Thais Face Challenges Getting Asean Jobs

[chrisinth]

It may not hurt all employees, but for example it will hurt a lot of Thais competing for better paid jobs with multinationals where English is a daily part of the workplace.

In some way, it may actually create a lot of jobs, because regional offices might move here to avail themselves of low rents and be able to bring all their Asean employees along without the need for workpermits.

This is actually happened already in the Rayong area. I know of two companies in the last year to have been taken over, but maintaining their old names by ASEAN members. I could not relate this to the 2015 agreement, but can see it happening more and more.

[chrisinth]

OK, let's cast reality to the wind and assume that Thailand can sort the language issue out within, um, three years.

We still have the problem that the Thai education system is based on rote memorisation and mechanical box-ticking, and prioritises knowing one's place and respecting one's superiors above any form of critical thinking.

"OK, Somchai, how do we build a safe, durable, affordable bridge across that river?"

"My ajarn he say the answer is C."

Doubt the university degrees are based on box-ticking.

[BigJohnnyBKK]

You are exactly right. If other ASEAN countries people are so smart, why were they colonised in the first place?

You actually think that Thailand was never colonized because Thai people in general are more intelligent than the populations neighboring countries that were colonized? What a laugh. . .

I agree that your royalty were very clever negotiators, but bottom line was the deal made sense for the Brits and French to be granted huge blocks of Thai-controlled territory in exchange for letting the country keep its core, and saving the costs of taking the lot by force. Various historical economic/political factors helped as well, but the intelligence of the "Thai people" in general is certainly not one of them, in fact is in my experience very obviously not any higher than its neighbors (and I'm being generous).

One of the better countries around here with English speakers is, surprisingly, Burma. It makes me giggle when I think of some Burmese coming here to work in the hotel industry and, probably, getting a reasonable position due to their superior English skills. Then, one day, we'll see a Thai employee wai-ing his Burmese line manager : they'll just love that!!

If the rules as agreed are enforced, then yes we will probably see this happen pretty darn quickly. If Thailand puts up obstructionist barriers in violation, then they will likely be denied the benefits as well, and with the rest of ASEAN getting a huge power-boost from economic integration will quickly fall behind.

I don't think the powers that be care much about Thailand's individual professionals as opposed to the opportunities to its large corporations.

Those servicing the international sector will need English much more than anyone will be inconvenienced by having to learn Thai.

If Thais need English language skill to go to work in Singapore.

No "if" that's a fact now and for at least another few decades - fluent Chinese will likely be just as valuable in future, but not just yet.

> I hope the Thai govt return an eye for an eye, and request Thai language skill for Singaporeans to work in Thailand.

Believe me any professional Singaporeans who want to service the local market will pick up the necessary Thai language skills very quickly, most likely mastering it long before they ever arrive here.

However since most of them will be targetting the international corporate market, their superior English skills will allow them to compete most effectively, and that's the point, Thais need to raise their game, especially in clear pronunciation in spoken English, which many Thais find very difficult even after somehow obtaining graduate degrees in the US or the UK.

This will be especially important for customer-facing jobs in the tourist industry, almost every aspiring ex-peasant I've met in Burma and Cambodia has had a much higher level of English than even so called "hi-so" Thai's who've been so-called "students" for decades.

Barriers to entry abound. However, there is one bit of legislation hiding in this bunch that is interesting.

A wholly owned Asean company is supposed to have free entry into buying or entering any industry Asean business. So a foreign company that owns its company 100% in a legal entity that allows 100% foreign ownership can enter the Thai market? I can't see the Thai-Chinese agro exporters giving that one up for a millisecond.

They (or rather their government by proxy) already has "given that up" - that's the fundamental point, it's been on the books for years and only now are policy-makers trying to get everyone to wake up and smell the coffee.

And this will be an excellent opportunity for Thailand to improve its game and become more competitive across the board. The longer the country allows its pampered elite to keeps it's "well at least we control most of the pie" at the expense of growing the whole pie, it's going to continue to fall further and further behind its neighbors in international competitiveness.

