A hot topic at the moment is how to prepare for the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) which becomes a reality in only three years. The Nation had an insightful editorial on this on 27 March and Dr. Surin addressed this issue at a conference at the end of March hosted by the Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn Anthropolgy Centre. One common theme has been the need for Thailand to improve the English language capability of its people, an issue I addressed in an earlier column.