Can anyone at TAT speak fluent English.

[William C F Pierce]

I remember visiting the TAT in Chiang Mai 8 years ago and the only language the staff spoke was Thai. The office has since been rebuilt, with a nice new modern building. I went in a few days ago to find out where the Promenada shopping mall was. I spoke slowly and clearly. The 2 girls behind the counter struggled to comprehend what I was talking about. Eventually after 5 minutes they gave me a map and pointed to where the Promenada was. By comparison the Guesthouse and tour office next door have staff that speak fluent English, French and German. The TAT is not very good for promoting tourism to Thailand. Unless their all busy learning Chinese. Having said that the Chinese that I have met speak English better than most Thais. English is accepted as the international language by default. As well as English I do speak a bit of Spanish. In the last 2 months I have learnt to count in Thai 0 to 99. The older you get the harder in seems to be to learn, but at least I am trying. There is no excuse for the TAT for employing young people that have not learnt at least one foreign language. Has anyone else had the same experience of comprehension at other TAT offices or are TAT offices only for Thai people.

[KhunBENQ]

Do it yourself / housing forum?

[eyecatcher]

If that ends up on the CM forum he will get slaughtered

[richard10365]

I was doing tourism research in Chiang Mai for my MBA thesis and ran across that problem as well last year. While I totally agree with you about the need to be able to speak English, Thailand has nearly 30 million tourist in 2015 without the ability to speak English well. Most government offices I spoke with are like this.

Perhaps this is a good thing and could be the topic of further research in the future. What impact does a country's English ability have on the tourism to that country?

For example, Singapore has by far the most successful tourism industry in Asean per capita of tourists to their country. Their English ability is great. Research shows percieved levels of satisfaction increase when English is spoken in the destination country of the tourists.

If Thailand spoke English as well as Singapore, would Thailand see an increase per capita of tourists? Would it be able to handle this increase? Are Thai English abilities adequate enough for the number of tourists visiting the country now?

The answer to the last question is apparently so. Thailand speaks poor English but they still have 30 million tourists.

I need to stop waking up in the middle of the night. I'm going back to sleep.

[anto]

Bar girls generally speak better English than most middle class Thai .(Thai tourist office staff i know nothing about ,but they have got to be better than their French equivalent who i came across last month in Paris .They just scowl at you if you speak to them in English ).) .

[steven100]

90% of Thai's don't speak or understand a word of english.

I have always said unless Thai's are forced to learn english by their employers & school ... they will inevitably be taken over by Vietnam as the preferred destination for business and holidays.

[elektrified]

90% of Thai's don't speak or understand a word of english.

I have always said unless Thai's are forced to learn english by their employers & school ... they will inevitably be taken over by Vietnam as the preferred destination for business and holidays.

That may be the case in Northern and other Provinces like down in the South, but certainly not the case in Bangkok. Almost everyone I know in Bangkok speaks excellent English. One problem here, even with highly educated people like doctors, lawyers, etc. is grammar. Many have huge vocabularies but struggle with grammar. It's not a fault of theirs; rather the system they grow up in fails them in that regard. Most students are eager to learn, but are not given the tools to do so.

[TheSiemReaper]

90% of Thai's don't speak or understand a word of english.

I have always said unless Thai's are forced to learn english by their employers & school ... they will inevitably be taken over by Vietnam as the preferred destination for business and holidays.

Where do people get this from? I've travelled all over Thailand and while, perfectly fluent English is rare, spoken English is incredibly common - particularly with younger Thais (though they may be a little shy at first speaking to a farang). My Thai is minimal and lousy but I manage to get by without issue in English everywhere - a little patience and an intention to seek understanding (rather than complain about someone else's limitations) go a long way on this front.

[CoreanoOzzie]

This is Thailand where Thai is the official language. I don't see western people speaking Thai for Thais when they travel abroad.

[steven100]

This is Thailand where Thai is the official language. I don't see western people speaking Thai for Thais when they travel abroad.

English is the most common used international language. If you want to succeed in the developing world you must speak english. Whether it be banking, tourism, retail, industrial or resource sectors, english is the used in more countries than any other language and as such Thai's should follow suit if they want to move forward.

[kanook]

I have been to the TAT office several times and they seemingly had staff that spoke English, but I don't doubt your account. As for the Chinese, I would agree that their command of English is better, but try living anywhere in mainland China and you'll probably find yourself wishing to be back in Thailand.

Edited February 11, 2016 by kanook

[CoreanoOzzie]

This is Thailand where Thai is the official language. I don't see western people speaking Thai for Thais when they travel abroad.

English is the most common used international language. If you want to succeed in the developing world you must speak english. Whether it be banking, tourism, retail, industrial or resource sectors, english is the used in more countries than any other language and as such Thai's should follow suit if they want to move forward.

This is the stock standard response from people who do not want to learn Thai even after they have lived here for many years. Your English above is also full of errors. Thais can succeed in their own country without the necessity to speak English. That is where you are wrong.

[Bill97]

Bar girls generally speak better English than most middle class Thai .(Thai tourist office staff i know nothing about ,but they have got to be better than their French equivalent who i came across last month in Paris .They just scowl at you if you speak to them in English ).) .

See the Louvre and leave.

[tomwct]

Thailand has the Sex Industry! No need to speak English!