Thailand seen as regional hub for nurses, accountants

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Thailand seen as regional hub for nurses, accountants
VISARUT SANKHAM
THE NATION

BANGKOK: -- EXPERTS have suggested that Thailand become a hub for providing nurses and accountants to the region once the Asean Economic Community (AEC) kicks off

At a seminar yesterday entitled "Opportunities and Challenges for Nurses and Accountants as Migration Workers for the Asean Community", former director of Chulalongkorn University's education faculty Pruet Siribanpitak said Thailand could provide professionals from these two sectors to Asean as it has good, international standard education.

Students hoping to work overseas could also learn the language of the Asean nation they wanted to move to, he suggested.

Pruet called on the Office of the Higher Education Commission and professional associations to focus on quality control to help prepare professionals for the rest of Asean.

Sineenart Sermcheep, a researcher from the International Institute for Trade and Development (ITD), said according to statistics released by the Asean Federation of Accountants (AFA), Thailand has the highest number of professionals in this sector.

The Kingdom has the highest number of accountant graduating every year, and there is a growing need for such professionals in other Asean countries.

Auditors were also much needed overseas and the testing standard of Certified Public Accountants in Thailand was close to international standard, she said.

However, most Thais do not like working overseas due to the lack of language skills and family concerns, she said.

Yupin Aungsuroch, a researcher from ITD, pointed out that the number of foreign patients in Thailand had risen from 500,000 in 2001 to 2.5 million last year.

However, Thai nurses still suffer from too much work and very low pay, she said, adding that most nurses in Thailand hope to work overseas, but not necessarily in Asean countries.

Source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/national/Thailand-seen-as-regional-hub-for-nurses-accountan-30275021.html


-- The Nation 2015-12-16

[englishoak]

Nurses, mmm hard to believe but hub of accountants ? ..now THATS funny

[never me]

Its all too funny for words.

[HiSoLowSoNoSo]

Here comes my hub sector proposal that I think they can beat the other ASEAN countries in:

Sex workers

Unhealthy wealthy Politicians (Include police, military, custom and land department officials here also)

Sex-change doctors

Tax evaders

Professional conmen

Silly tourism campaign slogan inventors

Fleeing the scene specialist

News sensors

two-tier pricing inventors

[Reigntax]

Accountants are in much demand as there are many commissions to be calculated and the contents of brown paper bags to be redistributed.

[jaltsc]

"Pruet called on the Office of the Higher Education Commission and professional associations to focus on quality control ..."

A Thai government agency and "Quality Control" in the same sentence. Well, if you live long enough...

[NongKhaiKid]

With the national ' no fail ' policy the system turns out people with questionable qualifications and the majority can't work overseas because they can't saapeak Angrit.

LoS is certainly the hub of big talk.

[Chang_paarp]

To be a hub of anything ins ASEAN you need to speak the regional language, English, competently.

Next thought bubble.

[Laughing Gravy]

Just to add Thai nurses are not the best trained or anywhere near than others in the ASEAN. they have low wages but that hardly qualifies them for a Hub. This country is obsessed with rankings, self importance and Hubs. It would do better to get things done and less time and effort on trying to boats itself up.

[Laughing Gravy]

And as for accountants it doesn't warrant a serious reply.

[arthurboy]

All I get from this drivel is someone received a budget to set up this waste of time event.

Professional standards and skills aside, if you can't speak and write English to a professional language standard, nurses and accountants will be staying put in Thailand for a very long time to come.

[Caveat Emptor]

All I get from this drivel is someone received a budget to set up this waste of time event.

Professional standards and skills aside, if you can't speak and write English to a professional language standard, nurses and accountants will be staying put in Thailand for a very long time to come.

During the summer wasn't there an official knowledgement that English standards weren't up to scratch for the AEC but it would all be sorted by mid-2016 ?

If that's the official stance it will happen !!?

[Thian]

I know a few Thai nurses, even ones who do surgery on farang on a daily basis but none of them can speak english.

[mrrizzla]

Best get that 'education' hub up and running first. And as has been mentioned, haul up the standard of English.

These things are not going to happen. Hub of blowing meaningless hot air is one I am willing to give.

[zaphod reborn]

No, the Philippines is the ASEAN hub for properly educated and trained nurses and accountants. Their English skills have allowed them to significantly penetrate international labor markets. You see them working throughout the world in these professions. Thailand will never be a hub for these fields, and, if Thailand were to remove their protectionist barriers, Filipinos would work in these professions in Thailand, where there is a need for workers with real job skills.

Edited December 16, 2015 by zaphod reborn

[Guest]

I know a few Thai nurses, even ones who do surgery on farang on a daily basis but none of them can speak english.

Can you please explain why a doctor / nurse operating on a pateint knocked out cold ... needs to speak English?

Is speaking English a magic power that ensures a more favorable outcome?

Or is the real problem ... inside your head.

You see, you are in thier country, and if there is a language shortfall ... perhaps a mirror could solve the mystery for you.

Would it matter if you were in Berlin and the doctor did not speak English? Probably not ... take a moment and think about that ... would you?

