A PERFECT EXAMPLE ...

.. of my feeling that the majority of Thai people lack confidence. Last week I took a taxi to a meeting and within the first 30 seconds the young driver told me 'I not speekkeeee English good'. During the remainder of the 30 minute journey I proceeded to give him, with the help of my very limited Thai and some basic English, the confidence and belief that he knows much more than he thinks.
If I tell you that during that journey he told me he was 27, single, had been driving taxis for four years, likes Manchester United but prefers Muay Thai boxing and was pretty good as a youngster, then you'll understand why I believe that Thai people do lack confidence.
I told him that native English speakers do not, and never will, expect non-native speakers to have an excellent grasp of the language. He knows more than enough to be able to understand and communicate with English tourists, and I think by the end of the trip he might just have started to believe that himself.