Thai video to English read along as it plays
Thai is written without spaces and spoken in tones, which makes it hard to follow by ear or to paste into a translator. WatchTranslate listens to the Thai and shows an English line on the player, the Thai sentence under it.
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Thai videos rarely come with English, and copying out the text is hard
Big lakorn and BL series get English on licensed apps. The clips, behind-the-scenes, variety shows and talks on YouTube usually do not, and without spaces between words even a Thai caption is awkward to look up.
- Tones and speed are hard to catch by ear
- No word spacing to copy into a dictionary
- Without a caption track, no Auto-translate
- A whole English sentence for each Thai one
- The Thai script stays on screen below
- Starts from the audio, captions or not
From Thai audio to English lines
Add WatchTranslate
Install the free extension for Chrome or Edge on your computer.
Open a Thai video
No sign-in needed; our test ran signed out. When the video loads, a WT button appears among the player buttons.
WTI only knew my grandfather.English on, Audio recognition on
Click WT, pick English for Target language and Audio recognition for Subtitle source, and switch translation on. In this test Source language stayed on Auto-detect.
Eight lines from a Bangkok talk
Ariya Banomyong at TEDxBangkok, on a grandfather who never talked politics yet passed on his love for the country. The lines below are copied from our test run.
| Second | Thai (audio) | English (subtitle) |
|---|---|---|
| 0 s | ไม่รู้เป็นเรื่องดีหรือเปล่าแต่เป็นเรื่องตลกนะฮะตอนที่ผมเด็กนะครับผมไม่รู้ว่าท่านปรีดีพนมยงค์คือใคร | I don't know if it's a good thing or not, but it's funny, when I was a kid, I didn't know who Pridi Banomyong was. |
| 6 s | ผมรู้จักแค่คุณปู่ | I only knew my grandfather. |
| 11 s | และด้วยวิธีอะไรที่ผมยังไม่เข้าใจทุกวันเนี้ยที่ผมอธิบายให้คุณไม่ได้ | And through some method I still don't understand, every day, that I can't explain to you. |
| 16 s | นะฮะทั้งๆที่คุณปู่ไม่เคยเล่าให้ฟังว่าประวัติศาสตร์ของประเทศไทยเป็นยังไง | Even though my grandfather never told me what Thailand's history was like. |
| 22 s | ไม่เคยคุยเรื่องการเมืองไม่เคยคุยเรื่องประเทศไทย | Never talked about politics, never talked about Thailand. |
| 27 s | คุณปู่สามารถถ่ายทอดความรักที่คุณปู่มีกับประเทศไทยให้กับผม | My grandfather was able to pass on to me the love he has for Thailand. |
| 32 s | และเท่าที่ผมจำได้ฮะตั้งแต่ผมตัวเล็กๆ | And as far as I can remember, ever since I was little, |
| 38 s | ผมมีความฝันว่าและผมวางแผนว่าผมจะต้องกลับมาเมืองไทยให้ได้ | I had a dream, and I made a plan, that I would have to be able to come back to Thailand. |
Seconds count from when we started recording, after the first English line. Short fillers the speaker used between sentences (นะ, นะฮะ) also came through as their own lines and are left out of the table.
Handles what makes Thai tricky
Works from speech
Recognition hears the Thai itself, so a clip with no captions still gets English.
Thai script under the English
See the Thai sentence that was said right below its meaning, useful when you are learning to read Thai.
Knows it is Thai
We left Source language on Auto-detect and the talk was recognized as Thai.
A whole episode, ahead of time
With Translate all subtitles in advance, a long lakorn episode is prepared while you watch the opening.
Export what you watched
Download the subtitles as SRT or VTT from the Export tab.
Thai captions also work
If the uploader added Thai captions, translate those instead and keep their timing.
Thai videos to try it on
Lakorn and BL clips
Official scene clips, trailers and cast interviews posted by Thai studios.
Variety and game shows
Thai TV variety segments where the jokes are all in the talking.
Street food and travel
Bangkok food tours and island vlogs from Thai creators.
Muay Thai
Training videos and fight-night interviews in Thai.
Talks and business
TEDxBangkok and startup talks like the one in our test.
Learning Thai
Hear natural Thai and read it in Thai script with the English above.
Thai videos on YouTube: three cases
Some Thai uploads already have English. For the rest, here is what the player can do and what we add.
| Thai video | YouTube player, signed out | With WatchTranslate |
|---|---|---|
| Has English captions from the uploader | English in the subtitles list | Use YouTube's English |
| Has Thai captions, uploaded or automatic | Auto-translate to English is available, showing English alone | English plus the Thai line, timed to the speech |
| Has no captions | Nothing to turn on; Thai audio only | English recognized from the audio, as in our test |
Reflects the youtube.com web player signed out, checked November 9, 2026. YouTube's menus can change; see the current page.
Our Thai test run
Published extension, computer, signed out of YouTube: the TEDxBangkok talk from one minute in, English selected, WT switched on.
- Works
TEDxBangkok talk in Thai · English subtitles
Eleven English lines across 43 seconds of the talk, the Thai shown with each; eight are in the table above.
- Works
Thai detected automatically
Source language stayed on Auto-detect and the speech came out as Thai.
Tested November 12, 2026 · extension 0.5.782 · Chrome · signed out of YouTube
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Use the 20 free minutes on a Thai clip you have only been able to watch for the visuals.
Thai video to English: what people ask
How do I translate a Thai video to English as I watch?
Install WatchTranslate for Chrome or Edge, play the video, click WT, choose English as Target language and switch it on. English lines follow the speech.
Will it work if the Thai video has no subtitles?
Yes. Pick Audio recognition as Subtitle source; it builds the English from the Thai audio, which is how this page's test was done.
Thai has no spaces between words. Is that a problem?
The extension works on whole spoken sentences, so word spacing does not matter. You get one English sentence per Thai one.
Do I need to set the source language to Thai?
Auto-detect picked up Thai in our test. You can also choose Thai yourself under Source language.
Can I keep the Thai script on screen?
Yes. By default the English line is on top and the Thai line under it. Appearance also offers English only.
Does it work on lakorn and BL clips on YouTube?
Yes, the same way as any YouTube video. For a full episode, turn on Translate all subtitles in advance.
Do I need a YouTube account?
No. Our test was done signed out.
Can I use it on a phone?
Yes, with the WatchTranslate app for Android and iPhone. On a computer use the extension.
Is it free?
The first 20 minutes are free, no card needed. See the pricing page for more.
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