No idea how you'd quantify something like this, but let's say you're a qualified mid-level professional looking for a relevant position in Thailand, from a effort/reward perspective, is learning Thai likely to increase your employment prospects sufficiently to justify the 3+ years of regular study required to learn the language? Or is that time perhaps better spent learning something which you know is in demand?

Very general question I know, and getting an accurate answer for me will depend on many other factors, but just wanted to hear others experiences before I start seriously learning Thai.

Edited January 12, 201313 yr by Ruperts

If you intend to work and spend your life in Thailand learn Thai as soon as you can.

In my group of friends the only one who has pretty much allways had a job is also the one who learned Thai many years ago.

There are plenty of foreigners with your background competing for a job in Thailand and I am sure speaking Thai will increase your chance of actually getting the jobs.

Most times i would think any Thai employer would expect a foreigner to speak English, so to try to do otherwise would probably make the situation and yourself look a bit strange.

The main problem is when you speak to the employer in Thai it would have to be absolutely fluent and perfect as anything other would be seen as failure in the situation and only make you look foolish.

To get to that level of speaking fluent takes a long LONG time...and possibly longer than any total time you would be working here!

Remember,Is not only the speaking you must master but also be able to understand what he will say back to you and and then ask, and then you have to respond. This is where many foreigner who think they speak Thai do fall down..including me!

You are best to study the language as hard as you can do, and tell any employer you have some Thai language ability. If you are confident that your ability will help in your everyday work,then drop some lines to other people in the office...secretary ect, and they will soon pass on to the boss that you can speak some thai.

I would not even dare to go into any conversation with any boss until i had at least 5 year of study under the belt..just my opinion!

but to get to the root of your question, YES if you are dealing with Thais in your day to day work they are very impressed with a farang who speaks thai fluently and no doubt a huge bonus depending on what industry you are in.

Edited January 12, 201313 yr by tingtongtourist

In nutshell....

its depends on what the job is, but typically no and if your are working in a large company and dealing with senior Thai staff members who speak English, some will be offended that you speak Thai to them, ie you are "telling" them they cant converse in English properly and some are very proud of their English abilities....this is certainly my experience of 11 years working here..

The other thing to consider is the fact in an office situation, the vast majority of staff dont want farangs understanding too much Thai as its means the farang can understand conversations going on about the "office politics"

On the other side of this...if you are dealing with "lower level" manual labour types speaking Thai to the guys, even basic Thai goes a long way...

At a proficient level yes. It will make life easier dealing with Thai staff and clients which the majority of foreigners can't do

One can either study for high-level Thai language mastery or something lesser, guided by the role you are planning to engage in Example: a) Is it Thai customer interfacing or purely a back-office role (requiring interaction with fellow employees) Will it be in a multinational company where communications occur in both Thai and English? c) Are the company's books of account, job descriptions, process instructions, daily circulars flowing among staff in both Thai and English? If the answers to these show an immense Thai-language bias maybe high-level Thai language mastery is needed. A pharmacist needs high-level Thai mastery given his/her trade and customer base in Thailand whilst a secretary to a Thai Chairman may find English language skills appreciated. These are purely examples to make the language-point.

Employment preferences and employer settings dictate level of Thai. No matter which level of Thai one finds ones "Employment preferences" geared towards - the last thing Thai's need is for farangs to show up looking London and talking Tokyo.

Edited January 13, 201313 yr by SparklingCascades

As Soutpeel says depends on the role.

Personally on the whole I think it helps increase opportunities but not significantly.

In an MNC, well paying expat roles here generally hire based on expertise and skills. If say, you want an accountant skilled in a particular field, then a very good accountant with some Thai will be much more in demand than someone who speaks very good Thai with "some" accountancy skills. The Thais themselves already speak good Thai, and are looking for expertise and skills in particular fields

In a Thai company as opposed to international company the Thai language may be a bit more important. Again though, they're often still hiring you for your skills more than your Thai.

