How a Queer Casual Linguistics Enthusiast and Fan of Asian Dramas Found Themselves Translating Thai BL Novels into English

Modern Thailand sits at a complicated intersection of LGBTQIA identity, pop culture, and commerce—and BL literature is right in the middle. BL doesn’t reflect queer life directly, but it has opened space for discussions mainstream media ignored for decades. The industry markets fantasy, yet it unintentionally normalizes same-sex affection on screen and in print. Meanwhile, LGBTQIA Thais navigate legal gaps, social ambiguity, and inconsistent acceptance. The contrast is stark: BL thrives, queer rights lag, and the country holds both realities at once. Progress exists as performance, but it shifts the landscape nonetheless.

I am a spectator. 

And I try to be an informed one. Within the queer community, feelings about BL are ambivalent. Many dramas are adapted from web novels, and discussions often revolve around how much content is sanitized in the process. Out of pure curiosity, I sought out the novels myself. I quickly discovered that most have never been translated into English. Existing translations often pass from Central Thai to Chinese to Korean, and then to English—sometimes via multiple translators who do not speak English as a first or even second language. These translations, though laudable, are insufficient for capturing the nuance of the authors’ intentions. 

Robert Frost's "poetry is what is lost in translation" and Robert Heinlein's "Something is gained in translation" (The Number of the Beast) are equally true.

That realization led me to Thai grammar and linguistics, and to gathering a list of BL novels to translate. Thai is nothing like English, either written or spoken. Central Thai and English share almost nothing in common. Thai doesn’t use an alphabet; it’s an abugida with inherent vowels, tone classes, and no uppercase. English depends on word order; Thai relies on particles, classifiers, and tones that completely alter meaning. English enforces singular and plural nouns; Thai does not. English verbs conjugate for tense; Thai verbs do not. Aspect and time come from context or additional markers. And Thai particles? English has nothing comparable—they encode attitude, hierarchy, gender, and intent in ways English cannot touch. Imagine the expressive range of Italian hand gestures embedded directly in language; that is the closest analogy.

Approach Thai with English assumptions, and you will misunderstand everything immediately.

Here then I will attempt to explain even as I am better learning the nature of written Thai and how to transliterate it. Thai language, grammar, linguistics, and speech etiquette. I translate not to simplify, but to preserve the author’s intent, the subtle social cues, and the structures of meaning that English cannot replicate.