Maybe one day they'll even realize that those countries with the highest long-term growth are those that actually encourage skilled immigration, and get away from the xenophobic "Thailand for Thai's". Probably about the same time local corruption is overcome and the education system improved. Haven't seen too many wings sprouting from the backs of piglets yet. . .

[Tatsujin]

Don't apoloize for being right. Amazing. He suggests not using the internationally accepted language of business, art, travel, and technology in favor of a language that is 100% useless outside the borders where it is spoken, Now there is a novel way for several countries to come together as a group and move backwards in tandem.

It wasn't really an apology, just a little of my British sarcasm and despair over Thailand's head up it's ass attitude creeping in lol

[oevna]

If Thais need English language skill to go to work in Singapore.

I hope the Thai govt return an eye for an eye, and request Thai language skill for Singaporeans to work in Thailand. (Complimentry Thai language skill may be picked up in Nana & Soi Cowboy)

You are missing the point - it is not that English is spoken in Singapore and so there should be a quid pro quo, it is the fact that there needs to be a common language for people to work on large and pan-national projects, and the hope of the ASEAN Economic Community is that more of these should be forthcoming - if you look at the way the European project has developed (in terms of langauge), you do not get many Finnish doctors moving to be GPs in Portugal without knowing the language there, but on large programs and projects it is English that is the default language - companies such as EADS - the biggest defence contractor in Europe, may be majority owned in France and Germany but the default language inside the company is English.

A lot of technical work is done in English, and although people see the rise of Chinese, I do not see Mandarin, Cantonese or any of the other Chines languages taking over in the near future.

I am glad to say that some parts of the technical establishment in Thailand are taking these matters seriously, and are trying to raise the skillbase in technical and language terms to be able to compete after 2015.

For the first time I see them now opening up and accepting external help to prepare them.

the ASEAN experience could be the biggest shockwave to ever hit the insularity of the Thais.

Highlighting the skills of the Malaysians and Singaporeans is not a bad thing as this is the internal competition in ASEAN and the regional rivalry is the only thing that makes the politicians listen

Crobe

This is true, but Thailand will not be able to solve these problems until there is fair competition for higher education and job opportunities within Thailand based on merit, not on how rich and influential your parents are.

As it is, there is very little motivation for the rural poor to pursue higher education because it is too expensive, and even if they could afford it, it still wouldn't give them a fair chance against the elite rich. It isn't to the (short term) benefit of the rich to improve this situation, because then they would have to work much harder to ensure the most desirable jobs for themselves and their children. This just breeds mediocrity and incompetence.

The tragedy is that it would actually benefit the whole country (the rich included) if there was real competition based on merit. It would bring up everyone's quality of living, and the reputation of the country as a whole would follow.

This is of course a generalization, and there are exceptions to it. I know skilled Thai engineers who work hard and are punctual and multilingual. However, they are also not the children of farmers, and they don't live in Thailand anymore.

This problem exists to varying degrees all over the world, and Thailand is not the worst case. It is just especially disappointing to me, because Thailand has so much potential to improve, but shows no sign of doing it.

[anterian]

Thailand's Achilles's heel has always been its Xenophobically based refusal to face reality. The next few years should be interesting to watch, if we are not all washed away by another flood.

[Sing_Sling]

Living and working in Malaysia, having lived and worked in Singapore, Thailand and Hong Kong I can only say Thailand should have been so lucky as to be colonised . . . they certainly would have a better infrastructure, laws, education system etc...

I've met very few Hongkies, Malaysians or Singaporeans complain about having been a colony . .. perhaps they can look past their arrogant and childish 'face' and appreciate that it wasn't an all-together bad thing

What a shame that the colonial powers looked at Thailand and decided it wasn't worth it . . . preferring countries like Ghana, Guinea-Bissau and New Guinea

[allan michaud]

sparebox2

The Thais need to take their head out of their arse and stop thinking they are better than others and learn to compete in the Asean market place.

I couldn't agree more, they need a forward looking politician to have the balls to tell it how it is. This is just one example of how this country has stagnated under politicians all too ready to play the nationalist card.

