Wikipedia:WikiProject Thailand/Style guide

This is an essay on style. It contains the advice or opinions of one or more WikiProjects on how to format and present article content within their area of interest.

This information is not a formal Wikipedia policy or guideline, as it has not been thoroughly vetted by the community.

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WP:MOSTHAI

This page provides guidelines on editing style for articles related to Thailand. For more general conventions, see also Wikipedia:Manual of Style.

General editing guidelines

International issues

Thailand has no national ties to a specific variety of English, so any standard variety may be used consistently in an article, following Wikipedia:Manual of Style#National varieties of English. However, in some cases, use of a certain term may be preferred. For example, association football is known in Thailand as football and almost never soccer, therefore an article dealing with the sport in Thailand should refer to it as football.
Date formats should be consistently used in an article. If the day-before-month format is used, remember to include the parameter df=yes in the templates {{Birth date and age}}, {{Birth year and age}}, {{Death date and age}}, {{Death year and age}}, and related templates. The {{Use dmy dates}} template should also be added to the top of the article.
Years should be noted in Common Era, although the Buddhist Era may also be noted where appropriate. When quoting sources or citing document titles which use the Buddhist Era, the original year in BE should be used, and a conversion to CE year provided in parentheses, e.g. the Copyright Act, BE 2537 (1994 CE).
Following Wikipedia:Manual of Style/Dates and numbers#Units of measurement, measurements should primarily be given in SI units, usually with conversions to US/imperial units given using the {{Convert}} template.
- In certain contexts, such as when providing historical descriptions or where traditional units are conventionally used in Thailand, they should be used as appropriate, with conversions. The Convert template is compatible with the rai unit of area. It should be specified with appropriate target units depending on the size of the number. For example:
  - {{convert|4|rai|m2 sqft}} → 4 rai (6,400 m²; 69,000 sq ft)
  - {{convert|215|rai|ha acre}} → 215 rai (34.4 ha; 85 acres)
  - {{convert|15,294|rai|km2 sqmi}} → 15,294 rai (24.470 km²; 9.448 sq mi)
  - {{convert|10.31|e6rai|km2 sqmi}} → 10.31 million rai (16,500 km²; 6,370 sq mi)
- Include the |lk=in parameter for the first instance the unit appears in the article, in order to provide a link to the article, like this:
  - {{convert|4|rai|m2 sqft|lk=in}} → 4 rai (6,400 m²; 69,000 sq ft)

Biographies

Use only the given name and not the surname when referring to a previously introduced person, since Thai people are primarily known by given name.
When categorizing biography articles, categories mainly about Thai people should be sorted by given name. Sort keys should be used to override the DEFAULTSORT magic word, if it is listed by surname. A biography article for Abhisit Vejjajiva should therefore be categorized like this:
```
{{DEFAULTSORT:Vejjajiva, Abhisit}}
[[Category:International people]]
[[Category:Thai people|Abhisit Vejjajiva]]
```
User:Cewbot periodically edits articles to add Thai-order sort keys to the categories. For articles whose titles don't follow the Given-name Surname format, add {{Thai sort key not needed}} before the DEFAULTSORT line to prevent the bot from editing.
Content categories that primarily contain Thai people should be tagged with {{Thai people category}}.

Citing sources

Per Wikipedia:Verifiability#Non-English sources, Thai-language sources are acceptable, but English-language sources of the same quality should be preferred, if available.
Include the original Thai title when citing Thai-language sources. If using Citation Style 1 templates, note the language using the |language=Thai or |language=th parameter. It is also a good idea to provide a translation of the citation title in the |trans-title= parameter.
The author-mask field can be used to display author names in the usual Thai order, e.g. {{cite book |first=Thongchai |last=Winichakul |author-mask=Thongchai Winichakul ...}}. This is more semantically correct than just using the |author= parameter, though the latter is also acceptable.
If using Harvard-style short citations (e.g. {{Sfn}} or {{Harvard citation}}), the template {{SfnRef}} can be added inside the citation's |ref=parameter to allow correct linking using the author's given name, e.g., {{sfn|Thongchai|1994|p=1}}> in the citation, and {{cite book|... ref={{SfnRef|Thongchai|1994}} }} in the reference.

