Typical distraction approach to criticism.

Sadly, Thai ability in English is atrochious. End of.

3 hours ago, Peabody said:

In a large grocery store, when I ask a Thai employee where an item is, they generally point somewhere or say "aisle whatever". Then I say "Show me."

Yeah, I'm gonna call you on your ignorance

You have pointed to another "pet peeve" ... store clerks who just pick an aisle to get rid of you, or the ones who start wandering around looking for the item, and now make it my job to tag along like a child. I tell them "I have eyes and actually know what i am looking for, I don't need you to search for me ... I am looking for someone who KNOWS WHERE IT IS and can walk directly to it! 555!

6 hours ago, osr29555 said:

As a Norwegian, I understand Scottish English quite well. Mostly by watching Scottish actors on Heartbeat😄

Umh, I rather thought "Heartbeat" was set in Yorkshire. Now being from Somerset myself, I know that both Scotland and Yorkshire are in the strange and dark lands way north of Gloucester, but even so, there is quite a difference...

On 1/12/2026 at 11:49 AM, HappyExpat57 said:

You can't lay all the blame on the teachers. The whole Thai education system is flawed with perhaps the most important issue being that you cannot fail a student no matter how bad their performance. The students usually figure this out by Grade 3 and this is dispiriting for all but the most eager to truly learn.

You see ... I would say this is a very Thai way of separating the goats from the sheep without making anyone feel bad or lose face.

1 hour ago, paul1804 said:

...why would the Thai government not make English in schools compulsory given not only the global trend but Thailand is hugely reliant on tourism!!

It is compulsory, starting in primary 1.

If you want to see how well some Thai kids can speak English, then check out these incredible young guys and their videos about Bangkok

https://www.instagram.com/paiduayy/

They don't even appear to be from an International school.

How do I get 6 thumbs down speaking the trues some Thais do speak English, you like me to Thai bash as many of you do?

On 1/12/2026 at 8:39 AM, webfact said:

A Thai English teacher addressed a viral complaint by a Filipina tourist about the lack of English comprehension in Thailand. In her response, the teacher emphasised respect and cultural understanding more than language proficiency.

In other words, come here for your holiday, put up with it, spend you money, and go home, because Thai's, and Thailand, don't care what you think.

Meanwhile, down the road in Vietnam, their tourism is up over 21%.

Quite a contrast.

I stopped having a problem being taken to my hotel after a kind lady taught me to say Olenten for Oriental Hotel, with the correct tones and length of the vocals. Took quite a bit of practice.

5 hours ago, still kicking said:

How do I get 6 thumbs down speaking the trues some Thais do speak English, you like me to Thai bash as many of you do?

There are too many ignorant, bitter alcoholics with nothing better to do than get a cheap thrill giving the thumbs down thing on this forum. Never happened when it was ThaiVisa. Add to that the anonymity factor, it's turned into the Wild, Wild West here.

Thailand is not the phillipines,I find some thais or not as good as the phillipines.But they do they best and I find it ok

😅 criticising someone's English while sounding like a Philippino call centre

Thats like Lizzo calling me overweight

18 hours ago, radiochaser said:

If the Spanish person goes to the Philippines, they might run into someone that they can have a conversation in Spanish with. I have met a few Philippines that could speak it.

That is true of many countries eg if a French person goes to Algeria they can carry on speaking French, there are of course exceptions but the vast majority of people would use English when visiting other countries if they can speak it in the first place.

21 hours ago, rattlesnake said:

Indeed. If she wants to communicate with Thai people, she should learn to speak Thai.

Just get a good translator app, that's all you need. Amazingly, social media people can't use them and then complain when no one understands them.

Even Thai English speakers might have difficulty with the Filipino English accent, which is very harsh compared to most English accents.

7 hours ago, bristolgeoff said:

Thailand is not the phillipines,I find some thais or not as good as the phillipines.But they do they best and I find it ok

The irony of discussing English proficiency using incomprehensible grammar, incorrect spelling and punctuation.

Let's at least get the main topic spelt correctly: The Philippines!!

The government should be ashamed of itself. It is one of the reasons that soon, Vietnam's GDP will exceed Thailand's.

Appoint an education minister with the task of substantially improving English in schools, and throughout Thailand. Bring in school inspectors to see its progress.

Pass a law that every Thai sign; name, or government instruction must show the English translation.

Like it or not, English is now the international language.

13 hours ago, Puccini said:

I stopped having a problem being taken to my hotel after a kind lady taught me to say Olenten for Oriental Hotel, with the correct tones and length of the vocals. Took quite a bit of practice.

Or, you could do like most people and carry the hotel's business card to give to a driver, or load the hotel name and address into an app. 🙂

On 1/13/2026 at 9:39 AM, Scouse123 said:

I don't think the Japanese give a damn.

About 10 years ago I was working, for my company in Osaka, Japan. One of my western colleagues suggested, at a snr. m'ment meeting (about 15 Japanese managers, 2 western managers) that the company should start English classes. And his comment was translaed (as per our normal meeting process) into Japanese.

All the Japanese managers were horrified / angry / insulted and said so. And demanded that was no need for English classes and it should be recorded in the meeting minutes that the suggestion for English classes be officially not approved.

The Japanese director responsble for all administration, organizational issues etc., told the global HQ to have western manager concerned returned promptly to the USA. The Japanese director had no authority to make such an order but the global HQ were well aware of the cultural nature of the request.

