1 minute ago, Caldera said:

That doesn't surprise me. Relatively few Thais seem to value education, not limited to acquiring foreign language skills. 

 

 

Not helped when the parents also fail to value education.

On 12/18/2025 at 10:51 AM, Woke to Sounds said:

IF I were a Thai, I wouldn't worry too much about it.

 

This is Thailand and we speak Thai.

 

English has no place here when you think about it really.

If only you had thought about it a little more deeply perhaps you’d have understood the wider detrimental implications. Thailand has no need of communication with the wider English speaking world.?? 🙄 

6 minutes ago, hotandsticky said:

Not helped when the parents also fail to value education.

 

Yes, definitely. I don't blame the students for this, but their parents and teachers. 

1 minute ago, Caldera said:

 

Yes, definitely. I don't blame the students for this, but their parents and teachers. 

 

I agree......plus 'the system

21 hours ago, JimHuaHin said:

Thailand wants more foreign tourists, but English proficiency declines?  I wonder if Thailand's proficiency in any foreign language has increased recently?

 

But, there is an explanation - as Thai ultra-nationalistic conservativism increases, English proficiency decreases.

I agree that Thailand is ultra national conservative however in the 15 years I have lived here I have seen quite an increase in younger people speaking English and children attending additional classes outside of school to learn English.

My daughter attends such classes where they are taught to read phonetically.

If only the government schools did the same.

24 minutes ago, StevieAus said:

children attending additional classes outside of school to learn English.

In many cases, it's the same Thai/English teacher they have in school.

 

In many cases, the students MUST come to her outside classes to pass the course in school. 

 

The teacher actually holds back in class, and then tells all, in outside classes where he/she gets paid.  😞 

5 hours ago, Emdog said:

Schools would do better if they had bar girls teach convo English... I wonder how they would do as a group on those English tests?

Better….

4 hours ago, MarkBR said:

Very much like the etonian elite of UK

"We are no match for their untamed wit - Eton Rifles, Eton Rifles! 
Though some of the lads said they’d be back next week.." 🎶 

Come on Thailand. You usually come first in all world negative matters. Such as number of annual road deaths being something like 32,000 or similar.  I'm disappointed after reading your , "English Proficiency Index" Scored 116 out of 123. I'm not impressed. You can do it. Get a score of 123 next year and you get the trophy.😁

5 hours ago, cnx101 said:

Many young Thais have no interest in learning English try working in a Thai school you will see,

 

5 hours ago, cnx101 said:

Many young Thais have no interest in learning English try working in a Thai school you will see,

That really is staggering and unnatural in a child, it has to be social conditioning? That said I find so many here who have little intellectual curiosity- the same problem? 
I took my 9 year old stepdaughter to UK for an education. A level English and maths with a first in business economics resulted together with a graduate job in e commerce and now 30 years old and working for the Apple corporation . Though I would say she’s probably much brighter than the average Thai. 

On 12/18/2025 at 1:03 AM, thesetat said:

Obviously this would happen... Given Pattayas need to communicate with so many foreigners and that there are so many foreigner kids in the schools. Still, even that number is very low. 

Thailand throws away so much money teaching English. My wife wanted to put our daughters in the English program at school and I refused. They already speak English better than any Thai student. Even my 5 year old speaks better than the P-6 students in the school. 

I have seen first hand how teachers help the kids cheat on tests to get better scores with the school. But the EF test makes it hard to cheat. 

 

Not many parents care to know if their kids are actually learning English when they pay for it in the schools. They expect the kid to learn it, but get angry at the school and teachers when the scores are low. 

The teachers pretend to teach and the students pretend to learn... 

1 hour ago, Chongalulu said:

"We are no match for their untamed wit - Eton Rifles, Eton Rifles! 
Though some of the lads said they’d be back next week.." 🎶 

Let's have a Jam!

I've been a volunteer (unpaid) English teacher here in Udon Thani for close to 20 years. I along with several others attempted to help Thai teachers with teaching English, many of whom thought we were there to teach their students when in fact we were there to help the Thai teachers teach their students.  We encountered many Thai teachers who resented our presence thinking we were a threat to their job. 

The problems of teaching English here in Thailand are quite complex and include poorly educated/trained Thai teachers, poorly trained school directors who show less than real interest in managing their teachers, parents who know little about what is going on in their schools, an antiquated curriculum, run down schools many with totally inadequate IT capabilities and the lack of interest/motivation in learning English by the grand majority of  students.  I believe the biggest challenges for the students other than a lack of motivation is the enormous differences between the Thai & English languages in both speaking and writing.  

We participated in numerous English Camps throughout the years which produced little additional learning for most of the students.  We quickly learned that we would be lucky if we helped 30% of the students attain a better ability in their English language studies.  

We were involved with numerous rural/city primary, secondary and university level schools here in the province. 

13 minutes ago, fdimike said:

 

We were involved with numerous rural/city primary, secondary and university level schools here in the province. 

May I ask who is we?

So this report is solely based on how 2.2 million people of an average age of 26 are proficient in English. No mention of what the test entails the questions asked and the locations selected.
There’s a lot of 26 year olds throughout the regions within the country. I’d assume that many have no need to speak English simply because of where they live and the their job.

In my personal experience I’ve found that those who work in businesses where foreigners are likely to be encountered have always had enough knowledge of English to communicate well. These include banks, dentists, hospitals, immigration. You might say people in these roles have had a better education but if you consider those who work in the “entertainment” trade might have a poor education but in order to make money understand it’s imperative to learn a foreign language and do so in order to succeed.
English will always be a second language in Thailand, used by a minority, whilst the majority have no need for it on a daily basis.

