Thai numbers are theoretically part of the Thai script writing system. By the way, it can be used interchangeably with Arabic numbers. While Thai numbers are preferred in government documents, Arabic numbers are more commonly used in general writing. This leads to the need for specific number-usage standards to ensure consistency across OSM. (For example, I’ve seen some road names in OSM use Thai numbers, while the majority use Arabic numbers.)
With the exception of a few rare cases where a Thai or Arabic number is used intentionally, both can be used interchangeably for more than 99% of places. For them, I have some suggestions:
A) Arabic number in name, Thai number in name:th and official_name
B) Arabic number in name and name:th, Thai number in official_name
There may be other options too. What are your thoughts?
To keep things simple and to limit the impact on current map data, I’d like to implement my option B, which is we should only use Thai numbers in official_name=*. (Except in the rare case where Thai numbers are used intentionally.)
If no one objects, I’d put it on the wiki as a clear guidelines for mappers.
Hey @nitinatsangsit, don’t we usually see Arabic numbers on official signs? The only instance that comes to mind where Thai numbers are used is on national park fee dual pricing signs, where foreigners can’t easily see the added charges.
I believe that most signs, such as road signs, use Arabic numbers more than Thai numbers, but not all of them. By the way, because official_name is for the official way of writing one’s name, using Thai number is more appropriate.
For something similar, I’ve seen Cambodia and Myanmar use their local numbers for name tag, but Laos appears to use Arabic numbers.