Two countries I've worked in Korea and Vietnam often use translators and interpreters in meetings where foreigners are involved and the local staff can't speak English and the foreigners can't speak Korean or Vietnamese. I got my jobs based on skills not language ability. i.e. The stronger your business skills, the more than company will work around your language inadequacies, even to the point of zero language skills. Doesn't really work in reverse.

Edited January 13, 201313 yr by fletchsmile

There is an oft-quoted line from a film that, I think. is relevant. In 'The Ugly American' (c. 1962, filmed in Thailand but supposedly in a fictional SEAsian country), the Marlon Brando character asks a local official 'What is your christian name'. The response is 'I am not a christian'. Any attempt at understanding local language/customs helps at all levels of social intercourse. AA

In nutshell....

its depends on what the job is, but typically no and if your are working in a large company and dealing with senior Thai staff members who speak English, some will be offended that you speak Thai to them, ie you are "telling" them they cant converse in English properly and some are very proud of their English abilities....this is certainly my experience of 11 years working here..

The other thing to consider is the fact in an office situation, the vast majority of staff dont want farangs understanding too much Thai as its means the farang can understand conversations going on about the "office politics"

On the other side of this...if you are dealing with "lower level" manual labour types speaking Thai to the guys, even basic Thai goes a long way...

very much agree with this post and a couple of the others who have said it depends on the company. poor English skills would certainly be a bigger issue than poor Thai language skills for most international companies in Thailand. when i came to work in Thailand for the first time i thought i should try to learn the language at least the basics so i asked my then secretary to book me some lessons. Her response was pretty much "why bother? everybody that you need to talk to within the company speaks English anyway as do all the people outside the company that you will be dealing with" she finished with a comment that in her opinion only "lo so" foreigners spoke Thai (i think the first occasion i had heard the term lo so) . Incredible as it may sound some Thais look down on foreigners who speak their language.

As Soutpeel says depends on the role.

Personally on the whole I think it helps increase opportunities but not significantly.

In an MNC, well paying expat roles here generally hire based on expertise and skills. If say, you want an accountant skilled in a particular field, then a very good accountant with some Thai will be much more in demand than someone who speaks very good Thai with "some" accountancy skills. The Thais themselves already speak good Thai, and are looking for expertise and skills in particular fields

In a Thai company as opposed to international company the Thai language may be a bit more important. Again though, they're often still hiring you for your skills more than your Thai.

Two countries I've worked in Korea and Vietnam often use translators and interpreters in meetings where foreigners are involved and the local staff can't speak English and the foreigners can't speak Korean or Vietnamese. I got my jobs based on skills not language ability. i.e. The stronger your business skills, the more than company will work around your language inadequacies, even to the point of zero language skills. Doesn't really work in reverse.

Yeap....lets put it this way two foreigners are up for a job in Thailand with reasonably sized company, one speaks very good Thai but is is not as well "qualified" for the job as the foreigner who speaks no Thai....in all likelyhood they will employ the person who speaks no Thai

As Soutpeel says depends on the role.

Personally on the whole I think it helps increase opportunities but not significantly.

In an MNC, well paying expat roles here generally hire based on expertise and skills. If say, you want an accountant skilled in a particular field, then a very good accountant with some Thai will be much more in demand than someone who speaks very good Thai with "some" accountancy skills. The Thais themselves already speak good Thai, and are looking for expertise and skills in particular fields

In a Thai company as opposed to international company the Thai language may be a bit more important. Again though, they're often still hiring you for your skills more than your Thai.

Two countries I've worked in Korea and Vietnam often use translators and interpreters in meetings where foreigners are involved and the local staff can't speak English and the foreigners can't speak Korean or Vietnamese. I got my jobs based on skills not language ability. i.e. The stronger your business skills, the more than company will work around your language inadequacies, even to the point of zero language skills. Doesn't really work in reverse.

Yeap....lets put it this way two foreigners are up for a job in Thailand with reasonably sized company, one speaks very good Thai but is is not as well "qualified" for the job as the foreigner who speaks no Thai....in all likelyhood they will employ the person who speaks no Thai

Yeap but of course also

two foreigners are up for a job in Thailand with a reasonably sized company.

