The political situation here in Thailand is becoming absolutely farcical. The People’s Alliance for Democracy (PAD) have really stepped up their bullying tactics in trying to bring about the downfall of the current people elected government, The People’s Power Party (PPP). The PAD has been protesting for in excess of 90 days.
The PAD says the PPP are unfit to run the country, but not a person in their right mind could even contemplate having the PAD run the country with the tactics they are trying to use to oust the current government.
Why the PAD don’t just be the opposition party and use the parliamentary process to table their grievances is beyond me. They accuse the PPP of not doing enough in the first few months of government. I agree that the PPP did not start out very well as a government and many of the ministers appointed certain portfolios drew criticism and not right for them. This eventually was proven and a reshuffle was made.
I am not for the PPP or PAD and I don’t care one bit about either party. I believe they are just about as bad as each other and are so selfish in chasing their own endeavors they are forgetting about the people of their country.
The PAD is now in Government House grounds and has had running clashes with police. There have been some violent confrontations between police and protesters and the PAD biased ASTV is continually showing police hitting protesters with batons and so forth.
There have been arrest warrants issued for the 9 so called leaders of the PAD for charges of insurrection which carries the death penalty. PAD protesters stormed government departments the other day which has really put many people offside.
There are threats of shutting down power plants by protest organizers in police send in more reinforcements.
Now unions are becoming involved saying they don’t agree with the police using force on the protesters. They are asking members to stop work and join the protests. It is so embarrassing for Thailand.
In Phuket PAD protesters stormed the airport and damaged VIP rooms, also in Hat Yai protesters have blocked access to the airport. Also reports are coming in that protesters are gathering at more airports across the country.
Countries from around the world must be looking at all of this and laughing at the stupidity and total inept so called leaders and opposition. Foreign investors would have to be very wary as no one knows what is going to happen.
Is the PPP finally going to order the PAD to be stopped with whatever force deemed necessary? I wouldn’t blame them as how they can call this a “legal” protest is beyond me. In no democratic country that was civil would have allowed this to get anywhere near this stage. The protests should have been crushed long ago.
Will the PAD get heavy handed as a former army general has stated? There has been talk of the PAD gathering weapons ready for a big fight with the large police presence.
Will things erupt in Bangkok? I really don’t know. This has been the most out of control since the protests started 90 days ago.
Will blood be shed and another dark day in Thailand’s history on human rights is rewritten? I am not sure as people are on edge and it wouldn’t take a lot for things to go haywire.
I myself believe that what ever happens to the PAD they deserve, if lives are lost as sad as it would be they would have brought it on themselves.
If people do lose lives the PAD leaders need to be held accountable. They should hang their heads in shame at this infantile behaviour and use what many others
First world countries use, the parliament to try and keep the elected government honest.
I would be horrified if the PAD gained leadership of the country, if they are prepared to act this way in opposition what would they be like in power. I shudder to think about it.
I am happy I am well away from Bangkok and the uncertainty in the streets there. The next few days will be interesting to see what this long drawn out saga brings, it is better than Days of our Lives.
Brunty
Friday, 29 August 2008
Wednesday, 27 August 2008
Education reform a long crooked road, Thailand.
Today at school we had a rehearsal for a very important assembly on Monday. On Monday we are going to be presented with the King’s Prize, a competition we entered last year. I have blogged on it before here but in short it is meant to mean that the school is super amazing, but as you know in Thailand looks can be very deceiving.
So today students were shown where they would have to line up for the ceremony. Now, I have no problems with this. Students need to know what is happening to a degree. What I don’t agree with is all the crap that is attached to these practices.
Now, this isn’t just the school I am at. This is most schools in Thailand. Every morning our students sing the Thai national Anthem, the school song and a few times a week, songs that are for the royal family.
So today after the students were lined up where they had to stand for the ceremony they then had to sing the national anthem 4 times, the school song 3 times and the royal songs 3 times. They were told they must be on their best behaviour as there are going to be some very important guests coming and also there will be local news crews as well.
I agree that students have to be reminded that their best behaviour is needed, but singing songs that they can sing backwards, sideways and so forth again and again is bordering on insanity. The students having to stand in the direct hot morning sun and humidity for this repetitious act, is really not needed.
