Excellent Comment and Information on Education in Ubon Ratchathani Thailand..

A few days ago, I blogged about educating your kids in Thailand after a reader had dropped by and left the comment below.

Brunty in four years my wife,children and I will be moving to Ubon. The location we choose to live in will be directly related to schools for the kids. I have concerns about education plans for the kids. Could you recommend/explain the educational opportunities available and costs from age 5 up to University available in Ubon. I will be retired and will not be able to afford International schools. Thanks Mike.

Then David Peters has come along with an excellent reply, full of information about schools in Ubon. I thank him for this, it is very helpful for Mike.

The schools in the city are okay but as parents you will have to do a lot of educating yourself. I know. My two children went through primary and secondary schools in Ubon. From there they went to university in Bangkok. Both graduated with top grades and now have jobs in International companies. Believe me, the job opportunities for graduates with fluent Thai and English are fantastic in Thailand. So many of my friend’s children who live back in their home countries are finding it difficult to get a good job. Asia is where it is happening.

A good choice Mike to decide to bring your children back here to get educated.

State schooling is zoned in Ubon but you can get in to the school of your choice if you know someone or pay money-a donation.

David makes a great point here; you have to live in the area (zone) of the school to attend it. There are people who register kids on their house papers and also teachers do this, for a fee so that the child will be accepted into the school they want.

Primary schools. Anubann Ubon has always been regarded as the best but these days it is very crowded. Plus you are unlikely to get in if you live outside the central city zone. Also the children that go there on the whole are little shits. Ubonwit further up in Kilosoon is a private school but always seems to fairly well regarded. Then there are the four catholic schools. Ave Maria is solid, Assumption seems to teach dropouts who can’t get in elsewhere, Yaowawet is a girls school but now takes boys and the one near Makro I don’t know anything about.

Again David makes another good point. Anuban the classes in the regular programme are large, usually between 45 to 53 students. In the English Programme some classes now have 30 students and I think a few more in some cases. In the Advance Programme, new this year there are around 35 a class. I teach in the regular programme there, so the kids that get thier education for free and I can honestly say that 99% are fantastic for me, very polite but again they do know my rules to a T. As for the English Programme kids I have no idea what they are like but most do come from well off familes at 60,000 baht per year.

Ave Maria I have heard good things about it from people, but personally I have never been there. David hits Assumption hard with “seems to teach dropouts who can’t get in elsewhere” but in some cases this is so true.

I worked there for 5 years, and some of the children admitted into the English Programme were just ridiculous. We fought as teachers to try and have an entry exam and set a standard so classes would be strong, but this was always ignored in favour of money and profit.

In many classes of high school level there are kids in the English Programme who cannot do the alphabet, cannot read lower primary level and have a very limited vocabulary. Then there are a lot in each class that are of below average and struggle. It makes it very hard for the teacher to try and put a lesson together for a class.

These days a lot of children of better off families, government officers and mixed race children are going to the YES school on the bypass road. Children seem to like it there. And Baandek in Warin seems okay.

YES or Youth Exchange School I have only heard things from people who used to teach there, so it was mostly bad things, but as David said many of the Hi-So Thais send their kids there. They do win a lot of the competitions in the Ubon area when they compete.

When deciding your school remember that Ubon now has massive traffic jams in the morning and afternoon. Children have to be at school at 8 am and finish at 4 pm. A long day. Try to buy a house as close as possible to the schools.

Traffic in Ubon city from just after 7am until 8.30am can only described as frustrating. Remember Thais drivers pretty well do what they want. If I leave my house before 7am I am at school in under 10 minutes. If I leave after 7.15am it will double the time at least. This is on my motorbike. In my car the other day it took me nearly 40 minutes to get home from school.

Be prepared to be a taxi driver on weekends taking your children to special classes. I am afraid you have no choice because at school they only get taught about half the syllabus. I recommend you don’t send your children to the commercial tutoring schools but seek out a teacher who teaches at their home and have a one on one tutorial. With my children, we paid for a university student to come in every week night for one hour to help the children with their homework. This was because in the first years their Thai language was not good enough.

