What this all means is that people from other Asean countries will be able to come to Thailand and compete for the best jobs so now the job market will get even more competitive. For many Thais, they are starting to realize that unless they are continually using English interacting with foreigners, they don’t have the ability to easily speak and understand English.
The common issue expressed by Thais who have had years of English classes in school but little time working side by side with foreigners is that they are not able to communicate fast enough with native English speakers. One Thai professional who recently spoke to a recruiter at Bangkok Executive Search said that “classroom English” is far slower than “real world English”. In order to avoid embarrassment, many Thais prefer to remain quiet as they fear making mistakes. Unfortunately, this reluctance to challenge themselves will hurt their chances for professional advancement.
In order to further develop their English skills, Thai professionals should focus on talking with native English speakers rather Thai friends or classmates. In speaking with native English speakers, Thais will experience a much quicker progression. One suggestion we often make for people who have a limited budget is to join meetup.com. For those unfamiliar with the site, people in Bangkok can join groups focused on specific interests or activities. As an example, if someone wants to learn English, there are English conversation “meetups” that take place in a variety of settings every week.
Regardless of how someone chooses to learn English, there is no doubt that English will become practically a requirement for any Thai professional. In the future, China, Japan, and South Korea will be joining the Asean Community and the citizens from those countries will also be able to compete for jobs in Thailand in which English will be a standard job requirement. For those that commit to learning English, they will be able to take advantage of opportunities in other Asean countries or from companies looking to invest in Thailand.
What we continue to stress to Thai professionals is that the problems created by not knowing English is not going away. However, the requirement to speak English by many employers should be seen as a great opportunity as those that make the effort to learn it will separate themselves from the millions of people who fail to learn English at a level required by international corporations.
Just to give you sense of how Thailand compares to other countries in English proficiency, Thailand is ranked 62nd out of 70 counties who were evaluated by the English First English Proficiency Index in 2015. In Asia, the country is ranked 14th out of 16 countries which puts it at a great disadvantage among Asean Community countries. Therefore, aspiring professionals and those already in the labor market must make a concerted effort to learn and promote the importance of learning English.
