Thais' lack of ability at foreign languages holding back tourism, says top minister

[nausea]

9 hours ago, snoop1130 said:

Phuket - once considered one of the prime locations for visiting ships in Asia - was now lagging far behind, reported Thai Rath.

Phuket's been going downhill for a while, and English language skills are the least of their problems. 

[burgdawg]

kon Thai do not exist outside of their beloved Kingdom very well, so why should they learn a foreign language?
Issue SOLVED!

[Ron19]

A flame post has been removed.

[selftaopath]

11 hours ago, Happy Grumpy said:

Nonsense.

 

Thais don't need foreign languages because Thailand is the best country in the World, and Thais are the best people in the World. Tourist numbers are the best in the World and there's 0% unemployment. 

 

 

45 is so similar eh?

[selftaopath]

10 hours ago, rebo said:

Absolutely right! Communication Thai to Thai is an entire misunderstanding when it goes further than "aroi", "sabai" and "suai". My theorie is that they don't really listen, thinking they already know what the sender is telling them.

LOL I believe you are correct. Years ago I asked my wife a/b several Thais speaking at the same time - in a would be interaction -. I said how can anyone follow so many people speaking at once. She said, " Thais talk but don't listen." lol Ain't it the truth. Why listen when you know it all? lol 

[djayz]

Not surprised one little bit. 

I'm sure the decline in tourist numbers (cruise ships visiting Phuket) is due to the lack of language skills AND other factors (e.g. dirty beaches/streets, dual pricing, etc.). 

[JHolmesJr]

How about not communicating with multiple kicks to the head?

[baansgr]

11 hours ago, Chip Allen said:

I became acquainted with a Thai/American brother and sister at a university where I worked. They are fluent in both Thai and English, having an American mother and a Thai father. They both tell me that a large percentage of Thais do not even speak their own language correctly, which leads to any number of misunderstandings. Comments?

How many times do you hear Thais having to say things 2,3,4 times befor the respondent understands. Even fried rice with egg or chicken gets confused so many times. 

[selftaopath]

9 hours ago, Just1Voice said:

But what totally ticks him off is that he's not allowed to fail anyone, yet tells me that if he could, he would probably fail over half his students. 

I believe this leads to mediocrity throughout the society. Seems like they aspire to it and the "good enough" mentality. ???

[stormstereo]

So, the cruise lines reluctance to anchor at Phuket has nothing to do with the tuk-tuk and taxi blockades a few years back? Effectively giving the cruise guests a really bad experience.

[selftaopath]

8 hours ago, Just1Voice said:

Myanmar (Burma) has a hell of a lot more costal area on the Adaman Sea than Thailand does, and some big name hotels are already starting to invest there.  At their current rate, if the Myanmar government stays stable, in 10 years, or less, then will kill Thailands "beach front property" holidays, if they manage it right. 

 

Yes but Thailand will ALWAYS have "beauties" who sell their bodies to foreigners. That's a big draw and impacts tourism immensely. Not much need to speak any language in this regard. I've often wonder how tourism would be impacted if there was no sex workers in Thailand.

[brewsterbudgen]

Yes but Thailand will ALWAYS have "beauties" who sell their bodies to foreigners. That's a big draw and impacts tourism immensely. Not much need to speak any language in this regard. I've often wonder how tourism would be impacted if there was no sex workers in Thailand.

And ironically the foreign language skills of most tourist-sex-workers are better than average!

Sent from my SM-G930F using Thailand Forum - Thaivisa mobile app

[StayinThailand2much]

12 hours ago, Just1Voice said:

Here's something funny/interesting/sad.  My adopted Thai son is a Thai Language Teacher and, according to him, over half of his students can't even speak Thai semi correctly, and their writing of it is even worse. 

13 hours ago, Happy Grumpy said:

Thais don't need foreign languages because Thailand is the best country in the World, and Thais are the best people in the World.

I know expat kids at international schools in Bangkok, who have higher grades in the school subject 'Thai Language' than many of their Thai classmates.

 

IMHO Thais have major difficulties learning any language, incl. their own! The same applies to other subjects, like Mathematics, Science, Religion... However, there is one thing Thai school kids are really good at: locating the latest games on their iPhones. Nuff said.

