How Thai businesses utilize English in their product names

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This paper investigated the names given to Thai local community products and provides a description of the use of the English language in naming products in Thailand. The business names of Thai local products under the program One Tambon One Product (OTOP) were selected for analysis, focusing on language characteristics and semantic appropriateness by using onomastics to some extent.

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Kasetsart Journal of Social Sciences 38 (2017) 123e128 Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Kasetsart Journal of Social Sciences journal homepage: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/kjss How Thai businesses utilize English in their product names Navaporn Sanprasert Snodin a, *, Jirajittra Higgins b, Surakarn Yoovathaworn c a Department of Foreign Languages, Faculty of Humanities, Kasetsart University, Bangkok 10900, Thailand b Chulalongkorn University Language Institute, Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok 10330, Thailand c Administrative and Clerical Division, Faculty of Science, Mahidol University, Bangkok 10400, Bangkok a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t Article history: This paper investigated the names given to Thai local community products and provides a Received 8 April 2016 description of the use of the English language in naming products in Thailand. The Received in revised form 6 October 2016 business names of Thai local products under the program One Tambon One Product Accepted 7 October 2016 (OTOP) were selected for analysis, focusing on language characteristics and semantic Available online 12 April 2017 appropriateness by using onomastics to some extent. The data consisted of 1,304 names from ﬁve product categoriesdfood, drinks, clothing and accessories, handicrafts and Keywords: ornaments, and inedible herbs, as provided in the database of tambons and OTOP prod- brand naming, ucts. Thai product names in English, some of which only Thais can understand, show code-mixing, language creativity, reﬂecting Thai identity within English usage in the local setting. One Thai local products problematic area concerns the lack of semantic appropriateness of some English names, as the names are sometimes not relevant to the product type. Thai entrepreneurs need support in naming their products to achieve international intelligibility if their products are to be marketed to international customers. © 2017 Kasetsart University. Publishing services by Elsevier B.V. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/ 4.0/). Introduction In Thailand, the English language has never been recognized as an ofﬁcial language, nor is it needed in One of the ﬁrst things that companies need to do in general, everyday life among Thais. However, it is still uti- aiming to export their products is to internationalize their lized as the lingua franca when communicating with for- brands (De Mooji, 2004). Usually, a business will direct eigners. Thus, English is ‘the language of others’ to Thais brand naming at a group or target audience with the (Watkhaolarm, 2005, p. 155). The use of the English lan- purpose of ensuring positive customer reception of the guage in business and brand naming in Thailand makes product, while at the same time reﬂecting the identity of sense, especially when a company is aiming for the inter- the business, brand, or even product itself (Pratt & national market. According to the Relevance Theory Foreman, 2000). Most product names in Thailand are (Sperber & Wilson, 1995), successful communication relies composed of a trademark name (business name) and a on so-called ‘optimal relevance’. In the case of product product name (Boonpaisarnsatit, 2005; Thammachoto, naming, Thai entrepreneurs who wish to market their 2012). The global spread of English has led to code- products effectively must select names with optimal mixing of English with local languages all over the world customer relevance. (Kirkpatrick & Sussex, 2012). In the Thai context, code- In this study, we analyzed the English-Thai code-mixing mixing is ﬁnding increasing use in the naming of products. features used in local Thai product names. It is useful to study the use of the English language for Thai product names within this ever-changing environment, especially * Corresponding author. E-mail address: nsnodin@gmail.com (N.S. Snodin). given the growth in the use of English in the region. English Peer review under responsibility of Kasetsart University. is the working language of the Association of South East http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.kjss.2016.10.002 2452-3151/© 2017 Kasetsart University. Publishing services by Elsevier B.V. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http:// creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).