This is what you get when your country is run by self serving thugs (Red, yellow or otherwise).

[Om85]

People here are talking about the lack of language skills of Thai people but I disagree, the most of the Thai people don't need to speak any other language but Thai because they live and work here in Thailand, but in any case, there is plenty of Thai people out there that speak Englsih very well, I know that because I am studying in a Thai university and the most of my classmates are Thai, if any other foreigner pretend to come here and work here then they should be able to learn Thai, the same that when you go to US, Germany or any other country, Thais must to protect themselves again competition, that's what I think, in the other hand I do believe that Thai should make more flexible rules regarding to foreigner who have Thai relative(wives, child, etc) and allow them to live and work freely in LOS but hell yes they most protect themselves against Chinese, Indians etc otherwise .......

Edited March 12, 2012 by Om85

[Thai at Heart]

People here are talking about the lack of language skills of Thai people but I disagree, the most of the Thai people don't need to speak any other language but Thai because they live and work here in Thailand, but in any case, there is plenty of Thai people out there that speak Englsih very well, I know that because I am studying in a Thai university and the most of my classmates are Thai, if any other foreigner pretend to come here and work here then they should be able to learn Thai, the same that when you go to US, Germany or any other country, Thais must to protect themselves again competition, that's what I think, in the other hand I do believe that Thai should make more flexible rules regarding to foreigner who have Thai relative(wives, child, etc) and allow them to live and work freely in LOS but hell yes they most protect themselves against Chinese, Indians etc otherwise .......

Protect themselves against the Chinese? They already run the country anyway, and have squirrelled away their passports long ago. I laugh when Thailand talks about being proud about never having been colonized (which I presume means by arms), meanwhile, their economy has been completely co-opted by the Chinese right under their own noses.

[lovelaos]

sparebox2

Maybe your just hiding behind the fact that Thais international language skills are amongst the lowest in Asia whereas the Singaporean will speak at least two languages and that skill also applies to several other nationalities who are also capable of communicating in English.

If you read the article carefully you would realise that the main reason Thais would not be able to compete is education and the necessary skills and experience needed to compete.

The Thais need to take their head out of their arse and stop thinking they are better than others and learn to compete in the Asean market place.

Wasn't it last year that the goverment announced English was going to be the official second language and then a couple of days later withdrew the plan. " Because we don't want Thai people thinking they were once colonised by the British" Bloody pathetic and soon the chickens will come home to roost.

You are exactly right. If other ASEAN countries people are so smart, why were they colonised in the first place?

So, Thais are so smart because they have never been colonised?

Try this. Thais are unable to accept different ideas or concepts from any other race or nationality because they have this deluded sense of 'we have never been colonised because we are so smart/strong/superior'.

Edited March 12, 2012 by lovelaos

[TackyToo]

No surprise that the majority of Thai Engineers/ Architects etc will be struggling for professional accreditation, they have had a nice wooly existence where they are and only they can do those jobs in this country-- hence no need to try to improve. I have known a fully qualified architect from the UK married here for years and years but unable to ply his profession and a Swiss medical doctor who too was prohibited from plying her profession, both were reduced to teaching English. So in truth I have very little sympathy for the position of Thai professionals when it comes to ASEAN, as it is largely been brought about by the xenophobic/nationalist policies of their government, which if you spoke to most of them in the past and possibly some of them now, they were or are quite happy to lap up.

"Now, less than 100 engineers across the region have been recognised as Asean chartered professional engineers because it's really tough and difficult to achieve the criteria"

Welcome to the real world! Finally they find out engineering requires a little more serious scrutinizing than fruit carving!

"With these tough criteria, most Thai engineers and architects cannot compete with leading skilled workers in the region"

For most Thai engineers and architects it is time to accept, professional standards are set in advance according to a curriculum and are not prone to convenient standards and pre-paid certificates of individuals.

To make it short: The Thai way, blaming high standards in more developed Nationsfor their own incompetence don’t work outside “The Thai Light Zone.”

[KhaoNiaw]

Thais unable to work in Asean, but also many Asean nationalities unable to work here because of Thai language requirements on a day to day basis in these professions.

