We’re still pretty bad at ‘pasa angrit’, EF survey shows

Photo: Zachary Dawson / This Is Thailand Facebook
Photo: Zachary Dawson / This Is Thailand Facebook

Thailand earned a “very low proficiency” score in English, according to the latest survey by Swiss-based language education company Education First (EF).

In yet another year of unsatisfactory pasa angrit (English language) proficiency, Thailand ranked 101st out of 113 non-native-English-speaking countries in the annual EF English Language Proficiency Index report. Thailand notched up a score of 416, which caused it to drop four places from last year. The global average is 502.

Thailand came dead last among the eight ASEAN countries in the survey, behind Cambodia, which ranked 98th globally.

Singapore (obviously) continues to rank at the top amongst the Asian countries, coming 2nd overall and trailing behind the Netherlands at number one. Singapore is the only Asian country to be ranked in the “very high proficiency” category.

Since 2011, Thailand has always ranked near the bottom of the survey, while other Asian countries score higher proficiencies in the English language. In 2022, Thailand was ranked 97th out of 111. In 2021, the country fared even worse, coming in at 100 out of 112.

Thailand saw some improvement in 2017 and 2018, going up to the “low proficiency” before falling back to “very low proficiency” in 2019.

To view the full report of the survey, which involved 2.2 million test takers from around the world, head on over to the EF website.

Related
Feelin’ Mighty Low: Latest study shows Thailand’s English proficiency worst in a decade
Thailand’s English proficiency improves from ‘very low’ to ‘low,’ according to EF




BECOME A COCO+ MEMBER

Support local news and join a community of like-minded
“Coconauts” across Southeast Asia and Hong Kong.

Join Now
Coconuts TV
Our latest and greatest original videos
Subscribe on