Thailand Ranked 106th in English Proficiency Out of 116 Countries

[DavisH]

3 hours ago, Pompeygeezer said:

Education is just not taken seriously enough In Thailand.  They say their English Proficiency is poor but no doubt it's the same with other subjects.  It wouldn't surprise me if they're poor in most subjects.  

O-net scores have shown a decline over the last decade. Average scores on 4-choice multiple choice tests average 25-35%. So the average student is basically guessing all the answers. Obviously there are a handful of excellent schools here, but the vast majority of the remainder skew the results. 

[kwilco]

21 hours ago, ikke1959 said:

The biggest problem in Thai education is the non fail policy.

Except not with English but with medical training - think about that next time you are in a hospital

[eastlight]

21 hours ago, Harrisfan said:

Millions can speak Lanna or Isaan languages. Many can speak Korean.

This is similar to the situation where people insist on speaking Welsh in the UK where the question is why.

[eastlight]

21 hours ago, mfd101 said:

Nonsense. Most of the poor & uneducated peoples of Isaan speak at least 2 languages (Thai/Khmer and Thai/Lao are the most common).

 

In my family here the old people speak Khmer for preference and (mostly) poor Thai. Their offspring are fluent in both. Their grandchildren (mostly) still understand Khmer but refuse to speak it because of the rabid Thai nationalism taught in schools. As for English, zilch.

Just what use are those 'languages' on the world stage today.

[eastlight]

19 hours ago, mfd101 said:

Fine in Bangers. And here at the edge of the jungle and the end of the world I have my b/f, whose English has improved considerably over the 13 years of our togetherness and was already OKish when we met as he served in a bar in Bangers & had an English half-BIL.

Bangers?

[fredwiggy]

On 2/15/2025 at 5:41 AM, 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.

Assumption # 3,876   How do you know he doesn't know how it's done in other countries? For a person who used to gauge language levels you certainly spell many things wrong. Don't think for other people. Try thinking correctly for yourself and don\t assume what others know. You do this all the time and it gets annoying.

 

In how many countries have you studied how they learn English? I taught here, and am a native English speaker and the testing here, as well as the teaching, is very poor in every school I visited, including where my daughter goes, which has almost no English taught. My daughter speaks better English than her teacher. 

 

It's very easy to read English yet not know what the words mean. The teachers pass out English work, meaning copying the sentences, and the children don't know what the words mean. I saw this also in my girlfriend's niece's work she brought home. She could read the words but didn't know what the words meant. Thailand is this far behind because those in charge don't care .

 

And just so you understand, the man I helped out, and English school owner, was taught in America and hires English teachers from all over to teach at his school. I helped him FOC because he's a friend. He also says Thai schools are very poor in teaching English to their students, and he's been to hundreds all over Thailand, teaching, seminars and camps.

[fredwiggy]

9 hours ago, MartinBangkok said:

You obviously know nothing about Thailand and Thais. They are completely ignorant to anything outside Thailand's borders. That includes American films and English music.

I'm a very huge film and music buff, and I have to say you're wrong about this. American and other western music has a huge influence on Thais, and they copy pop music all the time. You can see it in the music you hear here although much of it doesn't flow smoothly like western music and lyrics does. They copy everything westerners do, as it's new to them and they like it, seeing western music is the best music worldwide. The guitar players use western tabs to learn how to play and if you listen to Thai music, a lot of the leads and rhythm playing mirrors western style. 

 

As far as movies, Mono 29, channel 24, 18 and a couple of others always have western movies on, with some having them in English per the remote, with Thai subtitles. I've been watching them almost 7 years here and my ex and girlfriend has before I came here. The only problem they have is playing the same actor's movies all the time.  What is true is how little they learn here about western history. It pales by comparison to the west and leaves them not knowing the basics of what happened in history. I've had my girlfriend over to watch movies (she speaks good English) and most of what we watched she knew very little about, such as Hitler and the war, Japan and the war, Kanchanaburi and it's role in the war, and many other things about history. They watch action movies here in theaters and at home, so they know a lot about them from that.

[ikke1959]

6 hours ago, DavisH said:

O-net scores have shown a decline over the last decade. Average scores on 4-choice multiple choice tests average 25-35%. So the average student is basically guessing all the answers. Obviously there are a handful of excellent schools here, but the vast majority of the remainder skew the results. 

All teachers in schools have the same problem. In every subject. There are too many students in the class, and only a few participate in the lessons and others only copy. I had happily a good relationship with the students and one day it happened that there was math on the blackboard. Most students told me they did not understand how to do it and i explained it was not so difficult. My English lesson became a math class and after 1 hour every student could do it and was happy that they inderstood it. But Thai culture does not allow to ask questions to a teacher. All about losing face

[fredwiggy]

7 hours ago, kwilco said:

I'm dyslexic too, but it didn't prevent me from learning critical thinking. Assumptions are the mark of a fool,

You should know, as you're taking over the lead for most assumptions made on AN.

