Outrage Again at Thai Students for Their Ignorance.

Reading the papers online today and “the big” story is of some Thai students who dressed up in Nazi uniforms for their sports day.

In Thailand, sport days are huge. They take precedence over academics, well actually everything else takes precedence over learning, competitions, dancing, watching some touts pitch a promotion for some company selling products laced full of sugar, but this is Thailand.

Up country here in Thailand in Chiang Mai at The Sacred Heart Catholic School, the students had kept their outfits under wraps, apparently! I could believe this as I have witnessed it. While I was at Assumption College here in Ubon Ratchathani. I witnessed five sport days there and the students in charge of their team’s colour parade were very protective of their plans.

One year I was looking threw some drawings the students had when they were snatched away as I apparently could have been a spy for another colour or team.

But this isn’t the first time and more than likely won’t be the last. Back in November 2007 I blogged on another school in Bangkok, students from Thewphaingarm School also dressed in Nazi themed outfits for their sport day and there was an outcry then.

But how could this happen? How could students be so insensitive?

Well, they are not trying to be insensitive. To be truthful they are totally unaware of what all the fuss is about.

Ex-pat foreigners were appalled, obviously in Chiang Mai and when the problem was brought up with Thai teachers, they had “no idea” to why it was such a problem.

You are probably reading and thinking that this just isn’t possible, but it is.

I am not trying to be rude, but Thais are ignorant to nearly anything outside the borders of Thailand, but also inside as well. What do I mean?

Many of these students don’t even know that the Japanese fought the Thai army and won, forcing them to allow Japanese troops passage in 1941 through Thailand. And not one student I know of knows Thailand declared war against Britain and America. Luckily Thailand’s ambassador at the time refused to deliver the declaration of war in America, luckily for Thailand.

Ask them about the Death Railway, or The Hellfire Pass at Kanchanaburi and The Bridge over the River Kwai, many know of the place, have been but know little of what actually happened there. The death of soldiers beaten to death by their Japanese captors and around 16,000 people lost their lives at the hands of the Japanese.

When I was teaching upper secondary levels, years 10 to 12 or students from 15 to 18 years of age. Many of them had no idea of past events or history that shaped the world as it is today.

But they also had no idea of the “real history” of Thailand either. I was often gobsmacked when a class of 30 students could not identify past kings or influential people of Thailand. Ask about events like coups or even the tsunami and many had no idea at all.

Thais are atrocious at geography, and this isn’t just students. I remember being left speechless by year 12 students when they couldn’t identify the 7 continents, I was doing this as in their book we were learning passive voice and about where things are made or grown and so forth.

I introduced the countries by flags first, no idea! Then by word flashcards and some could read. Match the words to the flags and this was hysterical, for me. The US flag going with India and so on, it was comical.

After finally getting all the flags matched to countries, I bought out enlarged cut outs of the 7 continents. First I had students try and identify each one, and this was crazy. I didn’t know China, and America and others were continents.

Having identified the continents the students then matched countries to continents and seeing Thailand placed in North America made me nearly cry, from laughing.

But this isn’t just kids, ask adult teachers to show you where Thailand is, and many baulk as they don’t want to “lose face” by trying or will point in the Asia area.

After the shambles of this I had to have more fun, I blew up a massive Asia flashcard. Six bits of A4 paper together. A heap of countries names and flags and I had a few more hours of laughs on my hands. 90% of the 17 and 18 year olds had no idea, absolutely no idea.

I did a quiz on Thailand that was multiple choice, in groups of 4 people. Name the colours of the flag in order from top to bottom, around how many people live in Thailand (One group answered 6 million), Thailand’s first king and so on.

I am not sure, but maybe kids back in Australia are like this as well. They could be!

Anyway, so these kids at this school would more have likely seen the outfit on the internet, not read or understood what is was all about and just went on making them. A huge chance this is what happened.

What I don’t understand, and I asked my old students in class once about them learning about the World Wars, and they said that it was in their social studies book but they didn’t learn as the teacher skipped it. And I would believe this as the teacher would have to research and do some work then.

I agree that it is a disgrace seeing the students’ parade in the uniforms, but it comes back to the educators and how they can to an age where they should have been taught a little about the atrocities of World War 2.

Thai history is taught by what students need to hear and what teachers or the Thai government want them to learn. I remember talking to another foreign teacher as I was doing some classes on His Majesty Bhumibol Adulyadej, I had included the car accident that caused him to lose sight in his eye. I was checking that it wasn’t going to get me in hot water or a charge of that overzealous “Lese Majeste” law.

So I and another teacher were chatting when a Thai teacher said, “No! He didn’t lose his eye like that.” She went into a story and I cannot even remember what it was as I was a little gobsmacked and when we told her that he actually lost it in a car accident abroad, you could still see she couldn’t quite believe it.

I don’t expect Thai high school kids to know about Captain James Cook, Winston Churchill or Benjamin Franklin, But you think they would be briefed on the great wars that shaped the world in ways.

I once had a list of countries that were colonies of British Empire. And none of the students or teachers knew that a majority of America was a British colony. And many didn’t know Burma was as well.

I think back to when I was their age. Maybe I didn’t know all of this then but I had a good knowledge of things that shaped the world and the geography of the world.

Maybe I am being a little harsh, in saying Thais are ignorant to the outside world, but again to me I see it as this as I believe that so many of the population are never going to travel outside Thailand’s borders.

Anyway, just my ranting and views. I agree with the uproar it has caused but do believe it was through utter lack of knowledge, I am sure that the kids did not do it to incite hatred or show support for the Nazi regime and the slaughter of the Jews and loss of soldiers lives from the wars.