Result? No change : Thais stay here, and not many foreigners come to take the jobs. Just what those who run this country want.

Some of the other ASEAN countries have been preparing for the AEC for the best part of a decade already and have set up Thai language courses to degree level.

[Om85]

People here are talking about the lack of language skills of Thai people but I disagree, the most of the Thai people don't need to speak any other language but Thai because they live and work here in Thailand, but in any case, there is plenty of Thai people out there that speak Englsih very well, I know that because I am studying in a Thai university and the most of my classmates are Thai, if any other foreigner pretend to come here and work here then they should be able to learn Thai, the same that when you go to US, Germany or any other country, Thais must to protect themselves again competition, that's what I think, in the other hand I do believe that Thai should make more flexible rules regarding to foreigner who have Thai relative(wives, child, etc) and allow them to live and work freely in LOS but hell yes they most protect themselves against Chinese, Indians etc otherwise .......

Protect themselves against the Chinese? They already run the country anyway, and have squirrelled away their passports long ago. I laugh when Thailand talks about being proud about never having been colonized (which I presume means by arms), meanwhile, their economy has been completely co-opted by the Chinese right under their own noses.

Well I guess that you are referring to the ancestry of many of the most wealthy Thai families and some of the members of the government, but it doesn't change nothing, me myself I am of Chinese and Spanish ancestry, and what? the same have happened in Singapore , in Malaysia, in Myanmar in Vietnam etc but if have nothing to do with the actual situation, if you want to come and work here and make business here , then you should learn Thai, I know that for many foreigner learning Thai is difficult but if you want to live here then you should learn the language and the culture.But before continuing saying the same mantra that Thailand have been colonized by the Chinese I recommend you to read an excellent book: "The Chinese in Thai Society" . Edited March 12, 2012 by Om85

[Sing_Sling]

Well I guess that you are referring to the ancestry of many of the Thai most wealthy families and some of the member of the government, but it doesn't change nothing, me myself I am of Chinese and Spanish ancestry, and what? the same have happened in Singapore , in Malaysia, in Myanmar in Vietnam etc but if have nothing to do with the actual situation, if you want to come and work here and make business here , then you should learn Thai, I know that for many foreigner learning Thai is difficult but if you want to live here then you should learn the language and the culture.

You sound Thai to me, in terms of syntax, grammar, choice of words etc...

You say Thais should protect themselves from foreign influence . . . and Thais would agree . . . because it allows them to stagnate and keep the low standards they so much enjoy.

Here's a thought . . . allow competition and let Thais fight for their goals, allow them the wonderful art of mentally dueling with others.

As I mentioned before, I worked in HK, Singapore, Thailand and now in Malaysia . . . in each of those three countries with an educated workforce (you may choose the odd man out) there used to be many foreigners in many areas of the economy, engineers, bankers, medical professionals etc . . . and now there are fewer and fewer. Would you care to guess why?

Yes, Thais would be weeping and sobbing and crying for their Mummies for a while because the big bad foreigners would be kicking their scrawny <deleted> all over the place . . . but that changes.

It's tough growing up, isn't it

[Thai at Heart]

Thais unable to work in Asean, but also many Asean nationalities unable to work here because of Thai language requirements on a day to day basis in these professions.

Result? No change : Thais stay here, and not many foreigners come to take the jobs. Just what those who run this country want.

Some of the other ASEAN countries have been preparing for the AEC for the best part of a decade already and have set up Thai language courses to degree level.

There are already hundreds of companies happily existing in Thailand where the vast majority of their business is conducted in English.

medical practitioners, dental practitioners, nursing services, engineering services, architectural services, surveying qualifications, and accountancy services

Imagine a wholly owned Singaporean architectural firm opening up in Bangkok without the current restrictions laid upon it today? They can hire as many Thai speaking lackeys as they want to deal with the finer details for the clients, but I tell you what, they would pick up a BOAT load of business.

