How to Get High-Quality Thai Legal Translation Services?

When conducting a business in the Thai market, make sure you handle all Thai legal translations with utmost care. The reason is straightforward. Just a missing comma can twist the entire meaning of a legal clause, causing severe consequences for your business.

Your legal documents should be translated into Thai by professional Thai translators who have a high level of legal knowledge of at least two countries and are able to deliver translations within a tight deadline. But that’s not everything. There are still many challenges both Thai legal translators and you have to face before and during the translation process.

To get high-quality Thai legal translations with minimal errors, check out our 6 best practices below.

#1. Know the Requirements of Thai Legal Translation Documents

Before your Thai legal translation project starts, you need to set objectives for it and let your Thai legal translators know your expectation and requirements for the translated content. For example, which parts of the document need to be translated? Is the translated legal document for internal or external use? Does the target audience have deep knowledge of the legal field or know nothing about it? etc. These factors have a direct impact on the word choice and writing styles used in the translated document. Therefore, make sure you clearly explain and communicate with your translation partners.

Other important requirements of a Thai legal translation are:

• • Clear – Legal content needs to be translated accurately and easy to understand for the target audience.
  • Authentic – Legal content must be authentic in every way. Any point that is translated incorrectly or missed can send the wrong message.
  • Confidential – Legal content is sensitive and should be kept confidential. Asking your Thai legal translators to sign an NDA before kicking off your project is a must.

#2. Understand the Thai Legal System

The legal system of each country is unique. Besides knowing your country’s legal regulations, it is essential to acknowledge the Thai’s and make changes in your documents if necessary.

#3. Prepare Style Guides and Glossary

A translation style guide is an important translation resource containing rules about your expected writing styles and tones, preferred spelling and punctuation, and other textual and visual requirements. Meanwhile, a translation glossary is comprised of key legal terms used in your documents, their definitions (compulsory) and approved translations (optional).

For legal content which requires the utmost accuracy and consistent voice, having these two resources is a must if you want to achieve a successful Thai legal translation project. By saying successful, we mean a Thai legal translation that is accurate, cost-saving, and within the deadline.

#4. Have an Optimal Quality Assurance Process

Let’s start with the definition of Quality Assurance (QA) first. QA is a comprehensive process for ensuring the overall quality of a translation project. This process concentrates on planning, documentation, and process building, as well as creating basic rules and guidelines for translators. It is conducted through the translation project, not just after the translation is done.

In the case of Thai legal translation projects, this process begins with your Thai translation partner providing the in-charged translators with training on your project requirements. QA steps will also be implemented during the production process, such as real-time reviews. At the end of the process, the project manager will also perform a review of the content and layout of the translated content before delivering it to you.

Once you receive the Thai legal translation, you will need to review the whole translated content again. It should be reviewed by a professional linguist and a staff from your side who has good knowledge of your products/services and the legal field.

#5. Make Use of Technology

For translation projects that require high accuracy like legal content, it is a must that you use supporting tools namely CAT Tools and language quality tools.

• • Translation Memory in CAT Tools – TM suggests translations to translators. If two segments match 100%, CAT Tools will automatically suggest the translation that translators have made before. They will then review the translation, accept it, and move on. No need to re-translate duplicate content again. If they are only a partial (or “fuzzy”) match, translators will evaluate the suggestion and make any necessary changes. Translation memory tools boost translator productivity while also increasing consistency.
  • QA tools – QA tools are used to detect any spelling and formatting mistakes. They have functions to automatically correct some issues, such as extra spaces. Otherwise, errors will be flagged for human translators to review.

#6. Recruit A Professional Thai Legal Translation Agency

When looking for a translation agency to work with, don’t just look at the language pairs they can provide. You need to make sure that they have experience in handling Thai legal translation. Because legal content requires translators to have both excellent command of the Thai language and a deep understanding of the local legal system. Here are some questions you should take into consideration when seeking a translation partner for your Thai legal translation project:

• • What qualifications and certifications do the translators own? What about their experience in translating Thai legal content?
  • Are they willing to perform a test?
  • What is their translation process?
  • Which steps are performed to guarantee the quality of their translation?

GTE Localize, a professional Thai translation company, can assist you with all your requests for Thai legal translation services. We have long experience in translating legal content from various languages to Thai and vice versa. Based in three big cities in Asia, we have extensive knowledge of the Thai language, culture, and legal system, along with a pool of native Thai legal translators to bring you the best quality Thai legal translations at the most cost-saving rate.

Contact our team today and get your Thai legal translation project kicked off now!