Thai Sign Language (aka: ภาษามือไทย, P̣hās̄ʹā mụ̄x thịy, ThSL, TSL, Modern Standard Thai Sign Language, MSTSL) is the official sign language of Thailand’s Deaf community.
In Thai Sign Language, one would sign “Thai” or “Thailand” by brushing their index finger down their nose. (Video from th-sl dictionary)
History
Galludet(American)-trained Thai educators established the first educational program for Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing individuals in 1951, introducing American Sign Language (ASL) to Thailand. Thai Sign Language became the official sign language of Thailand in 1999. As the official sign language, it incorporates and replaces some older sign languages like Old Bangkok Sign Language, Chiangmai Sign Language, and Ban Khor Sign Language. Signers born after 1990 often sign in TSL.
Population
- Thai Sign Language is estimated to be used by 20% of the ~56,000 deaf Thai people (~10,000). (1999 - Reilly, Charles & Suvannus, Sathapon).
- The estimate of Deaf Thai individuals ranges from the above 56,000 to ~360,000-390,000. The latter includes Deaf or Hard of Hearing (HoH) individuals, and is calculated by the fact that 18% of Thailand’s 2 million disability card holders are marked as at least HoH.
- 30,000 Deaf or Hard of Hearing individuals in Thailand have access to Deaf Schools or programs.
- For reference, the total population of Thailand is 71.7 million.
Sign Language Family
French Sign > American Sign > Thai Sign Language
(Potentially related to Vietnamese Sign Language and Laos Sign Language.)
Learning Resources
- Dictionary: SignPuddle – This dictionary, written with the Sutton SignWriting script, has 512 total entries (as of 2024) (with glosses in Thai and English). (PDF)
- Dictionary: th-sl – Modern Dictionary from the Thailand Association of the Deaf. The dictionary uses Thai words.
- (Old) Dictionary: Thai Sign Language Online Dictionary – An old dictionary that has some lessons and words, but relies on Adobe Flash player.
- Bible Stories – Video Translations of Stories from the Bible
- A Taste of ThSL - Some Signs from the show ‘Moonlight Chicken’
- Moonlight Chicken - A TV Show featuring Thai Sign Language
- Additional Resources:
- The Thai Sign Language Dictionary, Book One – published in 1986
Writing and Reading Thai Sign Language
Many Sign Languages do not have a widely recognized script. Instead signs are often glossed in the local phonetic language (for Thai Sign Language, this would be using Thai words). However, there does exist multiple scripts for Sign Languages such as Sutton SignWriting, ASLWrite, and Stokoe Notation.
Sutthikhun Phaengphongsai has published some Thai Sign Language infographics and videos using Sutton SignWriting, on his Youtube and Facebook. These include depictions of the composition of Thai Sign Language, time periods, some animals, solar system, and the UN Declaration of Human Rights (ASL).
Camp Lingo uses the Sutton SignWriting script for Thai Sign Language translations.
You can try a Thai Sign Language translator (นักแปลภาษามือไทย) at CampLingo.com or on the ‘Translate & Learn’ app.
Note: This machine translator is highly experimental. We highly encourage you to support your local Deaf community and always rely first and foremost on official Deaf teachers and interpreters.
🇹🇭👋🏼