[MalcolmB]

10 hours ago, ikke1959 said:

No my partner is Thai and told me myself. And indeed, if you understand some Thai you will hear that you ate talking aboit you, as they assume you don't understand them

Where did you meet this partner?

 

There is a saying Farang ru mak Mai dee ฝรั่งรู้มากไม่ดี Farang who knows to much is not good.

Very common amongst bar girls etc but not amongst normal society.

 

What are they saying about you?

[MalcolmB]

11 hours ago, Cardano said:

When your language is the international language of the world what reason is there to learn another language?

 

 

If you live in Thailand so you actually communicate with the people in the country you live in what be one good reason.

11 hours ago, Cardano said:

 

As the economic powerhouses around the world have learnt that to suceed you need to be fluent in the international language of the world. For some reason Thailand can't quite grasp that reality.

Thais have enough English speakers to do very well.

I think you can not grasp the reality that it is completely unnecessary for 95% of Thais to speak English. They have no use for it.

[scottiejohn]

9 hours ago, MartinBangkok said:

Ask a random Thai about the last 5 or 10 movies they've watched and ask them to share their song playlist with you. Then get back to me. Ok Scottie?

What a stupid and pointless post!

[brewsterbudgen]

8 hours ago, KireB said:

Do you have temper issues? And of course is that my opinion.  Isn't it factual that most Americans only speak 1 language? Wouldn't you agree that when you want to teach a subject, you should understand the learning process behind it? Exactly, so we agree now.

 

I fail to see why you would get all upset about that.

I don't think you understood his post. Qualified and well-trained teachers of English as a foreign language are taught exactly to do that.  That was the point he was making.

[KireB]

8 hours ago, kwilco said:

but you are speaking like a teacher who has never trained to teach...

Has never trained to teach? Could you tell me what that means? You mean 'was', instead of 'has'?

[daveAustin]

Frankly, I’m surprised Thailand is ranked that highly. The average school here has a piss poor concept of teaching, full stop, let alone English. That is not Thai bashing; it just is what it is. They spend half the time waving the flag, chanting 1984-esque slogans and prancing around (trying to make it fun) than actually teaching anything meaningful, and then it is essentially rote learning. When it does come to English, again the average school might have just a couple Thai teachers that can hardly string a sentence together.

 

It would take a monumental effort to get Thailand anywhere near, say, Malaysians’ English proficiency, where some here even deem it unpatriotic to speak anything but Thai. Then there is the face thing… that they could be hugely embarrassed if they make a mistake. All a bit sad really.

 

Having said that, if they’re always going to be in Thailand, then it doesn’t really matter all that much. I’d prefer Thais to be the happy go lucky, in-the-moment people that they are than all speaking decent English and ending up like the rest of us. 

[kwilco]

12 minutes ago, KireB said:

Has never trained to teach? Could you tell me what that means? You mean 'was', instead of 'has'?

oth are grammatically correct, but they have slightly different meanings depending on context:

"Hasn't trained to teach" – This suggests that the person has not undergone training to become a teacher up to the present moment. It emphasizes an ongoing state of not having trained.

Example: She wants to become a teacher, but she hasn't trained to teach yet.

"Wasn't trained to teach" – This implies that in the past, the person did not receive training to teach. It focuses on a completed past event.

Example: He was hired as a tutor, but he wasn't trained to teach formally.

QED

[KireB]

12 hours ago, dinsdale said:

I agree. Most Thai English language teachers have poor English speaking skills. Grammar is probably better than 90% on here. Doesn't make them bad teachers though. If your pool of English teachers is coming from a population of poor English speakers you can't expect much more. Even if fluent in English, admittedly I've never met one, will be pushing the proverbial uphill teaching multiple classes of 40+ with no tech in the classroom. This of course is referencing the government school system. 

A lot of  Americans have a very poor understanding of their own language. I"ve given up listening to contempary music, full of 'aint's', female dogs, f's every 5 seconds and so on. Must be the no-child-left-behind policies.  

 

As I said earlier, Filipino teachers are in higher demand in Thailand than American teachers, and for a good reason. Americans don't travel much, but if they do and teach abroad, they expect their students to know the American football rules, celebrate the 4th of July,and even enjoy Halloween. 

 

 

https://www.migrationpolicy.org/article/limited-english-proficient-population-united-states-2013

 

https://www.popularmechanics.com/science/a43469569/american-iq-scores-decline-reverse-flynn-effect/

[dinsdale]

3 minutes ago, KireB said:

As I said earlier, Filipino teachers are in higher demand in Thailand than American teachers, and for a good reason.

Nope. In demand because schools don't pay them as much. Simple. 

[dinsdale]

9 hours ago, KireB said:

Do you have temper issues? And of course is that my opinion.  Isn't it factual that most Americans only speak 1 language? Wouldn't you agree that when you want to teach a subject, you should understand the learning process behind it? Exactly, so we agree now.

 

I fail to see why you would get all upset about that.

Quite obviously you have no idea about teaching English as a 2nd or other language so don't pretend you do. Indeed I think it would be fair to say you have no idea about teaching full stop. I am a qualified teacher are you?