There are already hundreds of situations I can think of every day in my business, where despite speaking good Thai, I would dearly love to deal with a professional who spoke better English. Don't also forget, that many multinationals have contracts with Singaporean companies to provide many services which they cannot avail themselves of in Thailand because of restrictions. No problem Mr. Customer, I will open an office in Bangkok for you straight away. Offices will get rented, some local employees will inevitably get hired, some taxes will get paid, so overall, it may be a benefit.

On the whole I don't think this will be quite the trainsmash some think it may be. A lot of companies will hire more people from Asean simply because it will be easier to do so. That in and of itself doesn't mean that it is detrimental on the whole for the economy, and will simply mean that a company will hire the best people it can find, and not be limited to the local market.

Whether Thailand will get its fair share of opportunity outside Thailand out of a change as this is a different matter. Anyone for a Thai architect or accounting firm in Singapore or Malaysia? And that problem has nothing to with Asean and everything to do with Thailand itself.

[Thai at Heart]

People here are talking about the lack of language skills of Thai people but I disagree, the most of the Thai people don't need to speak any other language but Thai because they live and work here in Thailand, but in any case, there is plenty of Thai people out there that speak Englsih very well, I know that because I am studying in a Thai university and the most of my classmates are Thai, if any other foreigner pretend to come here and work here then they should be able to learn Thai, the same that when you go to US, Germany or any other country, Thais must to protect themselves again competition, that's what I think, in the other hand I do believe that Thai should make more flexible rules regarding to foreigner who have Thai relative(wives, child, etc) and allow them to live and work freely in LOS but hell yes they most protect themselves against Chinese, Indians etc otherwise .......

Protect themselves against the Chinese? They already run the country anyway, and have squirrelled away their passports long ago. I laugh when Thailand talks about being proud about never having been colonized (which I presume means by arms), meanwhile, their economy has been completely co-opted by the Chinese right under their own noses.

Well I guess that you are referring to the ancestry of many of the most wealthy Thai families and some of the members of the government, but it doesn't change nothing, me myself I am of Chinese and Spanish ancestry, and what? the same have happened in Singapore , in Malaysia, in Myanmar in Vietnam etc but if have nothing to do with the actual situation, if you want to come and work here and make business here , then you should learn Thai, I know that for many foreigner learning Thai is difficult but if you want to live here then you should learn the language and the culture.But before continuing saying the same mantra that Thailand have been colonized by the Chinese I recommend you to read an excellent book: "The Chinese in Thai Society" .

Have read many, am pretty good at Thai thank you very much, go about conducting my business in Thailand more than effectively in Thai.

Go read the list of protected Thai industries, and wonder who actually controls these businesses and why protecting them could be of benefit to the country as a whole. We have been faced with 7 years of mess in this country because the potential liberalisation of some of these protected industries was being put on the table. Just look at True trying desperately to fight DTAC, and the mess that AIS got into. If this hadn't been liberalised, we would still be paying AIS 30,000 baht for the most basic Nokia that costs 500 baht today. And wonder why Thaksin got his knickers in a twist about being liberalised whilst all the others got to play behind their protective laws.

The debate about opening up the country always comes down to whether allowing western firms into compete with domestic firms is beneficial to the country. Look at who owns these large domestic companies be they banks, agro-exporters or retailers, photo shop owners? gold traders, handicraft manufacturers, realise that they are happily going about the merry business without a care in the world for the domestic population, making oligopoly profit.

Consumer rights? That will be 200 baht for your bank statement sir. The time is fast approaching when these so called Thai companies will HAVE to face competition and it will probably come from within Asean first and then elsewhere.

[edwinchester]

sparebox2

Maybe your just hiding behind the fact that Thais international language skills are amongst the lowest in Asia whereas the Singaporean will speak at least two languages and that skill also applies to several other nationalities who are also capable of communicating in English.

If you read the article carefully you would realise that the main reason Thais would not be able to compete is education and the necessary skills and experience needed to compete.

The Thais need to take their head out of their arse and stop thinking they are better than others and learn to compete in the Asean market place.