124 N.S. Snodin et al. / Kasetsart Journal of Social Sciences 38 (2017) 123e128 Asian Nations (ASEAN) following the opening of the ASEAN Signiﬁcance of the Study Economic Community in 2015 (Chiarakul, 2014). The ﬁnd- ings from the study should help in understanding how There have been a number of studies on English naming English is used in business or brand naming in Thailand. in Asia, such as in Singapore (Tan, 2004), Hong Kong The research should also help shed light on the relationship (Li, 1997), and China (Sercombe, Young, Dong, & Lin, 2014). between ‘Thainess’ (or Thai identity) and English language However, these studies focused only on personal names. usage within the country. There are few studies regarding Other studies regarding product and business naming in the Thai variety of English (Glass, 2009; Snodin, 2014; the countries where English is used as a foreign language Watkhaolarm, 2005). With this research, we attempted to include studies in Brazil (Thonus, 1991) and Italy (Dunlop, ﬁll this gap by exploring the usage of English in local 1989). In the case of Thailand, where English is a foreign community product names that are part of the One Tambon language, research on English naming of local products One Product Program (OTOP). remains scarce. There have been two studies by Boonpaisarnsatit and Srioutai (2011) and Thammachoto One Tambon One Product (OTOP) (2012). However, the focus of these studies was limited to exported food brand names and the product labels of one The term ‘OTOP,’/o-top/, is a local entrepreneurship particular sub-district, respectively. The current study stimulus program in Thailand (Community Development investigated the language characteristics and semantic Department, 2014). As its name suggests, the central aim appropriateness of all OTOP products in Thailand that claim of the program is to encourage locals to improve their to have international standard quality. products in terms of both quality and marketing. The term ‘tambon’ refers to a sub-district in Thai. The One Tambon Methods One Product policy is that each district must have at least one quality product. It is modeled after the Japanese One Business names from the Thai OTOP program were Village One Product program (OVOP). The OTOP program is selected for analysis. The aim was to explore the patterns of very similar or equivalent to the French Appellation d'ori- English naming and code-mixing used in Thai products. The gine contro ^le e (AOC) and the Italian Denominazione di data consisted of 1,304 Thai OTOP business names from ﬁve Origine Controllata e Garantita (DOCG). Not every kind of product categories (ThaiTambon.com–a database of local product will be recognized as an OTOP product. An tambons and OTOP products): food (523 items), drinks (68), OTOP product must be based on the following principles: clothing and accessories (490), handicrafts and ornaments (1) representing both local uniqueness and global standard; (70), and inedible herbs (153). These products were (2) demonstrating self-reliance and creativity, and; (3) ofﬁcially announced as the ﬁve-star OTOP Champion developing human resources in the community. These Products in 2012 by the Community Development Depart- principles ensure that the products are borne from the local ment, Ministry of the Interior. The data were taken from the culture and clearly reﬂect the Thai identity. The OTOP Thai tambon website (www.thaitambon.com), which project was launched in 2001 with the primary aim to collaborated with the Community Development Depart- satisfy local markets. However, in 2004 the selection pro- ment, Ministry of the Interior, to provide a public database cess of the OTOP Product Champion was launched of OTOP products. All data were selected for the analysis of (Government Public Relations Department, 2004), which product names and the use of English employed in their has signiﬁcantly affected the OTOP program. As shown in business names using onomastics to some extent. In one Table 1, the higher the star rating, the more likely the case, in order to clarify the meaning of a product name, a products will be directed toward international customers. phone interview was conducted with the product owner. Therefore, we expect that the use of English naming or English code-mixing will be more prevalent in the higher Results tier OTOP products. Thus, in this study, we set our scope to the ﬁve-star products of the OTOP market. Food Table 1 The data comprised the business names of