The revenue growth is expected to come mainly from increased sales in an economic environment favourable to international trade and relations.
Based on translation revenue, European companies have a market share of around 43%, followed by the United States at 40%, Asia 12% and the rest of the world 5%.
compounded annual growth rate
(CAGR) - the average growth rate over several years (See Wikipedia)
อัตราการเติบโตของเศรษฐกิจในปีที่ผ่านมา
compound - increase this year added to the amount that next years increase will be calculated from ที่เพิ่มพูน
compound interest - interest paid on interest already earned กำไร หรือดอกเบี้ยจากการลงทุน
an economic environment favourable to international trade - when foreign businesses have an opportunity to do business (like this company operating in Thailand) โอกาสในการดำเนินธุรกิจของนักลงทุนชาวต่างชาติ
compound - increase this year added to the amount that next years increase will be calculated from ที่เพิ่มพูน
compound interest - interest paid on interest already earned กำไร หรือดอกเบี้ยจากการลงทุน
an economic environment favourable to international trade - when foreign businesses have an opportunity to do business (like this company operating in Thailand) โอกาสในการดำเนินธุรกิจของนักลงทุนชาวต่างชาติ
The research found that the language service industry is reaping the benefits of a more global economy as companies increase their global exposure and, along with governments, strive to meet the needs of diverse populations at home and abroad.
Mr Lee said translation and localisation were crucial in penetrating local markets. Some markets such as Scandinavian countries prefer products with content in their languages.
''Some companies, for example, have lost business deals with Dubai partners as their business documents showed perfect English content but poor Arabic translations,'' he said. ''Clients would say, 'If you don't respect our language, then don't bother.'''
reaping the benefits of - gaining
from ได้รับผลประโยชน์
companies increased their global exposure - did business in more and different parts of the world than before บริษัทต่างๆ ได้ขยายกลุ่มลูกค้าออกสู่ตลาดโลก
diverse populations - many different kinds of people (different languages, cultures, standards, etc) คนหลายกลุ่ม หลายชาติ หลายภาษา
localisation - changing a product so it can be sold in a different country with a different language (See Wikipedia) การปรับสินค้าให้เหมาะกับความต้องการของลูกค้าแต่ละกลุ่มแต่ละท้องถิ่น
software localisation - changing software so that people who speak another language can use it (See Wikipedia) การปรับภาษาที่ใช้กับซอฟท์แวร์เพื่อให้ลูกค้าหลายชาติหลายภาษาใช้ได้
penetrating local markets - gaining customers for your product in the country you just started operating in ได้รับการตอบรับที่ดีจากลูกค้าในประเทศที่ได้มีการวางขายสินค้า
content - the stories and pictures inside a newspaper, website or other form of media เนื้อหา
companies increased their global exposure - did business in more and different parts of the world than before บริษัทต่างๆ ได้ขยายกลุ่มลูกค้าออกสู่ตลาดโลก
diverse populations - many different kinds of people (different languages, cultures, standards, etc) คนหลายกลุ่ม หลายชาติ หลายภาษา
localisation - changing a product so it can be sold in a different country with a different language (See Wikipedia) การปรับสินค้าให้เหมาะกับความต้องการของลูกค้าแต่ละกลุ่มแต่ละท้องถิ่น
software localisation - changing software so that people who speak another language can use it (See Wikipedia) การปรับภาษาที่ใช้กับซอฟท์แวร์เพื่อให้ลูกค้าหลายชาติหลายภาษาใช้ได้
penetrating local markets - gaining customers for your product in the country you just started operating in ได้รับการตอบรับที่ดีจากลูกค้าในประเทศที่ได้มีการวางขายสินค้า
content - the stories and pictures inside a newspaper, website or other form of media เนื้อหา
(Source: Bangkok Post, business, 07-01-09, Elanex wants Thai presence, PORNNALAT PRACHYAKORN, link)