Both are equal in qualifications.

Guess the Thai speaking foreigner will get the job then.

But of course they will only hire a foreigner if he/she has skills they need and can't find a Thai with these skills, so in the end , skills matter more then speaking Thai.

Edited January 13, 201313 yr by brianinbangkok

As Soutpeel says depends on the role.

Personally on the whole I think it helps increase opportunities but not significantly.

In an MNC, well paying expat roles here generally hire based on expertise and skills. If say, you want an accountant skilled in a particular field, then a very good accountant with some Thai will be much more in demand than someone who speaks very good Thai with "some" accountancy skills. The Thais themselves already speak good Thai, and are looking for expertise and skills in particular fields

In a Thai company as opposed to international company the Thai language may be a bit more important. Again though, they're often still hiring you for your skills more than your Thai.

Two countries I've worked in Korea and Vietnam often use translators and interpreters in meetings where foreigners are involved and the local staff can't speak English and the foreigners can't speak Korean or Vietnamese. I got my jobs based on skills not language ability. i.e. The stronger your business skills, the more than company will work around your language inadequacies, even to the point of zero language skills. Doesn't really work in reverse.

Yeap....lets put it this way two foreigners are up for a job in Thailand with reasonably sized company, one speaks very good Thai but is is not as well "qualified" for the job as the foreigner who speaks no Thai....in all likelyhood they will employ the person who speaks no Thai

Yeap but of course also

two foreigners are up for a job in Thailand with a reasonably sized company.

Both are equal in qualifications.

Guess the Thai speaking foreigner will get the job then.

But of course they will only hire a foreigner if he/she has skills they need and can't find a Thai with these skills, so in the end , skills matter more then speaking Thai.

Well done at least one poster understands Thailand

Flaming post removed.

The real skill in finding a well paid job in Thailand is the skill at finding a well paid job in Thailand.

Learn Thai. Even if you don't use it in your job, you can use it afterwards when you head out for staff drinks with the office lovelies.

"... is learning Thai likely to increase your employment prospects...?" - No.

"... only "lo so" foreigners spoke Thai (i think the first occasion i had heard the term lo so) . Incredible as it may sound some Thais look down on foreigners who speak their language." - Yes, "Incredible."

As Soutpeel says depends on the role.

Personally on the whole I think it helps increase opportunities but not significantly.

In an MNC, well paying expat roles here generally hire based on expertise and skills. If say, you want an accountant skilled in a particular field, then a very good accountant with some Thai will be much more in demand than someone who speaks very good Thai with "some" accountancy skills. The Thais themselves already speak good Thai, and are looking for expertise and skills in particular fields

In a Thai company as opposed to international company the Thai language may be a bit more important. Again though, they're often still hiring you for your skills more than your Thai.

Two countries I've worked in Korea and Vietnam often use translators and interpreters in meetings where foreigners are involved and the local staff can't speak English and the foreigners can't speak Korean or Vietnamese. I got my jobs based on skills not language ability. i.e. The stronger your business skills, the more than company will work around your language inadequacies, even to the point of zero language skills. Doesn't really work in reverse.

Yeap....lets put it this way two foreigners are up for a job in Thailand with reasonably sized company, one speaks very good Thai but is is not as well "qualified" for the job as the foreigner who speaks no Thai....in all likelyhood they will employ the person who speaks no Thai

Yeap but of course also

two foreigners are up for a job in Thailand with a reasonably sized company.

Both are equal in qualifications.

Guess the Thai speaking foreigner will get the job then.

But of course they will only hire a foreigner if he/she has skills they need and can't find a Thai with these skills, so in the end , skills matter more then speaking Thai.

The job will go to the one with connections

The Thais themselves already speak good Thai, and are looking for expertise and skills in particular fields

I have no experience in the job market in Thailand, nor will I ever, since I am retired here. My own career was in a technical field. I remember the same realization dawning on my friends and me after finishing grad school and starting our first jobs: turns out success in large organizations depends to a great degree on one's ability to communicate.

In general arguments in favor of ignorance face an uphill battle with me.