Thai Prime Minister Speaking In English (Vid)

[geriatrickid]

You don't really have to speak English to graduate from a university in the US. A lot schools just look at foreign students as cash cows that subsidize local ones and have the added benefit of increasing diversity and prestige. When I was in college I personally knew a number of foreign students with really poor English that I know for a fact that would pay people to write their papers for them. I also knew American students that would provide this service. One of these foreign students even offered to have sex with me in exchange for writing her paper (I had to unfortunately turn this down as I was in the same class and had the same paper to turn in and I couldn't write both in time). Especially in a big public school where you are basically anonymous it is quite easy and rampant. So many students when I was in college could barely even hold a conversation in English, especially among foreign math, engineering, and science students. I met many who were even worse than Yingluck, and her English is horrible from what I've heard.

In math, science and engineering, the language is more often arabic numerals and greek symbols, not english.

I agree, the language skills of the foreign students, especially the asian students was often poor. However, they compensated for this by studying long hours. Had you socialized with these students, you would have discovered, that their poor verbal skills was offset by their pronounced reading comprehension. The asian students I had in my class were able to follow instructions and they weren't the ones that had the lab accidents. It was people like my lab partner, Mr. I drink beer all night and come to school hungover.

Edited June 25, 2012 by geriatrickid

[geriatrickid]

So Yingluck thinks Global warming is a major issue, but not reducing emissions. I think she said we must watch and look at agriculture because, hmmm because its important, Oh dam what the hell did she say?

At least she parroted the Amsterdam line on her brother, "We listen to voters who give mandate" or something along those lines.

PS: Did she say ASEAN makes up half the worlds population?

At least she .......hmmm.... she spoke english, sort of.

Thai rice production is less dependent upon oil than is the Indian rice production. As such, Thailand leaves a smaller carbon footprint.

[Payboy]

So Yingluck thinks Global warming is a major issue, but not reducing emissions. I think she said we must watch and look at agriculture because, hmmm because its important, Oh dam what the hell did she say?

At least she parroted the Amsterdam line on her brother, "We listen to voters who give mandate" or something along those lines.

PS: Did she say ASEAN makes up half the worlds population?

At least she .......hmmm.... she spoke english, sort of.

Thai rice production is less dependent upon oil than is the Indian rice production. As such, Thailand leaves a smaller carbon footprint.

Dunno if they burn the paddy fields in India like the Thais do. That would be one hell of an unrecorded carbon footprint.

[kerryk]

You don't really have to speak English to graduate from a university in the US. A lot schools just look at foreign students as cash cows that subsidize local ones and have the added benefit of increasing diversity and prestige. When I was in college I personally knew a number of foreign students with really poor English that I know for a fact that would pay people to write their papers for them. I also knew American students that would provide this service. One of these foreign students even offered to have sex with me in exchange for writing her paper (I had to unfortunately turn this down as I was in the same class and had the same paper to turn in and I couldn't write both in time). Especially in a big public school where you are basically anonymous it is quite easy and rampant. So many students when I was in college could barely even hold a conversation in English, especially among foreign math, engineering, and science students. I met many who were even worse than Yingluck, and her English is horrible from what I've heard.

I went to a large State school 50,000 students. Exams were proctered by grad students who knew all the students and slipping in a ringer was impossible. Term papers were a small percentage of the total grade. It is nonsense to suggest that you could pay another to go to college for you. Large lecture classes have small discussion groups. I don't know where you went to school but methinks it was a bit odd. A Thai person at a black teachers college would stand out like a sore thumb. I would think most of your post is implausible. Perhaps at a junior college level but certainly not at a graduate level. Did you go to school in the UK? Maybe it is different there.

[kerryk]

Why is her English sooo bad?

It was probably a bit better when she was a studying for her advanced degrees in Kentucky, but since her return (been a while now?) I reckon she's been speaking 99.999% Thai and therefore her English skills have been slipping.

If you don't use it you lose it as my SOs keep telling me. . .

Why do you think she spoke English while in the US? You don't honestly think she wrote her own papers or did her own homework, do you? If you do, then I would like to offer to sell you the Brooklyn Bridge for very favorable price.