David hits the nail on the head here; teachers hardly teach in their class and make “big money” teaching special classes and the rest of the syllabus to the kids that study with them. I will also state that so much time is lost each year because of ceremonies and anything else deemed more important than studying.

Now for secondary schools. Only two in the city worth considering. Benchamat is the former boys school that now takes girls. Bursting at the seams. Nearly 60 in a room, over 5,000 children there now. If your children are bright they will do okay. But if they are average they will fall away. However, Benchamat seems to get children into university and once there they do okay. The other school, Nareenakoon is the former girls school that now takes boys. Good teachers. But I forgot YES. They are teaching up to high school level but again I don’t know their success rate in getting students into university. Assumption is a write-off as far as science majors go.

Benchama for some reason does get kids places in good universities, all parents in this area strive to get their children in there. I have seen nothing but trouble with teachers there over the years. Last year at one stage I think they were all dismissed. Nareenakun has an international programme that costs well into the hundreds of thousands of baht. Its regular programme I have no idea about. I do know a couple of excellent teachers there, really good teachers. Assumption is definitely not for science majors, the labs are pathetic and this is being polite.

Then on to university where it is the Faculty that is important. Ubon Ratchathani University has 2-3 faculties that are solid but others are not very good. The local Radjaphat university is like a community college. Good on social skills but lacks any research depth. The private Ratchathani University I know nothing about but I would never recommend it.

David is right here, Rajabhat is like a community college, it takes all students and cranks them out in the thousands. Students cannot be failed there. English majors leave there after 4 years with many not able to hold the most basic conversation, and some with virtually no English at all. Ubon Ratchathani University (Mor Ubon) has the best name for the area but as David said it is definitely better to send your children to Bangkok to university for sure. There is also Chang Mai and Korat that could be considered.

My choice. Send the children to a top university government university in Bangkok. But let your children decide this.

At the end of the day it comes now to networking in Thailand. You have to know people to get anywhere. Children who are educated overseas often find it very difficult to fit back into Thailand society.

Any university graduate from a top university with strong bilingual skills will have no problem at all in finding a top job in Thailand.

But as parents, who will have to do a lot of teaching at home especially during the primary school years.

Anyway, good luck with the move to Ubon Mike. My family and I made our choice to come here 30 years ago and it was the right one.

A heap of information from David that is very useful and gives a wrap up of the education possibilities in the Ubon area.

Thanks mate for helping Mike out.

Educating Your Kids In Thailand.

Brunty in four years my wife,children and I will be moving to Ubon. The location we choose to live in will be directly related to schools for the kids. I have concerns about education plans for the kids. Could you recommend/explain the educational opportunities available and costs from age 5 up to University available in Ubon. I will be retired and will not be able to afford International schools. Thanks Mike

I had a guy called Mike drop by the other day here on Isaan Style and left the above comment.

Schooling in Thailand can be as cheap as chips or very expensive at international schools.

Also the quality of education is often questioned, and for good reason. Each year when national test results come in for primary 3 and 6 and secondary 3 (year 9) and 12 (year 12) they tend to be pretty poor.

Let’s look at costs. Even the larger government schools in Ubon Ratchathani that are meant to offer a free education actually cost something. By the time you buy all the books, uniforms and everything else needed to send your child to school it would come to around 4,000 baht or $120 Australian dollars. Pretty cheap for an education.

Then the English programmes, they vary from 5,000 to 6,000 baht to study with Filipino and other non native speakers, and with native speakers you look at fees 15,000 to 30,000 per semester (2 per year) depending on the school.

International schools the fees are as you expect, big. One school in Bangkok it is 240,000 baht to register, or $8,000 Australian dollars. Annual fees of 40,000 baht or around $1,300 Aus dollars and then the tuition fees per year range from 410,000 ($12,600 Aus) for pre kindergarten to 740,000 ($22,000 Aus) for years 9 to 12.

So the range of costs like back home in Australia, can be near free and then out of the range for many.

International schools offer qualified teachers, people who taught in their own country with a degree in education in the field of teaching, these teachers earn huge money in Thai terms and it is even good when converted back into their own currency. 100,000 Thai baht plus at many schools per month salaries.

One guy I know gets 150,000 per month and also 5,000 per month towards living expenses, a return air ticket back home just to name a few perks.

