I have just been informed of the recent passing of Domnern Garden, lawyer and author. We know him best as co-author of the Thai-English Dictionary.

"Dr. Damnern Garden : 1928 - 2009 passed away on Sunday 18 January. He was closely associated with the Siam Society and is well know

for is translations of Khamsing Srinawk and his Thai - English Dictionary with Dr. Sathienpong Wannapok. Funeral rites will be held at Wat Makut Kasatriyaram, near the United Nations, (Sala 10) from 19-21 January 2009 : 18.30 hrs."

If anyone has any additional biographical information concerning Dr. Damnern Garden, please let us know. Thanks.

A moment of silence is in order. That dictionary is a very important resource for foreign learners.

Speaking of Thai-English dictionaries, here's an interesting article about another titan in the field:

http://www.nationmultimedia.com/2005/11/17...t_19179354.html

Domnern will be missed. Both a very cool and very humble man.

He gave me his copy of Dr. Marvin Brown's "From Ancient Thai to Modern Dialects" about 10 years ago saying "You're probably the only person left on the planet that would get a kick out of reading this!" - and I did. That book that sent me on a whole new line of study for years to come.

R.I.P.

Edited January 22, 200917 yr by Jay_Jay

RIP friend and neighbour.

I'm sad to learn this. I never met the man, unfortunately. He's a bit hard to find information on, but I've compiled what I can and posted a mini-obit to Thai 101. If you know any further information, let me know. I wish I'd found out in time to pay my respects.

One reason why his dictionary is good is that it has both a native Thai and English speaker. Not sure all Thai-English dictionaries have this. The definitions are often spot-on because of this. A few years ago when I was having trouble installing the dictionary he was quite helpful via email to a total stranger.

RIP

Through spending a lot of time at the FCCT over the years - playing jazz and teaching Thai there, I was fortunate enough to spend many hours over the years chatting with him speaking many subjects, though mainly things that dealt with Jazz, linguistics and I.T.

Domnern was a very humble man - and never seemed to want to be in the limelight. There were many opportunities that I've heard about in the past where people had asked him to be part of a panel discussion, press conference, attend an event and I think someone was even wanting to write a book about him - though he decided not to. He enjoyed the world in which he lived in - a world that he'd earned.

I can remember the first time I met him about 10 years ago. Someone introduced us and I asked him his name in Thai. He replied - 'Domnern' ... looking at his face, I suspected that it might not have been his name since birth. I then asked him what his 'Farang' name was. He responded with a chuckling smile - 'Domnern'. I got it.

Back in 2001 we met and spoke quite regularly during the final stages of compiling and putting together the audio / PC interface of the latest version of his dictionary that was soon to come out. His aim was to include high quality 'native' sounding equivalents with deep insight from both languages. From katana's comment above, it would seem that he was successful in achieving that goal.

Although we have spoken a lot in the past, I don't feel that I'm at all qualified however to mention anything of his past - or anything outside of the scope of what we'd spoken about. He was one of those guys that you always felt like you were just scratching the surface of his wisdom when he would sit down and 'shoot the breeze' about something.

Domnern will be missed. Both a very cool and very humble man.

He gave me his copy of Dr. Marvin Brown's "From Ancient Thai to Modern Dialects" about 10 years ago saying "You're probably the only person left on the planet that would get a kick out of reading this!" - and I did. That book that sent me on a whole new line of study for years to come.

R.I.P.

Pretty standard reading for anyone doing Thai studies so I don't think you're the only person on the planet interested

Not the only person, naturally, but given the state of Thai Studies program these days, Domnern wasn't far off. Southeast Asian Studies/Linguistics are due for renewed interest in the international academic arena, I say.

I support that motion Rikker! I know your project will definitely help shoot some life into that whole area.