Thai competitiveness in ASEAN will increase by 25% if language skills improve: Surin Pitsuwan

[Mr Somtam]

Thailand has problems with people abusing the Ed-Visa just to stay here.

Open them up to simple long-term visas and WP's with no degree needed.

Native speaker or high TOEIC score or whatever it is, a TEFL course, the government could even provide and profit off it, police -clearance cert, no hanging about at schools, just go in to do your lessons, a low rate of pay of perhaps 300b per hour. Simple and instant extension and WP without any BS.

The schools would be full of native speakers coming and talking/teaching with the kids.

Aimed towards every class in the country having an hour or two of a native speaker every day, especially the young kids that are still acquiring language and not learning it (up to the age of around 7), the country would develop massively over the next decade.

But hey, oh well. Thais know best.

This is a great idea. BUT the powers that be/ elite / hisos are very affraid that those FOREIGNERS might teach the kids independent thinking, critical thinking and even give them "devious" political views... They are so terribly affraid that the people might get smart and want real democracy and civil rights.

Thais know best, in their bubble...

[jerojero]

Thailand has problems with people abusing the Ed-Visa just to stay here.

Open them up to simple long-term visas and WP's with no degree needed.

Native speaker or high TOEIC score or whatever it is, a TEFL course, the government could even provide and profit off it, police -clearance cert, no hanging about at schools, just go in to do your lessons, a low rate of pay of perhaps 300b per hour. Simple and instant extension and WP without any BS.

The schools would be full of native speakers coming and talking/teaching with the kids.

Aimed towards every class in the country having an hour or two of a native speaker every day, especially the young kids that are still acquiring language and not learning it (up to the age of around 7), the country would develop massively over the next decade.

But hey, oh well. Thais know best.

This is a great idea. BUT the powers that be/ elite / hisos are very affraid that those FOREIGNERS might teach the kids independent thinking, critical thinking and even give them "devious" political views... They are so terribly affraid that the people might get smart and want real democracy and civil rights.

Thais know best, in their bubble...

Precisely! Well stated.

[apetley]

Well, what if they had been colonised! A different picture than now!

Absolutely.

The best thing Thailand could do is offer themselves up for 100 years of Western colonization.

Would be the best thing that ever happened to the country.

Yes, I look forward to a properly functioning standard gauge railway, Thailand competing in the cricket world cup and the Union Jack in the top left corner of the Thai flag.

[mikebell]

Talk about stating the bleedin' obvious! Of course all sorts of benefits will accrue to Thailand if steps are taken to improve English competence. As NO steps are being taken to achieve this desired improvement, nothing will change & Thailand will sink deeper into a swamp of its own making.

[Saan]

Well, what if they had been colonised! A different picture than now!

Absolutely.

The best thing Thailand could do is offer themselves up for 100 years of Western colonization.

Would be the best thing that ever happened to the country.

Yes, but colonised by which country. The world is now suffering from the stuff ups by former colonisers.

[Shiver]

As I'm English, I sometimes feel a little uncomfortable suggesting that we all have a common language such as English. I think sometimes people assume I'm talking about the country rather than the language of the same name. I have suggested Esperanto a few times and get laughed at, but an agnostic language would be easier for all parties. I guess that AEC using English fits that role to some degree (as the #2 language rather than #1 if your culture is important to you).

Being here in a city environment, unsurprisingly I meet people from a lot countries. I don't know of a single European, or any foreigner now that I think about it, that doesn't have competent English. Embarrassingly they are often better than my countrymen.

English is not easy for Thais, as Thai is not easy for us, and it's rare to meet someone skilled in the language either way around. I meet foreigners that have a large vocabulary that have atrocious tonal command (and learning all the swear words or gutter talk seems to be priority), and Thais that have a certain limited bar/restaurant language that sounds like Yoda on on LSD - maybe that's because I hang out in the wrong circles, but then without the immersion then backwater areas would have little need for another language anyhow.

The best seem to be the Thai-Farang kids who get daily use of both from an early age, and have a very saleable skill of being mediator/translator between their parents. At least they'll get good jobs and can break the business cycle that permeates Thai/foreigner interactions of today. Maybe just a few more generations to go before it reaches a tipping point. I doubt any of us will be around to see it though.

English: Such disruptive technology.

Edited May 27, 2015 by Shiver

[Lupatria]

IF

IF may become the new four letter word and consequently must be banned from all articles regarding Thai competitiveness.

Edited May 27, 2015 by Lupatria

[Happy Grumpy]

So - in a nutshell - Thai competitiveness will not improve.

Jobs for ASEAN nationals that don't hold specific degrees will not be allowed.

No need to improve.

[MobileContent]

Thailand has problems with people abusing the Ed-Visa just to stay here.

Open them up to simple long-term visas and WP's with no degree needed.

Native speaker or high TOEIC score or whatever it is, a TEFL course, the government could even provide and profit off it, police -clearance cert, no hanging about at schools, just go in to do your lessons, a low rate of pay of perhaps 300b per hour. Simple and instant extension and WP without any BS.

The schools would be full of native speakers coming and talking/teaching with the kids.

Aimed towards every class in the country having an hour or two of a native speaker every day, especially the young kids that are still acquiring language and not learning it (up to the age of around 7), the country would develop massively over the next decade.

But hey, oh well. Thais know best.

Open them up to simple long-term visas and WP's with no degree needed.

No thanks, 15 years ago a lot f rubbish was accepted at the schools with all those native speakers that had no degrees or only a Khaosan degree.

I think a major problem is that many wrong English teachers end up in the Thai school.