All of this brings me to the education system of Thailand. It makes me think of the research and papers I have read over the past months of the Thai education system and all the data I have collected and stored. Why have I done this? Well, I am trying to understand the Thai education system better. It is hard; near impossible and reading research conducted by foreign academics has being humorous and also eye opening.
Here in Thailand the education system is in desperate need of reform. I thought that the government departments such as the Ministry of Education (MOE) and the Office of National Education Commission (ONEC) were doing nothing to try and reform education but after reading many articles and the National Education ACT I was wrong.
The National Education Act of 1999 I have read through from start to finish. As you can imagine it is written so it confuses you. This act was implemented as the Ministry of Education knew that education reform was crucial. It was imperative to get away from the boring “rote learning” and "teacher centred learning" that was being taught by teachers.
When students completing tests against other second language speakers from other Asian countries and the test scores were so low they knew things had to change. They decided on a 9 year plan to initiate a “Self Centred Learning” reform of education. This meant retraining teachers which would be a massive job.
The main reform was:
Self Centred Learning: Actively constructed by not giving the answers to learners. Active learning requires the learner to engage in the topic being presented or learning process, In other words actually think for themselves.
This is crucial; A teacher who walks into a room, writes all the information required on the topic being presented on the board is taking away the need of the learner to think. This is just so tedious; it closes the student’s minds down. They can see all the answers as the information is right before them.
Authentic Learning: Learning in real context. This means linking topics to real world situations, presenting information so that the students can grasp it, so they can relate to the topics being presented as they are embedded in their memory from a past experience.
This is just so indispensable. If second language learners cannot relate what is being presented to them, their attention is out the window, looking at the birds and clouds in the sky as they have no idea what the hell you are going on about.
Of course you present things to students that they don’t know anything about but again it must be done in a way so they can think and look for information to present to the teacher and not just read the answers off a board in front of them.
The ONEC printed and released a book called “Learning Reform. A Learning Centred Approach”. There were 100,000 copies printed and given to teachers across the country to help them understand the changes they wanted implemented.
They commissioned studies in schools and on the new Centred Learning techniques looking at the pros and cons of the new form of teaching.
Now, that the 9 years are virtually up, even though the MOE has tried to improve teaching techniques and also make students more responsible and motivate them to learn outside of the 4 walls of their classroom, it has failed to fulfill their expectations and they have openly admitted this.
The biggest problem is teaching reform and teacher training, having teachers implement the new teaching methods in the classroom. And also getting students to motivate themselves, to use the wealth of information available to them in so many forms of media outside of the classroom.
The education reform is and always will be hard to reform as “Rote” learning and Teacher Centred learning has such deep roots in Thailand and many older teachers are just too uncomfortable in trying to introduce new ways of offering the information they are presenting to students.
The days of writing long paragraphs on the board and students copying into notebooks, students repeating grammar rules, and words 10 times each are done with. They are boring and monotonous for students. It kills the classroom enthusiasm, sends it packing very quickly.
In today’s world with technology and the wealth of information that can be sourced from so many different forms of media, to help make learning more self centred and authentic. Teachers need to update or be at risk of being decommissioned, but sadly with such huge teacher shortages in Thailand this will not happen.
These are also some interesting articles on education reform. I have read countless studies where self centred learning was implemented and the results were very good. Of course there were negatives and also it wasn’t easy getting students to start to think outside the box but over time the benefits outweighed the negatives.
This is an excellent paper by DR. Gerald W. Fry who was the advisor on translation of the National Education ACT of Thailand. It is an excellent read of the history of Thailand and the education reforms. There are some very interesting figures in some of the tables in the paper on where Thailand stands in rankings with other countries on world test competitions.
This is on overview from the Office of National Education Commission or ONEC. It covers everything that it was hoping to reform over the last 9 years.
A very informative document, 55 pages in all and wouldn’t be interesting for anyone who wasn’t interested in research performed on the changes of education reform and teaching techniques.
That’s just my two cents on all of this.
Brunty.
So today students were shown where they would have to line up for the ceremony. Now, I have no problems with this. Students need to know what is happening to a degree. What I don’t agree with is all the crap that is attached to these practices.
Now, this isn’t just the school I am at. This is most schools in Thailand. Every morning our students sing the Thai national Anthem, the school song and a few times a week, songs that are for the royal family.