Compared to an average foreign teacher’s wage of 30,000 Thai baht or $1,000 Australian dollars per month in nearly every other school across Thailand.

I have never said I am a qualified teacher, over the years I have worked hard to improve myself and even harder for the kids I teach, so they will get the best education I can possibly give them. But I do not have a degree in education. Does this matter?

I have always said it comes down to the teacher. How much the teacher is willing to put in for the kids? Over the 6 years I have been here I have met some great teachers and also absolute pieces of shit. And sadly many people talk about English teachers in Thailand in the latter.

If you Google about Thai education so many red lights come up. Poor report after poor report has been written about the Thai education system.

I have written about and complained about the lack of vigour I have seen in teaching young learners. I have complained many times about rote learning techniques used by teachers, teachers who believe writing a board full of text and then having the students copy this into their notebooks while they sit at the desk and correct work from another class.

I have complained about teachers, who give the answers to students. They tell the students that this is right and this is wrong. They do not try and elicit what students may already know on the subject being presented and taught.

This seems too hard, actually teaching, making students’ use creative thinking.

An example is a teacher in a young learners class holding up flashcards and telling students, “this is a dog, this is a cat” and so in is boring as hell.

I am very average at drawing, but I would try and my primary 1 students would often piss themselves laughing many times at drawings on the whiteboard.

I would start by drawing a tiny part of what I wanted to elicit, say the ear of the dog, and it would be funny to have a student guess and ask something like. Is it a rocket? Is it a car?

But it got the kids attention and made them use creative thinking.

In Thailand teaching seems to be mostly about singing songs, remembering speeches for competitions, practicing for ceremonies, going on excursion after excursion and education takes a back seat too many times.

Teachers are often preparing paperwork so they can achieve their promotion, or paperwork for the next visit from a government department, preparing paperwork for the next competition that is coming up soon and on it goes.

Until teachers in Thailand forget about all the smoke and mirrors that goes on in Thai the education system, things are never going to improve. Nearly every school on the outside looks amazing with massive billboards announcing awards won by students, but inside things are not so amazing.

All the falsifying of grades that happens all across Thailand needs to stop. I was told students must get 75%, nothing lower. This is a B + you can say. Students who cannot read, write, speak or listen are meant to achieve this grade, because the powers to be say.

This has to stop. I do not believe in failing your learners. But real grades need to be given. If a student gets 5%, they get 5%. The parents are told the problems their child is experiencing and then they can try to address them and actually help their child improve.

What I don’t understand is Thailand’s Ministry of Education (MOE), they know that schools fudge results. I mean all kids receive these very good grades but when they sit their national tests the scores are atrocious.

Last year, year 12 students averaged out of 100% just 14.99 for maths, 19.22 for English, 30.90 in science, 42.61 in Thai. The younger primary levels were not much better.

The MOE have to know that there is something not right, between the schools average grade point scores and what they achieve at national test level.

Don’t fail young kids, this could set them back. But give real assessments, real grades and make sure parents know the truth.

The schools have to stop stealing the kid’s education which is what I believe they are doing. They are failing the kids as their problems are not addressed, the parents often do not know their child has a problem, or needs help.

Until the Thai education system can stop the lying and smoke and mirror tricks, many kids will continue to suffer and struggle as they are pushed through year to year while their problems are not addressed and just get bigger and bigger.

I could not truthfully offer Mark the recommendation of a school in Ubon as being great. All the schools I know or have met teachers from have problems like I have stated above.

When Nong Ja is of school age I am adamant she is not going to be schooled in Thailand. But again it comes down to how much any kid wants to learn.

I have some absolutely amazing students, breaths of fresh air. They read English books, listen to English music, and watch English TV (mostly cartoons) and so forth.

I do believe that if a kid really wants to learn they will no matter their environment. If the teaching standard is poor, this will be a setback but with good attentive parents, kids can shine.

So Mike, I wish I could say that this school was amazing and so was that one, and I sure that there are schools likes this around Ubon and there are many scattered about the place, some have under one hundred students to others with thousands.

If anyone has a great school in the Ubon area then please let Mike know.

