PM urges Thais to tap AEC benefits

[rooster59]

PM urges Thais to tap AEC benefits

BANGKOK: Prayut wants people to improve their English skills and competitiveness

PRIME MINISTER Prayut Chan-o-cha has called on Thais to be alert for change and the new opportunities that will come to Thailand and other Asean countries now that the Asean Economic Community has officially begun.

Government Spokesman Maj-General Sansern Kaewkamnerd said Prayut wanted Thais to seek more knowledge and self-development in order to benefit their career paths and the country's competitiveness.

The prime minister was speaking after Thailand and the other Asean countries officially entered the AEC on Thursday.

The other Asean countries are Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore and Vietnam.

"The prime minister emphasised the development of English skills among Thai people, particularly communication skills," the spokesman said.

Sansern said the government would help by intensifying skill development among the labour force so the country could better compete with neighbouring countries as well as attract foreign investment by using its market capability and seek more cooperation within the Asean grouping. He said the government had issued strategies on six aspects in response to the Asean community that covered the development of education, labour and information technology and building a regional network.

"A good example of the capability of contesting at the international level is Phuket, which was selected, together with 17 others cities, by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation, or Unesco, as a City of Gastronomy. Phuket is the only Asean city selected for such an honour," he said.

Unesco recognised the island's rich culinary history and unique cuisine and has allowed the city to use Unesco's logo to promote its gastronomic products.

"Being chosen as a member of the Unesco Creative Cities Network as a City of Gastronomy is a wonderful honour for Phuket," said Unesco director general Irina Bokova.

Efforts to collate recipes and the historical information of the local Baba (Straits Chinese) cuisine to have Phuket Town recognised as a City of Gastronomy have been ongoing since 2011.

Sansern said the designation gave the resort province an opportunity to boost its economy.

He said Prayut welcomed the news and thanked the provincial authorities for their hard work.

He said the prime minister wanted government authorities to work collectively and effectively like the Phuket authorities did.

Prayut also wanted to see a long-term plan that emphasised concrete success and was based on benefiting the public including from participating in the AEC.

The full implementation of the AEC is seen as a major milestone in Asean's regional economic-integration agenda as it offers opportunities in the form of a huge combined market of US$2.6 trillion (Bt96 trillion) and a combined population of 622 million.

In 2014, Asean was collectively the third-largest economy in Asia and the seventh-largest in the world.

The AEC initiative rests on four pillars - integrate the region into a single market and production base; turn Southeast Asia into a highly competitive region; ensure equitable development across Asean; and fully integrate Asean into the global economy.

Source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/aec/PM-urges-Thais-to-tap-AEC-benefits-30276002.html

-- The Nation 2016-01-02

[nottocus]

Well….getting rid of all those sex tourists posing as English teachers is a start.

[Somtamnication]

Well….getting rid of all those sex tourists posing as English teachers is a start.

Darwin award of the day. Congratulations!

Filipinos are already here doing hotel work and with the education department reducing budgets for foreign teachers and only using 500 Thai English teachers trained by the Brit Council is not enough nor is it feasible.

[never me]

Prayut wants people to improve their English skills

Thats a bit like shutting the gate after the horse has bolted.

[jaywalker]

"Government Spokesman Maj-General Sansern Kaewkamnerd said Prayut wanted Thais to seek more knowledge and self-development in order to benefit their career paths and the country's competitiveness."

......But we'll tell you what to think, as well as what you can and cannot say.

Edited January 2, 2016 by jaywalker

[Plutojames88]

Well.getting rid of all those sex tourists posing as English teachers is a start.

Your right ,many (certainly not a majority ,or even high Percentage ) are there to also engage in the sex industry that the Thai Government profits from.

Western countries routinely weed out hookers posing as wives , or students ,so theThais should ensure the western teachers go.

This would be good for preventing students being able to accurately read western media online.

Why not go further ban all English newspapers ?

Ban speaking english and only allow Thai speakers who sign an approval of the current military leader into Thailand ?

If it truely wants to return happiness to the people ,round up people who refuse to ""speak Thai " and buy land and houses , cars , for poor Thai families and over many years part with millions of Thai baht there fuelling the thai economy .....but damaging Thai culture .

Forcing Thailand the most moral people ""On earth"" to devote whole cities to sex industries .

Why not start a ""go home Farang "" T Shirt and TV blitz .?

You tried for ""quality"" tourists that didn't work.

Why not get Thailand out of the grip of evil western critics and cleanse the country for the good of all.?

Then you can say Mr Pimbut landed on the moon and planted the Thai flag .

And the Thai inventions are the winner (yet again) of the science prize .

And 100% of people want this government to rule forever .

After all what could dumb ""Farangs know?"

Edited January 2, 2016 by Plutojames88

[kartman]

Did he say it in English?

