Thailand. The ceremonies just keep coming.

Just when I thought all the ceremonies were over I was surprised to see a table set-up under the flagpole.












We were going to have a catholic ceremony of somekind. You can see Jesus on the cross and some lamps with candles burning.


The older students were waiting in anticipation.


The younger students were probably wondering what was going on.


Our special visitor was a senior Brother. He was going to lead the sermon or prayer.


He launched into a song.


Brother Tinnagorn and Don helped by singing along.


The school choir was helping out across the PA system.








Now, the majority of our students are Buddhists. They aren’t catholic so trying to keep them quiet and behave is a bit of a task.


A lot of the older kids talk amongst themselves. They start off as a whisper and then it grows until teachers are telling them to be quiet. Pretty soon there are loud murmurs coming from everywhere.

I don’t blame the kids as they have no interest in the religion being put before them but again I am not Buddhist, Catholic, Christian, Scientologist or so forth but I have enough decency to listen and be courteous. Kids of this age don’t understand this of course.

So after about 30 minutes the ceremony came to an end and the students got-up and went to class. So just when I thought that all the excitement for the year was over, I was wrong. I am looking forward to next week and whatever surprises that may come along.

Brunty.

Thailand. Life back to normal and some news stories.

Well life in Isaan is back to normal. The big celebrations from earlier in the week are over and my boring day to day routine has taken over again.
I came home from work yesterday and was met by a very tired Cola the rabbit.

He was happily sleeping in his cage. The whole house was his but he was just too exhausted from doing nothing.

He wasn’t the only one sleeping. Noot has her final exams on at the moment and is a little knackered out from late night studying. Life is tuff at university.

Benjawan was doing some work on the computer. She was being shy for some reason.




Anyway these are a few stories I have been reading in the newspapers:

I have warned people about bus travel in Thailand. There are some coaches I wouldn’t set foot on. Again another crash has claimed the life of two foreign tourists and injured 22 others.



The driver thankfully stayed on the scene said a pickup truck cut in front of him (I believe this could have happened 100% as Thai drivers are incredibly rude). It was apparently raining as well so he was “going slow”. After the truck cut him off he was forced to swerve and collided with a roadside barrier. The bus overturned several times. (Couldn’t have been going that slow).

Police interviewed the driver and passengers and the driver has been charged with reckless driving causing death. 2 tourists killed

This story shows how stupid some Thai people take “loosing face” or being embarrassed.
A lady riding home from work saw a male friend arguing with a teenager. She stopped and asked “Why are you quarreling?” The man became incensed and lunged at her with a knife.

She ran to her house and the man followed and broke in and then threatened her with a gun pointing it at her head. She was pleading for her life to this stupid fool when her loyal dog of twelve years suddenly barked and jumped at the man.

He shot the dog twice in the leg. The dog has had to have an operation and hopefully he will make a recovery. After shooting the dog the coward then turned the gun back on the woman and she again pleaded for her life and explained she “never meant to offend him (or his small dick). After a while he finally agreed and left.

The man hasn’t been arrested and the dog as I seen on a tv report has had surgery and the bullets shattered the bones in his leg. They might have to remove the leg. Dog Shot.

These stories from Pattaya show just how cheap life is here in Thailand.

The first story was about a garage owner who was bashed over the head with a lead pipe. Apparently an employee asked for an advance on his wage but the owner refused so the employee killed him. They are now searching for the man.Garage owner bashed. A young 21 year old Thai man was bashed by a group of ten men who chased him down and bashed him with bits of wood with nails in them. He is reported to have a 50/50 chance of livingThai man bashed. A slightly funny story of a English man being bashed for disagreeing with two Thai men on their choice of karaoke song. It lead to him being kicked in the head and taken to hospitalEnglish man bashed. And a case of a sixteen year old girls word against an American owner of a bar. She says she was lured to Pattaya to work in a coffee shop (Hard to believe) and was eventually raped by the American man while his Thai wife waited outside the room where she was living. There are many underage girls working in Pattaya. If you are going there for fun then be very careful, you don’t want to end up in a Thai prison. False ID cards are rampant, I know of at least a dozen students from my school with cards that state false ages. They have shown me. They look real and I couldn’t spot the difference. As for the truth in the story I will have to wait and see if a follow up is done. I am leaning towards the American for the momentGirl maybe raped.

This is a funny story to finish off on. It was reported in the Bangkok Post that:

Taxis servicing Suvarnabhumi airport and its vicinity will soon all be required to use their fare meters to protect the interests of passengers. Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha. This is just so funny.

The Deputy Transport Minister yesterday he agreed with the proposal presented by Airports of Thailand (AoT).

There were many communities in the vicinity of the airport, and the residents needed a regulated taxi service. Bangkok taxis are now required by transport regulations to use fare meters within a 37-kilometre radius of Victory Monument.