Thai OTOP Product level rating fooddthe ﬁve-star Champion Products of 2012. As Table 2 Stars Score Product Level shows, most of the products (89.3%) were named in Thai, 5 90e100 Product has an international quality standard followed by a code-mixing of English and Thai (5.54%), and a high export potential while only 27 products (5.16%) were named entirely in 4 80e89 Product has national quality standard which English. can be enhanced to reach international standards 3 70e79 Product is of average quality and may be Table 2 enhanced to reach 4-stars Naming patterns of Thai OTOP food 2 50e69 Product has below average quality but may be Frequency (n) Percentage (%) enhanced to reach 3-stars. Periodic quality assessments required Thai name 467 89.30 1 Below 50 Product quality is poor and unlikely to be English name 27 5.16 improved Code-mixing 29 5.54 Total 523 100.00 Source: Community Development Department (2012)
N.S. Snodin et al. / Kasetsart Journal of Social Sciences 38 (2017) 123e128 125 With respect to English language usage in the naming Collargette Capsule (a collagen capsule) and Algena (a patterns, we found the following: dietary supplement from spirulina algae). ‘Collargette’ is modiﬁed from the word ‘collagen.’ Collagen is popular as 1. The names use English common nouns to represent the a dietary supplement in Thailand and there are many products, such as Seafood (ﬁsh sauce) and Container product names using the word ‘collagen’. We suspect the (ice-cream). These names are sometimes not associated modiﬁcation is primarily for brand recognition. This may with the product and may lead to customer confusion if also be true of ‘Algena’, which is modiﬁed from the word they have not seen the package or do not have prior ‘algae’. To Thais, the sound of the word ‘Algena’ might be knowledge about the product. considered more pleasant than ‘algae’. Both examples 2. The names use English compound nouns, such as Golden here are probably unintelligible for those who only hear Bee (honey), Be Live Rice (germinated brown rice), Ba- the name without seeing the actual product. nana Brand (Thai jasmine rice), Diamond Brand (jasmine rice vinegar), Nine Tamarind (dried tamarind), and Em- Drinks bryo Rice (multigrain cereal). It is clear that businesses are sometimes relatively limited in terms of English The data comprised 68 business names of Thai OTOP word choice, and the results reveal how English word drinks. As Table 3 shows, more than half (54%) of the Thai usage can be inﬂuenced by the Thai language, as well as beverages are named with English or code-mixed names, how Thais use English, as evidenced by ‘Nine Tamarind.’ which is the highest among the studied naming categories Thais believe that the number nine which has a similar of Thai OTOP products. The English words used to represent sound as ‘kaao’ meaning progress or walking forward in beverage brands or products are frequently related to Thai symbolizes prosperity and continuous develop- ‘drinks,’ such as ‘coffee’ (n ¼ 5), ‘tea’ (n ¼ 9), ‘milk’ (n ¼ 2), ment; however, having nine pods of tamarind requires and ‘juice’ (n ¼ 1). Since these words represent the prod- the plural form of ‘tamarinds’ instead of ‘tamarind,’ ucts, the potential international customer can instantly according to the rules of standard English grammar. associate the name with the type of product. These English 3. The names use initials such as SR Rice (germinated words are basic enough to be understood by most Thais. brown rice), KCF (Chinese herb boiled egg), D Food (soft The ﬁndings show that Thai OTOP drink names using cake), and PPC (aloe vera in syrup). These abbreviations English have the following naming patterns: usually stand for product ownership; for instance, the product name ‘KCF’ originates from the owner's name, ‘Kasemchai Farm Group Co., Ltd.’ 1. The names use basic English common nouns, which are 4. The names include a code-mixing of English and Thai understood locally and globally, such as Espresso (roas- words. The Thai words are usually proper names of a ted coffee) and Diamond (juice). From the name person (anthroponym), product type, or proper name of ‘Espresso,’ consumers can easily recognize what type of a place (toponym). For example: Dahra (anthroponym) product they are purchasing. On the other hand, some of Crispy Banana Chips; Pa Pien (anthroponym) Banana; the product names do not represent or inform customers Maegate (anthroponym) Masaman Curry Paste; Phu Chid as to the type of product they