The Faculty of Arts has long been teaching translation in undergraduate levels. It subsequently offered a diploma in English and Thai translation to enable both faculty members and students to develop translation skills and gain practical experience. To this end, the Faculty founded the Center of Translation in 1986 to provide academic services, the standard of which soon became widely recognized by both the public and private sectors.

With a growing demand for interpreters in international conferences and meetings, the Faculty was asked to supply interpreters to government agencies and businesses. And indeed, faculty members and students were assigned to interpretation jobs upon request. In 1993, the National Security Council, the Office of the Prime Minister called for the Faculty of Arts to train interpreters for top government leaders in international meetings and negotiations with neighboring countries. Similar request was made by the Bank of Thailand in 1995 for the training of conference interpreters. To all these the Faculty of Arts responded by actively running interpretation courses until 1996.

In 1998, the Center of Translation was graciously given the royal permission to use the name “Chalermprakiat Center of Translation and Interpretation” in celebration of H.M. King Bhumibol Adulyadej’s Fiftieth Anniversary of his accession to the throne. The Center is comparable in rank to other departments within the Faculty. The Master of Arts Programs in English-Thai and French-Thai Translation were launched for the first time in the second semester of the academic year 1999.

Chalermprakiat Center of Translation and Interpretation comprises 2 main bodies

1. The MA in Translation and Interpretation Curriculum Management Unit

Having long been the center of language teaching in various languages, the Faculty of Arts soon recognized the needs for MA programs in translation and interpretation, to develop first-rate scholars and researchers in the field of translation and interpretation. We also hope to develop translators and interpreters with professional ethnics and expertise in both theory and practice, who can effectively analyze and solve problems when translating and interpreting in the field of humanities, social sciences, sciences and technology. This will respond to the need of public and private sectors as well as international entities.

The MA Program in Translationopened in 1999.The MA Program in Interpretation will be offered for the first time in Thailand in 2007. And the Diploma Program in Interpretation opened in 2010.

2. Translation and Interpretation Service Unit

Since 1986, the Translation and Interpretation Service Unit has provided translation and interpretation services to cater to the needs of the society. We translate 13 foreign languages, namely English, French, German, Spanish, Italian, Portuguese, Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Cambodian, Malay, Burmese, and Vietnamese.

Academic Staff