22 hours ago, StayinThailand2much said:

 

It's similar in China; the mainlanders are ultra-nationalists, too... 

The number of Chinese who speak English conversationally is less than 1% or around 10-30 million, with proficiency varying greatly. Yet for smaller countries that number would be almost the entire population.

6 hours ago, StayinThailand2much said:

 

Yes, I've heard all Indonesians are fluent in Dutch, and all Vietnamese in French... 😆 

In Cambodia, Siem Reap specifically, my ex TGF was approached by 2 youngsters, whom i might describe as street urchins.

 

They wanted our empty plastic bottles. They spoke to her in Khmer which neither of us understood.

When she looked baffled, I said "Lady Thai", upon which they looked at me and asked for the bottles in good French. I assume they thought I sounded French.

When I gave them the bottles, saying "Here you are", the reply came in English "Thanks Mister"

 

So, poor uneducated kids with 3 languages perhaps  necessary for their own survival?

 

IME, most Asians, other than Thais, have at least a good grasp of a second language, usually but not always English.

 

The "We" refers to the volunteers who taught under the umbrella of the Udon Education Foundation (UEF) which was a certified Thai charitable organization.  The "we" refers to the Director (now deceased) of UEF, his Administrative Assistant (bilingual Thai lady), myself, and several other foreigners who chose to help us along the way some of whom have already passed away.  

18 minutes ago, VBF said:

IME, most Asians, other than Thais, have at least a good grasp of a second language, usually but not always English.

 

Agreed. The two countries in Asia where one cannot get far with English are Thailand and China... (Wonder, why.) 😆 

8 hours ago, AustinRacing said:

Well my second grade boy at an English school is taught 5th grade English compared to oz. But he can hardly spell simple 3-letter words. What it says is that they don’t teach the proper way. So what do parents/teachers do here? They get kids to memorize the text. So in the minds of officials they have high standards of education but in reality it’s hollow. Superficiality is a norm here. 

The difference btwn Thai students who succeed learning English and those who don't is that those who do take their English home with them in some form

Lack of English skills is part of the charm. I, personally, know a little survival Thai, enough to function at the market  or wherever. I must admit I often find it very useful to have closed ears, with the little Thai I do know. Anyway, nowadays, Mandarin is probably more important. Horses for courses, as they say. The world is changing.

On 12/18/2025 at 2:14 PM, ikke1959 said:

I am not surprised.. In  Government schools with 40 to 50 kids in a class, who are not willing to learn, because why should they, as everything is always in Thai even English Camps, they can't even fail for the subject as for all other subjects. So why learn?? Besides that the Government talk that they need to learn English, but nothing is done in English, no TV shows, no movies, no English Camps, nothing at all and if you are from a poor family, living in a rural area, why should you learn a strange language that probably you never need?? Sometimes I see Thai English teachers, who can speak good English and they are also very upset that after 6 years English in Prathom, the students are not able to count from 1 to 20, or even can decent reply on questions as How old are you/What is your age and how are you?... They can't remember anything as they are not thinking. In most schools the teacher teach and the student copy without questions...the O net tests are the same .. all below average, except a few kids who are always in every class who want to learn but 95% even don't do an effort.

And you spend lots of money for very high educated English foreign teachers, but the learning is with the student. You can drag horses to water, but you can't make them drink....

I think you will find that there are numerous movies and TV shows in English. Probably more than any other language.

9 minutes ago, neverere said:

I think you will find that there are numerous movies and TV shows in English. Probably more than any other language.

here in THailand??? 

46 minutes ago, ikke1959 said:

here in THailand??? 

Yes, not difficult to find.

9 hours ago, Chongalulu said:

If only you had thought about it a little more deeply perhaps you’d have understood the wider detrimental implications. Thailand has no need of communication with the wider English speaking world.?? 🙄 

Imagine a pilot only speaks Thai and not English 

It’s only in international schools where they employ fully qualified, professional staff and that you see English widely spoken. All the other schools have taken on drunken sex pests for 30k baht a month. Hardly surprising the standard isn’t great.

On 12/18/2025 at 10:51 AM, Woke to Sounds said:

IF I were a Thai, I wouldn't worry too much about it.

 

This is Thailand and we speak Thai.

 

English has no place here when you think about it really.

I'll keep this reply brief

 1, Thailand is a first world country with a third world mentality

 2, You are a muppet

 

On 12/18/2025 at 10:55 AM, Purdey said:

We no speak English because we no need dirty foreign tourists. Um 

The working girls need English as it aids their income... everyone else can get by on limited use

Lotsa haters on here givin me the red thumb.

 

Maybe the fellas who can't be arxed to learn some Thai?

 

Thailand could be self sufficient if it wanted to, much like Turkey, make everything in country, closed loop, no need for English, increase communication with China.

 

TH's main alliance is with China anyway. Chinese is probably the more advantageous language to learn rather than English at this stage.

 

Mi Xue is a Chinese ice cream brand, gots more branches than Starbux and McDees combined.

 

I rest my case.

 

🙏

 

 

On 12/18/2025 at 9:39 PM, kingstonkid said:

The challenge is simple.  Kids sit in a classroom and speak English for 40 minutes.  Then when they leave  , all they speak is Thai.

 

This is the same thing that happens in many countries.  In Ontario, as a student, I did the same thing with French and German.

 

There has to be the ability of students to meet after school with each other in an area tht they speak English. 

 

We did French but no German. What decade in Ontario?