Wasn't it last year that the goverment announced English was going to be the official second language and then a couple of days later withdrew the plan. " Because we don't want Thai people thinking they were once colonised by the British" Bloody pathetic and soon the chickens will come home to roost.

You are exactly right. If other ASEAN countries people are so smart, why were they colonised in the first place?

To put it in simple terms, in the past weaker nations were colonised because they had something worth having whether of raw materials or strategic/geographical location.

Posted with Thaivisa App http://apps.thaivisa.com

[Roj]

If Thais need English language skill to go to work in Singapore.

I hope the Thai govt return an eye for an eye, and request Thai language skill for Singaporeans to work in Thailand. (Complimentry Thai language skill may be picked up in Nana & Soi Cowboy)

You are missing the point - it is not that English is spoken in Singapore and so there should be a quid pro quo, it is the fact that there needs to be a common language for people to work on large and pan-national projects, and the hope of the ASEAN Economic Community is that more of these should be forthcoming - if you look at the way the European project has developed (in terms of langauge), you do not get many Finnish doctors moving to be GPs in Portugal without knowing the language there, but on large programs and projects it is English that is the default language - companies such as EADS - the biggest defence contractor in Europe, may be majority owned in France and Germany but the default language inside the company is English.

A lot of technical work is done in English, and although people see the rise of Chinese, I do not see Mandarin, Cantonese or any of the other Chines languages taking over in the near future.

I am glad to say that some parts of the technical establishment in Thailand are taking these matters seriously, and are trying to raise the skillbase in technical and language terms to be able to compete after 2015.

For the first time I see them now opening up and accepting external help to prepare them.

the ASEAN experience could be the biggest shockwave to ever hit the insularity of the Thais.

Highlighting the skills of the Malaysians and Singaporeans is not a bad thing as this is the internal competition in ASEAN and the regional rivalry is the only thing that makes the politicians listen

Crobe

I understand you loud and clear. I also understand the important of a common language.

When EU come together, they pick a common language from the memeber countries. They didn't pick Chinese just because Chinese is the most widely used first language. Come to think of it, have the French, German or Spanard accepted English as the common language in EU? I still see headphone on almost every deligates in Brussel's meetings.

When ASEAN come together, they should pick a common language from the memeber countries. Not English, just because it is the most widely used second language. Most likely it will be Thai or Bahasa Indonesian.

This is good bait you`re using today, keep reeling them in - this is the best days fishing you`ve had for a long while. Edited March 12, 2012 by Roj

[belg]

if guess thai people forget that in order to work in other countries, you should be able to speak something else than thai, let's say descent english...

guess there is a big problem for thailand

[wackysleet]

edwinchester.

That is exactly what I wrote in another reply to sparebox2.

[Roj]

sparebox2.

You totally epitomise the utter stupidity of the Thai race, it was never about defeating clever races to enable the Brits to colonise it was about whether the country in question had anything that we wanted.

And he`s not even Thai - that`s some achievment.

[Thai at Heart]

Q. Go read the list of protected Thai industries, and wonder who actually controls these businesses ?

A. . . . . . Thaksin, Thaksin, and Thaksin.

Fortunately in the opinion of some, that isn't true that he controls all of them.

[Payboy]

Thais Face Challenges Getting Asean Jobs

What's the salary for a Thai langauge teacher in Asean countries? If everything else fails, they could always work as teachers.

Edited March 12, 2012 by Payboy

[wackysleet]

Om 85.

Do you not understand that Thai protectionism will beget the same from other Asean countries which will leave Thailand in the brown stuff even deeper.

You comment that your studying at university and that you know lot's of students that speak fluent or very good English, really?, I know lot's of them also and their English does not compare with my 7 yr old daughter that speaks Thai, English and is learning Chinese, in fact I know numerous Thais with so called degrees in the English language that cannot string three understandable words together. Not sure how much their degrees cost them though.

We are actually talking about international companies here that will probably trade worldwide as well as in the Asean community and probably the real need to converse in Thai will be negated by them employing your English speaking friends from university.

These overseas employees will be occupying highly skilled positions that the Thais have admitted they cannot fullfil. They will not be working in the local pizza or burgher bar and they will come here because it's cheaper to have an office.

sparebox2.