are buyingdfor example, Fah (toponym) Vineyard, and; Hom Thong (type of ba- ‘Diamond,’ which is the name for OTOP passion fruit nana) Banana. Most names derived from Thai owners' juice. This shows that Thai product names in English are names usually include kinship terms such as ‘pa’ sometimes not associated with the products themselves. (meaning ‘aunt’), ‘mae’ (meaning ‘mother’), and ‘nong’ 2. The names use English compound nouns that frequently (meaning ‘younger sibling’). Moreover, a toponym is contain at least one English word related to the product, sometimes used in product names; for example,‘Phu Chid such as Coffee Bun (coffee), Coffee Farm (coffee), and Big Fah Vineyard’ is a location in Nakhon Ratchasima, and Herb (herbal tea). Since Thai coffee and tea have such a this proper name represents the origin of the product in high potential for export, naming the products with order to promote the community where the product is English terms would be a good strategy to ensure that made. ‘Hom Thong Banana’ is the only product in this foreign consumers easily recognize the product. category that was named by product type (Hom Thong), 3. The names start with initials, such as J House (Malva nut which is usually known as ‘Cavendish Banana’ or ‘Gros juice) and A&P Orchard (mangosteen juice). These Michel Banana’ in English. These Thai words are mainly abbreviations normally stand for product ownership. For comprehensible for Thai customers, but not necessarily example, ‘A&P Orchard’ is the brand name for Asia & for international consumers, although the name is spel- Paciﬁc Quality Trade Co., Ltd. and A&P are the initials led out using the Roman script on the package. used by the company. 5. The name uses English initials followed by Thai script. ‘SP ป้าศรี’(Chinese dried shredded pork) is the only business name among OTOP food products that utilizes Table 3 Naming patterns of Thai OTOP drinks Thai script (indicated by the anthroponym‘ศรี’) to represent ownership. The word ‘ป้า’means ‘aunt,’ so the Frequency (n) Percentage (%) product name translates to ‘SP Aunt Sri’ in English. Thai name 32 47.06 6. The names include a word which is a modiﬁcation of an English name 13 19.12 English word in such a way that the new word has no Code-mixing 23 33.82 Total 68 100.00 apparent meaning in English. Some examples are
126 N.S. Snodin et al. / Kasetsart Journal of Social Sciences 38 (2017) 123e128 4. The names contain a code-mixing or a hybrid of English Thai Silk,’ the origin of the product appears in the brand and Thai words, usually using a Thai anthroponym or name as ‘Surin,’ which is a province in Thailand where toponym to represent the product along with English the product originates. Finally, all Thai proper names words. Some examples are Doi Saket Coffee (roasted appear in Roman script on the products, for example coffee), Thamsing Coffee (instant mixed coffee), Ko-rach Wijitchareon and Onanong. Milk (milk), and Jatuphon Thai Tea (tea). In order to show the product ownership, the product name is usually Handicrafts and Ornaments combined with the product owners' personal names (anthroponym) or the origins of the product (toponym). The data consisted of 70 names of Thai OTOP handicrafts For example, ‘Ko-rach Milk’ is from Nakhon Ratchasima, and ornaments. Table 5 shows that over three-quarters which is usually abbreviated to ‘Ko-rach.’ Using the Thai (77%) of the product names in this category are in Thai, toponym with the English word, ‘milk,’ this product whereas around only 3 percent are named entirely in En- would be easily understandable to customers world- glish. Those entirely in English use compound nouns. Such wide, and its name can also promote the product's place names include Artiﬁcial Flower Handmade (handmade of origin. ﬂowers) and Heritage Art (carved wood). Twenty per cent of the names are code-mixed or hybrids of English and Thai. Clothing and Accessories Examples are Pratuang Lacquerware (lacquerware), Atchara Design (decorative egg shells), Kohkred Earthen Pottery As Table 4 shows, the data included 490 business names (pottery), Aranyik Handcraft (daggers), and U-Thong Quilts of Thai OTOP clothing and accessories, of which 458 (quilts). Once again, we see signiﬁcant use of Thai anthro- products (94%) carry entirely Thai names, with only 20 ponyms and toponyms, and it appears that all such names English names, and 11 code-mixed names. The naming are written in Roman script, rather than Thai script. For patterns found are as