Thai Tourist Police Soon To Speak Fluent English

[thaicbr]

So given the negative cynical and smarty pants responses so far, lets look at the potential positives. It will be a good move to have police who have a minimum grasp of English. It is possible to create English communication skills in six months with willing participants and competent trainers. Thai people have capacities for growth beyond most of the commentary here. Few of you yet appear to grasp the significance of the attempt. If you tend to rely on smug superior criticism instead of embracing a forward thinking ideal you are diminishing the chances of its success. Try and be a bit more optimistic.

You haven't been here long have you?

'Willing participants ' that's the catch .. where are they?

You need to understand tourist police are there because they bought an easy job. NOT because they are good at languages

sent from my ..................#

[Boss]

Thailand - The country of omnipotency NOT

[georgey]

The joke of the day following another delayed 3G Auction....

can't even get my student to speak English in the international program in 2 years

Maby the english teacher is the problem after 2 years?

yes, seems strangely worded for someone who implies, at least, that he/she is a teacher

[georgey]

Great move. Appreciated.

One should understand, they will try to speak. At least they are doing good move.

How can we expect that, they will speak fluently.

Language is for communication only.

If we can successfully interact with each other, that's it. Purpose is solved. No need to be fluient.

like you

[crazygreg44]

HAHAHAHAHA. They won't even be able to speak basic English in 6 months.

Manchester United, Chelseee, Liverpull, Arsenal, been speeking English long time.

So they know thier english geography, I presume these are english towns but I may be wrong.

no, Falang not know! It english name for football !

[georgey]

So given the negative cynical and smarty pants responses so far, lets look at the potential positives. It will be a good move to have police who have a minimum grasp of English. It is possible to create English communication skills in six months with willing participants and competent trainers. Thai people have capacities for growth beyond most of the commentary here. Few of you yet appear to grasp the significance of the attempt. If you tend to rely on smug superior criticism instead of embracing a forward thinking ideal you are diminishing the chances of its success. Try and be a bit more optimistic.

About being optimistic. There was an old story about a boy who take care of the sheep flock. One day he yelled "Wolfs, wolfs" and whole village run to help to get rid of the wolfs, except there were none.. boy just had a bit of <deleted>. The same did happen the following day and everybody were pretty angry to the boy. The next day the boy yelled "Wolfs, wolfs" again.. and nobody came.. this time the wolfs were there and the whole sheep flock was killed..

I believe we all have been optimistic of the changes in Thailand. Things to get better. Over the years we have heard lots of similar stories as this. Waited for the results, which never came. After enough time it's hard to believe that there will be real results.

Then about learning a new language. If a person have a very little language skills of an foreign language, it's virtually impossible to speak it fluently just after 6 months. Specially if the person is not fully exposed to the new language. These tourist polices are not all young and so keen to learn something new anymore. We tend to get a bit lazy to learn new when we get older. Specially if there is not really good motivator for the task.

So I believe that some of the force who have previous skills will be able to speak ok English, some not even that, after the 6 months period. But fluently, no.

maybe no-one understood "wolfs".....as it's not a word in any of the (several) languages I speak

[RogueExpat]

Prediction:

The tourist police will speak fluent English when you are asking for directions, or have committed an offence, such as dropping a cigarette butt and have to pay a fine, however, as soon as you have been ripped off or had personal property damaged or stolen and you want them to sort it out, I think the fluency rate will drop to pigeon very quickly.

[DrTuner]

Actually shouldn't the tourist police speak fluent Chinese and Russian, not the minority English ?

[Guest]

maybe no-one understood "wolfs".....as it's not a word in any of the (several) languages I speak

Wolves. I'm sorry if my English writing is not fluent enough for you.

Edited October 18, 2012 by Guest

[chrisinth]

I know many TP that have been in the job for years and speak next to no English. The newly appointed Boss speaks no English.

Yeah, but give them 6 months...............

[Noistar]

The joke of the day following another delayed 3G Auction....

can't even get my student to speak English in the international program in 2 years

Maby the english teacher is the problem after 2 years?

yes, seems strangely worded for someone who implies, at least, that he/she is a teacher

Any idea when Thai English teachers will attain the same level of fluency?