There are many, many wealthy Thais that go overseas for their education and can barely speak or write English at all. They hire someone to do their work for them, and classes are specifically selected that can be engineered to generate a passing grade with minimal language skills. I'm not saying you are wrong that it didn't get worse since then. I don't know one way or the other. But it would be presumptuous to assume the current PM's English was ever any better than today.

In the absence of any supporting evidence, your allegations are false. You make some strong claims, now back them up. I spent a decade in various universities in faculties filled with foreign students. I never once saw any evidence of your claims and I was a student, a teaching assistant and a marker.

I second that. I also questioned his facts a few posts ago without reply.

[DP25]

I went to a large State school 50,000 students. Exams were proctered by grad students who knew all the students and slipping in a ringer was impossible. Term papers were a small percentage of the total grade. It is nonsense to suggest that you could pay another to go to college for you. Large lecture classes have small discussion groups. I don't know where you went to school but methinks it was a bit odd. A Thai person at a black teachers college would stand out like a sore thumb. I would think most of your post is implausible. Perhaps at a junior college level but certainly not at a graduate level. Did you go to school in the UK? Maybe it is different there.

I went to a state school in the US with over 30k students. Everything I said is complete truth. No way in hell did any TA know who I was in the vast majority of classes I took, especially in upper division courses. Some lower division classes they would, but after that most classes were lecture only and TAs have no idea who is who. You can show up 3 days a semester for many courses, first day to get the syllabus, then on again the day of the midterm (maybe also day before for review session), then again to for the final exam or to turn in a final paper. So easy to do. You are completely anonymous in a 200-300 person lecture, and most don't even have sections. Many classes term papers were worth half of your total grade, some were even the entire grade. When you have a single paper worth 30% of your grade and you're in a 200 person lecture with no section its very tempting for some people to cheat and no one will ever know unless are extremely stupid about it. One of my Asian friends with really bad English was really stupid about it, ended up getting kicked out because he turned in an exact copy of a student's paper from a previous year. Was never caught all the other times he had done it though.

[DP25]

In math, science and engineering, the language is more often arabic numerals and greek symbols, not english.

I agree, the language skills of the foreign students, especially the asian students was often poor. However, they compensated for this by studying long hours. Had you socialized with these students, you would have discovered, that their poor verbal skills was offset by their pronounced reading comprehension. The asian students I had in my class were able to follow instructions and they weren't the ones that had the lab accidents. It was people like my lab partner, Mr. I drink beer all night and come to school hungover.

I knew LOTS of Asian students and spent lots of time socializing with them. I lived with many of them. I dated some of them. Yeah, for most written ability was higher than their spoken, but for many that was awful as well. Maybe they could do a lab, but they had a lot of trouble doing their humanities requirements. Many TAs would take the fact that it is their second language into consideration when grading, so they had some leeway. I personally know a number of these students who cheated however.

And in my experience it is not true at all that all Asian students study hard. A lot of them are getting away from their parents for the first time and go wild. Others spend most of their time playing computer games on the internet. Many are extremely lazy, especially some of the ones whose parents aren't sacrificing anything to send them.

[kerryk]

I went to a large State school 50,000 students. Exams were proctered by grad students who knew all the students and slipping in a ringer was impossible. Term papers were a small percentage of the total grade. It is nonsense to suggest that you could pay another to go to college for you. Large lecture classes have small discussion groups. I don't know where you went to school but methinks it was a bit odd. A Thai person at a black teachers college would stand out like a sore thumb. I would think most of your post is implausible. Perhaps at a junior college level but certainly not at a graduate level. Did you go to school in the UK? Maybe it is different there.

I went to a state school in the US with over 30k students. Everything I said is complete truth. No way in hell did any TA know who I was in the vast majority of classes I took, especially in upper division courses. Some lower division classes they would, but after that most classes were lecture only and TAs have no idea who is who. You can show up 3 days a semester for many courses, first day to get the syllabus, then on again the day of the midterm (maybe also day before for review session), then again to for the final exam or to turn in a final paper. So easy to do. You are completely anonymous in a 200-300 person lecture, and most don't even have sections. Many classes term papers were worth half of your total grade, some were even the entire grade. When you have a single paper worth 30% of your grade and you're in a 200 person lecture with no section its very tempting for some people to cheat and no one will ever know unless are extremely stupid about it. One of my Asian friends with really bad English was really stupid about it, ended up getting kicked out because he turned in an exact copy of a student's paper from a previous year. Was never caught all the other times he had done it though.