Romanization of Thai terms

For Thai-language terms, use the established English spelling of the word, if available. Otherwise, the Royal Thai General System of Transcription (RTGS) should be followed when romanizing Thai words into English.^[a]
The first appearance of the article subject in the lead should be followed by the Thai spelling of the term using the {{langx|th|...}} template, preferably accompanied with the RTGS romanization (using the {{RTGS}} template, for articles whose titles differ from RTGS) and IPA transcription using the {{IPA}} template. For example:
```
'''Abhisit Vejjajiva''' ({{langx|th|อภิสิทธิ์ เวชชาชีวะ}}, {{RTGS|Aphisit Wetchachiwa}}, {{IPA|th|à.pʰí.sìt wêːt.tɕʰāː.tɕʰīː.wáʔ}})...
```
Which gives:
Abhisit Vejjajiva (Thai: อภิสิทธิ์ เวชชาชีวะ, RTGS: Aphisit Wetchachiwa, Thai pronunciation: [à.pʰí.sìt wêːt.tɕʰāː.tɕʰīː.wáʔ])...
If the title of the article is an English word different from the Thai name, provide a romanization of the Thai term along with the Thai script and IPA transcription as mentioned above, e.g.
```
'''Bangkok''', known in [[Thai language|Thai]] as '''Krung Thep Maha Nakhon''' ({{lang|th|กรุงเทพมหานคร}}, {{IPA|th|krūŋtʰêːp máhǎːnákʰɔːn|pron}})...
```
Which gives:
Bangkok, known in Thai as Krung Thep Maha Nakhon (กรุงเทพมหานคร, pronounced [krūŋtʰêːp máhǎːnákʰɔːn])...
Occurrences of Thai script in an article other than the first occurrence should be placed within the {{lang}} template, with the first parameter specified as th, i.e. {{lang|th|อักษรไทย}}, to ensure correct display across browsers.
In accordance with Wikipedia:Manual of Style/Text formatting, italicize romanized Thai words when used in the article text unless they are proper nouns, but do not italicize Thai script.
Most romanized Thai words should use the same plural form as the singular, without an s. Exceptions include words that have been adopted as loanwords and appear in English dictionaries with the -s plural form.
The capitalization of terms should follow English-language usage as specified in Wikipedia:Manual of Style/Capital letters.

Naming conventions

In accordance with Wikipedia:Naming conventions (use English), use the most commonly accepted English name of a subject, if one exists, e.g. Bangkok, not Krung Thep Maha Nakhon, and Thailand, not Prathet Thai.
For names directly derived from the Thai language, use the most common English spelling if one exists, e.g. Pattaya, not Phatthaya, and Muay Thai, not Muai Thai. If no common spelling can be established, follow the Royal Thai General System of Transcription, as described under #Romanization.
With the exception of royals and nobles, articles about persons should usually follow the [[Given-name Surname]] format. The spelling of a person's name should follow the person's preferred spelling, ideally as expressed on the person's passport or other official document, although alternatives are acceptable if shown to be overwhelmingly common. Another format may be used if appropriate, especially for historical figures, as specified by Wikipedia:Naming conventions (people).

Royalty

In general, use the full length of the person's royal given (birth) name without titles, prefixes or suffixes. For example, the article on Prince Chakrabongse Bhuvanadh, Prince of Phitsanulok should be titled Chakrabongse Bhuvanadh. Since the names of Thai Royal Family members are mostly unique, there is no need to disambiguate with titular prefixes or suffixes, or with territorial designations.

Articles about persons who were not born into the royal family should usually follow the person's royal name, as this would presumably be more common, e.g. Srinagarindra, not Sangwan. Royal family members of mom chao level and lower should be served by the [[Given-name Surname]] format.

Articles on people who are predominantly known by a name other than as described above should follow the best-known name. For example, the article on Prince Disuankuman, Prince Damrong Rajanubhab should be at Damrong Rajanubhab, which is much more commonly used, although it is his title rather than actual name. Similarly, articles about people from earlier periods, for whom such names may not be possible to determine, should use the most commonly used title in scholarly applications.

Nobility

Articles about persons with noble titles should be titled according to the person's most commonly used name, whether it is their personal name or office title. In general, articles about individuals whose historical significance occur prior to the 1932 revolution should use the person's most recent rank and office title (for example, the article about Phraya Manopakorn Nititada (Kon Hutasingh) should be at Phraya Manopakorn Nititada), while others should use the individual's personal name following the [[Given-name Surname]] format.

Places

Articles about provinces and districts should include the administration level in their titles, i.e. [[Placename Province]] and [[Placename District]]. Settlements, including cities, towns and villages, should be at [[Placename]], with a disambiguating hatnote to other entities when needed. Villages should typically include Ban in their names, e.g. Ban Dongphayom. For subdistricts (tambon), if the article is strictly about the administrative division, use the form [[Placename Subdistrict]]. If the article also covers the settlement with the same name, use [[Placename]] if the name is not shared with the district; otherwise, use [[Placename Subdistrict]].

If disambiguation from other places is needed, prefer the form [[Placename, Thailand]] or [[Placename, Provincename]], etc., preferring the highest level entity as the disambiguator. Names which aren't shared with other locations should use parenthetical disambiguation with the class of the entity, e.g. [[Placename (town)]] for a town which shares its name with a mountain.

Notes

^ There's an online transcription tool by Chulalongkorn University that uses TLTK to process the desired word. Another option is hosted by Thai-language.com. Note, however, that such tools might not work well with proper nouns.