Brunty

Blogger Stuffed Up Again.

Blogger has been less and less reliable of late. Wish these isiots would just work their crap out. They are meant to be experts.

Look I am grateful for the free hosting and understand that they are trying to make Blogger better but the down time of late has been too much.

But again I should stop whinging as it is just a blog, the pain in the ass is I want to update another blog that I have but cannot as I cannot sign out of Isaan Style. Frustrating to say the least.

Not the end of the world and with all the other stuff going on in the world I should give myself an uppercut and wake myself up a little.

Hope the Blogger "experts" work it out soon, sooner than it took their last stuff up.

Brunty

Grilling Food The Thai Way Ubon Ratchathani Thailand.

A little while back we ventured over to Khrung Thep Restaurant here in Ubon Ratchathani. I have blogged on this plenty of times as we really like the food there and is excellent value for money. If you want to see pictures of the quality food click on this link as the pictures below are from my iPhone and crap.

Nong Ja and Benjawan were trying to be ghosts and scare me.

Ja thought this was so much fun but was having trouble getting the gist of it.

I had a good laugh at Ja pulling weird faces trying to be scary though.

Above is not Khrung Thep Restaurant, but an all you can eat Korean BBQ as Thais call them. It is in the soi that runs parallel to Big C and is always busy. I like this much more than MK that I blogged on the other week.

Nong Ja loves the conveyor belt set up, a bit like Sushi Train restaurants and is a nice novelty for here in Ubon.

Ja loves to help, you tell her the dish to grab and she will grab it, but she also grabs many things you don’t want as she enjoys taking the plates off the conveyor belt.

And this is what you start out with, a piece of pork fat to grease the plate, coat in a layer of fat.

With the stock in the base, you place the vegetables to cook, while the meat or seafood goes onto the plate.

All the meats are sliced thin and cook pretty quickly, Thais love these places as they can eat a truckload of food. I am always bemused at the restaurants that have different prices for people who weigh over a certain weight (Yes, they exist here) as the tiny Thai girls eat more than any big person such as myself.

I cannot remember how much chicken liver I ate, it was delicious and also many prawns as well. The girls got their 129 baht worth for sure.

Another night, at another restaurant in Ubon Ratchathani Thailand.

Brunty

Uncle Beer Visits Nong Ja, Isaan Thailand.

The other day, Nong Ja’s uncle came to visit us for a few hours. Beer is a funny little guy and sadly I don’t get to see a lot of him. He is cheeky as hell, but so lovely. When Ja and him are together there is never a dull moment. It is 100mph, full steam ahead for hours.

Kids love to play, Ja is no exception and she has so many toys, too many toys. They are so cheap here so we have gone a little overboard you could say. What is scattered on the floor here is just two boxes of five. The other three are in the spare bedroom. Plus we have given Beer a heap as well that stay out in the village.

For some reason the two little monkeys wanted to tip every toy out onto the floor and climb into the box, maybe they thought they were in a boat, no idea.

They happily played while Benjawan tried to start picking up toys and put them away again, but this was just met by the two cheeky monkeys in throwing them back out again. Finally Ben gave up and decided to just wait until Beer went home.

Beer calls me “Jay” as does Ja, each time I took a few pictures they wanted to see themselves in the viewfinder and would giggle and laugh at their picture.

I don’t mind Beer visiting for a few hours at a time, if it was more than that I am sure my hair would turn white and fall out. I don’t get a moments peace when Ja is home by herself, and when Beer arrives it is double trouble.

Jay look at this, Jay come here, Jay lets go outside, Jay lets go to Big C, Jay lets draw a picture and on it goes.

Thai girls usually eat, talk, watch dreadful Thai TV and just hope the kids entertain themselves. Give them toys, put on a video and they will be right, right?

Ja and Beer know I am a big kid and will fool around for a few hours, so I am the go to man. I actually like acting like a clown or the fool, but again that does come pretty naturally.

Brunty

Beauty Pageant Mothers Are Freaking Crazy!

This is going to be a doozy of a rant, I am sorry in advance but after reading this article again and again and then finding more information on this woman, I still cannot believe this woman has her daughter and is not behind bars or in a mental asylum.

