[closed] map not in English; most countries show native languages

OpenStreetMap is not just for English-language readers (or more broadly for those familiar with latin alphabets). The standard map on the main website is largely there to assist those who are actively contributing to the map, and as such it favours use of local names. Where non-local names have been used it is often a sign that we have failed to develop a strong local community.

Also the main map is created as a set of bitmaps (raster tiles) and the names are 'hard-baked' and not responsive to language settings. In the future it is anticipated that we will use vector tiles which will provide more flexibility, but for the reasons stated above the main map will still feature the name as used locally.

In your case the MapQuest Open map which is selectable from the layer icon on the right-hand side of the screen does show names of (at least some) places in thailand using a latin script and/or common names as used in english. However this is not likely to help you with respect to street names etc., as we discourage inclusion of transliterated names in the database.

So in summary, you can either learn to read the Thai alphabet, or develop a system to transliterate thai names and set up appropriate infrastructure to provide the map you want. I suspect the former might be quicker!

Consider this alternative as well: the web-based Thailand bilingual map from OSM-Tools.org. It retains the style being used in the main OSM slippy map (Mapnik).

AFAIK, this is not possible on the OpenStreetMap.org website. The standard rendering is the same for all visitors, irregardless of their browser language. It uses the name field stored on the object.

Try SK53's suggestion.

If you want even more, there are OSM-based maps with automatic transliteration of names: For example try this (although it has a preference for German names, but that will be easier for you).

As this old question comes up again and again.

There is now an English only map based on OpenStreetMap data at https://www.osmap.asia (*). It uses the English labels instead of the local language labels or automatic phoentic transscription if no labels in English are present in the OSM data.

(*) If you live in North America, https://www.osmap.us will be faster, and in Europe use https://www.osmap.uk.

Other language versions (Spanish, French, German, Dutch, Italian or Danish) can be found via https://www.osmap.info.

The "Transport Map" layer seems to have bilingual labels (local + latin) for major map features. You can select this layer from the layers icon. Thanks @SomeoneElse for pointing this out.

You should use the test implementation of the Multi Lingual Map by Jochen Topf.
(And have fun mapping English names :) )

Open Street Map’s priorities are their own, but it seems a little strange it hasn’t yet included a worldwide Latin map at the very least, considering about a third of world’s population use that script.

I can understand why, as explained in the first reply above, the current web map is the way it is. But at the same time this “global map” really behaves more like a collection of national maps, considering very few people if anyone can read all the world’s scripts and languages. I was also of the impression that many people use other software, apps or specialist editors to edit the map, rather than the main web viewer. It seems, ideally, this global-local map should be the primary map for editing and not the standard map for general use. Other versions of the map with a consistent script could be used as the default Standard map for viewing, with the map used dependent upon the nation or territory from where it’s accessed.

I do believe, that without globally-consistent labelling by script or language it’s precluding wider adoption of Open Street Map compared with other services, and this in turn probably limits the size of the community and the number of active editors. I wonder if this is ever considered or factored in discussions regarding priorities. I’d love to replace all other mapping services with Open Street Map, but given its current design I can’t.

I like Open Street Map and it’s improved a lot since I first explored it several years ago. In particular, the local-level cartography (at least in the Standard map) is sublime and probably beats all the competition (including Google). For my uses and needs however, I have to consider it an effectively incomplete global map and useful only in nations and territories that use Latin, since other scripts are unintelligible with it.

Each country has a different community policy regarding what language the default name will be in, this is usually the local language, but not always. The default name is shown by default on the OSM website.

An example of a country that does not use local names by default is India, which uses Latin script for the default name. Local language names are also added to the database, and may be shown by some programs.

You see some names in the Latin script in Thailand when you zoom in, not by design, but because some editors are not following the proper practices when editing those things. This generally goes unnoticed if it's the sort of small features that show up when you zoom in.

Keep in mind that the default layer on the OSM website is just one version, created from the underlying data. When travelling I really like OsmAnd for my smart phone. It displays maps based on OSM data, and will allow you to choose what language to render the names in. Maps.me is a good app too.