Totally different experience. They checked a photo ID when I turned in exams. Most of the exams were written in a blue book. No way to cheat. All of my grad assistants knew me. Lectures may have been 2000 but the discussion sections were 10 or 20 students. Of course you didn't address what I said about being a Thai girl going to school at a black teachers college? Do you think everyone would know her? Of course they would. I would imagine she was cute back then. Admit it DP you are in error and you don't have a shred of evidence to back you up except some things that may have happened when you went to school , my guess would be California.

[theblether]

Right, if your going to start posting photos of Ms Shinawatra, here's two I made earlier.

Songkran Parade, Chiang Mai, 2012

I thought it was great that she took part in the Parade and got soaked with the rest of us, and I loved the way she just hopped, skipped and jumped into the back of the pick up truck. Good stuff

Edited June 25, 2012 by theblether

[DP25]

Totally different experience. They checked a photo ID when I turned in exams. Most of the exams were written in a blue book. No way to cheat. All of my grad assistants knew me. Lectures may have been 2000 but the discussion sections were 10 or 20 students.

We did all our exams in a blue book too. You wrote your name and your student ID number on it, but they don't normally check your ID though. Only time mine was ever checked was for a math exam exam freshmen year. For the rest they never checked, you just put your blue book in a pile and walk out. Lots of classes where I was didn't even HAVE discussion sections, that was mainly a lower division thing and even then attendance was often optional.

I'm not claiming anything with regards to Yingluck. It's entirely possible that they where she went they just cut foreign students a huge amount of slack so that they are able to graduate. I'm just pointing out that it is not uncommon at all for an Asian student to finish college in the US and still have poor English skills. Yingluck is not unique at all in this. There are a variety of reasons that this can occur.

[waza]

Totally different experience. They checked a photo ID when I turned in exams. Most of the exams were written in a blue book. No way to cheat. All of my grad assistants knew me. Lectures may have been 2000 but the discussion sections were 10 or 20 students.

We did all our exams in a blue book too. You wrote your name and your student ID number on it, but they don't normally check your ID though. Only time mine was ever checked was for a math exam exam freshmen year. For the rest they never checked, you just put your blue book in a pile and walk out. Lots of classes where I was didn't even HAVE discussion sections, that was mainly a lower division thing and even then attendance was often optional.

I'm not claiming anything with regards to Yingluck. It's entirely possible that they where she went they just cut foreign students a huge amount of slack so that they are able to graduate. I'm just pointing out that it is not uncommon at all for an Asian student to finish college in the US and still have poor English skills. Yingluck is not unique at all in this. There are a variety of reasons that this can occur.

Left motherless at a young age, Yingluck Shinawatra says her eldest brother became like a parent to her. From college in the U.S., to running Thailand’s biggest mobile phone company and now seeking to become prime minister, Thaksin Shinawatra guided her life.

“He’s the one who took care of me and helped in terms of education and teaching me on the management style,” Yingluck said in a June 8 interview conducted in English at a Bangkok slum, where hundreds of supporters thronged around her. She described Thaksin as her “second father,” “People know very little about her thoughts,” said Kongkiat Opaswongkarn, chief executive officer of Asia Plus Securities Pcl (ASP), Thailand’s third-biggest brokerage. “She reports directly to Thaksin. The slogan the party uses, ‘Thaksin thinks, Pheu Thai implements,’ will be exactly the way it is.”

Thaksin described Yingluck as “not my nominee but my clone,” in an interview published May 20 in the Bangkok-based Matichon newspaper. “I raised her like my eldest daughter because mom passed away when she was young,” Matichon cited him as saying,

Yingluck obtained a master’s degree in public administration in 1990 from Kentucky State University in the U.S. The Frankfort-based school is about 50 miles northwest of Eastern Kentucky University, where Thaksin earned a master’s degree in criminal justice fifteen years earlier. http://www.bloomberg...-investors.html

I guess with a convicted criminal and fugitive from justice as your mother and father cheating for a degree would be natural.

