At the school that I was teaching at in northern Korat,
the majority of English teacher teachers could read to an acceptable level, but the same could not be said about their speaking.
It was laborious and constrained,not at all sounding natural,with most words being pronounced with a strong accent, or just plain incorrect. And do not even mention listening!
Not surprisingly, the same could be said about the students. They could read English and do exercises from a book, but not much else. They implored me, and many others, to speak slowly, even though one could not speak slower. The bottom line is their abilities were not good enough. They could barely speak in language, let alone comprehend what others were said. And this was high school students, albeit Matthayom 1 and 2. The administration did not help matters any when they refused my request to use listing tapes.
Being a teacher in Korea previously, I always thought that Koreans had problems with conversational English ; but Thai students' abilities pale in comparison. And we're talking about those in the English intensive program,supposedly the smartest. something clearly needs to be done. The only saving grace is that the students weren't necessarily the best. Why?
Well, their mother and father gave the administration extra money. Students were not necessarily in the program based on talent, but the earning power of their parents. And if the pupils did not come to class or do their work? That is because a foreigner cannot fail anyone! Based on what I have heard from others, the same goes on in their schools. It seems the whole public school system has this problem. There is something wrong when students who never show up to class or do the work still end up passing.