[selftaopath]

54 minutes ago, gmac said:

No we don't but our language is commonly used in many parts of the world unlike Thai.

And isn't English the globally accepted business language? Some years ago Google wanted to build a business outlet here but moved onto a neighboring country. Wonder why?

[dotpoom]

Strange, whenever I went on holidays it never occured to me to check out the standard of the of English amoungst the general population of the country I was about to visit.

[hansnl]

13 hours ago, Sir Dude said:

All because Thailand is basically an inward looking country with a local superiority complex and an educational system that is in dire need of reforming due to consistently lagging behind it's local piers. However, dream on for change as too many vested interests and the Chinese-Thai elite will have none of it due to them needing an unquestioning slave class to provide cheap labour. Ironically, although people rightly complain about the education system here, it actually does a very good job regarding what it was really designed to do...which is controversial and archaic, working as intended. 

 

Ditch the patronage system, enforce the law, allow critical and free thinking, stop the coups and and hose down the government stables with bleach so as to create a fairer society...and you might have some chance of that and a myriad of other things minister (yeah, right). I could go on, but it would be patronizing to TV members to do so.

You mention the exact problems in Thailand, and lay the blame there where it belongs.

The elite is Chinese, think like Chinese do, is inward looking and xenofobic like all Chinese and urges the Thai to learn Chinese.

Not English, the language of choice of the ASEAN, the international language of trade and communication, but Chinese.

The real Thai are very different.

 

[Borzandy]

I don't think tourists come to Thailand to speak with Thais, and, if Thais could speak English, the tourists would be able to understand what the Thais have in their mind and then the the flow of tourists will stop.

[dinsdale]

The 'best' English is actually in the tourist areas. As for poor service ok. Taxis, tuk tuks, and all the other mafia controlled things. Phuket? From what I can gather from Thaivisa it's been going down hill for years. Cruise liners? Get of the boat and get ripped off. Double, triple charging has nothing to do with language efficiency. This just more nonsense.

[khunano]

14 hours ago, Happy Grumpy said:

Nonsense.

 

Thais don't need foreign languages because Thailand is the best country in the World, and Thais are the best people in the World. Tourist numbers are the best in the World and there's 0% unemployment. 

 

 

exactly, but you forgot to mention that soon Thai will become the new lingua franca....

[Destiny1990]

6 minutes ago, dinsdale said:

The 'best' English is actually in the tourist areas. As for poor service ok. Taxis, tuk tuks, and all the other mafia controlled things. Phuket? From what I can gather from Thaivisa it's been going down hill for years. Cruise liners? Get of the boat and get ripped off. Double, triple charging has nothing to do with language efficiency. This just more nonsense.

Phuket has some pretty nice areas with lots of upperclass farangs living their with their families their tropical dream life. Dont believe only these awfull stories from farangs who got dumped by their bar girl.

[mark01]

Just one in a long list of reasons. The military government being another.

 

Didn't I read yesterday that tourism was up? So no need to worry. Back to sleep Mr minister.

[alex8912]

1 hour ago, selftaopath said:

Yes but Thailand will ALWAYS have "beauties" who sell their bodies to foreigners. That's a big draw and impacts tourism immensely. Not much need to speak any language in this regard. I've often wonder how tourism would be impacted if there was no sex workers in Thailand.

What you should have put is the word "sex" before you typed the word tourism. These types of tourists are coming here less and less let's face it. Maybe the newer generation of 20 and 30 somethings aren't as interested in paying for it and the older ones are well for a better term  kicking the bucket.  

[wwest5829]

Just met another newcomer American (retiree) yesterday and had to forewarn that one can get into trouble in Thailand just volunteering without a work permit.

[kaorop]

9 hours ago, attrayant said:

 

Not talking about regional dialects. Native speakers can usually deal with those by paying attention to context.

My Thai brothers in law told me something similar a few years ago, but I thought they were just joking. Now that I’ve seen the same thing mentioned in this discussion, I went back to ask them for more detail. They say they spend a lot of time in their conversations “mopping up” misunderstandings and explaining themselves three or four times in different ways because they often don’t ‘get’ each other’s meanings well enough the first or second time.

