Thailand Ranked 106th in English Proficiency Out of 116 Countries

[KireB]

3 hours ago, Kinok Farang said:

Thais speak English much better than English speak Thai ,even in Thailand.

So just who are the dummies here?

The real dummies are those who do not understand that English is spoken everywhere in the world and Thai only around Bangkok. 

[ikke1959]

45 minutes ago, craighj said:

What a stupid statement, clearly ill informed and ignorant of Thai people.  Many speak multiple languages, Cambodian, Vietnamese, Chinese, Loa, English, French etc.  Do you speak Thai, fluently?

 

It is just that many also do not speak English or speak only a little, the school systems here for ordinally people is very poor especially for English.  All Kids get taught English almost none from the standard schools system actually can speak English!

I am happy to read how well educated you are and how ill you are informed about Thai people. In my 20 years living in Thailand I never met 1 Thai that could speak vietnamese, Chinese or French. I hardly can find a good English teacher to talk with. My vice director was a Master in English, but our conversations were always in Thai although i always urged her to use English, just as the director of school asked me. And Lao and Khmer people around the borders can speak of course. I am from the Netherlands and I can speak Belgian and German too and even a bit French. But a few wirds is not fluently as you claim. And with the low education standards in Thailand i dare to say that your statement doesn't make sense. Surely not for the majority

[KireB]

2 hours ago, Yellowtail said:

How useful is English in Thailand? 

Very useful. My wife works for an international company in Bkk, and is pulling in a salary I can only dream of.  How about those working in tourist related businesses. 

 

Learning English ican pull peopke out of poverty.

[MalcolmB]

3 hours ago, tonypattaya said:

Nothing less than DISGRACEFUL. The government must do more. Maybe appoint a minister whose job it is, solely, to improve the English proficiency throughout the land.

Some think that their own language is the one that everyone should learn, not understanding that if a foreigner learns Thai, it will only hep in Thailand, but if a Thai learns English, it will help him all over the world.

Wake up government, you were appointed to do a job!

Most Thais won’t go all over the world. They have no use for English.

 

Surprises me the amount of foreigners who live here for years or decades and are illiterate and effectively deaf mutes. 
And then berate Thais for not speaking English.

[KireB]

1 hour ago, VirgoSG said:

Very true.  At a quick count, out of the last 9 prime ministers (excluding stand-in PMs), at least 6 spoke English well or fluently.

I.e.:  Paetongtarn Shinawatra, Srettha Thavisin, Yingluck Shinawatra, Abhisit Vejjajiva, Thaksin Shinawatra, Chavalit Yongchaiyudh

Yingluck said 'overcome' to Obama when she welcomed him in Bangkok. Thaksin? His daughter? All studied in the Us, and all speak pigeon English.

[mran66]

Better just focus more to teach about their magnificent history and ensure they will become obedient citizens. Dangerous to teach language as well as many other things to masses. 

[Andytheburiramman]

Not surprised, as most of the Thai English teachers can only speak very basic English; also it doesn't help that the Thai governments main criteria for a job is whether you can afford to buy the teaching position.  Finally, most schools now only want non-native English speakers because they're cheaper and will work unrealistic hours.

[Ben Zioner]

6 hours ago, khaowong1 said:

But Vietnam, Singapore and the Phillipines seem to handle it rather well. 

 

Malaysia, maybe?  Burma..

[AustinRacing]

7 hours ago, Kiwiken said:

A lot has to do with the quality of English taught. At a couple of schools I visited I was surprised at the poor level of English language teaching

We have first hand experience with our kid going to a so called good school. They teach them big words together with simple three-letter words. They force the kids to memorize sentences in books rather than learn to read properly. Example: first grade book “Grace’s favorite color is blue”. Kids don’t know how to read /pronounce the word “is” yet. I spoke to a Thai parent and he said we just teach the kids to memorize sentences without breaking sentences into words. The teachers notes have spelling mistakes too. It’s all a show. “Look we teach advance English even to first graders”. Superficiality is their culture I’m afraid. 

[malibukid]

English should be taught in schools in Thailand like it is in most Western first world countries.  it would provide better opportunities for advancement.

[malibukid]

6 hours ago, khaowong1 said:

But Vietnam, Singapore and the Phillipines seem to handle it rather well. 

 

in Vietnam students will seek me out in the park to practice English.  why not in Thailand?

[malibukid]

6 hours ago, ozz1 said:

What makes me laugh is most bar girls speak English because it's in their interest to get money out of men but the rest of the population don't really give a dam  and most of the english teachers don't even speak english so it won't improve

this i don't understand.  i was shopping for some very expensive cameras and watches and most of the staff could not speak English. 

[soalbundy]

7 hours ago, ExpatInCM said:

So many English speaking people find it very difficult to learn Thai, so it is not really surprising that so many Thai people find it difficult to learn English.  

 

I've been watching this annual reports come out for about 15 years now, and Thailand's ranking has not moved very much overy this time period.

 My Thai/British son (17) is fluent in both languages but says he prefers English as it's an easier language, this is reflected in his school marks which are only sufficient for Thai but top marks for English, This isn't surprising as his English teacher has given over the English lessons to my son to teach, I feel sorry for his students as my son has no patience.

[hotandsticky]

2 minutes ago, malibukid said:

this i don't understand.  i was shopping for some very expensive cameras and watches and most of the staff could not speak English. 

 

 

The only surprise is that you were surprised by that.

[Ebumbu]

Sank you barry mush. 