Screen shot from interview.

Kerry Campbell is a Brit, she is from the land of fish and chips now living in the land of the free. This woman has shocked me to a new level. I already knew that these “beauty pageant mums’ that exploit their children were strange, but Kerry takes it to new levels.

I was reading my local Australian newspaper, The Herald Sun and came across this article titled, US Beauty Pageant Mother Defends Giving Eight Year Old Daughter Botox.

I thought, no fuc#ing way, no mother would inject chemicals into their daughter’s face, would they? I also thought, it would have to be illegal to do this as well, there had to be laws to protect kids from this.

Well I was wrong! I watched the video above. An interview on Good Morning America and Kerry happily tells the world it is all true.

What worried me more was when the interviewer asked little Britney, Kerry’s daughter this,

“What do you do it for?”

Britney responds,

“Umm, I don’t know!”

Kerry then whispers to Britney and she says,

“Oh yeah, (giggles a little) like wrinkles.”

This pathetic excuse of a mother is absolutely stark raving bonkers, she is a good 99cents short of a dollar.

Kerry Campbell injects botox into her daughter’s face; this is apparently for wrinkles, wrinkles that her eight year old Britney has complained about.

And also this.

“Britney also has her virgin wax monthly, which gets rid of her fluffy leg hair and makes sure she won’t develop pubic hair in the future.”

Is this women fuc#ing serious! My god am I the only one shocked here.

But it is the statements out of Kerry’s mouth as well as Britney’s, that are worrying.

Here is some of the shit that has fallen out of Kerry’s large mouth.

"If I want Britney to be successful, I have to be realistic. She has to start as early as possible.”

"What I am doing for Britney now will help her become a star.”

"I know one day she will be a model, actress or singer, and having these treatments now will ensure she stays looking younger and baby-faced for longer.”

"All I want is for Britney to have the best start in life, so it is easier for her to become a superstar.”

"More mothers should do it for their daughters."

"She is a lucky little girl and is going to be famous because of the benefits I am giving her so early."

"I'd rather she be perfect and have a little frozen face.”

Here are some things little eight year old Britney has said:

"My friends think it's cool I have all the treatments and they want to be like me. I check every night for wrinkles, when I see some I want more injections.”

"They used to hurt, but now I don't cry that much.”

"I feel like a supermodel and if I do ballet or go swimming I don't have to worry about hairy legs. Although the pain makes me cry, I feel like a cool grown-up when it's all over."

"I also want a boob and nose job soon, so that I can be a star."

How bloody sad is this! She wants a breast and nose job. She is only eight year olds, I thought they wanted Barbie Dolls.

Kerry’s mother tried to justify all this by saying:

"Everyone is doing it and talking about it.” (Meaning other beauty pageant mothers)

"When Britney takes part in pageants, parents talk about how they have given their daughter an extra jab to plump her lips or lose a wrinkle.”

But it sadly isn’t going to stop here for Kerry either. She also wants to do this to Britney.

Having Britney's

eyebrows waxed this year. She is also hoping to get them lightly tattooed to an arched shape and is also considering a light pink tattooed lip-liner.

I am lost for words, absolutely gobsmacked by this woman. She does not deserve to be a parent.

The sad part of all this is, it is legal. America, the land of the free and England, the land of pasty whingeing white people and fish and chips has:

No criminal laws stopping a child having these types of procedures as the industry is self-regulated.

How can law makers, how can politicians, how can parents allow this?

I am now going to be nasty. Sorry, but bugger it. Look, I am no Mona Lisa. My noggin is rough around the edges.

If you watch the video, Kerry is no looker, she looks like she fell out of a tree, hit all the branches on the way down, landed on a road, a truck ran over her, reversed back over her, and then went forward again. This is being polite.

Is she living the life she wished she had?

And this is just how blinkered Kerry is.

"When she's a superstar earning millions, she'll always be grateful for what I did when she was so young."

I am sorry but I can see a life of destruction for Britney if someone doesn’t step in and protect her. I hope I am wrong.

Maybe she won’t become a drug addict or a porn film star later in life. I do hope she proves me wrong, but if anything goes of the rail the blame needs to be pointed and levelled squarely at her mother Kerry.