They ignored the request from Japan but 2 weeks later the western manager got an email advising him that his secondment to Japan would end 2 weeeks later (email copied to the Japanese Admin director and all the Japanese Snr. Mngr team) and he should start the process of getting himself back to th US and the details of his next posting in the US, returning to the US by xx/xx/xxxx.

20 hours ago, JamesPhuket10 said:

She was a tourist, does that mean she has to learn the hundreds of main languages in the world so she can go and visit those countries? That sounds a bit daft.

What language do you think German, French, Russian etc tourists use to speak to Thais, English of course but no problem as most people in the tourist trade do speak English and if not they can use the simple to use instant Iphone translator app.

What language does a Spanish person use when going on holiday to Germany for example, English of course.

Most tourists get along just fine, even if that involves using hand gestures or, as you said, a translation app.

Most Thais don't speak very good English and they don't care. This Filipina – who probably has a Spanish name due to her country's colonised past – seems to be Thai-bashing for clicks. She should understand that Thailand is a tight-knit country which has consistently resisted foreign influences, and that English proficiency is not an objective qualitative criterion.

I hear the Filipina has wholeheartedly apologised for the misguided comments. I would like to put myself forward as a candidate for her personal overseer to mentor her rehabilitation, and get her back on track in real time.

3 hours ago, rattlesnake said:

Most tourists get along just fine, even if that involves using hand gestures or, as you said, a translation app.

Most Thais don't speak very good English and they don't care. This Filipino – who probably has a Spanish name due to her country's colonial past – seems to be Thai-bashing for clicks. She should understand that Thailand is a tight-knit country which has consistently resisted foreign influences, and that English proficiency is not an objective qualitative criteria.

I believe you are wrong. At around 40 million tourists per annum, they are not resisting very hard. My girlfriend was looking for a job 6 months ago, and English proficiency was high on the list of qualifications. It was the main reason she failed to get some positions, as her English proficiency is not great. Most families with money like to send their offspring overseas for an education, too.

4 hours ago, JensenZ said:

At around 40 million tourists per annum, they are not resisting very hard.

They'll take the money but that's about as far as their interest goes.

4 hours ago, JensenZ said:

My girlfriend was looking for a job 6 months ago, and English proficiency was high on the list of qualifications.

So she wasn't applying for a job the average Thai applies for.

4 hours ago, JensenZ said:

Most families with money like to send their offspring overseas for an education, too.

A very small minority which does not reflect the average household at all.

https://world.thaipbs.or.th/detail/filipina-tourist-says-sorry-after-criticising-thai-language-barriers/60175?fbclid=IwY2xjawPVjT9leHRuA2FlbQIxMABicmlkETFPSURjaUFQMkFUWngxRVRjc3J0YwZhcHBfaWQQMjIyMDM5MTc4ODIwMDg5MgABHgYlFmccQ1vx0a7oHavmvR3DU-IvNgB_ubz0uqnNRiFyFBZj5vDvVIzi2chr_aem_C7xgdo3jaxDvhyy5riX62g

fact in thailand english skills are low

fact as well ...when a minister says " thailand has the potenzial to be a world leading language"

no wonder

On 1/14/2026 at 3:32 PM, rattlesnake said:

Most tourists get along just fine, even if that involves using hand gestures or, as you said, a translation app.

Most Thais don't speak very good English and they don't care. This Filipina – who probably has a Spanish name due to her country's colonised past – seems to be Thai-bashing for clicks. She should understand that Thailand is a tight-knit country which has consistently resisted foreign influences, and that English proficiency is not an objective qualitative criterion.

On 1/13/2026 at 10:45 PM, still kicking said:

How do I get 6 thumbs down speaking the trues some Thais do speak English, you like me to Thai bash as many of you do?

Because this blog is a magnet for moaners with nothing much else to do all day long, if you write something sensible, positive and true about Thailand or its people and you will be thumb down all day long. 😃

On 1/14/2026 at 3:31 PM, scorecard said:

About 10 years ago I was working, for my company in Osaka, Japan. One of my western colleagues suggested, at a snr. m'ment meeting (about 15 Japanese managers, 2 western managers) that the company should start English classes. And his comment was translaed (as per our normal meeting process) into Japanese.

All the Japanese managers were horrified / angry / insulted and said so. And demanded that was no need for English classes and it should be recorded in the meeting minutes that the suggestion for English classes be officially not approved.

The Japanese director responsble for all administration, organizational issues etc., told the global HQ to have western manager concerned returned promptly to the USA. The Japanese director had no authority to make such an order but the global HQ were well aware of the cultural nature of the request.

They ignored the request from Japan but 2 weeks later the western manager got an email advising him that his secondment to Japan would end 2 weeeks later (email copied to the Japanese Admin director and all the Japanese Snr. Mngr team) and he should start the process of getting himself back to th US and the details of his next posting in the US, returning to the US by xx/xx/xxxx.

At some point around 1997 I worked for Sony in Munich Germany, mobile phone developments GSM (the system the world uses today).

As it was a Japanese company all the top managers were Japanese, the software engineers were mostly British, I was one of them.

The meetings were all held in English.

The cultural differences was it was obvious most of the decisions had already been decided before the meetings so I though why waste time with meetings, the culture was opposite to the West where the purpose of the meeting was to reach the best outcome based on the input of the technical information/knowledge of the people present in the meeting.