follows: example, ‘Kohkred Earthen Pottery’ carries the origin of the product in its name. ‘Kohkred’ is a district in Nonthaburi 1. Among OTOP clothing and accessory products, only two province, famous for its pottery. product names use one single English worddMessenger (shoes) and Tostell (handbags). Most other products Inedible Herbs employ English compound nouns in their names, such as Working Motor (boots), Bat Home (shoes), Fiber Lotus As Table 6 shows, the data comprised 153 Thai OTOP (shirts) and Home Pearl (pearl necklace). Although some inedible herb product names. Most products (71%) in this English terms are used to name products, Thai percep- category carry Thai names, whereas 21 percent use only tions or beliefs still have a good deal of inﬂuence on English names, and 8 percent have code-mixed names product name choices. In particular, brand names for using Thai and English. The observed patterns for product shoes are all in English and are linked to the Thai names using English can be summarized as follows: perception of shoes as vehicles that take one to any destination. ‘Working Motor’ is a good example of this 1. The names use English common nouns such as Phlegm- point; it is a brand of shoes made in Thailand, and the ing (cough syrup) and Sesame (body lotion). However, product carries the logo of a tractor on the package to some herb products are named using English anthro- emphasize the Thai perception of shoes. ponyms, such as Alice (goat milk soap) and Nathan 2. Initialism can be seen in the names of products such as A (whitening serum), which are not necessarily familiar & B Quilts (quilt handbags), KS Leather (leather hand- names to Thais but may sound attractive and modern to bags), and K & N Gems (jewellery). These initials nor- Thai consumers, and are probably more appealing to the mally stand for product ownership. For example, ‘KS global market than Thai personal names. The origin of Leather’ is derived from the product owner's name, the herb product named ‘Nathan,’ which is pronounced ‘Kriangsak.’ as/nay-thən/in standard English, is not related to the 3. Some clothing and accessories are named using code- English anthroponym. Instead, the name comes from the mixing of English and Thai words: Chattong Thai Silk Thai expression ‘น่าทาหน้า’/naa-taa-naa/1, meaning (silk); Surin Thai Silk (silk); Wijitchareon Handmade Shoes ‘appealing to put on the face.’ This particular product (shoes), and Onanong Gold (jewellery). Usually, the Thai name is actually pronounced as/naa-taan/, which is how words used to name the product are an anthroponym or Thais usually mispronounce the English personal name. toponym to inform the consumer of ownership or the 2. The names use at least two English words. Some ex- origin of the product. For example, in the case of ‘Surin amples are Sport Mate (hair tonic), Herb Care (rice milk Table 4 Table 5 Naming patterns of Thai OTOP clothing and accessories Naming patterns of Thai OTOP handicrafts and ornaments Frequency (n) Percentage (%) Frequency (n) Percentage (%) Thai name 458 93.47 Thai name 54 77.14 English name 21 4.09 English name 2 2.86 Code-mixing 11 2.24 Code-mixing 14 20.00 Total 490 100.00 Total 70 100.00
N.S. Snodin et al. / Kasetsart Journal of Social Sciences 38 (2017) 123e128 127 Table 6 English naming and code-mixing in Thai mass media. It can Naming patterns of Thai OTOP inedible herbs be said that language creativity can be seen in Thai product Frequency (n) Percentage (%) naming, yet these names still show ‘Thainess’ or Thai Thai name 111 72.55 identity. Lastly, one major problematic area apparent from English name 31 20.26 the data is that several product names are not associated Code-mixing 11 7.19 with the type of product, for example, the name Banana for Total 153 100.00 rice, Diamond for vinegar and passion fruit juice, Seafood for ﬁsh sauce, Container for ice cream, Sport Mate for hair tonic, Working Motor for shoes. body scrub), Quick Step (toothpaste), and Modern Way (herbal shampoo). It appears that these English product Conclusion names do not particularly promote customer under- standing of what the product is. Perhaps unsurprisingly, Language barriers are evident in Thai business naming most of these products print the usage descriptions on practices. Some Thai entrepreneurs' lack of English lan- the packaging. guage skills might put them at a disadvantage at the in- 3. The names contain a code-mixing of English and Thai ternational level. It seems that OTOP