Brunty

Michael Bolton, Lonely Island Boys and Jack Sparrow.

Now if you cannot be bothered scrolling through the tripe I have written, just whip down to the last video and watch as it is piss funny to me.

Michael Bolton, most people will know this name. I actually don’t mind his voice and remember way back to the days of his long flowing curly locks, way back when he sang ‘How Am I supposed To Live Without You and When A Man Loves A Woman’ to name just two.

It was funny this as I was Googling Bolton after reading a newspaper story in the Herald Sun Newspaper from Australia. They talked about a local girl Delta Goodrem singing at Dancing With The Stars in America and doing a great job.

In the article was a link to a duet Delta and Bolton done on America’s Dancing With The Stars, Delta wrote the song. So I clicked on it and watched this duet that is good, I think Delta has really evolved from where she started so long ago and she might just get the break she needs in America with her performance of ‘You make Me Feel Like A Natural Women’ as the viewing audience was apparently 21 million.

Delta will be another post for another day in itself, back to Michael Bolton. People like to take the piss out of him. Well it seems Michael doesn’t mind to do this himself.

While I was at Bolton’s website there was a link to a video called, ‘Jack Sparrow on SNL’ and a reference to Lonely Island Boys. I had to click on it out of curiosity but nothing loaded on the page, so off to Youtube.

Now, what I found is a classic, well brilliant and I thought very funny and might make people think of Michael Bolton a little differently, at least for a while.

Brunty

KFC Sack Three Managers Thailand for Wanting Better Conditions and Pay.

I was just reading a typical Thai newspaper article. It involves a company shafting its employees and just sacking them and thinking they can get away with it as it is Thailand.

Yum Restaurant International Thailand (YRIT) operates all of Thailand’s KFC outlets. They decided to sack three enterprising managers as they were not being Thai. What do I mean?

The three managers wanted better working conditions and pay for staff. The three managers were trying to set up a labour union and obviously when the YRIT found out sacked them immediately.

They were offered no reason for their dismissal. No warnings or meeting just instant dismissal.

Now a YRIT spokesperson has said,

“all three employees violated the company's work policies and code of conduct by claiming to be representatives from the company's welfare committee as well as misusing the company's internet account to spread false information to other employees.”

I hope they have plenty of evidence! No meetings or arbitration offered just sacked.

Thailand does have dismissal laws much like western countries, they also have decent labour laws as well but they don’t seem to be enforced all that well.

The Labour Relations Committee vice-chairman has gone into bat for these three managers calling for their reinstatement.

I hope they do win, the small people beating the big corporation. I hope there are follow ups in the newspapers.

I remember talking to Thai teachers at my old school once about unions, they said they have unions but none of the teachers I knew were members.

The Thai teachers at times are virtually slaves to the school, work weekends all the time and not paid overtime, go here and there, do this and that but never reimbursed for their extra time.

They used to complain, to each other but never the hierarchy of the school. Never go to the head of the department and offer their opinion. They just do their job looking miserable.

I was talking to a Thai teacher and asked why the teachers at the school didn’t get together and form a union as such. Have representatives who can meet with the chain of command and offer suggestions, bring up problems, negotiate fair working hours and rates of overtime pay.

He laughed and told me that if anyone did this they would find themselves unemployed for sure, out of a job before they knew it.

He is right as the school and for all its so called Catholic ways is ruthless. Here is an example.

Teachers who come to Assumption, especially younger teachers just out of university use the school as a learning platform. They make their meagre wage per month but most are just biding time to get a job in a government school.

Once you pass the government school tests and are placed into a school, you are set for life. Pretty much what people used to say about a council job back home in Australia. You have the job till you retire or die.

The perks of government school life are much better than the private schools, so you cannot blame teachers for seeking this out.

At Assumption if a teacher was found to have sat the tests to become a government school teacher, they were treated like a leper. They were scorned and badmouthed like they had done the most evil of things, dragged into meetings and read the riot acts.

One teacher this happened to had been working at the school for years, at least 6 years. She sat the exam under a false name. Someone must have seen her taking the test as it got back to the school.

