In the Buddhist Era 2542 (1999) the M.L. Maniratana Bunnag Dhamma Society Fund under the Patronage of His Holiness Somdet Phra Ñaṇasaṃvara, the Supreme Patriarch of Thailand, initiated the Commemorative Pāḷi Tipiṭaka Project, upon request from abroad, to support the printing of the sacred texts of the Buddha’s word in Roman script.

The complete 40-volume Romanised edition of the 25-century old teaching of the Buddhist Theravāda tradition in the orthodox and original Pāḷi language has never been published before anywhere in the world.

This manuscript, known as the Chaṭṭhasaṅgīti Council Edition, the Pāḷi-language text in Burmese Script, was the result of the only Great International Council convened in B.E. 2500 (1956) at Yangon by 2,500 erudite Theravāda Buddhist monks from all over the world... (Read full text)

From the Dhamma Society Publication Note B.E.2548 (2005)

World Tipiṭaka Fact Sheet

Details of the 40-Volume World Tipiṭaka Edition & Its Production Technology
(Country origin of contribution & production technology in parenthesis)

Unity in the Buddha’s Enlightenment

In the Buddhist Era 2542 or 1999 A.D., the M.L. Maniratana Bunnag Dhamma Society Fund under the patronage of His Holiness Somdet Phra Ñāṇasaṃvara, the Supreme Patriarch of Thailand, initiated the Commemorative Pāḷi Tipiṭaka Project, upon request from abroad, to support the printing of the sacred texts of the Buddha’s words in Roman script.

This manuscript edition, known as the Chaṭṭhasaṅgīti Council Tipiṭaka, the Pāḷi language text in Burmese Script, was the result of the first and the only Great International Council convened in 1956 by 2,500 erudite Theravāda Buddhist monks from all over the world at Yangon. This Pāḷi Tipiṭaka has thus been considered as the great international and authoritative edition for the Theravāda Buddhasāsana the world over.

The complete 40-volume Romanised edition of the 25-century old teaching of the Buddhist Theravāda tradition in the orthodox and original Pāḷi language has never been published before anywhere in the world.

Great Gift of Dhamma

...My ordainee saddhivihārika, who was ordained as a Buddhist monk under royal patronage, and who is the Chancellor of the M.L. Maniratana Bunnag Dhamma Society Fund under the Patronage of His Holiness the Supreme Patriarch of Thailand, has informed me that he will publish the complete Pāḷi-language Tipiṭaka of the Great International Buddhist Council the Buddhist Era 2500 (1956) in Roman script, for the first time in Thailand. The Romanised Pāḷi Tipiṭaka, comprising 1,000 complete sets each containing 40 volumes, will be presented as Dhamma gifts to major international institutions all over the world...

...May the highest god Brahma and deities, as well as human and all beings, joyously celebrate and bless those who have piously donated money and kind toward this profound meritorious act of preparation of the complete Romanised Pāḷi Tipiṭaka published in the Kingdom of Thailand, the first of its kind in the world, for their happiness and prosperity, now and always.

Dhamma Technology

In preparation of the Pāḷi text in Roman script, the Dhamma Society undertook proofreading under rigorous computer-controlled procedures, including special oral Pāḷi recitation by Tipiṭaka experts, who recited the entire text 3 times, to verify Pāḷi sound and to correct printing errors of the 40-volume manuscript, totaling 2,708,706 words in Pāḷi or 20,606,104 letters in Roman script.

This enormous and complicated task was greatly facilitated by the use of Dhamma Technology, that is, the most advanced Information Technology available, under the control of electronic accuracy and computerized centralization by pious experts. The Dhamma Society utilized 80,000 hours, requiring 3 years between 2001-2005 for proof-reading, and an additional 2 years from 2005-2007 or 10,000 hours to prepare the electronic Pāḷi Tipiṭaka corpus....                 
Finally, the Dhamma Society from 2007-2009 prepared the World Tipiṭaka Database "e-Tipitaka Quoation" and made it available as "Tipiṭaka WebService" via the internet at tipitakaquotation.net

Innovative Mass Communications Development

...Quality control was achieved through integration of a multi-disciplinary approach by specialists. The Dhamma Society was blessed with the selfless cooperation of Buddhist monks and nuns, as well as lay scholars in various academic and professional areas from universities and charitable institutions worldwide. One of the important innovative contributions in efficiency and security of the present technological age to ensure the preservation of this sacred text is the new format of the electronic database, which was created by volunteers from Chulalongkorn University and members of the Dhamma Society who developed and completed the first electronic language standard, the Pāḷi Tipiṭaka Markup Standard...

International Standard Edition

...As a result of the Dhamma Society's 5-Year Project, a threefold international standard edition of the Pāḷi Tipiṭaka has been established. The first international standard is a Publication Standard of the World Pāḷi Tipiṭaka in Roman script, utilizing the opensource quality programme of a universal typesetting system. In addition, it is printed in the Romanised script which is a script recognized universally as the most international script and one which can be used to replicate the original Pāḷi sound. The second standard results from the creation of an Electronic Markup Standard, which can be universally utilized by the Information Technology available internationally. The third standard is an International Tipiṭaka Studies, an approach strictly in the Buddhist Theravāda tradition, presented in this edition, which offers the methodology of the Great International Council for editing and publishing both the Pāḷi Tipiṭaka and the international Tipiṭaka reference...

