The differences between the two languages and the challenges involved in providing adequate learning materials are breathtaking.
- English and Thai do not use the same vowel sounds or consanants.
- There is no universally utilized way to transliterate Thai words into the English alphabet, and visa-versa.
- Thai is a tonal language; English is not. Thais learning English must force themselves to ignore any tones that they hear to, effectively, learn each English word in every possible tonal variety.
- English words are often not spelled phonetically.
- The English language uses about 170,000 words; Thai, 30-60,000.
- Many, but not all, of the native English teachers in Thailand are unqualified, psychologically unwell people who sometimes have criminal aspirations. Sometimes they are not even native English speakers.
- Every school day at school begins with an attendance-mandatory patriotic/religious celebration and lecture that often cuts into first-period classes, including English lessons.