[uptheos]

HAHAHAHAHA. They won't even be able to speak basic English in 6 months.

To become fluent in English, they will need to be able to pronounce the letter R, otherwise it could be a problem........can't think of too many English words that substituting L for R works.......any ideas?

Edited October 18, 2012 by uptheos

[Noistar]

HAHAHAHAHA. They won't even be able to speak basic English in 6 months.

To become fluent in English, they will need to be able to pronounce the letter R, otherwise it could be a problem........can't think of too many English words that substituting L for R works.......any ideas?

It's mainly trailing consonants that fools them

[uptheos]

HAHAHAHAHA. They won't even be able to speak basic English in 6 months.

To become fluent in English, they will need to be able to pronounce the letter R, otherwise it could be a problem........can't think of too many English words that substituting L for R works.......any ideas?

It's mainly trailing consonants that fools them

Should get on well with the trailing double blends in six months.

[David006]

Sorry but what is a tourist policeman..? What do they police? Tourists.? What is their job description?

Are they currently unable to converse with tourists ?

What do they do all day?

Sounds like Thai tourist police may be a redundant sort of boondoggle job?

Better to have a tourist centre staffed by pretty girls ...most have good English skills .....could have a tourist emergency number...1 900 XXXX

Most regular police in tourist areas seem to speak pretty good English......even our local village has a few English speakers

[noob7]

Sorry but what is a tourist policeman..? What do they police? Tourists.? What is their job description?

Are they currently unable to converse with tourists ?

What do they do all day?

Sounds like Thai tourist police may be a redundant sort of boondoggle job?

Better to have a tourist centre staffed by pretty girls ...most have good English skills .....could have a tourist emergency number...1 900 XXXX

Most regular police in tourist areas seem to speak pretty good English......even our local village has a few English speakers

xxxx=6666?

or 6969?

[Konini]

maybe no-one understood "wolfs".....as it's not a word in any of the (several) languages I speak

Wolves. I'm sorry if my English writing is not fluent enough for you.

A bit below the belt there - we should all remember that not everyone on TV is a native English speaker, and many of those who are have terrible grammar; without the magic spell checker they'd be even worse.

[Konini]

Seems a little like a pipe dream. One would have thought that when they were planning and establishing the corp of tourist police a "prerequisite" of employment would be that they were fluent in a foreign language. The whole concept of the tourist police semms a little pointless if they can't communicate with tourists.

It is a little like thier high speed train project, they have organised the box lunches but then oh <deleted> we forgot to build the lines and order the trains,

I believe a high level of English fluency is a prerequisite in Malaysia to join the police force, and at least basic English should be spoken by Tourist Police in most countries. Lets face it - English is the international language. Whether that's good or bad is a different discussion, but as the world stands today, the language most people learn after their own is English.

I actually feel a bit sorry for the TP - I've been trying to get the hang of Thai for a couple of years, and it's not easy to learn something so complicated as a very different language. Young children have such absorbent minds they can be taught numerous languages, other people are good at picking up new languages and speak several. Most of us, if we are to be honest, would struggle with any new language, especially one so difficult as English, with all of it's subtleties. I've given up speaking proper English sometimes and use Pigeon English. I used to be appalled when I saw people doing that, but "OK sit little?" is understood a lot better than "May I take a seat for a moment to rest". I know, I should learn Thai, but it really is hard for someone who doesn't find such things come naturally to them. And I'm no fool - my IQ is in the higher range, but learning new languages is a real stumbling block for me.

[asiawatcher]

Why make public statements that put you in the firing line of ridicule when the results may be questionable if not impossible? But I have to say my wife picked up English far faster than I did for Thai, and after 9 years I now find she can argue in English and revert to Thai to leave me in total confusion. Good luck B.i.B Tourist Police.

[Gweiloman]

Seems a little like a pipe dream. One would have thought that when they were planning and establishing the corp of tourist police a "prerequisite" of employment would be that they were fluent in a foreign language. The whole concept of the tourist police semms a little pointless if they can't communicate with tourists.