manufacturers may words, which normally use a Thai anthroponym. not have thought about creating a trademark for their Examples include Petchlada Herbs (silky hair coat) and products, unlike other Thai exporters who tend to create Nutcha Spa & Beauty (rice milk scrub). short and catchy brand names for their products. If the Thai 4. The names use homophones, sharing the same pro- government sees the high potential for export, as is claimed nunciation, but having different meanings between for these OTOP products, apart from support regarding English and Thai. Examples include D-Care Soap (soap), product development, how Thai entrepreneurs use English Coco D (body lotion), and D Touch (detergent). In Thai, ‘D’ in naming their products might be another area that needs means ‘good,’ which is pronounced exactly the same as support from professional bodies. As Chiarakul (2014) the English letter ‘D’/dee/. Using the homophones of the points out, one limitation for Thai entrepreneurs is their letter ‘D’ on product names not only sounds interna- English language skills. If Thai entrepreneurs claim that tional for global markets, but it also reafﬁrms the prod- their products are directed toward more international ucts' quality to Thai customers. customers and intend to use English as a lingua franca to 5. The only herb product name that has deviant spelling is communicate to their prospective consumers, they should ‘Poom Mild’ (potpourri), which is mispronounced as/ take into consideration how to name their products which poom-mai/by native Thai speakers. In fact the Thai possess semantic appropriateness for achieving interna- script name on the product is pronounced ‘poom-mai’. tional intelligibility whilst making the English names The word ‘poom-mai’ in Thai means ‘bush,’ but this unique and reﬂective of Thai culture. Names are known to product is actually a mixture of dried, naturally fragrant be a crucial element for brand communication, and are plant materials. Its name is spelled out in Roman script, used as the ﬁrst tool to convey product information to but the spelling is different from the original pronunci- consumers. ation, presumably using the word ‘mild’ in order to signify the product quality. Conﬂict of Interest There is no conﬂict of interest. Discussion Acknowledgments Thailand has positioned itself as the ‘Food Hub of Asia’ and the ‘Kitchen of the World’ (Murray, 2007). Thus, Thai This research was funded by the Department of Foreign OTOP food and drink products are no longer aimed solely at Languages, Kasetsart University, Bangkok, Thailand. local customers, but also at global consumers. Although English is not used as an ofﬁcial or second language in References Thailand, the power of English can be seen in Thai product naming patterns. However, the inﬂuence of ‘Thainess’ can Boonpaisarnsatit, N. (2005). Semantic analysis of Thai products' brand names (Unpublished master's thesis). Chiang Mai University, still be seen in most Thai OTOP product names. This study Chiang Mai. demonstrates that Thais are creative in their English usage Boonpaisarnsatit, N., & Srioutai, J. (2011, December). A semantic and in order to give the sense of identifying with and belonging pragmatic approach to brand naming: A case study of Thailand's exported food brand names. In Paper presented at the 3rd international to a modern global society. conference on language and communication. Bangkok, Thailand: Na- Not all names used for Thai products are effective. Some tional Institute of Development Administration. are not intelligible to English speakers. In some cases, Thai Chiarakul, T. (2014). The problems and the adaptation of OTOP to AEC. Executive Journal, 34(1), 177e191. [in Thai] entrepreneurs violate English grammar rules and use Thai Community Development Department. (2012). Handbook for the selection structures instead. For example, some names use a modiﬁer of OTOP product champion - OPC B.E.2555. Retrieved from http://www. after a noun, as is the case with ‘Mineral Water Phetsuwan.’ cdd.go.th/download/551107_3.pdf. [in Thai] This naming pattern is well understood by Thais. This type Community Development Department. (2014). OTOP. Retrieved from http://www.cep.cdd.go.th/index.php#. [in Thai] of name additionally expresses a culturally speciﬁc De Mooji, M. (2004). Translating advertising: Painting the tip of an grammar, as Snodin (2014) also found in her study of iceberg. The Translator, 10(2), 179e198.
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