Subtitling · Thai
Thai subtitling services
Native Thai subtitlers for corporate video, eLearning, streaming content, documentary, and advertising. Delivered correctly rendered, in the format your platform needs. Part of a full Thai language service: subtitles, voice over scripts, and translation of any content you need.
About Thai subtitling
Thai subtitles that break where the words do
Thai is written without spaces between words. Spaces appear, but they mark the end of a phrase or sentence rather than the boundary between one word and the next, which means there is no simple signal telling software where a line can safely break.
In Thai subtitling, tools that wrap text on character count split words in the middle, producing lines that a reader has to stop and reassemble. Correct segmentation depends on knowing where the words actually are, which is a linguistic judgement rather than a mechanical one.
At GoLocalise, we work with native Thai subtitlers and confirm that files render and break correctly in the target environment.
Which do you need?
Open captions, closed captions or SDH
Three different deliverables that people often ask for by the wrong name. Here is the short version.
Open captions
Burnt inSubtitles burnt permanently into the picture. Nobody can switch them off, which is exactly what you want for social feeds that autoplay muted — and it fixes the line breaks and the stacked marks at delivery.
- Always visible
- Breaks and tone marks fixed at delivery
- Delivered as a finished video file
Closed captions
SwitchableA separate file the viewer can turn on and off, and that can carry several languages at once. The standard for YouTube, Vimeo and the streaming platforms.
- Viewer controls them
- Multiple languages from one video
- Indexed by search engines
SDH
AccessibilitySubtitling for the deaf and hard of hearing: dialogue plus speaker IDs and the sound effects and music cues that carry meaning.
- Speaker identification
- Non-dialogue audio described
- Meets accessibility requirements
Subtitles or captions? The two terms are often used interchangeably. Strictly, subtitles translate the dialogue for viewers who can hear the audio, while captions are same-language and add speaker labels and sound cues for viewers who cannot. We produce either — translated Thai subtitles or same-language Thai captions and SDH — in whichever form your platform and audience require.
What we subtitle
Thai subtitling for every kind of content
Thai subtitling runs from OTT and film to corporate and social, each shaped by Thai's spaceless script and line-breaking rules. These are the formats we subtitle most.
Corporate & training video
Internal comms, onboarding and product training subtitled for global teams and LMS delivery.
eLearning & online courses
Timed, readable subtitles for course platforms, MOOCs and instructional video.
Documentary & factual
Festival, broadcast and streaming documentaries, including interview clean-up and on-screen text.
Advertising & social
Burnt-in captions for muted autoplay on Instagram, TikTok, YouTube and paid social.
Streaming & OTT
Platform-spec subtitle and caption files for VOD, OTT and broadcast delivery.
Accessibility (SDH & closed captions)
Same-language SDH and closed captions to meet WCAG and accessibility requirements.
Events, webinars & conferences
Recorded talks, town halls and webinars captioned for on-demand viewing.
E-commerce & product video
Short product and explainer videos captioned to lift conversion and reach.
How can we help you?
Your project manager has everything covered
One point of contact from brief to delivery, and both a linguistic and a technical check on every file.
Brief review
We review your video, your audience, and the player or platform the file has to work in.
Template and translation
Where needed we create an English subtitle template first, then send it to a native Thai subtitler.
Timing and quality checks
Subtitles are timed against the video and checked for reading speed, word segmentation, character rendering, and format compliance.
Delivery and display check
Files are delivered in the format you need, confirmed to display and break correctly.
Our standards
The specs we work to
Readable subtitles are a matter of measurable limits, not opinion. These are the defaults we apply to Thai unless your style guide says otherwise.
Maximum per line
Segmented by a linguist, not by count
Maximum on screen
Line spacing set for stacked marks
Reading speed
Lower for children's content
Minimum duration
Seven seconds maximum
Thai tone marks and vowel signs stack above and below the consonant line. In subtitle boxes with tight line spacing, those stacked marks get clipped, and files that look correct in an editor can lose them in the player. So the line limits above are a starting point, not the whole job: the break points are decided by a subtitler who can see where the words are.
Deliverables
Professional subtitle formats
We adapt your existing translations into subtitle format or create subtitles from scratch, in Thai, English or any other language. And if the project needs a timed script or a plain document instead, we deliver that too.
Standard text-based
Compatible with most platforms and players.
Broadcast & professional
For broadcasters, post houses and streaming delivery specs.
Burnt-in video
A finished file with the subtitles baked into the picture, tone marks intact.
Need a different format? Convert SRT, VTT and more with our free subtitle converter →
Thai specifics
No capitals, and no shortcut to the line break
Thai has no capital letters, so emphasis conventions borrowed from English subtitling do not transfer. What reads as emphasis in an English file has to be achieved another way here, and that is a decision the subtitler makes rather than a formatting switch.
It is also why automatic tools struggle. Word segmentation is the core difficulty, and it affects both recognition and line breaking, so errors compound at two separate stages rather than one.
Add the rendering issues with stacked marks and the output usually needs rebuilding rather than correcting. Every file we deliver is produced and checked by a native Thai subtitler.
Since 2008
Subtitling & captioning
100+
Languages covered
ISO 9001 & 14001
Certified processes
In-house
Subtitling team & studios
Subtitling rates
Professional Thai subtitling
For single videos and straightforward content where accurate, well-timed subtitles are what you need.
- Native Thai subtitler
- Word segmentation by a linguist
- Frame-accurate timing
For longer content and recurring projects, including transcription, SDH, burned-in subtitles and multiple output formats.
- Everything in Standard
- Transcription and template
- SDH and burnt-in
- Multiple output formats
Every project is quoted individually and backed by our Price Match Promise. Send us your video for an exact, no-obligation quote.
Trusted by global brands
We have used GoLocalise on a regular basis for projects in a number of languages. The service we receive is great. The team is always friendly and professional. The voiceovers we receive are of a very high quality and the turnaround is extremely quick. We are very happy to recommend GoLocalise to other businesses.
It was a pleasure to work with David and the team at GoLocalise. David gave me lots of help and advice, guiding me through my first subtitling project. He really knows his stuff! The experience was completely pain-free. I would not hesitate to recommend GoLocalise – outstanding work at a good price.
They're reliable, adaptive and obsessed with quality. And while you can never be 100% guaranteed of perfection, you can be sure GoLocalise will go the extra mile to get it right every time. We've worked with them now for over 5 years and we are truly thankful to have such a strong localisation partner for our business.
Related services
The rest of your Thai project
Most common questions
Because Thai is written without spaces between words, so software wrapping text on character count has nothing to guide it and splits wherever the line runs out. Knowing where a break is acceptable requires knowing where the words are, which is why Thai line breaking is done by a native subtitler rather than left to the tool.
Ready to subtitle your video in Thai?
Send us your video and we'll come back with an exact, itemised quote.
Professional voice over services for your audio and video productions
Voice over
- State-of-the-art studios
- Neumann microphones
- On-hand sound engineers
- 1,000+ voice actors
Translation
- 100+ languages covered
- Tailored to your needs
- Stringent quality control
- Dedicated project managers
Subtitling
- Experienced subtitlers
- Industry-standard software
- Burn-in and graphic editing
- Open and closed captions
Transcription
- Improve accessibility
- Reach a wider audience
- Boost SEO and video views
- Maximise video engagement