It is a little like thier high speed train project, they have organised the box lunches but then oh <deleted> we forgot to build the lines and order the trains,

I believe a high level of English fluency is a prerequisite in Malaysia to join the police force, and at least basic English should be spoken by Tourist Police in most countries. Lets face it - English is the international language. Whether that's good or bad is a different discussion, but as the world stands today, the language most people learn after their own is English.

I actually feel a bit sorry for the TP - I've been trying to get the hang of Thai for a couple of years, and it's not easy to learn something so complicated as a very different language. Young children have such absorbent minds they can be taught numerous languages, other people are good at picking up new languages and speak several. Most of us, if we are to be honest, would struggle with any new language, especially one so difficult as English, with all of it's subtleties. I've given up speaking proper English sometimes and use Pigeon English. I used to be appalled when I saw people doing that, but "OK sit little?" is understood a lot better than "May I take a seat for a moment to rest". I know, I should learn Thai, but it really is hard for someone who doesn't find such things come naturally to them. And I'm no fool - my IQ is in the higher range, but learning new languages is a real stumbling block for me.

Just to correct a minor point - a high level of fluency in English may be a pre-requisite to join the Malaysian Police Force but not many Malaysian Policemen are fluent in English.

[Gweiloman]

land of smiles more like the land of dreams or retards

1. Aren't you glad that you're not living here

2. I'm so sorry that you are forced to live here

[laobali]

Are they kicking out the old ones and employing Britts?

They already have some of those, but that's the only way - replace all the Thais!

[alfalfa19]

Yes, I really believe this is true. And tomorrow morning, monkeys will fly out of my butt as well. Party on, Garth!

[unanimosity]

The joke of the day following another delayed 3G Auction....

Hey, this is serious stuff here, why you poke fun. They have a secret plan to ramp up quickly. Every tourist cop will be assigned his own bar girl partner to translate.

[sangfroid]

So given the negative cynical and smarty pants responses so far, lets look at the potential positives. It will be a good move to have police who have a minimum grasp of English. It is possible to create English communication skills in six months with willing participants and competent trainers. Thai people have capacities for growth beyond most of the commentary here. Few of you yet appear to grasp the significance of the attempt. If you tend to rely on smug superior criticism instead of embracing a forward thinking ideal you are diminishing the chances of its success. Try and be a bit more optimistic.

I wish success and progress for Thailand and try hard to remain positive and forward thinking about the country's future, but sometimes ...........

Edited October 19, 2012 by sangfroid

[Robbie Dye]

Is it 1st April already? Guess I'd better unretire and get a TETL cert..Teach English as a Thai Language

[unanimosity]

• English isn't the only problem. How do you identify a tourist cop...walk up to the first cop you see, stand within a meter of him, put on your glasses and try to read an emblem patch on his sleeve? Oh, that will work, sure. They have been advised (take it as fact) that uniformed tourist police must be immediately identifiable from long distance by virtue of a unique helmet or hat color or even uniform color that differentiates a tourist cop from a beat cop and the unique appearance must be widely published in advertising and PR campaigns abroad. This has been implemented with great success in other countries. One may suspect that being a tourist cop here is the least sought job since it is hard to shake down tourists since they come from societies where offering a cop bribe money would land them in the slammer..
  

[sirchai]

I've taught them for a few weeks. There's no possible way that anybody will learn English within 6 months.

They're only using people for their goals, really believing it should be free for them.

As another poster had already mentioned, not too many of them will help you when you' d need them.

And one of them ripped us off, when an old friend passed away, was just about $1,300.........."Your First Friend"?----

[bunuel]

This is called making the most of available resources - the Sir Richard Francis Burton School of Linguistics!!

It also is a brilliant and face-saving wy of dodging yet another painful discussion of the inadequacies of the Thai

educational system.

The joke of the day following another delayed 3G Auction....

Hey, this is serious stuff here, why you poke fun. They have a secret plan to ramp up quickly. Every tourist cop will be assigned his own bar girl partner to translate.

[geovalin]

Perhaps there is a misunderstanding of what the word "fluency" means.

No, the misunderstanding is about what the word "English language" means.

"Him speat to mut, him not same same friend me" this IS English as they will have to use it.