So today after the students were lined up where they had to stand for the ceremony they then had to sing the national anthem 4 times, the school song 3 times and the royal songs 3 times. They were told they must be on their best behaviour as there are going to be some very important guests coming and also there will be local news crews as well.
I agree that students have to be reminded that their best behaviour is needed, but singing songs that they can sing backwards, sideways and so forth again and again is bordering on insanity. The students having to stand in the direct hot morning sun and humidity for this repetitious act, is really not needed.
All of this brings me to the education system of Thailand. It makes me think of the research and papers I have read over the past months of the Thai education system and all the data I have collected and stored. Why have I done this? Well, I am trying to understand the Thai education system better. It is hard; near impossible and reading research conducted by foreign academics has being humorous and also eye opening.
Here in Thailand the education system is in desperate need of reform. I thought that the government departments such as the Ministry of Education (MOE) and the Office of National Education Commission (ONEC) were doing nothing to try and reform education but after reading many articles and the National Education ACT I was wrong.
The National Education Act of 1999 I have read through from start to finish. As you can imagine it is written so it confuses you. This act was implemented as the Ministry of Education knew that education reform was crucial. It was imperative to get away from the boring “rote learning” and "teacher centred learning" that was being taught by teachers.
When students completing tests against other second language speakers from other Asian countries and the test scores were so low they knew things had to change. They decided on a 9 year plan to initiate a “Self Centred Learning” reform of education. This meant retraining teachers which would be a massive job.
The main reform was:
Self Centred Learning: Actively constructed by not giving the answers to learners. Active learning requires the learner to engage in the topic being presented or learning process, In other words actually think for themselves.
This is crucial; A teacher who walks into a room, writes all the information required on the topic being presented on the board is taking away the need of the learner to think. This is just so tedious; it closes the student’s minds down. They can see all the answers as the information is right before them.
Authentic Learning: Learning in real context. This means linking topics to real world situations, presenting information so that the students can grasp it, so they can relate to the topics being presented as they are embedded in their memory from a past experience.
This is just so indispensable. If second language learners cannot relate what is being presented to them, their attention is out the window, looking at the birds and clouds in the sky as they have no idea what the hell you are going on about.
Of course you present things to students that they don’t know anything about but again it must be done in a way so they can think and look for information to present to the teacher and not just read the answers off a board in front of them.
The ONEC printed and released a book called “Learning Reform. A Learning Centred Approach”. There were 100,000 copies printed and given to teachers across the country to help them understand the changes they wanted implemented.
They commissioned studies in schools and on the new Centred Learning techniques looking at the pros and cons of the new form of teaching.
Now, that the 9 years are virtually up, even though the MOE has tried to improve teaching techniques and also make students more responsible and motivate them to learn outside of the 4 walls of their classroom, it has failed to fulfill their expectations and they have openly admitted this.
The biggest problem is teaching reform and teacher training, having teachers implement the new teaching methods in the classroom. And also getting students to motivate themselves, to use the wealth of information available to them in so many forms of media outside of the classroom.
The education reform is and always will be hard to reform as “Rote” learning and Teacher Centred learning has such deep roots in Thailand and many older teachers are just too uncomfortable in trying to introduce new ways of offering the information they are presenting to students.
The days of writing long paragraphs on the board and students copying into notebooks, students repeating grammar rules, and words 10 times each are done with. They are boring and monotonous for students. It kills the classroom enthusiasm, sends it packing very quickly.
In today’s world with technology and the wealth of information that can be sourced from so many different forms of media, to help make learning more self centred and authentic. Teachers need to update or be at risk of being decommissioned, but sadly with such huge teacher shortages in Thailand this will not happen.
These are also some interesting articles on education reform. I have read countless studies where self centred learning was implemented and the results were very good. Of course there were negatives and also it wasn’t easy getting students to start to think outside the box but over time the benefits outweighed the negatives.
This is an excellent paper by DR. Gerald W. Fry who was the advisor on translation of the National Education ACT of Thailand. It is an excellent read of the history of Thailand and the education reforms. There are some very interesting figures in some of the tables in the paper on where Thailand stands in rankings with other countries on world test competitions.
This is on overview from the Office of National Education Commission or ONEC. It covers everything that it was hoping to reform over the last 9 years.
A very informative document, 55 pages in all and wouldn’t be interesting for anyone who wasn’t interested in research performed on the changes of education reform and teaching techniques.