That must be exhausting. I’ve always wondered what my in laws are talking about for hours at a time. Now I understand the language becomes cumbersome whenever fine points and details are needed.

 

As an aside, (this subject interests me ) one reason English is difficult. A theasaurus shows some things have many ways to be described but they can also be distinct and very specific meanings. So there should be less misunderstandings. Not sure if Tai has a thesaurus. 

[Bill Miller]

13 hours ago, Chip Allen said:

I became acquainted with a Thai/American brother and sister at a university where I worked. They are fluent in both Thai and English, having an American mother and a Thai father. They both tell me that a large percentage of Thais do not even speak their own language correctly, which leads to any number of misunderstandings. Comments?

I can believe that, and have no idea how to fix it.
If you use translator programs for French or Spanish. e.g., you get sensible results. For whatever reason Thai translations  usually come out as near gibberish, and that is with all the written tone indicators.
Consider that spoken Thai has numerous local dialects, and many people speak very rapidly. I think of when a cousin from the Midlands UK came to visit in the US. Usually no probs with Brits, Australians, etc., but Tony, who is a businessman, was nearly unintelligible for the first couple of days.
I am not a cruise ship type, being more of a superannuated back packer. In my travels in Asia so far I have found Thailand to be a pretty good place to find someone with a few words of English at least, compared to say Saigon, Vietnam, where English and even French seemed scarce.at the non Four Star levels.
 English so far is still the most international language.though I think Mandarin is moving up.
If Thailand really wants to rectify this sort of problem then stop putting impediments in the way of native speakers who would like to come here and teach. 

[tonray]

12 hours ago, greeneking said:

They are not serious.

Very few TV programs or films made in English are broadcast with Thai subtitles.

Most interestingly, with the King today and his much revered father both able to speak English, why have they never been shown doing so?  What a missed opportunity to show how it is useful, modern, important and done by those they look up to.

Thailand No. 1

Actually there are many video clips of them doing just that.

[StayinThailand2much]

28 minutes ago, kaorop said:

As an aside, (this subject interests me ) one reason English is difficult. A theasaurus shows some things have many ways to be described but they can also be distinct and very specific meanings. So there should be less misunderstandings. Not sure if Tai has a thesaurus. 

Many people around the world (are able to) learn English. Khmer, Laotian, Burmese, and Bahasa Malaysia (correct me if I'm wrong) don't have a thesaurus either, but still there are many people in Cambodia, Laos, and Myanmar who have learned to speak English well, poor and rich, young and old... And don't come with the crap 'well, these were colonies'; cause this was 2-3 generations ago! Why is it that Thai wives, girlfriends, hotel staff, prostitutes, etc., can learn English? Simple: because they are  - i n t e r e s t e d -   to do so, or they need to. If you are Thai, and told from year 1 to 12 in school (and also in the mass media), that 1.) foreigners are 'barbarians', 'evil', and 'thieves' (perhaps in slightly different words), and 2.) Thailand is #1 in the world, and "Thainess" is 'superior to anything in the world' (perhaps in slightly different words), why on earth, as a Thai should you be interested and encouraged to learn any foreign language? 

 

All Thais, studying English, I've asked why, told me: "Because I have to." Who can seriously learn a foreign language, if they have to, but don't really want to? 

[kotsak]

It suits the serfdom establishment so don't expect changes anytime soon unless it benefits those who make the rules.

[StayinThailand2much]

18 minutes ago, Bill Miller said:

Consider that spoken Thai has numerous local dialects, and many people speak very rapidly. I think of when a cousin from the Midlands UK came to visit in the US. Usually no probs with Brits, Australians, etc., but Tony, who is a businessman, was nearly unintelligible for the first couple of days.

True! I noticed, that some people from Phuket and Songkhla, two provinces in Thailand's South have trouble understanding each other, and these two provinces are not that far apart.

[overherebc]

35 minutes ago, kaorop said:

As an aside, (this subject interests me ) one reason English is difficult. A theasaurus shows some things have many ways to be described but they can also be distinct and very specific meanings. So there should be less misunderstandings. Not sure if Tai has a thesaurus. 

They did have Thesaurus but it became extinct a few million years ago.