Pay 3000 US$ to a Bachelor degree holder in English or Linguistics and they have to be Native speakers or hold a Master degree in English for no Native speakers.

On the end of the day its the Thai English teachers who have to get their act together. I learned the basic English language from my English teacher in Germany and not from a native speaker,

[wabothai]

Well, what if they had been colonised! A different picture than now!

Absolutely.

The best thing Thailand could do is offer themselves up for 100 years of Western colonization.

Would be the best thing that ever happened to the country.

Yes, but colonised by which country. The world is now suffering from the stuff ups by former colonisers.

The Dutch !

[boomerangutang]

Thailand is not already colonized? Walk down any street in a city and count how many 7-11's.

[spidermike007]

DUH! Why is it that some of the things we hear the government officials say, seem to inane, or childish? A five year old child could come to this same conclusion. And this required a college degree to figure out? Of course the lack of language skills are holding Thailand back. The challenge is not to increase the amount of effort spent teaching english here. The challenge is to find competent teachers, who themselves are excellent english speakers, and can impart the kind of knowledge required to get their students to learn, and then to give them the courage to go out into the world and use their skills! I see some Thais who have studied english for years, and they are scared to death to use it! Competent teaching is what this is all about. Though this would never happen, I would advocate an all fareng english teaching staff, nationwide.

[Praematura]

We have been here for 3 months after 5 years in the USA and her English is rapidly declining in quality.

So big "if" for increasing the overall society's proficiency as one would only need to see that most Thai children attending public school can't even do their abc's.

[biggles45]

"Jobs for ASEAN nationals that don't hold specific degrees will not be allowed."

Thailand has already announced that employment will be strictly limited to a number of professional fields, and that these people will need to qualify under Thai requirements as well. Betting the tests will be written in Thai??

[Seastallion]

How can they improve their English language skills if the student have no desire to learn?

My wife teaches English. At the end of the last semester, she failed one particular young chap (amongst others). She was called to the directors office and asked why. She said because he failed.

"Ok, arrange for him to re-sit the exam".

She did that twice...once he failed again and the other time he didn't show up....FAIL!

Called to the directors office again....."The school needs a poster...assign him to decorate the poster, and if it is nice, give him a pass". Order from above.

He passed English.

The first step in solving the problem is protecting the good teachers from corrupt employers. My wife would have happily stubbornly refused to pass the student, but was too afraid of the consequences. There is no-one to back her up, including colleagues.

A teacher's union would be great.

An education corruption hotline would be good too.

Good teachers are one of Thailand's greatest assets, but they are few and far between, and they are not valued.

Edited May 28, 2015 by Seastallion

[Seastallion]

"Jobs for ASEAN nationals that don't hold specific degrees will not be allowed."

Thailand has already announced that employment will be strictly limited to a number of professional fields, and that these people will need to qualify under Thai requirements as well. Betting the tests will be written in Thai??

It's no biggie...Wifey's Masters was done completely in English at PSU, but she is doing another degree at the moment, also set and taught in English.

Unfortunately, this third degree is a load of BS. She knows it and is only doing it for the extra "piece of paper" she'll get. (her MA is in education but she needs an English major to teach English at a government school.)

It's an online course from a Thai "university, and 40% of final marks are from peer review!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Be nice to fellow students or get a bad mark from them! Accept bad marks from students who do not know the subject or even understand the questions.

My guess is that the instructors are too lazy to read and mark assignments.

[ableguy]

This I am sure is true, the hookers in Pattaya who speak English do get twenty five percent more from their Farang clients.

[Somtamnication]

"Former ASEAN secretary-general Surin Pitsuwan was confident that Thai competitiveness in ASEAN will definitely increase by 25 per cent if language skills of Thai population have improved."

And my chihuahua farted and he woke up!

[boomerangutang]

This I am sure is true, the hookers in Pattaya who speak English do get twenty five percent more from their Farang clients.

and because Thailand's schools can't step up to the challenge - to provide enough decent English teachers to Thai students, then many of them learn to speak broken English (if they learn any English at all), from bar girls, street-walking katoy, tour guides, and others who interact with farang.

Here are some of the phrases they learn from older brothers and sisters. . . . .:

'you wan bee-ah?'

'hello, was yo name?'

'where you come from?'

'same same'

'short time'

'you me go now'

[DrTuner]

Sure, and by another 25% if they actually start working.

[greenchair]

They must make it easier for native speakers who want to stay and contribute their language skills. Chinese speakers are having problems to teach their language also. The education department should stop making barriers that impede native speakers sharing knowledge. They should give super support by designing licenses to encourage language services in line with the need of thai people.

[DrTuner]

English: Such disruptive technology.

Rather than the language, it's the amount of information available in English, especially online and completely free. Wikipedia is a good example, English pages are by far more complete.

[Shiver]

Maybe another approach is to *not* make English compulsory if they have no interest in it, but if they do choose it then they have to accept that failure is one possible outcome. Private schools want money, so everyone passes, but if the student fails then they'll be back for more learning *if* they're interested. Of course this would require a huge culture change, but those who accept the challenge will make great face in being outstanding, an maybe inspire others to take the road less travelled. They would be top earners and highly respected for knuckling down and doing whatever it takes to get the job done.

I don't have a degree or any other qualification of note, but have managed to do better than most. I put this down to being *interested* in what I do. What's the point of doing a task you don't enjoy if there is a task available that pays and you enjoy it? You just make better outcomes when there's a passion to your work, and almost doesn't feel like work at all. Nature seems to favour people who have that fire in their belly.

I don't think we'll be hearing any "Dead Poets Society" teaching/learning stories in Thailand any time soon though.

Edited May 31, 2015 by Shiver