That’s just my two cents on all of this.
Brunty.
Tuesday, 26 August 2008
Night pictures by the lake, Thailand
I took some pictures at my mate’s house the other night when I visited. I like taking night time pictures and using the surrounding light to bring out the colours. I am still learning how to take these pictures and when I get my stabilizer lens it will be a lot easier and better quality pictures.
This is from the front of his house looking across the lake. The only light is from the street light. In the left of the picture you can see a streaking light that is from the headlights of a car a long way away.
This picture is a lot brighter as a car drove past as the shutter was open. You can see the red tail light streaks that it left.
This is looking through the gate to John’s house.
As you can see he has done a splendid job with it. The original contractor known as the “buffalo builder” was a shocker. John has done a lot of work and had other contractors complete what he wanted in the first place.
This is looking at some of John’s beautiful garden.
This is the entrance into the house. Very, well maintained and John and his wife done all the hard yards themselves. He carted dirt and stone and planted all the trees. He could open a landscape business over here but there aren’t too many Thais with well designed gardens. There are many businesses though that like to have well designed centre pieces and John could be a consultant.
But again maybe he is more than happy to sit back and watch the grass grow and then mow it. That sounds like a pretty good option to me.
Brunty
This is from the front of his house looking across the lake. The only light is from the street light. In the left of the picture you can see a streaking light that is from the headlights of a car a long way away.
This picture is a lot brighter as a car drove past as the shutter was open. You can see the red tail light streaks that it left.
This is looking through the gate to John’s house.
As you can see he has done a splendid job with it. The original contractor known as the “buffalo builder” was a shocker. John has done a lot of work and had other contractors complete what he wanted in the first place.
This is looking at some of John’s beautiful garden.
This is the entrance into the house. Very, well maintained and John and his wife done all the hard yards themselves. He carted dirt and stone and planted all the trees. He could open a landscape business over here but there aren’t too many Thais with well designed gardens. There are many businesses though that like to have well designed centre pieces and John could be a consultant.
But again maybe he is more than happy to sit back and watch the grass grow and then mow it. That sounds like a pretty good option to me.
Brunty
Monday, 25 August 2008
Clothes, a buffet and papaya salad, Thailand.
Over the weekend nothing too interesting happened. We had a delivery of 150 shirts. Noot’s sister started selling bits and pieces at the local market near our local shopping centre. She has been making okay profits since she started this business. She will not become rich from it but doing the maths they will make a nice extra income if things keep going the way they are at this time.
The jackets cost 50-60 Baht ($1.70 – 2.00 Aussie) and sell for 120 Baht. The singlet styles cost 18 Baht ($0.60 Cents) and sell for 49 Baht. Also there are bags and some other bits and ends.
We went off to our local buffet shop. We go there maybe twice a month and it is pretty good value. It’s 60 Baht per person and the food has always been good.
You can have noodles, steaming hot from the cart.
There is a good range of food on offer.
A curry and soup on offer.
More good grub.
There is even some healthy salad. The homemade salad sauce was delicious.
There are also some Thai deserts.
You can make your own papaya salad, a Thai delicacy.
Add salt, chili and sugar.
Add some tomato.
Then some lime and its juice.
This is the very special ingredient. This is fermented fish sauce. Its smell is indescribable, think of the worst rotten fish you have ever smelt and then times it by ten.
Add the papaya and some beans and mix together.
You do a taste test and add whatever is needed to make it sensational.
And the end product looks great, smells terrible and taste like rotten fish. I stick to Dum Thai which is a very nice type of papaya salad.
So that was just a little of my exciting weekend, pretty amazing, not!
Brunty
Friday, 22 August 2008
Donating blood in Thailand.
At school it was time to donate blood again. The mobile blood bus and the volunteers arrive and the older students and teachers can then line up to fill a few bags of blood.
Many girls cannot donate as they are underweight for their height and also haven’t eaten breakfast or slept enough hours the night before. This girl had no worries. She was a little shy though.
The boys don’t have too many problems donating, not too many are turned away. This boy was very happy and had a big smile on his face.
The teachers also get involved. Here some good blood is filling the bags.
This young guy has just finished donating and nearly recovered enough to make a move to the feeding table.
And here’s another happy student in the process of giving.
