You may have seen Thai students, doctors, etc., using electronic dictionaries, including those that are "talking dict" units - with an electronic or human sounding voice that pronounces English words.

I got the idea that maybe one that pronounces Thai would help me get words down right, as I try to improve my Thai, and also help in situations where my speaking partner doesn't know the English word I'm trying say in Thai. Obviously the standard printed English/Thai dictionary helps (point to the word), but being able to hear it pronounced is invaluable.

Talking dictionaries seem to have progressed a lot lately. I saw one at Lotus (Besta brand?) that cost 16k Baht. It includes a video movie type player (for dialog examples), which seems like overkill. This was they only unit they offered with the Thai pronunciation voice feature.

Big C has the "E Dict" Language Translator brand. Again, only the top end model does Thai. It's the 401N, and it also does Chinese and Japanese. It's a bit thick but otherwise compact, one small speaker that puts out a "human voice". The regular price is supposedly 7900 baht, but it was on sale yesterday for 5900 baht.

I wonder if this is the best choice. Do you know of a better one, or where I can get the 401N at a vastly better price? 6K is a chunk of change, but considering the price of mobile phones, not too out of line.

You may have seen Thai students, doctors, etc., using electronic dictionaries, including those that are "talking dict" units - with an electronic or human sounding voice that pronounces English words.

I got the idea that maybe one that pronounces Thai would help me get words down right, as I try to improve my Thai, and also help in situations where my speaking partner doesn't know the English word I'm trying say in Thai. Obviously the standard printed English/Thai dictionary helps (point to the word), but being able to hear it pronounced is invaluable.

Talking dictionaries seem to have progressed a lot lately. I saw one at Lotus (Besta brand?) that cost 16k Baht. It includes a video movie type player (for dialog examples), which seems like overkill. This was they only unit they offered with the Thai pronunciation voice feature.

Big C has the "E Dict" Language Translator brand. Again, only the top end model does Thai. It's the 401N, and it also does Chinese and Japanese. It's a bit thick but otherwise compact, one small speaker that puts out a "human voice". The regular price is supposedly 7900 baht, but it was on sale yesterday for 5900 baht.

I wonder if this is the best choice. Do you know of a better one, or where I can get the 401N at a vastly better price? 6K is a chunk of change, but considering the price of mobile phones, not too out of line.

These are pretty good. A lot cheaper in BKK than the US or Oz. Try also Pantip Plaza (L2).