[Oziex1]

Do they have or do they intend to set up a specific agency to provide advice and information for business and individuals on how to benefit from the AEC.

What are they doing or plan to do about getting more Thais to speak English? Just talking about it, in Thai presumably.

So they have been acknowledged as making good food in Phuket "Chinese Food"

I will be interested to see the developments on this, I hope that it does provide benefits to the people.

[alant]

Does anyone know where these can be read ?

" He said the government had issued strategies on six aspects in response to the Asean community that covered the development of education, labour and information technology and building a regional network."

It is hard to know how anything will change so any clue would be good to know. Meanwhile it is interesting to see that an award by a body not connected to ASEAN is to assist in helping Thailand in the region. I hope so but I don't know why.

Happy New Year.

[Aj Mick]

I am sure the miserable so called elite will find ways to exploit the benefits of AEC as they seek a return to happiness. Meanwhile, for the average Somchai and Somrudee, life will just carry on as always….. catching moments of happiness in their daily grind.

Just wondering much do the PM and other big shots practice what they preach? How much English (or any other language) do they speak?

Edited January 2, 2016 by Aj Mick

[Srikcir]

"Prayut wanted Thais to seek more knowledge and self-development in order to benefit their career paths and the country's competitiveness."

Helpful guides:

- Get rid of native-speaking foreign teachers

- "Thainess" before all other cultures, traditions and behavior

- Thais don't commit crimes against humanity

- Thai companies require 51% Thai majority ownership

- List of Restricted Jobs for foreigners

- Limits and restrictions on freedom of the press and speech

- Article 44 imperils checks and balances of government/constitution

- No constitution protecting rights and liberties

- No authority to protect constitution if it did exist

- Economic depression

Thais might better seek their oppportunities in other ASEAN countries and elsewhere.

[trogers]

"Government Spokesman Maj-General Sansern Kaewkamnerd said Prayut wanted Thais to seek more knowledge and self-development in order to benefit their career paths and the country's competitiveness."

......But we'll tell you what to think, as well as what you can and cannot say.

Even before reaching your points, the Thais must first be able to pick up a book...

[Just1Voice]

When you have Thai with "Master's Degrees" in English, from Thai Universities, who cannot hold a simple conversation in English, what hope is there for the average "collage graduate"?

[The Beguiled]

"Trouble on the horizon"

not only for the few Thai's who speak "weak" English as people from the other better English speaking countries in ASEAN will be able to take Thai jobs in the 10 specified industries - with Tourism the No 1 looser for Thai's.

But also on the other spectrum of the employment market that being the low paid.

In the Northeast of Thailand several years back the locals were being paid 300 baht per day for rice harvesting and the next year they wanted 500 baht but 20 kilometers over the boarder to Lao the Lao's were happy to be paid the 300 baht per day.

Local Thai group (bit like a mafia) put a stop to the employment of the Laos so that their people could be paid the 500 baht per day.

Only problem was that a foreigner (who had invested in a harvester in his Thai family's name) was able to cut out the Thai workers as the cost to harvest was equivalent to just over 300 baht per worker per day.

So the loosers were

1/ The Lao workers

2/ The Thai workers

And the winners were

A) the Thai family of the foreigner

the foreigner.

Can anyone else see problems for the Thais?

"Keeping ones head in the sand will only lead to dehydration and death ultimately".

[trogers]

When you have Thai with "Master's Degrees" in English, from Thai Universities, who cannot hold a simple conversation in English, what hope is there for the average "collage graduate"?

To save enough to buy a Masters...

[MaxLee]

Prayut wants people to improve their English skills and competitiveness

Haha, but you're not doing that by sending away qualified FALANG, and getting retired, old, out-of-modern-day grandpa/grandma teachers to whipslash rote learning into kid's sensitive brains into irrepairable brain damage propaganda....

[samtam]

Under the aegis of the AEC there will be free movement of people in eight professional fields:

accountancy, engineering, surveying, architecture, nursing, medical and tourism.

There is a suggestion that better English speakers from the other AEC countries will create a tighter market in these professions for Thais in Thailand. But surely given the low level and infrequently used English language in Thailand, those seeking employment from AEC countries will have to learn Thai. They may have expertise in their professional fields, but if they can't communicate with their Thai employers/ees they are not going to be very effective.

Those in AEC countries who do speak better English will relocate to countries where better English is spoken anyway. Well qualified Thais in the 8 professions will just stay in Thailand.

[Just1Voice]

Too little.....to late.

[otherstuff1957]

^^ There has been speculation that well qualified Thais who speak English well may look for jobs in Singapore, where they can get higher pay but be close enough for cheap flights home. If this happens, there may be a 'brain drain' of the best and brightest from Thailand.

I agree, though, that non-Thai speakers will not find it easy to work in Thailand. The only real impact will be in the Hospitality sector where the Filipinos will probably move in to Thailand and take over.