By the way, I just recovered from a very seriuos operation at Chulalongkorn Hospital, and it could not have gone better, or handled more professionally. It was not lost on me that i was the only Farang patient in the 6 visits I made there, including surgury.

Yes ... being able to communicate in Thai does have perks ... and saved the 200% permium we pay at Sametivej for English speaking staff.

[LannaGuy]

hub of hubs

[JAG]

I know a few Thai nurses, even ones who do surgery on farang on a daily basis but none of them can speak english.

Can you please explain why a doctor / nurse operating on a pateint knocked out cold ... needs to speak English?

Is speaking English a magic power that ensures a more favorable outcome?

Or is the real problem ... inside your head.

You see, you are in thier country, and if there is a language shortfall ... perhaps a mirror could solve the mystery for you.

Would it matter if you were in Berlin and the doctor did not speak English? Probably not ... take a moment and think about that ... would you?

By the way, I just recovered from a very seriuos operation at Chulalongkorn Hospital, and it could not have gone better, or handled more professionally. It was not lost on me that i was the only Farang patient in the 6 visits I made there, including surgury.

Yes ... being able to communicate in Thai does have perks ... and saved the 200% permium we pay at Sametivej for English speaking staff.

You're absolutely right - except that - if they are to become the hub - then they will need to speak English. Edited December 16, 2015 by JAG

[Thian]

I know a few Thai nurses, even ones who do surgery on farang on a daily basis but none of them can speak english.

Can you please explain why a doctor / nurse operating on a pateint knocked out cold ... needs to speak English?

Is speaking English a magic power that ensures a more favorable outcome?

Or is the real problem ... inside your head.

You see, you are in thier country, and if there is a language shortfall ... perhaps a mirror could solve the mystery for you.

Would it matter if you were in Berlin and the doctor did not speak English? Probably not ... take a moment and think about that ... would you?

By the way, I just recovered from a very seriuos operation at Chulalongkorn Hospital, and it could not have gone better, or handled more professionally. It was not lost on me that i was the only Farang patient in the 6 visits I made there, including surgury.

Yes ... being able to communicate in Thai does have perks ... and saved the 200% permium we pay at Sametivej for English speaking staff.

So for you it doesn't matter if the doctor/nurse can't speak english as long as you save 200% of the costs?

The costs don't matter for me at all, i have an insurance for that.

And if i want to tell the doctor/nurse something while i'm sick i want them to speak my native language or english even though i can speak several languages.

We have several German doctors in my homecountry and they speak our native language as well.

I was in a Thai hospital once and even the reception couldn't speak any english while they had to give medicines to the patients. So you better not have questions about the medicines because they can't communicate with their patients. Hence i saw a farang yelling to them because they couldn't answer his questions.

Phillipino nurses are even hired in Europe is what i heard, because they can speak english very well. Old patients still refuse to be nursed by them though, they want native speakers or nothing at all.

[MZurf]

Can someone PLEASE remove the word "hub" from the Thai vocabulary!!

[Ricardo]

"The Kingdom has the highest number of accountant graduating every year, and there is a growing need for such professionals in other Asean countries.

Auditors were also much needed overseas and the testing standard of Certified Public Accountants in Thailand was close to international standard, she said."

Just to point out that, to achieve membership of any of the major internationally-accepted accountancy-bodies, one needs at least a few years of relevant experience too, a degree only takes you part-way towards proper qualification.

With that range of proper experience comes confidence, and the ability to speak out where one sees the need for it, something which Thai culture might find difficult in a newly-minted university-graduate ?

I didn't consider myself ready, to apply for my own ACMA-qualification, until four years after I'd passed their final exams, and while a degree in Accounting might have gained major exemptions, I don't think those would have included the higher-level exams which were then required.

But perhaps Thai accountants are different ?

[tomwct]

Never happen! Thai's don't speak English! It's against their Culture! I think the other Asean Country Citizens will go to Thai

companies because of the shortage of Thai English Speakers! Thai's will go Nowhere in Asean!

[DavisH]

With the national ' no fail ' policy the system turns out people with questionable qualifications and the majority can't work overseas because they can't saapeak Angrit.

LoS is certainly the hub of big talk.

Thai nurses still need to pass all licencing exams to be fully registered here. But it's true that once in the nursing course, they will all eventually pass, and can work in a hospital until they pass all required registration exams. I don't see many wanting to work overseas though, as their language skills are generally too low to work in a place like Singapore, even if their qualifications were accepted.

Either way, it's quite hypocritical to say "we will supply nurses to ASEAN", when it will be next to impossible for non-Thai speakers to get nursing jobs here. Better stick to importing cheap manual labour from Burma and Cambodia.

[DavisH]

Can someone PLEASE remove the word "hub" from the Thai vocabulary!!

Thai can't do that, as the wheels have already fallen off. They ride on the hubs !!

[Caveat Emptor]

I know a few Thai nurses, even ones who do surgery on farang on a daily basis but none of them can speak english.

