The wonders of technology means that Google now provides a rough computer translation of New Mandala (in fact, of every website out there!). New Mandala, in Thai, is available here. The translation is certainly not perfect, and it seems to struggle with “simple” words like in, on, at, etc. Some of the other grammar is also pretty odd. Nonetheless it is readable and I have noticed that increasing numbers of web surfers from Thailand are using it to make sense of our sometimes impenetrable English.

As Google puts it: р╕бр╕╕р╕бр╕бр╕нр╕Зр╣Гр╕лр╕бр╣Ир╣Гр╕Щр╕ар╕▓р╕Др╕Юр╕╖р╣Йр╕Щр╣Ар╕нр╣Ар╕Кр╕╡р╕вр╕Хр╕░р╕зр╕▒р╕Щр╕нр╕нр╕Бр╣Ар╕Йр╕╡р╕вр╕Зр╣Гр╕Хр╣Й

Now when will they roll out the Burmese and Khmer (and Lao and Karen and …..) computer translations? I’m sure somebody, somewhere, has started to consider the possibilities. Indonesian and Vietnamese, alongside stacks of other European and Asian languages, are already in the Google machine.

I once went to a presentation from some Google guys (on the recruitment circuit) and they spruiked an ambition to (and I paraphrase) “make all knowledge available to anyone, anywhere, in any language”. Surely, of all the projects that humans have ever contemplated it is among the more audacious. I wish them the best of luck with it.

For the moment I am just happy that New Mandala is available in (mostly) comprehensible Thai!