A Spanish Inquisition started and she was berated, looked down upon like she was some lane dog. And to cut a long story short she was sacked. The worst part, she was an excellent teacher. Great to have in your classroom helping you.

Usually teachers when then leave, there will be a party but she didn’t get one, we even enquired and the response from the little ‘Pol Pots’ was virtually she didn’t deserve it as she had turned her back on the school.

I had been to parties for teachers who had only been at the school a year, were bloody useless but deemed party worthy because they towed the line and kissed ass.

If I am bullshitting there are teachers still at the school can say this is all crap, it is 100% true.

The lady who was sacked is now happily employed in a government school, she was applying for a transfer closer to Ubon Ratchathani but I do not know how she got on. The best thing is, she is so happy, loves her job and has told me that it was the best thing that happened to her.

I am a union man, through and through and believe in the fight for workers rights. The people who are against unions usually say they are no more than bullies and hold employers to ransom.

At times this is virtually the case, but it needs to happen if it benefits the Joe Blow. Keeping big corporations honest is paramount; the executives get millions of dollars in bonuses but the everyday worker gets the bare minimum and less if most companies have their way.

I can never see strong unions in Thailand as Thais are just too passive for me, if there were strong unions then working conditions, rates of pay across the country could improve. But getting millions of the average Thai to strike no matter what it takes, cripple the country until they get what they want just wouldn’t happen.

Scab labour as it is called would be lined up for positions thousands long and companies would not have a qualm in using it.

Anyway I am raving on. I just hope the three guys get their jobs back, create their union and then get better conditions for workers.

Dare to struggle, dare to win. If you don’t fight, you lose. Workers united will never be defeated.

It is as simple as that for me.

Brunty

Red Shirts Rally Ubon Ratchathani Thailand.

Last Thursday I was sitting at home and I could hear the droning sound of people speaking on a P.A system. I was heading over to Big C toward where the noise was coming from anyway and would check it out.

What I found was the Red Shirts, the supporters of Thaksin Shinawatra were gathering to hear speeches from leaders of the Red Shirts and Pheu Thai Political Party.

This was early afternoon and asked who was going to be there and if Thaksin was phoning in. Thaksin was not calling in but the heavy weights would be there so I planned on going back that evening.

The stage was lit up and the crowd had shrunk compared to earlier in the day.

There were still probably 400 on hand, this was after 10pm, around 5pm there was well over a 1,000.

They were here listening to Jatuporn Promphan, a Pheu Thai politician and outspoken and proud red shirt leader.


Jatuporn is passionate, he believes in what he is fighting for and best of luck to him. Jatuporn is currently on bail, he was issued temporary release granted because of his parliamentary immunity.

The red shirt supporters are passionate, they love Thaksin and I cannot see the end in sight to political rallies, no matter what happens at the upcoming election sometime this year.

If the red shirts win the election, the yellow shirts will protest. Already the PAD is saying that they will not stand cabdidates at the election, this is a worry as this will mean yellow shirts back in the streets holding all to ransom again.

All I can say was the red shirt supporters here in Ubon Ratchathani were amazingly polite, very friendly and many wanted a chat and also to have their pictures taken.

This guy was selling shirts, he spoke very good English and we had a good 20 odd minute chat. He was from Bangkok and followed the road-show around. After this night’s rally they were off to Kalisin and then Khon Kaen the next few days.

He asked my opinion of the political going ons in Thailand at the moment and I was candidly honest. I told him Thais did not understand a true democracy and how to let the political process run its course.

I told him I didn’t agree with the way the red and yellow shirts were approaching things and I also said I didn’t agree with the way the Democrat Party came to power. They hadn’t won a poll since the early nineties I think and have no hope again in the future.

He was very good and told me some of his ideas and beliefs, but also agreed that political shenanigans will not stop anytime soon, even after the coming election there is bound to be problems.

It is sad as it hurts many everyday Thais, the government caught up in all this instead of doing the best they can for their constituents.

Sadly this isn’t just Thailand but every country across the world when a candidate promises so much and wins election to then just turn their back on their promises, the platform they were elected on.

It is a dirty game politics, more so here in Thailand and I can only hope for a miracle and that somehow after the coming election there is peace on the streets and the parliament can do their job. The rulers can rule and the opposition oppose.