For anyone who hasn’t donated blood the process is easy, it is pretty much the same in any countries. The same thing happens here as in Australia. Here you fill out the questionnaire and then have a BP test. This is Master Lou the Chinese teacher. He speaks fluent English and Thai as well.
Then you move onto a blood screen. There is a small prick on the end of your finger and then a glass slide and a few small tubes are filled of your blood. You then collect your bags and move off to a bed.
Here the needle is just starting to make its way into my vein. It didn’t take long to fill the bags, very quick and also painless.
To anyone who has never donated blood, do it. I didn’t donate until I was mid twenties. I first donated when a bunch of mates went to a mobile blood bank in front of a job site where we were working. I then donated regularly.
I always felt guilty I didn’t do it early in my life. I felt this way as hospitals always need blood, especially some blood types. I am type A. I donate hoping that my blood is used to help a person who really needs it, a person whose luck needs changing and if my blood can help, then great.
I am also an organ donor. I am registered and carry a card with me. When the time comes I do not need anything, as I am dead. If my organs can be harvested and save another person’s life or extend their life, then great.
I am not preaching but these are my views, I believe people are selfish who don’t donate their organs, they aren’t any use to you when you are dead. I know some religions and so forth stop people doing this.
So, take the time to donate blood and hopefully help save a person’s life. Also sit down and seriously think about donating organs when you die. I have watched so many shows where you watch poor young kids slowly dying waiting for a transplant, thankfully some of their wishes are granted but sadly many aren’t.
Well, that’s enough of that. These are my views on this topic.
Brunty
Many girls cannot donate as they are underweight for their height and also haven’t eaten breakfast or slept enough hours the night before. This girl had no worries. She was a little shy though.
The boys don’t have too many problems donating, not too many are turned away. This boy was very happy and had a big smile on his face.
The teachers also get involved. Here some good blood is filling the bags.
This young guy has just finished donating and nearly recovered enough to make a move to the feeding table.
And here’s another happy student in the process of giving.
For anyone who hasn’t donated blood the process is easy, it is pretty much the same in any countries. The same thing happens here as in Australia. Here you fill out the questionnaire and then have a BP test. This is Master Lou the Chinese teacher. He speaks fluent English and Thai as well.
Then you move onto a blood screen. There is a small prick on the end of your finger and then a glass slide and a few small tubes are filled of your blood. You then collect your bags and move off to a bed.
Here the needle is just starting to make its way into my vein. It didn’t take long to fill the bags, very quick and also painless.
To anyone who has never donated blood, do it. I didn’t donate until I was mid twenties. I first donated when a bunch of mates went to a mobile blood bank in front of a job site where we were working. I then donated regularly.
I always felt guilty I didn’t do it early in my life. I felt this way as hospitals always need blood, especially some blood types. I am type A. I donate hoping that my blood is used to help a person who really needs it, a person whose luck needs changing and if my blood can help, then great.
I am also an organ donor. I am registered and carry a card with me. When the time comes I do not need anything, as I am dead. If my organs can be harvested and save another person’s life or extend their life, then great.
I am not preaching but these are my views, I believe people are selfish who don’t donate their organs, they aren’t any use to you when you are dead. I know some religions and so forth stop people doing this.
So, take the time to donate blood and hopefully help save a person’s life. Also sit down and seriously think about donating organs when you die. I have watched so many shows where you watch poor young kids slowly dying waiting for a transplant, thankfully some of their wishes are granted but sadly many aren’t.
Well, that’s enough of that. These are my views on this topic.
Brunty
Wednesday, 20 August 2008
Being a beggar, an occupation in Thailand soon. If law is passed.
Today I was at school and reading a newspaper on my laptop while doing some work, when I came across what I thought had to be a joke. Even when I read the article I thought it was a practical joke and also other teachers didn’t believe me until they read the article.
What the article is about is being a beggar in Thailand. Anyone who has travelled to Thailand has come across pesky beggars; many foreigners actually dig into their pockets and give absurd amounts of money, which can be 20 Baht to 100 Baht.
In the article it said that; being a beggar will not be so easy anymore if draft legislation approved by the cabinet yesterday becomes law. The bill proposed by the Human Security and Social Development Ministry sets conditions for people who want to be beggars.
Now this is next bit is pretty hard to read and not laugh or shake your head at the absolute stupidity of it.