Hmmmm.........

13 people listed as notable Alumni but none are Yingluck.......

The Master of Public Administration degree program at Kentucky State University was accredited by NASPAA in June 1997.

All new applicants (including transfer applicants) seeking graduate level admission to the School of Public Affairs must supply the following credentials:

• An Application for Admission (click here for Application fee information) Applications must be received by July 1 for the fall semester; by November 15 for the spring semester; and by April 15 for the summer session.
  
• Official transcripts indicating that applicants have completed a bachelor's degree. Transcripts of international students must be submitted in English, and any translation of transcripts certified. Applicants with undergraduate GPAs below 3.0 must also provide evidence that the applicant meets Admission Requirement B below. This proof may be transcripts indicating completion of related undergraduate coursework, or employment verification, or GRE or GMAT test scores. Applicants should read section B below carefully. If applicants are uncertain about whether or not their coursework or employment histories fulfill Admissions Requirement B, they should also submit a GRE or GMAT score.
  
• Three (3) letters of recommendation.
  

Edited June 25, 2012 by waza

[attrayant]

There are many, many wealthy Thais that go overseas for their education and can barely speak or write English at all. They hire someone to do their work for them, and classes are specifically selected that can be engineered to generate a passing grade with minimal language skills. I'm not saying you are wrong that it didn't get worse since then. I don't know one way or the other. But it would be presumptuous to assume the current PM's English was ever any better than today.

A shame to go through all that trouble at The university of Kentucky. Kind of like NASA faking a trip to the 7-11.

[sirineou]

So Yingluck thinks Global warming is a major issue, but not reducing emissions. I think she said we must watch and look at agriculture because, hmmm because its important, Oh dam what the hell did she say?

At least she parroted the Amsterdam line on her brother, "We listen to voters who give mandate" or something along those lines.

PS: Did she say ASEAN makes up half the worlds population?

At least she .......hmmm.... she spoke english, sort of.

Finally , some one other than bigJohnny that wants to talk about the substance of the Op and not about my punctuation or who is more cute, and what she did or did not do at college.

By the way, I wonder did any one bother to watch the Ted talk video BigJohnny posted on Global warming??

Any way

in a conversation about China,with in the context of ASEAN she said, that Agriculture is the base of the Thai economy and that Thailand with in that context must protect it's water resources.

then the interviewer agreed and said

" exactly, agriculture is very important, and climate change too, is that a serious problem for Thailand?

with in that context she answered,

" climate change is not only a problem for Thailand , but for the whole world, every country in the world has to be concerned about climate change,and went on to say that she thinks the flooding was a result of climate change and Thailand has to, readjust and to learn how to manage and learn how to live with this.

then question asked of her at the interview was:

As PM what you think is your biggest challenge

Answer:"

there are really Two challenges. First climate change, because of the flood situation".

to which the interviewer replied, " so your job is to reduce emissions"

To which she replied

"No ., I think my job is... because we cant live like this we need to think about the environmental context,the environmental context has being changed, we need to understand this and how to cope,and plan for the future of the country".

and then went to talk about her second challenge, being the economy.

Nowhere did she talk about global warming, but only with in the context of climate change, and the affects of that change to the base of the Thai economy , which is Agriculture.

Nowhere did she say that she did not want to reduce emissions.

[geriatrickid]

Totally different experience. They checked a photo ID when I turned in exams. Most of the exams were written in a blue book. No way to cheat. All of my grad assistants knew me. Lectures may have been 2000 but the discussion sections were 10 or 20 students.

We did all our exams in a blue book too. You wrote your name and your student ID number on it, but they don't normally check your ID though. Only time mine was ever checked was for a math exam exam freshmen year. For the rest they never checked, you just put your blue book in a pile and walk out. Lots of classes where I was didn't even HAVE discussion sections, that was mainly a lower division thing and even then attendance was often optional.

I'm not claiming anything with regards to Yingluck. It's entirely possible that they where she went they just cut foreign students a huge amount of slack so that they are able to graduate. I'm just pointing out that it is not uncommon at all for an Asian student to finish college in the US and still have poor English skills. Yingluck is not unique at all in this. There are a variety of reasons that this can occur.

