ECSC Thailand

A diverse assortment of training for ECSC over the past seven or eight weeks. There has been a real international flavor to it, so its overlap with the World Cup felt oddly appropriate.

(You’re welcome to imagine the logos yourselves.)

Monday afternoons we’ve been training a multi-departmental group of employees at a European baking supplies and services company here in Bangkok. Focus on communication skills for business meetings, presentations, and networking, as well as professional conversations with colleagues and customers.

Tuesdays are spent on 1-on-1 “Executive Presence” coaching for upper management involved in a complex sales function within a major American industrial company’s energy portfolio. (This company’s name is just two letters.)

Wednesday and Friday mornings are spent coaching a senior executive in Los Angeles employed by a global “fruit company.”

Also on Wednesdays we’re back with the baking company for private training sessions with the accounting director to help her communicate more confidently with her boss at HQ in Switzerland.

Also on Fridays, a director-level leader from Mexico City who's based in Bangkok is learning high-level presentation and persuasion techniques in English.

Thursday & Friday afternoons have me standing in front of ten buyers from Thailand's biggest retail group, helping them negotiate more effectively with international principals.

Somewhere in the Calendar is the head of the SEA regional sales function at one of Japan's largest automotive manufacturers; a PR manager for a famous French fashion brand; a Thai employee of a Malaysian industrial services firm; and, a senior Thai government official focusing on fluency development.

Completely different levels of English ability, industries, and nationalities (although mostly Thai) running through the current roster.

The common thread is communication skills development, customized to each trainee’s job.

There’s a type of Thai business that loses out on sales because it doesn’t clearly communicate with customers in English.

To be clear, I’m not blaming or complaining.

Nor am I suggesting that these businesses *should* be able to clearly communicate with customers in English.

The type of business I’m talking about is wonderful Mae Ka.

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I’d estimate that about 90% of Mae Ka on my street – and maybe 75% of mom-and-pop shophouse restaurants – don’t clearly communicate their deliciousness in English.

I’m sure the same is true on thousands of other streets throughout Bangkok.

Why am I so sure that they’re losing out on sales?

Because there were many times where I was the "prospect" who skipped Mae Ka’s noodles, chicken and rice, or stewed pork leg because I didn’t think we could communicate clearly enough to make a transaction work.

I see it frequently: Farang will slow down, stop, check out menu boards or window signs, look around... then move on. It’s obvious what has happened.

And it must happen hundreds of times a day in Bangkok: A pedestrian is in search of munchies, they aren’t sure they can clearly communicate with restaurant staff, so they bounce in order to spare themselves the hassle and embarrassment.

It is nobody’s “fault.” Although I would argue that this situation could easily be fixed.

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The reason I bring it up is because of the parallels I see between these would-be Mae Ka interactions and corporate interactions.

How many business/workplace interactions between Farang and Thai professionals stall out because communication in a shared language is a challenge?

Every prospect who reads *your* company’s “menu,” so to speak, while standing in front of your business is an opportunity. One that may not turn into a relationship, a customer, or a sale without clear English communication from the point of initial contact.

There may be creative ways to “activate” English speaking in your company that you haven't considered yet.

I mean ways that do not require organized training sessions.

For example, does your company run a 1-on-1 mentorship program? The kind that pairs a senior employee (in terms of experience, if not age) with a junior employee?

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If your company *does* have a mentorship program, would it be possible to pair senior employees who speak English fluently (could be farang or khon Thai, arai kor dai) with junior employees who want to improve their English?

**From the junior employee’s perspective:
We all like free snacks, ping pong tables, and “Sabai Sabai” company parties 🙂 – but, signing up for a mentoring program reveals a growth and self-improvement mindset.

Speaking from experience, employees gain confidence from this kind of mentoring; and confidence is so crucial for peak performance, especially when it involves speaking a second language with coworkers and customers.

**From the senior employee’s perspective:
Mentoring programs exercise a part of their brain that they might not in their normal day-to-day work: encouraging others, providing guidance, giving direct feedback – all in an environment where mistakes carry little risk.

Mentors tend to learn something about themselves, too: Mentoring programs are a two-way street.

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For most companies in Thailand, there are immediate benefits – not just in your junior employees’ confidence and performance – but in morale, team spirit, and the advantages gained over competitors who do not drive English-speaking initiatives.

Most importantly, bottom lines improve when companies activate their employees’ English in organic ways like 1-on-1 mentoring programs.

Ideally, your company’s training initiatives deliver immediate benefits.

One term we use is “takeaways.” Similar to “action items” in a meeting, takeaways are pieces of communication (language and/or soft skills) that trainees take away from every training session to use immediately at work.

This includes vocabulary and phrasing and pronunciation that’s relevant to their roles, which they practice by using in realistic simulations and reviewing at the end of the session.

These communication skills are reviewed in later sessions, too, so they become a natural part of communicating like professionals at work.