Just this statement above saying “required by transport regulations to use fare meters within a 37-kilometre radius of Victory Monument.” Anyone who has been in Bangkok and seen the majority of scumbag taxi drivers trying to rip off foreign tourists by quoting a fixed price that is usually double or triple the normal metered price know this is a joke.

Last year when my parents were in Bangkok and we were trying to get taxis and 1 in every 10-20 would agree to use the metre. They would say some idiotic price and I would wave them off. They would say a few nasty words in Thai which I would reciprocate and they would look shocked at a farang speaking like this.

I think it the ministers are kidding themselves that they “think” taxis will use meters from the airport to Bangkok when they won’t use them running around the city.

The reason for doing this is: Taxis not using meters can lead to disputes with passengers.

Sadly. Too many foreigners negotiate a fixed price as they see the cost as “small” compared to taxi fares back home. So taxi drivers will continue to do this.

The minister would like to discuss the issue with taxi operators in the greater Bangkok area first and obtain their agreement.

I can see the operators agreeing with smiles and handshakes and then of course doing what ever they like. At least I got a good laugh.

So that’s just a few stories that interested me in the papers happening in Thailand. As for all the former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra’s return I am leaving well alone.

All I will say is that the “coup” was a disgrace in the first place. Did he knowingly do things that benefited his companies’ monetary wise and also commit alleged corruption? I believe there is a good chance he did but I still believe in a democracy and the people of Thailand should choose and also dismiss who runs their country, not the military.

Brunty.

Thailand. Graduation Day part 1.

The year 12 students were graduating and were lined up in their gowns waiting for the ceremony to start.


Brother Sakda was dressed in his graduation gown from days past to hand out their certificates.












First, a very bright young student received some prizes, one was a laptop. She is incredibly talented and plays many instruments, dances and sings as well as achieving top grades.

It was time to receive their certificates.Our three Brothers (Sakda, Don and Tinnagorn) helped hand them out. Also long serving and respected senior staff members helped as well.


Here a student is getting a congratulations pat on his head and maybe some wise words as well.


Students waiting their turn.


Year 12 EBP girls, Fern, Fhon and Kookkai.








This is part 1, so scroll down to see a lot more pictures in part 2.

Brunty.

Thailand. Graduation Day part 2.

More year 12 EBP girls. Ploy, Emily, Pim and Boe.


This lucky year 12 girl got to speak to the whole school.


Next was a parade before the school for the graduates, lead by some student soldiers carrying the school flags.


Trailing the soldiers were teachers and Brothers in their graduation gowns.


Miss Narumon an EBP team teacher had a huge smile as she passes by.


And then the graduates.


Under the guard of honor.










The graduation photo. I just got this picture as I had just finished teaching a class; here they are all getting ready to run for the shade.


Now any special day has beautifully dressed girls in traditional Thai outfits who perform some dances.

Year 12 EBP with Brother Sakda, yours truly and some other teachers.


More happy graduates, Brother and teachers.







These students were having a ball. They were singing and dancing and there was also a lot of laughing.


Year 12 EBP girls left to right: Beauty, Pattie, Kwan and Aof.


This is year EBP student is Miss Sai. She is an incredibly bright and hardworking girl. She is number 1 in the class and her grade average is something like 3.94 out of 4. She was a pleasure to teach.


This young lady is the daughter of Miss Narumon our EBP team teacher. She has studied very hard and has been accepted into a very prestigious university where she is going to study dentistry. She is a really grounded girl as she has already secured a job for two months before university starts; working at a Mr Donut shop. She likes to be independent and not have to ask her mum for money to buy things for her. I wish more of the spoiled kids would get this experience as it might make them better students.

So that was Graduation Day 2008 here in Isaan Thailand. This should be the last ceremony we have, I think. Now it’s just getting through the last two weeks and marking exams, doing paperwork, working out grades and writing report cards.

I am really looking forward to the 8 week break. Look out golf course I will see you everyday. Life in Isaan can be hard at times.

Brunty.

Thailand. Alcohol a prominent killer of under 15 year olds.

I have just been reading this interesting article on “Alcohol prominent under-15 fatalities” or meaning kids under the age of 15 who have lost their lives.

The Public Health Ministry yesterday revealed that alcohol was the cause of most fatal road accidents among Thais under the age of 15.

Now, I am sure for anyone who lives in Thailand would already know this. Young kids love to ride their modified bikes, fast and without any concern for anyone.

These are the statistics quoted:
Published on February 26, 2008
A total of 26,448 people under 15 were injured and 575 died in accidents.

About 60 per cent of the casualties - 9,840 injuries and 334 deaths - came from road accidents.

The second highest number of accidents involved falls from buildings or tripping over obstacles - 7,297 injuries and 20 deaths.