You are referencing an undergrad experience. It is very different in grad school. The maximum number of students in my classes was 50 and the average was less than 25. I went to 2 different grad schools. In many of my classes we had a name plate we put in front of ourselves so that the instructor could identify us. In other classes, they took our photos for the prof. In other classes, the prof made sure he knew everyone. Towards my later years at exam time, we had to swipe our id cards in the gizmo and show them to the proctors. You are aware that the PM did an MPA and not an undergrad "humanities" course, right?

[Briggsy]

She did an interview with ABC (Australia). It was well rehearsed but if her answers were transcribed, it would have been hard to figure out what she was on about and the key indicator of prior preparation was that the answers often had no relation to the question.

She has the obligatory MBA from an American uni of course.

After 15 years of living here, I have come to the conclusion that Thais are just crap at languages, possibly even worse than my own country, the UK. Cultural reasons include being surrounded poor countries whose language they have no intention of learning, differences in approaching language i.e. importance of formality and relative position in Thai vs importance of time aspect in English, poor teaching in Thailand and a political importance placed on monolingualism.

[kerryk]

She did an interview with ABC (Australia). It was well rehearsed but if her answers were transcribed, it would have been hard to figure out what she was on about and the key indicator of prior preparation was that the answers often had no relation to the question.

She has the obligatory MBA from an American uni of course.

After 15 years of living here, I have come to the conclusion that Thais are just crap at languages, possibly even worse than my own country, the UK. Cultural reasons include being surrounded poor countries whose language they have no intention of learning, differences in approaching language i.e. importance of formality and relative position in Thai vs importance of time aspect in English, poor teaching in Thailand and a political importance placed on monolingualism.

Almost all Thais (90%) speak at least 3 languages not one of which is English. How many languages do most (90%) Brits speak? Let me ask you a question, how many Brits can hold a conversation in another language? As a result of a recent Gallop poll it was discovered more Americans are bi lingual than the total population of the UK.

http://www.gallup.co...d-language.aspx

[skybluestu]

She did an interview with ABC (Australia). It was well rehearsed but if her answers were transcribed, it would have been hard to figure out what she was on about and the key indicator of prior preparation was that the answers often had no relation to the question.

She has the obligatory MBA from an American uni of course.

After 15 years of living here, I have come to the conclusion that Thais are just crap at languages, possibly even worse than my own country, the UK. Cultural reasons include being surrounded poor countries whose language they have no intention of learning, differences in approaching language i.e. importance of formality and relative position in Thai vs importance of time aspect in English, poor teaching in Thailand and a political importance placed on monolingualism.

Almost all Thais (90%) speak at least 3 languages not one of which is English. How many languages do most (90%) Brits speak? Let me ask you a question, how many Brits can hold a conversation in another language? As a result of a recent Gallop poll it was discovered more Americans are bi lingual than the total population of the UK.

http://www.gallup.co...d-language.aspx

Almost all Thais speak at least 3 languages?! Care to explain? And the amount of Americans that can converse in a 2nd language isn't really relative as the population is so much higher, I'd say the % of the population is more important and 23% isn't as high as in the UK.

'In general, 38% of UK citizens report that they can speak (well enough to have a conversation) at least one language other than their mother tongue, 18% at least two languages and 6% at least three languages.'

Edited June 26, 2012 by skybluestu

[kerryk]

She did an interview with ABC (Australia). It was well rehearsed but if her answers were transcribed, it would have been hard to figure out what she was on about and the key indicator of prior preparation was that the answers often had no relation to the question.

She has the obligatory MBA from an American uni of course.

After 15 years of living here, I have come to the conclusion that Thais are just crap at languages, possibly even worse than my own country, the UK. Cultural reasons include being surrounded poor countries whose language they have no intention of learning, differences in approaching language i.e. importance of formality and relative position in Thai vs importance of time aspect in English, poor teaching in Thailand and a political importance placed on monolingualism.