[bbbbooboo]

100 out of 116, that must be good

[brewsterbudgen]

45 minutes ago, kwilco said:

oth are grammatically correct, but they have slightly different meanings depending on context:

"Hasn't trained to teach" – This suggests that the person has not undergone training to become a teacher up to the present moment. It emphasizes an ongoing state of not having trained.

Example: She wants to become a teacher, but she hasn't trained to teach yet.

"Wasn't trained to teach" – This implies that in the past, the person did not receive training to teach. It focuses on a completed past event.

Example: He was hired as a tutor, but he wasn't trained to teach formally.

QED

 

I hope he appreciates the grammar lesson!  It's astonishing how little most native speakers understand about the use of their language.

[KireB]

7 minutes ago, dinsdale said:

Quite obviously you have no idea about teaching English as a 2nd or other language so don't pretend you do. Indeed I think it would be fair to say you have no idea about teaching full stop. I am a qualified teacher are you?

Qualified teacher? Are you a good teacher? Your comments are full of anger, half truths and plain lies. How can you be a good teacher?

Stay away from my kids.

 

[hotsun]

4 minutes ago, KireB said:

Qualified teacher? Are you a good teacher? Your comments are full of anger, half truths and plain lies. How can you be a good teacher?

Stay away from my kids.

 

Are you filipino? Those people speak an annoying watered down version of english. They are the poor mans english teachers. US companies offshore their call centers there to save money, thats it

[dinsdale]

18 minutes ago, KireB said:

Qualified teacher? Are you a good teacher? Your comments are full of anger, half truths and plain lies. How can you be a good teacher?

Stay away from my kids.

 

Pitiful. 23 yrs teaching experience. Guess I can't be all bad. As for being full of anger you misunderstand. I simply respond to idiotic, nasty and puerile posts such as yours with rational, balanced and thoughtful responses. As for "half truths and plain lies" you obviously cannot support this personal attack. If you think you can go right ahead.

This is what student's at my school think of me. There were lots more of these Valentine's stickers by the end of the day.

 

[dinsdale]

30 minutes ago, brewsterbudgen said:

 

I hope he appreciates the grammar lesson!  It's astonishing how little most native speakers understand about the use of their language.

Correct. When I watch news from Oz, the US and the UK there are always grammatical errors. I was never actually taught grammar at school. Sometimes I'll ask Thai teachers if I'm not sure about a grammar point. Education systems in the west stopped teaching the 3 R's in the 70's I think. The results are obvious. There is a big push for "back to basics" education. Not everything learnt needs to be focused on experiential learning and creativity.

[bamnutsak]

Time to send out for help from North Korea.

 

Thai Minister of Education was ridiculed mercilessly on social media.

 

 

Thai minister praises North Korean education system

 

Thailand's education minister has praised North Korea's school system for its "discipline and patriotism," and asked the international pariah for help in creating a similar environment for the kingdom's students.

 

The remarks made last month came to light after a statement from a meeting between Education Minister Permpoon Chidchob and the North Korean ambassador was circulated among Thai media.

 

Permpoon praised North Korea's schooling system, saying Bangkok sought "educational support to discipline children with patriotism and respect for country leaders."

 

https://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/nation/2025/02/103_368391.html

 

 

an older article where DPRK's education system is the envy of Thailand...

 

 

 

Thai Education Minister: Thai education resembles North Korea

 

The Education Minister and the North Korean Ambassador to Thailand mutually agreed that the education systems of both countries are rather similar and plan to develop ties by educational exchanges.

 

The two agreed that the educational systems of both countries are similar. The similar elements include free 12-year basic education. Moreover, a few students from North Korea come to Thailand to study. 
 
The Thai Education Minister proposed that the Ministry will talk with Thai universities with a view to an exchange programme with North Korean universities.  

 

https://prachataienglish.com/node/4495

 

[dinsdale]

10 minutes ago, bamnutsak said:

Permpoon praised North Korea's schooling system, saying Bangkok sought "educational support to discipline children with patriotism and respect for country leaders."

Write 1000 times I love Thailand, I love the King and I love Buddhism. Education problem solved.

[CharlieH]

Posts removed, STOP the personal attacks please.

 

Keep it civil or move on! 

[bendejo]

On 2/14/2025 at 2:43 PM, Zaphod Priest said:

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

 Does she speak English with a Kentucky accent, like this guy?  😊

(Mitch Mcconnell)

 

 

Why should they learn farang language if they are not going to be dealing with farang?  Perhaps some people feel it is language imperialism.  And on that subject, a few years back there was buzz going around in the media that Beijing was pushing an initiative to get people in other countries to learn Mandarin as their second language.  I would expect that someone in the Thai education system accommodated them.

 

[scottiejohn]

1 hour ago, dinsdale said:

I think it would be fair to say you have no idea about teaching full stop.

I think it would be fair to say you have no idea about the people you jump to unfounded conclusions about and then insult on AN!