English in bangkok

Language is a big problem here, you will hardly find anyone who can speak English, forget good English speaking, you won't get even minimum English speaking people here, so it's not just a zero but a " BIG FAT ZERO "

First of all, if you are planning to move here you should learn Thai. It will make your life so much easier. The English level varies greatly depending on where you are in the city and really just from person to person. Just learning key phrases will help you get by in the beginning.

I don't know why Emkay is so angry about the level of English. You are in Thailand after all.

It is stressful mentally if you do not speak Thai language. You will be left out completely. Thai speak basic english just to get money from your pocket. So really your only option is to learn native language and have fun.

Thanks to the people who replied. So basically learning the local language is not just optional, but a neccessity :-) I understand where emkay is coming from. It does get frustrating and you have to be quite patient when u cant get your message through. while english is quite good in malaysia, i have the occassional bouts of frustration.

Absolutely correct! Local Thai people cannot speak English very well. This based on their pronunciation in their alphabets. Before you go to Thailand you should be familiar with the following accent. Step = Sa tep; Star= Sa ta;  Group. Usually, letter
1. "R" changes to "L", for example: Relative = Lelative; Reference = Lefelence....
2. Letter "R" is usually a silent one. Ex: Group= Goup; Ground=Gound...

Woo!! Dear all,

I am also Thai if u need any help like translator English to Thai to English, let me know at least still have one more Thai who can speak English here! ;-)

As i told you before if i can put 20 i will, but you option is max 10, so 10 it is.
I never find it to be a "big" problem at all here in Thailand.
I have friends living here for XX years, that don´t speak Thai, and they never have problem about it.
I do think it is up to people them self that make it a big problem.

Sure life get easy when speaking the language, same go for every country i think.
When learn the language, all so try learning the why Thai do like this, why Thai think like that and so on.
Try to understand why Thai do some thing in other way, that we Fa-Rang find "normal" to do, and be okay by Thai doing it that way, make life here easy.

If you are a open person, that don´t mind meeting new people, try go to university in you area, here you find many Thai student that like to try to talk to you, learn English from you (or other language you can) and same time learn you Thai.
This might open up for at lot of information about Thai life, if you find some good, nice student.

Maybe ask to put up a paper to say you Fa-Rang look for people to help you learn Thai, and you going to help them learning English, many people on University know English writing / reading, but not speaking English.
So if you have time for that, and don´t mind meeting new people, try it out.

1 thing, if you chose to do so, remember the Thai will ask you every thing, they want to know about you live story, why you do like this, that and so on, Same time you can then ask them about many things to learn.

I find it to be win / win.

I know we all different people, but i enjoy it back when i was come here, to do it this way i write now.

Hope you enjoy your life here in this great country.

Kindly.

NDT - that's a really nice way of turning a challenge into a positive :-) I will definitely take a shot at conversing with a thai person to learn bits of their language and hopefully help them out too.

PhuketMe - I'd love to take you up on your offer :-)