Customer Reviews

Thai-English Student's Dictionary

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
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In the midst of a plethora of poorly written and poorly documented Thai dictionaries, very few have been written with the serious non-native student of the Thai language. This dictionary fortunately fits the bill, and was my "bible" during a two year stay in Thailand. It shows Thai words both in Thai script and most importantly, in a clear and consistent romanization. Translations are given in plain non-dictionary type English. One the best Thai language references available. One only wishes for two things; More sentence examples, and a updated version which would cover many of the newer additions and changes in the Thai language. The last publication date for this book was listed in 1964. Despite this shortcoming, it has held up amazingly well

Working off and on as translator in Thailand since 1993, this dictionary has been a constant companion and is now literally in pieces from constant use. Though one can find other Eng-Thai dictionaries for sale in Bangkok bookstores, I would submit that this one, even several decades since its last revision, still stands head and shoulders above the rest. The only shortcoming I want to address is that there are almost no example sentences to clarify and give a sharper focus on correct usage. This often caused me to refer to a Eng-Thai dictionary for usage confirmation. Just how time-consuming a task this is had not occurred to me until I began working in Korea, where I noticed how the better Kor-Eng dictionaries list multiple example sentences to cover all possible connotations for each word entry. Therefore, it would be nice to see a revised version complete with example sentences. That being said, it is still the best dictionary of its type (there are some terrible ones out there!)

This is an excellent and comprehensive dictionary, but the prospective buyer should be forewarned: it is for written Thai-to-English only. This is great for translating Thai writing. It is useless if you want to know the Thai word for "cockroach" or "loneliness" or any of the many thousand other words that you won't find in a tourist-level dictionary. It also leaves out any means of looking up Thai words by their pronunciation. Fortunately, the book is useful for me since I want to learn to read Thai; however, it leaves me still looking for a top-notch English-to-Thai dictionary.

If you are just beginning to learn Thai, or an intermediate learner, then this dictionary is probably not for you. Don't get me wrong, it is a great dictionary. But, if you are new to Thai, it is more than you will probably ever need. If you are looking for a convenient dictionary to use on a regular basis (and maybe something you can slip easily into your pocket or back pack) I would highly recommend one of the Dictionaries by So Sethaputra. (My wife, who is Thai, calls him the Webster of Thai Dictionaries.) His New Model Pocket dictonaries, are easy to carry and extremely easy to use. Mine cost me about four bucks at a University (where they teach Thai). If you buy them in Thailand, they are even cheaper than that. So, Get the Hass book for an good shelf-reference, but for practical use get one of So Sethaputra pocket dictionaries.

I have been teaching Thai students learn english in Madison, Wisconsin for academic purposes for some time now. This book is very helpful to them as it is Thai characters and english definitions. It would not be helpful to the English speaking person who wants to speak Thai. It would be very va;uable to translate Thai writing into English.

I am buying my second dictionary because I wore the first one out. It is simply the best dictionary for those who want to read and write Thai. We use this book in my Thai class at Wat Thai Los Angeles because it is the most complete dictionary available, complete with colloquial terms.
I travel to Thailand often and have never found a better book in more than 5 years.

Mary Haas carried me with ease through the full Foreign Service Institute Thai course nearly 30 years ago. Even serious professionals will seldom need anything else, as one who becomes comfortable with this dictionary generally moves straight to the official "Rachabanditsathan" Thai-Thai dictionary for more uncommon terms. If you are a student of Thai, the odds that you'll ever outgrow this dictionary are very small.

I agree with the other reviews! Useless if you want a tourist "get-me-by" quick reference. Incredibly useful -- in fact, a must have if you live in Thailand or develop any level of competence in Thai. I found the "idioms" particularly helpful when living in Thailand. This helped me truly communicate almost more than anything else I did. I would read a new idiom every day from Mary Haas, then ask Thai people how to use the idiom. I was astounded how many times those idioms were used and how much more insight they gave me into the culture and how much they improved my ability to communicate. If you're going to live in Thailand, don't leave home without it!

The downside is that there is no way to look up a word in English and/or have a Thai person help you get the English word out of your head and turn it into something the Thais will understand. You will definitely need another dictionary for this.

As a guy who emails with my Thai friends on a regular basis, I'd be lost without this book. Yes, I use it to look up new Thai words, but the book is a great resource beyond that. Sometimes I first look up words in my English-Thai dictionary, then cross-reference the Thai words in this book. The usages of given words here are exhaustive, so I know if I'm using the Thai right or not. And since I'm learning to read Thai, this is just a great book to practice with; it's a good read all on its own, and certainly a real vocabulary builder. A bonus is the description of Thai language in the front pages; it's exceptional. A must have for the serious student of Thai.

This is the most complete Thai to English dictionary in my experience. It is only from Thai to English, written in the Thai alphabet. I added tabs for each letter.

It is a good way to read a Thai newspaper, or translate materials written in Thai. Nothing else works for this.