Thailand lags in language learning

A few years ago I was teaching English at a girls’ school in Bangkok. The students were polite, attentive and many of them eager to learn. They were, however, held back by a legacy of ineffective teaching – particularly in pronunciation – that left them capable only of learning what might best be described as “English vocabulary as used in Thailand”.
When attempting to learn my students’ names (had anyone bothered before?) it became apparent that Cream pronounced as “Key”, “Cherry” as “Shirley” had been allowed to become established as correct, or at least the norm.
As a teenager in England learning French, some of my classmates exhibited the language-learning ability of a park bench, but the teacher never abandoned the expected standards. Jean-Luc was not to be pronounced “John Luck” – and if necessary the lesson would not continue until the distinction was at least understood.
In the classroom in Bangkok I was in effect being taught how my language is pronounced in the Kingdom – an amusing diversion, but hardly the most effective use of a native-speaker.
In other circumstances I would have sought advice on how to proceed, but the “organisation” that employed me appeared to have nobody in a senior position with any experience of, or much interest in education.
Jack Ernest
Bangkok