Tipiṭaka Manuscripts

...In the preparation of the Romanised text, the Dhamma Society partly based its manuscript on two different database sources which were presented as Gifts of Dhamma to the Dhamma Society. However, the Dhamma Society found that the data from both sources contained some 40,000 significant anomalies and primary printing mistakes...

Presentation of the Romanised-script Tipiṭaka Worldwide

...The 40-volume Buddhist Era 2500 Great International Council Mahāsaṅgīti Tipiṭaka Buddhavasse 2500 is to be published in 2005 by the Dhamma Society and presented as a Gift of Dhamma for Humanity from the Thai people to leading international institutions worldwide. The inaugural edition from Thailand for the people of Sri Lanka, will be presented to Her Excellency Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga, the President of Sri Lanka, the cradle of the world's written Pāḷi Tipiṭaka, by Her Royal Highness Princess Galyani Vadhana Krom Luang Naradhiwas Rajanagarindra, who is the Royal Matriarch of the Descendents of King Chulachomklao, and the Honorary President of the Pāḷi Tipiṭaka Presentation...

The Difference between the Pāḷi Tipiṭaka and the Pali Text

The special enlarged-size...This Romanised Tipiṭaka is different from the Pali Text Society editions, prepared by Western scholars, by being the effort of 2500 erudite virtuous monks from the most important Theravāda Buddhist countries of the world. It is a set of texts unique in sacred quality, derived from the noble conduct of the monks who participated in the Chaṭṭhasaṅgāyana, celebrating the 2500 years of Sāsana history.

It is, therefore, a rallying point of piety, and of saddhā as well, for Buddhist at a time when dry intellectual gigantism is destroying the quality of the very air we breath, debilitating even the hospitality of Mother Nature. The wisdom and compassion of the Buddha are symbolically venerated by this e-saṅgīti, to stimulate saddhā, a positive emotional quality of the heart, in Buddhists in particular, to promote human and humane value in this war-torn world where Mammon, Kuvera, the god of wealth seems to be in competition with even the value of human life.

International Wisdom-base

...A specially enlarged prototype 40-volume manuscript of the first edition was printed in 2002. There are 35 categories of project accomplishments and printing innovations which will be published in a Tipiṭaka Anthology as a supplement to this edition. Project archives for further research and study include 7 editions of the 280 drafted manuscripts, about 140,000 pages, 220-megabyte of electronic Tipiṭaka, and 500-hour of digital video/audio documentary or 6,500-gigabyte, documenting the Project between 1999-2004...

The complete World Tipiṭaka Edition in Roman script was printed in 2005 and was graciously presented as a gift of Dhamma to Her Excellency Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga, President of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, by Her Royal Highness Princess Galyani Vadhana, Honorary President of the Tipiṭaka Presentation Worldwide during the special 24-hour pilgrimage from Bangkok to Colombo  on March 6, 2005

Formal Announcement of the Project

..A special announcement of the Project and its fruition was made at both Buddhist convocations and international academic gatherings at home and abroad between 2002-2003.

The formal, final announcement was made in a 2004 special Royal Command Lecture for Her Royal Highness Princess Galyani Vadhana Krom Luang Naradhiwas Rajanagarindra at the Ministry of Information and Communication Technology, in Bangkok, on the 112th Anniversary Publication of King Chulachomklao the Great of Siam Pāḷi Tipiṭaka, (Bangkok Era 112) the world's first printed set of the Pāḷi Tipiṭaka Edition...

Moral Publication Standard

...In addition, the Dhamma Society, in their revision process, verified the authenticity of the manuscript and made reference to 18 other Pāḷi Tipiṭaka editions in various national scripts, a reference collection of which totals over 2,000 volumes, which were given as a donation to Chulalongkorn University and is now enshrined in the International Tipiṭaka Hall in the University's oldest building in Bangkok...

From the Dhamma Society Publication Note B.E.2548 (2005)

Magnificence of the World Dhamma Heritage

The 700-year old Sacred Golden Buddha Image "Buddha Jinarāja" or the Royal Victory of the Buddha Image in the Province of Phisanulok, central Thailand, is specially photographed and printed in this Romanised Tipiṭaka Edition, by pious experts in Thailand in 2002, utilizing the most advanced image and printing technology. The eternal and universal beauty of the holy Buddha image conveys the enduring significance of the World Dhamma Heritage enshrined in the sacred Pāḷi Tipiṭaka and is made more accessible by this Roman-script publication.

It is the profound wish of the Romani-script Tipiṭaka Project that the supreme enlightenment of the Buddha, particularly everlasting and enlightened Peace for Humanity, will prevail.

From the Dhamma Society Publication Note B.E.2548 (2005)

Unity in the Buddha’s Enlightenment

...It is hoped that the Pāḷi Tipiṭaka Edition in Roman script, the Buddhist Era 2500 Great International Council Pāḷi Tipiṭaka, published by the M.L. Maniratana Bunnag Dhamma Society Fund under the patronage of His Holiness Somdet Phra Ñāṇasaṃvara the Supreme Patriarch, in honour of Their Majesties the King and Queen of Thailand, to be presented as a Gift of Dhamma worldwide, will serve as a bearer of the Buddha's teachings that travels great distances. This messenger has the mission to deliver the Teacher's words, which are beautiful at the beginning, beautiful in the middle, and beautiful at the end, as uttered by the Buddha when He directed the first group of disciples to proclaim His message for the benefit of all mankind...