Almost all Thais (90%) speak at least 3 languages not one of which is English. How many languages do most (90%) Brits speak? Let me ask you a question, how many Brits can hold a conversation in another language? As a result of a recent Gallop poll it was discovered more Americans are bi lingual than the total population of the UK.

http://www.gallup.co...d-language.aspx

Almost all Thais speak at least 3 languages?! Care to explain? And the amount of Americans that can converse in a 2nd language isn't really relative as the population is so much higher, I'd say the % of the population is more important and 23% isn't as high as in the UK.

'In general, 38% of UK citizens report that they can speak (well enough to have a conversation) at least one language other than their mother tongue, 18% at least two languages and 6% at least three languages.'

If you knew any Thai people you would know they all speak, Lao, Thai and another regional dialect. Sure numbers are relative. Percent is what is not relative. For tourism it is not relative what percent of people hold passports it is relative how many people hold passports. To buy Spanish food it is not relative the percent of people who eat Spanish food it is relative how many people eat Spanish food. When you have an Army it is not relative what percent of people are in the Army it is relative how many people are in the Army.

So what I am saying Yingluck speaks at least 4 languages although she doesn't speak Thai very well. Thai people are better at languages than most Americans and Brits.

[skybluestu]

She did an interview with ABC (Australia). It was well rehearsed but if her answers were transcribed, it would have been hard to figure out what she was on about and the key indicator of prior preparation was that the answers often had no relation to the question.

She has the obligatory MBA from an American uni of course.

After 15 years of living here, I have come to the conclusion that Thais are just crap at languages, possibly even worse than my own country, the UK. Cultural reasons include being surrounded poor countries whose language they have no intention of learning, differences in approaching language i.e. importance of formality and relative position in Thai vs importance of time aspect in English, poor teaching in Thailand and a political importance placed on monolingualism.

Almost all Thais (90%) speak at least 3 languages not one of which is English. How many languages do most (90%) Brits speak? Let me ask you a question, how many Brits can hold a conversation in another language? As a result of a recent Gallop poll it was discovered more Americans are bi lingual than the total population of the UK.

http://www.gallup.co...d-language.aspx

Almost all Thais speak at least 3 languages?! Care to explain? And the amount of Americans that can converse in a 2nd language isn't really relative as the population is so much higher, I'd say the % of the population is more important and 23% isn't as high as in the UK.

'In general, 38% of UK citizens report that they can speak (well enough to have a conversation) at least one language other than their mother tongue, 18% at least two languages and 6% at least three languages.'

If you knew any Thai people you would know they all speak, Lao, Thai and another regional dialect. Sure numbers are relative. Percent is what is not relative. For tourism it is not relative what percent of people hold passports it is relative how many people hold passports. To buy Spanish food it is not relative the percent of people who eat Spanish food it is relative how many people eat Spanish food. When you have an Army it is not relative what percent of people are in the Army it is relative how many people are in the Army.

So what I am saying Yingluck speaks at least 4 languages although she doesn't speak Thai very well. Thai people are better at languages than most Americans and Brits.

Firstly, I do know Thai people and quite a lot of them! My wife is Thai, many of my friends are Thai and most of my colleagues are Thai and very few of them speak three languages. Obviously they all speak Thai and most are either good or fairly good at English while a few are quite good at Lanna but that is it. I think your claim that 90% of Thais speak at least 3 languages is far from the truth.

Sometimes numbers are relative and sometimes, when making comparisons, % is relative. You said that more Americans are bi-lingual than the whole population of the UK but that is only because the population is so large, if you look at the % that can speak two or more languages then America is actually fairly low.

[kerryk]

Almost all Thais (90%) speak at least 3 languages not one of which is English. How many languages do most (90%) Brits speak? Let me ask you a question, how many Brits can hold a conversation in another language? As a result of a recent Gallop poll it was discovered more Americans are bi lingual than the total population of the UK.

http://www.gallup.co...d-language.aspx

Almost all Thais speak at least 3 languages?! Care to explain? And the amount of Americans that can converse in a 2nd language isn't really relative as the population is so much higher, I'd say the % of the population is more important and 23% isn't as high as in the UK.

'In general, 38% of UK citizens report that they can speak (well enough to have a conversation) at least one language other than their mother tongue, 18% at least two languages and 6% at least three languages.'

