Ministry of Culture to take action against poor Thai language proficiency

The Ministry of Culture will accelerate the promotion of Thai culture and proper usage of Thai language after polls show that 36 percent of Thai children have English nicknames but are unable to recite all the 44 Thai alphabets.

Permanent Secretary for Culture Vira Rojpojchanarat (วีระ โรจน์พจนรัตน์) said that out of the 3,360 interviews with students, 36 percent prefer English nicknames. At a village in Khon Kaen province, the majority of children are called by English names.

Survey also shows that 35 percent of the interviewees prefer to have shops named in English. 49.3 percent admitted that they were unable to pronounce Thain double consonants. 24 percent said they were unable to put all the 44 Thai alphabets in chronological order, many are dumb-founded when they are encountered with Thai words with difficult spellings. At the same time, 53.9 percent of the interviews found they performed poorly in writing Thai essays.

In regards to views on the Thai culture and its people, 84 percent of the respondents said they viewed Thai people as honest and 92 percent see Thais as more helpful compared to people from other nationalities.

The Permanent Secretary for Culture said the information collected will be used as a guideline to map out a strategy to strengthen Thai culture and the use of Thai language.

Source: Thai National News Bureau Public Relations Department - 05 February 2007

Somehow it isn't surprising that they would *somehow* work in a way to blame yet another problem on foreigners- why, naturally, lack of Thai proficiency must be the result of English nicknames!!!

Obviously lack of Thai language skills would have nothing to do with the education system, definitely a cultural issue. 84% viewed Thai people as honest - interesting. 92% Found Thais more helpful. I've always found Thais very helpful at directing me to find hotels, jewellery stores etc, if fact so helpful they even insist on taking me there.

The preference for, say, shop names to be in English is an oddity I first encountered in Osaka. There was a cake shop with a large sign advertising "Wedding Cakes" written in English but the rest of the sign was entirely in Japanese. I asked a colleague why this was and he replied that the perception was that the use of English lent an air of quality to the product offered.

The Thai's used a similar logic on my first road map of the country. The wrapping proudly proclaimed "Road atlas of Thailand. Scale : Blah blah. Blah blah blah" all in English. When I unwrapped it at home the enitre map was in Thai .

The Ministry of Culture will accelerate the promotion of Thai culture and proper usage of Thai language after polls show that 36 percent of Thai children have English nicknames but are unable to recite all the 44 Thai alphabets.

Looks as though I have 43 other Thai alphabets to learn.

Looks as though I have 43 other Thai alphabets to learn.

Not to mention putting them in chronological order!

Looks as though I have 43 other Thai alphabets to learn.

Not to mention putting them in chronological order!

So that means they have to know which letter was invented first?

Hahaha..so let me get this straight Thais suck at English and they also pretty much suck at their own language too? I suppose a few generations later they'll be motioning to each other and grunting.

Somehow it isn't surprising that they would *somehow* work in a way to blame yet another problem on foreigners- why, naturally, lack of Thai proficiency must be the result of English nicknames!!!

Laughed out loud at that one.

In my novel, the Shan refugee in Mae Hong Son is asked by his son to have a nickname like all the other kids. He replies, "What name do you want? I hope it is not one of those nicknames of American food, like ‘Donut’ or ‘Ice Cream,’ or ‘Popcorn.’ Sometimes I think their mothers go to Mae Hong Son and copy the words from the restaurant menu for the tourists.”

If this survey is anywhere near accurate, it shows that Thais aren't very literate in their own language. I heard Thai teachers say that handwriting was very poor among matayom students.

Pong Pang had a brother named Ping Pong, a best friend named Poon Poon, another friend Pook. I've had several Beer students, Yew, Nut, Boat, Mean, Bell, Boom, Beam, Fin, Mike, Pom, Pam, Ying, Noon, June, Pee, Note, Care, Net, Birdie, Benz, A, B......I'm waiting for Rolls-Royce and Daimler-Chrysler.

Benz, A, B......I'm waiting for Rolls-Royce and Daimler-Chrysler.

Totally out dated...

You forgot : "Audi".

Anyway, it was the "monthly rant" of the Ministry of Culture. How refreshing.

See you next month for the next sanook and useless press statement about their new campaign.

We can already take the bets. I suggest :

-"Thai culture and thai cultures under siege because of global -foreign- warming"

-"Campaign against a very bad foreign habit : the use of toilet paper in our glorious restrooms"

-"French fries mixed with cao pad kai ? Just say No"

-"A new study proves it : sex before, during and after mariage is bad for health"

-"Promotion of thaieness : don't put tomato ketchup on your pizza anymore"

I remember the days when there wasnt a ministry of culture. It wasnt that long ago.

Quick question.

Is there any indication of the age range of the students?