An analysis of the translation strategies used in menu items translated into English from Thai restaurants operating in Thailand

Tourism is crucial for Thailand’s economy, significantly contributing to its GDP, particularly through European and Chinese visitors. The global popularity of Thai cuisine has increased the demand for accurate English translations of Thai menu items from two Michelin-starred Thai restaurants, focusing on authentic Thai dishes. Using Baker’s (1992) translation strategies for non-equivalence at the word level and Low’s (2015) patterns for Thai food names, data were collected from 186 online menus, specifically including desserts while excluding beverages. Descriptive statisticsquantified the frequency of each strategy. The findings showed that seven of Baker’s eight strategies were employed, with translation by illustration being the most common, followed by cultural substitution and paraphrasing with related words. Translation by more neural words was not observed. Seven of Low’s eight patterns were identified, along with eight new translation patterns, providing new insights into translating Thai food menu items.