Beggars must provide proof they are underprivileged, disabled, homeless or elderly without children to care for them. And this will be a reserved occupation, exclusively for Thais who must carry ID cards.
So, it is an occupation! Also you need proof that you’re underprivileged. And have a Thai ID Card. Now many people who are “underprivileged” don’t have forms of ID, especially all the documents needed for a Thai ID card.
Now this is an absolute ball tearer. Try not to laugh, please.
Would-be professional beggars will have to report to local administration organisations for approval and work permits.
Yes, the beggars will get “work permits”. So this means if this bill is passed you can ask a beggar for their work permit and ID Card.
Here’s the bad news:
Local agencies will be responsible for controlling beggars in their jurisdictions, while the Social Development and Welfare Department will have special centres to help them and programmes to care for them.
Now, local agencies do not try and control the beggar situation, so this means that they will more than likely let it continue the way it is. Thais don’t want to create ripples in the calm water.
Some good news:
Those who force other people to beg, or exploit them, will be liable to criminal punishment, deputy government spokeswoman said.
Umm, why don’t they simply enforce this now? This is happening all across Thailand now. The government knows this; major human rights organizations know this. What is stopping them from trying to catch these scumbags now?
Then the government minister says “Passing the legislation into law would help the authorities get rid of the large number of foreign beggars in the country”.
There are many foreign beggars including many asshole foreigners pretending to be hard up and telling sob stories of unjust that has been done to them. I seen a beggar from England begging last trip to Bangkok, he had a pathetic story written out on some cardboard. I wanted to kick the guy but this would just be a waste of energy and time on such a thief.
This is a good idea as most of these people are illegal immigrants and most are under the control of gangs. Detain the poor people and send them home to their countries.
A fellow teacher who just done a Thai Cultural course said that he was told on this course about Thai children being taken to Cambodia and being maimed as in having body parts removed to get more compassion from people. He thought this was a joke until I told him it wasn’t.
I explained that this was true and still happens today. Young children still go missing in remote villages in Thailand, stolen by mafia style gangs and sold into a life of misery; sadly Thai parents also sell their children for paltry sums believing they are going off to a better life.
But most of the beggars you come across in Thailand come from other countries, usually Laos and Cambodia. Most are being used by gangs and mistreated, I cannot tell any person travelling to Thailand “Do not give any money to a beggar”. This is even for a tiny dirty little kid, or an old lady with a tiny baby.
Yes, some are genuine, but many aren’t. Don’t support the gangs that are making many of these beggars’ lives hell. The money that beggars get goes to these ruthless thugs who beat them if they don’t collect enough money.
So if you travel to Thailand, don’t be rude to beggars. Give them a polite grin and just shake your head “No” and keep on walking.
I didn’t think I could come across anything more ridiculous than what I have ever already come across here before, but, this really takes the cake. It is pretty well the most insane thing I have read. Maybe this idea was thought up at a late night brain storming session at a local karaoke club well after Thai closing times when the brain cells weren’t working their best.
But again this is just my unprofessional view and maybe there are professionals out there with their views, I would love to hear them.
Brunty
What the article is about is being a beggar in Thailand. Anyone who has travelled to Thailand has come across pesky beggars; many foreigners actually dig into their pockets and give absurd amounts of money, which can be 20 Baht to 100 Baht.
In the article it said that; being a beggar will not be so easy anymore if draft legislation approved by the cabinet yesterday becomes law. The bill proposed by the Human Security and Social Development Ministry sets conditions for people who want to be beggars.
Now this is next bit is pretty hard to read and not laugh or shake your head at the absolute stupidity of it.
Beggars must provide proof they are underprivileged, disabled, homeless or elderly without children to care for them. And this will be a reserved occupation, exclusively for Thais who must carry ID cards.
So, it is an occupation! Also you need proof that you’re underprivileged. And have a Thai ID Card. Now many people who are “underprivileged” don’t have forms of ID, especially all the documents needed for a Thai ID card.
Now this is an absolute ball tearer. Try not to laugh, please.
Would-be professional beggars will have to report to local administration organisations for approval and work permits.
Yes, the beggars will get “work permits”. So this means if this bill is passed you can ask a beggar for their work permit and ID Card.