[malibukid]

4 hours ago, geisha said:

Thailand isn’t doing well on the international stage. Communication and technology are being held back by a lack of English.  Education in schools and at home is a mess.  

that and so many other things like their silly "loss of face" attitude.  

[StayinThailand2much]

3 hours ago, Yellowtail said:

How useful is English in Thailand? 

 

Not at all, if you want a subsistence-based economy, no foreign trade, or foreign relations, and no foreign tourist arrivals... 😆

 

[proton]

5 hours ago, craighj said:

The unfortunate facts of life are that education, the normal public schools, system here in Thailand is extremely poor.  English in many, many cases is taught by non English speaks who can't actually hold a conversation in English themselves!  It is better than it was 20 years ago, but not a lot better!

 

Not all of government schools are poor, the few top tier senior ones will not even enrol kids unless they can pass an interview in English. Why there are not more like this I don't know, the local one uses English text books, even world history. Sarasas can be good for learning Englsih, but why do the girls do better at it than boys?

[Chongalulu]

3 hours ago, Yellowtail said:

How useful is English in Thailand? 

Very. How would Europeans only speaking their native language get on  communicating in say french, Spanish or German Vs English? Sinking in yet ..?

[CecilM]

This is a surprise to anyone? Really?

[simon43]

33 minutes ago, malibukid said:

in Vietnam students will seek me out in the park to practice English.  why not in Thailand?

Same for me in Myanmar.  Sadly, their interest in learning English is so that they can get out of 'dodge' asap!!

[Pouatchee]

7 hours ago, Zaphod Priest said:

Yingluck Shinawatra has a master's degree in public administration from Kentucky State University.

 

Did you ever hear her speaking english? It is shameful for her supposed level of education and was ridiculed here on the then 'thaivisa' while she was PM. Get your ducks in a row before you try to validate a point with a moron like yingluk.

[Andytheburiramman]

1 hour ago, malibukid said:

in Vietnam students will seek me out in the park to practice English.  why not in Thailand?

I was in Ho Chi Minh at New Year and two kids on a local bus just started talking to me in good English and it was a joy, as back here on Thailand all you get from them is a stare or farang farang 😴

[orchidfan]

7 hours ago, kwilco said:

You need to see how it's done in other countries.  I used to have to guage language levels and quite frankly I don't think most people know how to do it. Also langauge acquisition isn't necessarily carried out at school level, it is often after school age.

I also note that almost all Thai kids know the western alphabet which many other countries don't.

Yes but do they know the phonetic sound of the letters of the alphabet ?

Just knowing the names of the letters is useless when it comes to tackling an English word ...

...take CAT for example !

 

From my travels (and having lived in Singapore, Malaysia and Hong Kong ) , most ex British colonies /territories have residual spoken English skills (in the case of the Philippines it was/is the long time American influence. )

 

I believe that if a (foreign) language is not used regularly it gets lost.

How many of us still remember our school boy French or Italian or Spanish ???

 

 

Where English is required, such as aviation, medicine, hospitality international business etc , it is usually quite proficient.

 

My Thai wife only learnt to speak English fairly well because, when she was young, she worked here in  the British Embassy for 10 years. 

[petedk]

5 hours ago, outsidetrader said:

On the bright side ,there are so many more International Schools cropping up at a rapid pace and the young guns are slowly but surely getting there .

No hope fror the Dinosaurs so .

Most of the Teachers are native English .

 

Uhm I disagree.

 

The students at many of the so-called "international schools" are regarded as "paying customers."  Students cannot fail and most get "A". It looks good on the school record.

 

I am tutoring a couple of students from a fairly well known international school. They speak very poor English and know only a few basic words, yet they "write" an 18 page report on a British monarch and a 15 page report on "how to extract your own DNA" and get A's.

 

How? Copy and paste + chat GPT, grammarly and so on.

 

Simarlily, I taught graduate students at a university, but was removed by the head of department, after I upset two girls who were plagiarizing. They were "our paying customers."

[petedk]

3 hours ago, Grusa said:

I am surprised that no one has stated the blindingly obvious, that the last thing the powers-that-be want is a well-educated, English speaking, thinking population. If they had one, they would very quickly cease to be the powers-that be.

 

The education system is set up exactly as it is wanted to be, and very effective at what it does.

 

That is exactly what the head of the English department in my university told me 20 years ago.

[orchidfan]

1 hour ago, Chongalulu said:

Very. How would Europeans only speaking their native language get on  communicating in say french, Spanish or German Vs English? Sinking in yet ..?

Google Translate.

 

I've noticed more and more recently its use by car mechanics, computer and mobile phone people, aircon repair guys....even in pharmacies etc.

 

EVERYONE (Thai) has a smart phone, either in their hand , or nearby.

 

Yes, maybe some elderly Westerners or Asia folk are not so equipped or up to speed.

[norsurin]

First of all..STOP A dubbing foreign movies They never get used to listen to english 

I speak thai well.. anyway its so silly to watch a movie and the foreign actors speak thai.

[cdemundo]

3 hours ago, KireB said:

Maybe 10% of the population can afford international schools.

A lot of young people who have been attending international schools speak a very high level of English with accents that are indistinguishable from native speakers.

Government school students not so much sadly.

[Kinok Farang]

5 hours ago, Chongalulu said:

That would be you.. Now ask yourself how many countries is English useful in and how many is Thai..? DOH! 

How do you know i don't sepeak Thai?