[waldroj]

"...attract foreign investment..."!!!

Q. How to attract a little foreign investment - Thai-style???

A. Start with a lot of foreign investment, have a coup, and put the junta in control!!!

[WitawatWatawit]

Under the aegis of the AEC there will be free movement of people in eight professional fields:

accountancy, engineering, surveying, architecture, nursing, medical and tourism.

There is a suggestion that better English speakers from the other AEC countries will create a tighter market in these professions for Thais in Thailand. But surely given the low level and infrequently used English language in Thailand, those seeking employment from AEC countries will have to learn Thai. They may have expertise in their professional fields, but if they can't communicate with their Thai employers/ees they are not going to be very effective.

Those in AEC countries who do speak better English will relocate to countries where better English is spoken anyway. Well qualified Thais in the 8 professions will just stay in Thailand.

Interesting point. But I would expect that the job market competition in those better-English countries will become much tougher, meaning those with lesser skills and ambition will by default come here to get jobs where some are still available. The hope here, of course, is that some communications skills among the Thais will improve with the influx of these outside workers, although I would not expect any miracles because Thais are actively discouraged throughout their lives to think outside of the box - many of us have experience of using all manner of methods (drawings, pictures, gestures and so on) to try to ask something from a shop assistant, only to be met with a complete blank.

[iReason]

"PRIME MINISTER Prayut Chan-o-cha has called on Thais to be alert for change ... now that the Asean Economic Community has officially begun."

Might have been a good idea to have had a plan before rummaging through government offices with your military.

But heck, you've had close to 2 years to address it.

I guess street racers, beach vendors, FB likes, internet control and other nonsense took priority...

But hey! I hear you have two hit songs in constant rotation on propaganda radio.

Truly an embarrassment to Thailand.

Edited January 2, 2016 by iReason

[HenryB]

When you have Thai with "Master's Degrees" in English, from Thai Universities, who cannot hold a simple conversation in English, what hope is there for the average "collage graduate"?

It is time for people who do business in Thailand speak only Thailand

Maybe speaking English is wrong this is Thailand speak Thailand

Hard for Thai to get Visa for England or USA so why speak English

Edited January 2, 2016 by HenryB

[Briggsy]

Speech seems very low on detail.

Thailand has always been and will remain a protectionist economy. It would struggle to compete on the international stage, even the ASEAN stage. The protectionist policies ensure the large Sino-Thai businesses keep paying dividends. The Sino-Thai businesses feed some of this profit back into the military-political-police-royalist nexus. The population as a whole suffer in at least 4 ways.

1. Higher prices for goods and services.

2. Lower quality for goods and services.

3. Higher taxes (think indirect taxes : e.g. VAT and excise duties)

4. Inequality of wealth distribution as the elite make policies and laws to suit their own ends.

[Rhys]

Geez what could EF be up to with the earth shattering report? Of course English skill in Thai are low, but many are blinded by the spin...Just listen to yourselves.. all Thai English teachers from University cannot hold a conversation.. oh pleeseeeeeeeeeeeeee W Man syndrome.

The English business is alive and well.. Linguistic imperalism still rules..

[Just1Voice]

Geez what could EF be up to with the earth shattering report? Of course English skill in Thai are low, but many are blinded by the spin...Just listen to yourselves.. all Thai English teachers from University cannot hold a conversation.. oh pleeseeeeeeeeeeeeee W Man syndrome.

The English business is alive and well.. Linguistic imperalism still rules..

First off, try reading a post correctly. No one said ALL THAI ENGLISH TEACHERS. But I personally know of 5 Thai, all with Master's in English from Chula who can not hold a simple conversation. Two of them happen to live right across the street from me. One of the others is a friend of my son. Same story. Master's from Chula in ENGLISH, and they can't even talk to me. The problem? Thai learn English GRAMMAR, but they never learn how to SPEAK it. Most bar girls couldn't pass a 6th grade (U.S.) grammar test, but have English speaking skills that put those "educated" Thai to shame. Until Thai learn to develop SPEAKING skills in English, they are always going to be sucking hind tit.

Edited January 2, 2016 by Just1Voice

[cockatoowho]

When you have Thai with "Master's Degrees" in English, from Thai Universities, who cannot hold a simple conversation in English, what hope is there for the average "collage graduate"?

It is time for people who do business in Thailand speak only Thailand

Maybe speaking English is wrong this is Thailand speak Thailand

Hard for Thai to get Visa for England or USA so why speak English

What the <deleted>!

[off road pat]

Did he say it in English?

Can he ???

[BKKdreaming]

What walls will he put up so that no one will take "Thai" jobs

[drgoon]

When you have Thai with "Master's Degrees" in English, from Thai Universities, who cannot hold a simple conversation in English, what hope is there for the average "collage graduate"?

A 'collage' graduate 555.... is that a Batchelor of Arts 555