Here’s the bad news:
Local agencies will be responsible for controlling beggars in their jurisdictions, while the Social Development and Welfare Department will have special centres to help them and programmes to care for them.
Now, local agencies do not try and control the beggar situation, so this means that they will more than likely let it continue the way it is. Thais don’t want to create ripples in the calm water.
Some good news:
Those who force other people to beg, or exploit them, will be liable to criminal punishment, deputy government spokeswoman said.
Umm, why don’t they simply enforce this now? This is happening all across Thailand now. The government knows this; major human rights organizations know this. What is stopping them from trying to catch these scumbags now?
Then the government minister says “Passing the legislation into law would help the authorities get rid of the large number of foreign beggars in the country”.
There are many foreign beggars including many asshole foreigners pretending to be hard up and telling sob stories of unjust that has been done to them. I seen a beggar from England begging last trip to Bangkok, he had a pathetic story written out on some cardboard. I wanted to kick the guy but this would just be a waste of energy and time on such a thief.
This is a good idea as most of these people are illegal immigrants and most are under the control of gangs. Detain the poor people and send them home to their countries.
A fellow teacher who just done a Thai Cultural course said that he was told on this course about Thai children being taken to Cambodia and being maimed as in having body parts removed to get more compassion from people. He thought this was a joke until I told him it wasn’t.
I explained that this was true and still happens today. Young children still go missing in remote villages in Thailand, stolen by mafia style gangs and sold into a life of misery; sadly Thai parents also sell their children for paltry sums believing they are going off to a better life.
But most of the beggars you come across in Thailand come from other countries, usually Laos and Cambodia. Most are being used by gangs and mistreated, I cannot tell any person travelling to Thailand “Do not give any money to a beggar”. This is even for a tiny dirty little kid, or an old lady with a tiny baby.
Yes, some are genuine, but many aren’t. Don’t support the gangs that are making many of these beggars’ lives hell. The money that beggars get goes to these ruthless thugs who beat them if they don’t collect enough money.
So if you travel to Thailand, don’t be rude to beggars. Give them a polite grin and just shake your head “No” and keep on walking.
I didn’t think I could come across anything more ridiculous than what I have ever already come across here before, but, this really takes the cake. It is pretty well the most insane thing I have read. Maybe this idea was thought up at a late night brain storming session at a local karaoke club well after Thai closing times when the brain cells weren’t working their best.
But again this is just my unprofessional view and maybe there are professionals out there with their views, I would love to hear them.
Brunty
Japanese Culture stand in Thailand.
My amazing other half, Noot has been very busy the last few days. At her university they have had a science fair on. Noot and some of her friends were asked by her Japanese teacher to help do a Japanese stand. So this meant getting up at 6 am and then spending all day on her feet, this she is just not used to.
Noot can read Japanese well and also speak to a basic communication standard. I learnt Japanese many years ago but never kept up with it sadly. I have been to Japan 2 two times and it is a beautiful country. I was impressed with the people especially where I stayed. It is the best of the Asian destinations I have travelled by a long way.
So Noot would dress up in a kimono style outfit, it isn’t called a kimono though. They would have people dressed in these outfits throughout the day and then people could be dressed in them and have their pictures taken for a small price. Noot said that the last three days she has been very, very busy.
Here is Meow, Noot her Annie.
Here are two of Noot’s friends, Noon and the other girl, I don’t know.
Noot and her close friend, Miss Noon.
This is another close friend Miss Annie.
Now dressing up in a Japanese outfit wasn’t the only thing on offer, they also had Japanese food. This is what Noot had to go and prepare early everyday; she and her friends would go to the Japanese teacher’s house and make the Japanese food. It sold like hotcakes and would have to make more through the day but demand always outstripped supply.
This is Noot’s Japanese teacher, MissFukimo Fumiko and she is really popular with the students as she is very nice they have said and also she has “white skin”. Thais, especially girls want to be white.
Noot’s sister Ben was also at the university as her school was doing a dancing show. Here Ben is dressed in the usual Thai outfit for “lum” style dancing.
Here Ben is in action on the stage. It is funny as Ben is still pretty shy when it comes to getting her to do things, like go and ask for something in a shop or ask someone something but on a stage she will dance and sing in front of thousands of people without showing any nerves.