If you knew any Thai people you would know they all speak, Lao, Thai and another regional dialect. Sure numbers are relative. Percent is what is not relative. For tourism it is not relative what percent of people hold passports it is relative how many people hold passports. To buy Spanish food it is not relative the percent of people who eat Spanish food it is relative how many people eat Spanish food. When you have an Army it is not relative what percent of people are in the Army it is relative how many people are in the Army.

So what I am saying Yingluck speaks at least 4 languages although she doesn't speak Thai very well. Thai people are better at languages than most Americans and Brits.

Firstly, I do know Thai people and quite a lot of them! My wife is Thai, many of my friends are Thai and most of my colleagues are Thai and very few of them speak three languages. Obviously they all speak Thai and most are either good or fairly good at English while a few are quite good at Lanna but that is it. I think your claim that 90% of Thais speak at least 3 languages is far from the truth.

Sometimes numbers are relative and sometimes, when making comparisons, % is relative. You said that more Americans are bi-lingual than the whole population of the UK but that is only because the population is so large, if you look at the % that can speak two or more languages then America is actually fairly low.

I can't help it you are from a little country. The percent of people who live in Monaco and don't like gambling is also probably fairly low. Like I said there are more American bi lingual people than the total population of the UK

You're one of those high fa luting Northern fellas eh (Chiang Mai)?

Everybody in Issan and Bangkok speaks at least 3 languages and that is the majority of of the Thai population. Anyone in the border areas speaks the either Khmer or Lao and the people in the mountain areas speak all kinds of funny languages.

Wiki below

Street or common Thai, spoken Thai: informal, without polite terms of address, as used between close relatives and friends.

• Elegant or formal Thai: official and written version, includes respectful terms of address; used in simplified form in newspapers.
  
• Rhetorical Thai: used for public speaking.
  
• Religious Thai: (heavily influenced by Sanskrit and Pāli) used when discussing Buddhism or addressing monks.
  
• Royal Thai: (influenced by Khmer) used when addressing members of the royal family or describing their activities.
  

Most Thais can speak and understand all of these contexts. Street and elegant Thai are the basis of all conversations; rhetorical, religious and royal Thai are taught in schools as the national curriculum.

Do you know how many languages are spoken in Thailand? 75 at least.

[edwinclapham]

I think English speaking countries are notoriously bad for speaking other languages, having said that we were lucky as kids being subjected to a French, Thai & Dutch education.

Many children in Australian schools are learning Mandarin or one of the European languages.

[BigJohnnyBKK]

Street or common Thai, spoken Thai: informal, without polite terms of address, as used between close relatives and friends.

• Elegant or formal Thai: official and written version, includes respectful terms of address; used in simplified form in newspapers.
  
• Rhetorical Thai: used for public speaking.
  
• Religious Thai: (heavily influenced by Sanskrit and Pāli) used when discussing Buddhism or addressing monks.
  
• Royal Thai: (influenced by Khmer) used when addressing members of the royal family or describing their activities.
  

Most Thais can speak and understand all of these contexts. Street and elegant Thai are the basis of all conversations; rhetorical, religious and royal Thai are taught in schools as the national curriculum.

Note that few would consider these separate languages as such. All languages have different vocabularies for different registers and contexts, and it's true that some of these vocabularies are more distinct than we're used to, but they are variations/dialects if you like, not separate.

But I do agree with your overall point, perhaps thinking "most Thais speak at least three" might be stretching it a bit. I think this is true only in areas where large populations of major languages live in close proximity, such as the south-east corner of the Isaan where mia farang are the OTOP of choice. In the heart of relatively homogenous areas this would be less true, so just change the "three" to "two" or "most" to "over a third" and that's probably more accurate. Quibbling I know. . .

[kerryk]

Street or common Thai, spoken Thai: informal, without polite terms of address, as used between close relatives and friends.

• Elegant or formal Thai: official and written version, includes respectful terms of address; used in simplified form in newspapers.
  
• Rhetorical Thai: used for public speaking.
  
• Religious Thai: (heavily influenced by Sanskrit and Pāli) used when discussing Buddhism or addressing monks.
  
• Royal Thai: (influenced by Khmer) used when addressing members of the royal family or describing their activities.
  