Brunty

Seve Ballesteros, You Will Never Be Forgotten.

I wasn’t going to write anything on this but I want to as the man who passed away yesterday gave me many years on happiness watching him play golf.

Seve Ballesteros passed away after a three year fight with brain cancer. The Spaniard was such an exciting golfer to watch, captivating he was.

I remember emulating him, pretending to rip golf balls and play shots that others wouldn’t dare as a junior golfer, pretending to be the great Seve Ballesteros.

I can still remember watching him winning at St Andrews in 1984, the Claret Jug the second time. Excellent memories from his Masters win at Augusta in 1983 just to name a few.

Earlier tonight I sat in tears as players stood for a minute’s silence at the Spanish Open currently being played, seeing his compatriots Jose Maria Olazabal and Miguel Angel Jiminez looking shattered at the loss of Spain’s best golfer made tears well and stream down my face.

I have spent a good hour reading tributes from some of the best golfers, past and present. People who had been to battle against Seve and others who never had the privilege and again it is heartbreaking.

When people die, many do say good things about the deceased person but don’t mean it. This is not the case in Severiano “Seve” Ballesteros Sota. He was everything that is being written about him.

Seve mate, I hope you are in a happy place, we have lost an amazing golfer and person but you will never be forgotten. Thanks for all the amazing memories.

Brunty.

Nong Ja and Spaghetti, Isaan Thailand.

My amazing little girl, my Thai niece Nong Ja loves to eat, after all she is Thai. The good thing is she eats virtually anything.

She loves Gang Nor Mai, a bamboo dish in fermented fish sauce, and of course papaya salad or somtam to just name two common Thai dishes.

She won’t eat bugs; she is terrified of bugs, frogs and even geckos. She screams and runs if she sees a bug crawling along and tells you to kill it. Frogs like wise, petrified but will get close to them only if she can cling to you so tightly that she cuts off your circulation.

She also likes western food, she eats cereal and toast which makes breakfast easy, loves fruit and will eat most vegetables.

Mashed potatoes is a favourite, steamed pumpkin, crumbed and battered fish and she really likes spaghetti.

Ja trying to say spaghetti is a classic, but the other night I asked if she would like spaghetti and before long we were off to the market and Big C with all the ingredients needed.

I little while later with the help of Ja, she was sitting down to eat her homemade spaghetti.

It is funny watching her eat spaghetti as she forgets to bite the spaghetti into smaller portions and keeps sucking until her little mouth is too full.

Of course, spaghetti ends up across her face, on her legs and floor and all over her fingers as well. I think this is half the fun of it all.

Brunty

Teaching Positions Ubon Ratchathani, Thailand.

If any native English speakers are out there looking for a teaching position is sleepy Isaan, Ubon Ratchathani then there are a few positions available for you at this time.

My old school Assumption College is looking for two teachers, one to teach primary 1 and 4 English and another teacher for secondary 1 to 4 English.

Yes, if you read this blog I have bitched and moaned about my old school many times but always said they treated me pretty well over the years.

In Thailand you will not find a perfect school, Assumption isn’t perfect but the majority of people in the English programme are great. If you are easy going and not highly strung (another words not a whinging pain in the ass) you will get along with the other teachers like a house on fire.

You are paid 30,000 baht per month, and this includes a 12 month contract with 11 weeks of holiday.

All classes are in air-conditioned classrooms, you have a Thai teacher to assist in some classes.

The head of the department, she can be frustrating but this is because of forgetfulness and lack of communication but she has a golden heart and will try and do anything to make you happy. Well almost anything!

They do ask that you have a bachelor’s degree, but again if you have experience or a TEFL or similar certificate I am sure you will be looked at closely.

This is the link to the job advertised on Ajarn.com or you can email mickandbob@hotmail.com a copy of your CV/resume and the lady who receives these is a lovely English lady and will be sure to contact you ASAP.

So again, a few positions available to start virtually immediately, good conditions and most the foreign teachers are friendly, even the American guy has a great sense of humour.

Don’t tell them Brunty sent you! Only kidding as the lady who helps with hiring teachers is a good friend.

Brunty