So this is just a few of the many pictures Noot took on her camera, my old point and shoot digital. It looked like a good time but as Noot said “very tiring”. I am happy as it means no more leg massages after tonight, well I hope so anyway.
Brunty.
Noot can read Japanese well and also speak to a basic communication standard. I learnt Japanese many years ago but never kept up with it sadly. I have been to Japan 2 two times and it is a beautiful country. I was impressed with the people especially where I stayed. It is the best of the Asian destinations I have travelled by a long way.
So Noot would dress up in a kimono style outfit, it isn’t called a kimono though. They would have people dressed in these outfits throughout the day and then people could be dressed in them and have their pictures taken for a small price. Noot said that the last three days she has been very, very busy.
Here is Meow, Noot her Annie.
Here are two of Noot’s friends, Noon and the other girl, I don’t know.
Noot and her close friend, Miss Noon.
This is another close friend Miss Annie.
Now dressing up in a Japanese outfit wasn’t the only thing on offer, they also had Japanese food. This is what Noot had to go and prepare early everyday; she and her friends would go to the Japanese teacher’s house and make the Japanese food. It sold like hotcakes and would have to make more through the day but demand always outstripped supply.
This is Noot’s Japanese teacher, Miss
Noot’s sister Ben was also at the university as her school was doing a dancing show. Here Ben is dressed in the usual Thai outfit for “lum” style dancing.
Here Ben is in action on the stage. It is funny as Ben is still pretty shy when it comes to getting her to do things, like go and ask for something in a shop or ask someone something but on a stage she will dance and sing in front of thousands of people without showing any nerves.
So this is just a few of the many pictures Noot took on her camera, my old point and shoot digital. It looked like a good time but as Noot said “very tiring”. I am happy as it means no more leg massages after tonight, well I hope so anyway.
Brunty.
Tuesday, 19 August 2008
Watching football, good food and friends, Thailand.
Now that the football has finally kicked off the weekend was busy watching the games on TV. On Sunday evening my Welsh mate John asked me and my better half and my other English mate and his family over to watch his team Chelsea play.
We had a great night and were looked after really well. John cooked up a storm which I wasn’t expecting this, so all the good tucker was a bonus.
I had a chance to take a few pictures around John’s place, it is really beautiful, and all the hard work he has put in has paid off. This is a newer purchase a ding dong of a swing.
There is plenty of wildlife running about. Here is a gecko on his wall and there is plenty of food. To the left of him is a mosquito and to the right is a spider looking thing.
This is an oil flare and I took the picture using no flash and also on long exposure. It makes a lot better effect than using the flash.
Also you can do this sort of silly stuff, like make swirls.
Or be really stupid.
These are some very beautiful frangapannis, I was working in the Torres Straight Islands and the place where I was staying was surrounded by them, they smell great.
This is playing around with the picture.
And more editing.
This is looking at John’s house. It really looks great. The garden is the best I have seen in Ubon.
This is looking out at the lake. This is also a long exposure picture and if you look just above the car you can see a red streaking light. This is from a motorbike on the other side of the lake a good 500 odd metres away.
So I had a fun night watching football, taking a few pictures and eating good food. I even had two glasses of beer. I look forward to the next invitation.
Brunty.
We had a great night and were looked after really well. John cooked up a storm which I wasn’t expecting this, so all the good tucker was a bonus.
I had a chance to take a few pictures around John’s place, it is really beautiful, and all the hard work he has put in has paid off. This is a newer purchase a ding dong of a swing.
There is plenty of wildlife running about. Here is a gecko on his wall and there is plenty of food. To the left of him is a mosquito and to the right is a spider looking thing.
This is an oil flare and I took the picture using no flash and also on long exposure. It makes a lot better effect than using the flash.
Also you can do this sort of silly stuff, like make swirls.
Or be really stupid.
These are some very beautiful frangapannis, I was working in the Torres Straight Islands and the place where I was staying was surrounded by them, they smell great.
This is playing around with the picture.
And more editing.
This is looking at John’s house. It really looks great. The garden is the best I have seen in Ubon.
This is looking out at the lake. This is also a long exposure picture and if you look just above the car you can see a red streaking light. This is from a motorbike on the other side of the lake a good 500 odd metres away.
So I had a fun night watching football, taking a few pictures and eating good food. I even had two glasses of beer. I look forward to the next invitation.
Brunty.
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