The third highest number involved the impact from falling items at 4,775 injuries and 24 deaths. (Impact of falling items!! I have no idea what they could be)

Seventy-seven per cent of injured teenagers were students.

549 teenagers were injured and 14 died from physical assaults, with 38 per cent of attacks taking place at home, 20 per cent in public places and 14 per cent in schools.

These statistics come from a report gathered from 29 hospitals across the country in 2006. (That’s not a lot of hospitals for 65 million plus people)

The causes of deaths:
Nearly all accidents were due to excessive alcohol consumption or not wearing motorcycle helmets. Most of the accidents involved motorcycles and most occurred during weekends. (Again no surprise here)

Disease Control Department chief Thawat Suntrajarn said the matter that needed the most urgent attention was drinking among youths because the statistics showed that drinking alcohol led to injuries and deaths.

Now, I am not trying to be sarcastic but “No shit Einstein” Alcohol leads to many things and especially when you have people so young with little “life experience” and they are operating a motorbike at speeds that are not forgiving, this means death. The skylarking that goes on amongst youths that are armored plated after drinking Thai whiskey ends up in tragedy.

What I don’t understand is the “parents” letting their 15 year olds out and about doing this kind of crap. When I was 15 I was definitely home at a very decent hour and if I had been consuming alcohol, the consequences would have made sure I wouldn’t repeat it again for a long, long time.

Why are Thai people so worried about disciplining their children? What is wrong with grabbing little Johhny by the hair and saying “if you ever do that again you will not be able to sit down for a month” Why not “ground” their children? Why don’t they have a “curfew”?

Again when you think of the number of teenagers in Thailand the numbers are probably small but again any loss of life at this age is a tragedy as they had so much of a life in front of them.

It was suggested the authorities be stricter on enforcing the motorcycle-helmet law and publicise road accident statistics to raise public awareness. (this would be a “great” idea to follow through on)

Most of the victims were girls, at a ratio of 4 female victims for every 1 male.

This is the tragedy. I would bet my right testicle that the majority of these girls would have been pillion passengers on motorbikes. The male is the testosterone fueled fool, showing off and then kills the stupid girl who very unwisely hopped on the back of the bike.

I am currently working on a proposal for the school where I work that will revolutionize the way students get to school. I know that they won’t like the proposal but it is the best for them and also the community. I hope to have the proposal finished by the end of next month and then hand it to our Brother to consider implementing it for the next school term.

If it is refused for good reasons I will be happy to let it go but if there aren’t any good reasons I am going to send it to the Ministry of Education and to every road safety organization I can find. I want safer road travel for all road users. If I can save just one life or change one persons attitude on the way they operate a motorcycle I will personally consider it a big winner.

Brunty.

Thailand. Silly season, big surprises, flowers and toys.

Well the traffic was what we call heavy for Ubon Ratchathani. It is mostly nose to nose for the rush hour of the day along the main road. Nothing like Bangkok, thank god.


There was one strange thing this morning being all these flower and toy sellers outside the school.

Inside the school near the assembly area, there was a grandstand set up.


There were these little archway type things with “congratulations” written on them.


Now, I am getting a little old and forgetful but I was sure it wasn’t my birthday. Maybe they were just doing a surprise party for me for being such a good teacher!! Ha, ha I can hear you all laughing.

Okay, it was Graduation Day for year 12. The flower sellers would have started setting up around midnight last night to get in a good position.




There are toys, artificial flowers and so much more on offer. A simple red rose was 5 baht, a small toy 25 baht to the big toys at 200-300 baht.


These teddy bears were 180 baht.


Here a seller is making the bouquets to sell. They were being kept busy.





Here we have a big Pooh Bear (250 baht) and small Pooh Bear (120? Baht I think she said). Also Doraemon a robotic cat, a Japanese magna cartoon character.


The small ones were 100 baht and the big ones were 200 baht. I liked the Hello Kitty one.


Students were trying to workout what to buy.


Here some students are trying to find that something special for someone.


Doraemon dolls. They were only 50 baht each.


Now, these flowers just stood out so much amongst the sea of red, blues, pinks and so forth. I new what they were, from a long way, away. They are my birth flower. These chrysanthemums were just so vibrant. I haven’t seen them looking so good. I wanted to get a bunch for home.
The front of the school was busy, now. Stalls full of gifts line the footpath.





This was my favourite stall. I am not sure why! I bought 20 single roses for my year 12 class, one for each of the students. It cost me a whopping 100 baht.


It was close to assembly time and the year 12 graduates were arriving thick and fast for their big day. Don’t they look great in the graduation gowns? All the pictures of the graduation will be posted tomorrow.

So that was the fun part of the morning and apart from that it was just another normal day in Isaan country Thailand.

Brunty