This is how skills are usually developed. The process of learning business English is no different from learning to play an instrument, swim, or bake a great cake. (My birthday is October 18th, by the way.)

Team communication. Client communication. Meetings. Presentations. Sales & Negotiations…

Corporate communication training is about more than English.

It's about helping employees communicate with greater confidence, clarity, and professionalism in real workplace situations.

We've put together a brief overview of our services, and how we approach corporate communication training at ECSC Thailand:

http://ecsc-thailand.com/corporate-communication-training-in-thailand/

I may be biased a bit since I represent a vendor in this area of business. 🙂

But, it sure feels to me like upskilling corporate employees’ English abilities in Thailand is more important than ever.

That’s because it is easy for businesses to operate globally with the technology that’s available in 2026.

And, if they are not already established as a “multi-national” business, many companies in Thailand are exploring these opportunities (perhaps your company is one of them).

So, just in case you weren’t aware, there are several ways for your HR/Training departments to approach “corporate English training” nowadays.

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Here are a few types of corporate English training to consider – these are options that go beyond the traditional “group courses” after work in your conference room.

‘Executive Presence’ training – for C-suite, Director, and upper management level. The focus is on Language, Delivery, and Demeanor in ways that polish English ability and build confidence.

‘English Labs’ training – for intimate groups of employees to focus on specific skills and confidence (perhaps 2-4 employees, from the same department or team, who need to improve in targeted areas like giving presentations, leading meetings, or sales & negotiations).

Management English training – for manager-level employees who need more professional language and confidence for both managing up (to executive-level colleagues) and down (to their teams and direct reports).

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The thing to notice is that this is not just “English training.” It is what we call “English Plus,” which combines business English and soft skills in one package.

That’s important. Professionals in Thailand do not need more grammar worksheets.

It's why we provide training and coaching that is customized to actual workplace needs – and this involves the three elements mentioned above: Language, Delivery, and Demeanor.

Perhaps that trio of communication skills (LDD) sounds different, interesting, or useful for your employees.

Speaking English with ‘Executive Presence’ is about confidence and authority.

Confidence and Authority When Speaking English Speaking English with ‘Executive Presence’ is about confidence and authority, which is challenging in a second language. We can help.

Different employees require different types of English training.

Corporate English Training Must Fit the Trainee Customized corporate English training from ECSC Thailand fits Thai professionals' different needs and learning styles.

How should we define a business’s goal? Obviously, unless you’re a non-profit, you’re in business to make money.

And to make money, it helps to have high-performing employees. One way to get high-performing employees is to train them up.

In Thailand, one very important area of training is in communication skills – particularly English.

So, we might conclude that English training can help your business make more money.

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Actually, there are *direct* lines from English training to profitability. Better communication with customers is an obvious one.

But what about communication between employees? Does that impact profits?

You might think not, since it is an example of internal communication – but I’d argue it does.

The question is: What changes when Thai and foreign employees can communicate more effectively with each other?

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Here are a few ways that better English use inside businesses helps:

· A more inclusive “we’re all in this together” environment
· Thai and foreign teammates work together on projects more effectively
· People are able to communicate with more colleagues across the company
· Fewer misunderstandings and less rework, which saves time and frustration
· Increased confidence among employees who improve their English skills

Conclusion: English training has both direct and indirect impacts on productivity – with both external and internal stakeholders – and therefore, impacts on profitability.

Knowledge of the English language shouldn’t be the goal of Thai professionals working in global companies. The ability to use English confidently should be the goal.

In other words, corporate English training isn’t for employees to learn more grammar and get a nice certificate.

Corporate English training in Thailand is for employees to become better communicators – both inside their companies and with external stakeholders.

In my opinion there is a clear connection:

When Thai professionals can speak English better, their performance gets better, their company gets better, and both make more money.

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This connection between English ability and performance (both individuals’ and companies’ performance) isn’t talked about very often.

But I think it should be. Just imagine one scenario that I’ve experienced working in the corporate world in Bangkok:

· I managed a team. Our customers were from the West (US, UK, Australia, etc.).

· The team included Project Managers who could speak English quite well.

· It also included copywriters who could speak, and of course write, English quite well.

· And it included designers and front-end developers who could speak *some* English, but because they didn’t usually interact with customers, they didn’t speak English nearly as confidently as the rest of the team.

So, if a customer requested to speak directly to a designer or developer, we couldn’t accommodate them.

(The customer had to rely on their project manager to be their messenger, even when a direct conversation between customer and designer would have been much more efficient.)

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This wasn’t always a problem, but sometimes it was, which had negative effects:

· The customer felt like we weren’t meeting their needs.

· The project would take longer because of the project manager playing messenger.

· Details would get lost in translation as they travelled from customer → project manager → designer → project manager → customer.

This is a major opportunity cost: The customer experience isn’t as good as it could be and the project isn’t completed as fast as it could be.

You can solve these problems when everyone on the team speaks English confidently.