Be prepared to be colonised by the forward thinking Aseans because Thailand may well be on it's way to being just a satelite destination for the Asean conglomerates.

[wackysleet]

There is another interesting topic on TVs email concerning how Thai rice farmers cannot grow as much rice per rai as their neighbours and at a very high cost so my advice to them is watch out for your exports from your nearby friends.

You really need to address this problem whatever the cause before 2015.

[Thai at Heart]

There is another interesting topic on TVs email concerning how Thai rice farmers cannot grow as much rice per rai as their neighbours and at a very high cost so my advice to them is watch out for your exports from your nearby friends.

You really need to address this problem whatever the cause before 2015.

That horse has already bolted. The way around that issue is for them to concentrate on growing the absolutely BEST quality they can and reduce volume of lower quality product. Part of the issue with what is going on at the moment is that they are producing more and more low quality rice to grab the subsidy.

[wackysleet]

Thai at Heart.

I understand what's going on but government policy should be directed to what is best for the country in the way of exports and not buying expensive votes.

The government has stockpiles of rice that cannot compete with rice from Vietnam in the export market so the do need to concentrate on quality over quantity.

[Om85]

Well I guess that you are referring to the ancestry of many of the Thai most wealthy families and some of the member of the government, but it doesn't change nothing, me myself I am of Chinese and Spanish ancestry, and what? the same have happened in Singapore , in Malaysia, in Myanmar in Vietnam etc but if have nothing to do with the actual situation, if you want to come and work here and make business here , then you should learn Thai, I know that for many foreigner learning Thai is difficult but if you want to live here then you should learn the language and the culture.

You sound Thai to me, in terms of syntax, grammar, choice of words etc...

You say Thais should protect themselves from foreign influence . . . and Thais would agree . . . because it allows them to stagnate and keep the low standards they so much enjoy.

Here's a thought . . . allow competition and let Thais fight for their goals, allow them the wonderful art of mentally dueling with others.

As I mentioned before, I worked in HK, Singapore, Thailand and now in Malaysia . . . in each of those three countries with an educated workforce (you may choose the odd man out) there used to be many foreigners in many areas of the economy, engineers, bankers, medical professionals etc . . . and now there are fewer and fewer. Would you care to guess why?

Yes, Thais would be weeping and sobbing and crying for their Mummies for a while because the big bad foreigners would be kicking their scrawny <deleted> all over the place . . . but that changes.

It's tough growing up, isn't it

You are so wrong, at fist I am not Thai, I am Mexican, second stop comparing Thai with other nationalities, just go out there and ask Thai people what they want, the most of them are not interested in becoming a Hong Kong or a Japan, and Yes Thai people should protect themselves from foreigners the same that european countries , America and Japan do, and honestly, if you think that my grammar or the words that use seems the way in which Thai write in English then you don't know nothing about Thai people, I guess:)

[Om85]

Om 85.

Do you not understand that Thai protectionism will beget the same from other Asean countries which will leave Thailand in the brown stuff even deeper.

You comment that your studying at university and that you know lot's of students that speak fluent or very good English, really?, I know lot's of them also and their English does not compare with my 7 yr old daughter that speaks Thai, English and is learning Chinese, in fact I know numerous Thais with so called degrees in the English language that cannot string three understandable words together. Not sure how much their degrees cost them though.

We are actually talking about international companies here that will probably trade worldwide as well as in the Asean community and probably the real need to converse in Thai will be negated by them employing your English speaking friends from university.

These overseas employees will be occupying highly skilled positions that the Thais have admitted they cannot fullfil. They will not be working in the local pizza or burgher bar and they will come here because it's cheaper to have an office.

sparebox2.

Be prepared to be colonised by the forward thinking Aseans because Thailand may well be on it's way to being just a satelite destination for the Asean conglomerates.

Well here there is a lot of International companies working already and it seems to me that the language is not a big deal for them, i will give you some examples: Pepsi, Coca Cola, Toyota, Lotus, Suzuki etc.