Most Thais can speak and understand all of these contexts. Street and elegant Thai are the basis of all conversations; rhetorical, religious and royal Thai are taught in schools as the national curriculum.

Note that few would consider these separate languages as such. All languages have different vocabularies for different registers and contexts, and it's true that some of these vocabularies are more distinct than we're used to, but they are variations/dialects if you like, not separate.

But I do agree with your overall point, perhaps thinking "most Thais speak at least three" might be stretching it a bit. I think this is true only in areas where large populations of major languages live in close proximity, such as the south-east corner of the Isaan where mia farang are the OTOP of choice. In the heart of relatively homogenous areas this would be less true, so just change the "three" to "two" or "most" to "over a third" and that's probably more accurate. Quibbling I know. . .

I would think that many languages in Thailand qualify as a separate language. The words are so different. Market for example in Chiang Mai Thai as opposed to Bangkok Thai. Plus, there are 75 different languages spoken in Thailand. How many are spoken in Ireland?

[chiang mai]

Why is her English sooo bad?

Is your Thai any better?

[BigJohnnyBKK]

I would think that many languages in Thailand qualify as a separate language. The words are so different. Market for example in Chiang Mai Thai as opposed to Bangkok Thai. Plus, there are 75 different languages spoken in Thailand. How many are spoken in Ireland?

Absolutely, many very distinct languages.

But IMO all the ones I was referring to are dialects/variations of the dominant/official central Thai one.

[kerryk]

Why is her English sooo bad?

Is your Thai any better?

Am I the PM of Thailand?

[BigJohnnyBKK]

Am I the PM of Thailand?

Do you think high-level English skills are an important requirement of that job?

[Briggsy]

The 75 languages you got from Wiki Answers include 3 sign languages, 5 different dialects of Karen, many hill tribe languages, 5 mainland Chinese languages, etc.

"Most Thais speak at least 3 languages." Being able to say ว่าวลาวบ่ doesn't count as speaking a different language. Central region Thais doing business in Laos conduct business in Thai only.

"...just crap at languages...." refers to being able to progress to a level of articulate usage incorporating at least some of the pronunciation and grammar rules of the foreign language as opposed to steadfastly applying Thai grammar rules and Thai phonemes (the sounds used in a particular language) to approximate the target language and thus plateauing at a basic level, often despite having attained a Master's degree from a university in England, America, etc and having spent at least 2 years there. That is what I have often encountered and experienced. That is what it appears Yingluck's English skills resemble. This seems to be the problem perhaps due to the reasons I articulated earlier.

[kerryk]

Am I the PM of Thailand?

Do you think high-level English skills are an important requirement of that job?

No why? Would of course be nice for her. But me? No I don't care.

[kerryk]

The 75 languages you got from Wiki Answers include 3 sign languages, 5 different dialects of Karen, many hill tribe languages, 5 mainland Chinese languages, etc.

"Most Thais speak at least 3 languages." Being able to say ว่าวลาวบ่ doesn't count as speaking a different language. Central region Thais doing business in Laos conduct business in Thai only.

"...just crap at languages...." refers to being able to progress to a level of articulate usage incorporating at least some of the pronunciation and grammar rules of the foreign language as opposed to steadfastly applying Thai grammar rules and Thai phonemes (the sounds used in a particular language) to approximate the target language and thus plateauing at a basic level, often despite having attained a Master's degree from a university in England, America, etc and having spent at least 2 years there. That is what I have often encountered and experienced. That is what it appears Yingluck's English skills resemble. This seems to be the problem perhaps due to the reasons I articulated earlier.

I realize it is impossible for you to admit you are not correct. Almost anyone who lives in Thailand would disagree with you. Thai language ability far surpasses British or American people. Proof of this would be to look at the number of Brits or Yanks who go to college in countries that don't speak English. Of course more would go to medical school in other countries if they were better at the language. Ask a Finnish person as Thai wives to stay in Finland have to pass a high school Finnish equivalent exam.

Probably the most telling statistic is the main language of communication of Brits who marry Thai women. 80% of Thai Female and British male couples communicate in English the majority of the time and for all important decisions. Face it the average farm girl prostitute in Pattaya is better at languages then the average British college graduate.

Edited June 26, 2012 by kerryk