Thais don't care about correct pronunciation

Thais pronounce English words the way they see it, usually monotonously (mo-no-to-nus-ly). They don’t listen and don’t care to learn how to read phonetic transcriptions. They ignore word stress. Worse, they think English native speakers fully understand them because “My English is good”. Even Thais with a PhD from English-speaking countries pronounce most words wrong, only they don’t know. 

In the mid 1970s while I was living in the US, I struggled to communicate with American friends and co-workers. A few years went by and my English seemed to improve (at least I thought so) because people could understand me better. But later it occurred to me that they understood me because they got used to my broken English and my heavy Thai accent. It’s like you understand your foreign housekeepers speaking Thai after they’ve been with you a year or so.

I think the best way to learn English is by watching an assortment of English-speaking movies with English subtitles. Try this and you’ll realise how terrible your pronunciation really is. I have.

Somsak Pola 

Samut Prakan