Can you please explain why a doctor / nurse operating on a pateint knocked out cold ... needs to speak English?

Is speaking English a magic power that ensures a more favorable outcome?

Or is the real problem ... inside your head.

You see, you are in thier country, and if there is a language shortfall ... perhaps a mirror could solve the mystery for you.

Would it matter if you were in Berlin and the doctor did not speak English? Probably not ... take a moment and think about that ... would you?

By the way, I just recovered from a very seriuos operation at Chulalongkorn Hospital, and it could not have gone better, or handled more professionally. It was not lost on me that i was the only Farang patient in the 6 visits I made there, including surgury.

Yes ... being able to communicate in Thai does have perks ... and saved the 200% permium we pay at Sametivej for English speaking staff.

So for you it doesn't matter if the doctor/nurse can't speak english as long as you save 200% of the costs?

The costs don't matter for me at all, i have an insurance for that.

And if i want to tell the doctor/nurse something while i'm sick i want them to speak my native language or english even though i can speak several languages.

We have several German doctors in my homecountry and they speak our native language as well.

I was in a Thai hospital once and even the reception couldn't speak any english while they had to give medicines to the patients. So you better not have questions about the medicines because they can't communicate with their patients. Hence i saw a farang yelling to them because they couldn't answer his questions.

Phillipino nurses are even hired in Europe is what i heard, because they can speak english very well. Old patients still refuse to be nursed by them though, they want native speakers or nothing at all.

There are Filipino nurses in Britain , working in both public and private hospitals, there have been some problems with suspect qualifications but in general I understand they are welcome and needed because of shortages.

With Thailand's reputation for questionable education and qualifications plus fakes, copies etc I would think Thai nurses would have problems getting hired overseas and then comes the language situation.

[freebyrd]

Every week there's another hub. Thailand needs to get the basics right before aspiring to dizzy heights.

[DavisH]

I know a few Thai nurses, even ones who do surgery on farang on a daily basis but none of them can speak english.

Can you please explain why a doctor / nurse operating on a pateint knocked out cold ... needs to speak English?

Is speaking English a magic power that ensures a more favorable outcome?

Or is the real problem ... inside your head.

You see, you are in thier country, and if there is a language shortfall ... perhaps a mirror could solve the mystery for you.

Would it matter if you were in Berlin and the doctor did not speak English? Probably not ... take a moment and think about that ... would you?

By the way, I just recovered from a very seriuos operation at Chulalongkorn Hospital, and it could not have gone better, or handled more professionally. It was not lost on me that i was the only Farang patient in the 6 visits I made there, including surgury.

Yes ... being able to communicate in Thai does have perks ... and saved the 200% permium we pay at Sametivej for English speaking staff.

So for you it doesn't matter if the doctor/nurse can't speak english as long as you save 200% of the costs?

The costs don't matter for me at all, i have an insurance for that.

And if i want to tell the doctor/nurse something while i'm sick i want them to speak my native language or english even though i can speak several languages.

We have several German doctors in my homecountry and they speak our native language as well.

I was in a Thai hospital once and even the reception couldn't speak any english while they had to give medicines to the patients. So you better not have questions about the medicines because they can't communicate with their patients. Hence i saw a farang yelling to them because they couldn't answer his questions.

Phillipino nurses are even hired in Europe is what i heard, because they can speak english very well. Old patients still refuse to be nursed by them though, they want native speakers or nothing at all.

There are Filipino nurses in Britain , working in both public and private hospitals, there have been some problems with suspect qualifications but in general I understand they are welcome and needed because of shortages.

With Thailand's reputation for questionable education and qualifications plus fakes, copies etc I would think Thai nurses would have problems getting hired overseas and then comes the language situation.

For the US at least, Thai nurses need to pass the NCLEX exams. My wife was involved with teaching some nurses here for that exam. As I understand it, very few could pass it - the language and content was especially difficult. Then there are any other language requirements that need to be met. I guess the same would apply if they want to work in another ASEAN country, but not sure what the actual requirements would be.

[PaullyW]

Your average Thai would never consider leaving the cultural peace and comfort of Thailand. In other words, they don't travel well. This is especially true if wherever they would go does not already have many Thais for them to latch onto. I mean even Yingluck took mama noodles with her to Europe.

Thais generally only really function in Thailand. They generally don't assimilate at all into other places.

Edited December 16, 2015 by PaullyW

[LannaGuy]

Your average Thai would never consider leaving the cultural peace and comfort of Thailand. In other words, they don't travel well. This is especially true if wherever they would go does not already have many Thais for them to latch onto. I mean even Yingluck took mama noodles with her to Europe.

Thais generally only really function in Thailand. They generally don't assimilate at all into other places.

That is true I know of several unhappy Thais overseas who might have a comparatively rich hubby but want to be back here and I think part of that is the rampant nationalism here which is not found to such an extent overseas (but exists in places of course). That 'belonging' and 'special' feeling leads to lack of assimilation.

Edited December 16, 2015 by LannaGuy

[sawadee1947]

Give me a break...Thailand is a hub of everything, especially in bragging