I just hope now, after the 2007 and now 2011 episodes that it may not happen again. Hopefully there might be a small awareness campaign. Thailand’s useless Ministry of Education can actually do something useful and insist that year 11 and 12 students be taught the importance of say World War 1 and 2, but again I am sure they have much more pressing matters, like getting the “one PC tablet” for every school child up and running.

Don’t even get me started on this atrocious idea from The Pheu Thai Party and Thaksin’s puppet sister. If I start I will be enemy number one of the red shirts, but again I really don’t care.

Brunty

Ubon Ratchathani Floods 2011 Thailand.

I went for a ride to see how the floods were here in Ubon Ratchathani. Last weekend I went out and took a couple of pictures but this week I wanted to speak to some people.

This is a tent city. Small tents have turned into peoples’ homes along the edges of roads that snake their way close to the river. There are mobile toilets and also showers set up for all the people to share.

This is Nim and her family. Nim is the lady in the blue t-shirt second from right. They have been in the tent for nearly a month and up to ten people sleep here. Most years their house near the river will flood but only the bottom floor of their two storey home. This year it is completely under, the first time in many years she said.

They said the tents keep them dry most of the time, but they still get wet in the very heavy rain and it gets very hot inside. They have a fan and some roll out beds. I would say they are only around 8ft by 6ft at the most.


These houses I would say are about 200mtrs or a little further from Ubon’s river, The Moon (The Mun).

There are boats here to transport people back and forward. Some are still living in their houses on the second floors.

It is the same picture in another area. Tents are set up and some families are living in these small shelters.

Again I was met with smiling and happy faces. Plenty of people wanted to say, “hello” and have a chat. This is Ko who is only 18 and his partner. They have been in their shelter close to a month. They said they were fine and it wasn’t as bad as others were worse off than them. People had died in other parts of Thailand and lost their houses and land washed away. He is a young father and is working, so most days he is away from the tent but his partner stays with their child.

The boats are lined up for people to go back and forward to their homes. Most will sleep on the second levels of their homes at night but through the day come out for food and to watch TV as most have no power.

These men were all enjoying Muay Thai boxing on TV. Some were very merry and I had to happily decline the offer of having a drink of Thailand’s finest rice whiskey or Low Kaow. I escaped with the excuse of I had to ride my motorbike and couldn’t be drunk. Thankfully it worked.

I spoke to the guy on the right of the picture with one hand up. His name was Chitiya and he said 168 houses were flooded in the area affecting about 380 people. Most are living upstairs until the floods recede.

He said this was the worst flood in around 10 years, but the one about ten years ago was a lot worse. I found out how much worse later on.

The main road heading into Ubon City has tents lined all the way along it.


This lady and her daughter were being taken back to their house.



Everywhere I went kids were playing in the water, making their own fun. I am an old worry wart. The water was dirty in many places, littered with rubbish but what I worried about the most is the sewerage. There are no sewer mains but everyone has septic tanks. Maybe I just worry too much.

The temple and it’s large what are like an urn as they hold the ashes and bones of deceased are under water.


More houses under water.

This is down past Ubon Ratchathani’s prison. It is off Soi 9 and right near Wat Kut Kool วัดกุดคูณ. The man in the boat is called Bom.

Bom was telling me that 10 years ago, the last time in the big flood he couldn’t even stay in his house on the second floor. He pointed on the temple wall to a spot about a foot under the top and said that is where the water was back then.


Another family made their way to dry land and I had been wondering about the tyres in the water. I found out that they stop the longtail boats. And the older lady's face was priceless as the boat come to a sudden stop.


This is the golf driving range just down from Benchama School, if you know Ubon then you will know where I mean.

This is the road that hooks onto what I call the ring road or highway 231, it comes out at Ubon University.

Some rode in and quickly turned around when they found it a little too deep.



While others just didn’t seem to care for their motorbikes and pushed through.

They were just about to start pumping the water out from the flooded road, it is sand bagged but obviously is leaking in places.

People just went on with their daily life, here and mother and daughter strolled on by, off along the flooded road.

I had walked back to my motorbike and heard the sound of a siren and sure enough an ambulance was making its way through and thankfully did without any problems.

In Ubon there are plenty of people that have been affected by the floods. But what amazed me was their resilience and how generous they were.

I was offered food and drink, not only alcohol but water and soft drink by so many people. Most seemed happy and not too worried about not being able to return home for a bit longer yet.

There have been more warnings in the paper today of heavy rain and flash flooding for the north east of Thailand. Today was a beautiful day, cloudy but warm. I do hope they are wrong and the rain stays away so all the tent people like Nim and her family can move back into their homes.

I met some really nice people today and look forward to returning in a week or two and checking on their progress.

Brunty

There Looks Like Rain in Them Clouds.

I was heading home on my motorbike this afternoon looking directly toward an evil looking sky. I was thinking I was going to get absolutely drenched and it had just started to spit a little rain.

I was not far from home and hoped for a clear run and it was pretty good, I made it home to the sound of thunder as sheet lightning shot through the sky.

The wind came up and the rain started, for about a minute and then back to a light drizzle. It was a real fizzer.

I was expecting a Noah’s Ark downpour; just have to wait for another time.

Brunty

Engrish (English) on Thai Products, Thailand.

I have been going to write this blog for a few days now, but each time something happens and I end up writing about something else. Like my mate and his delusional hopes of making an AFL grand final and rabid dogs trying to attack me.

But finally some spare time, and this is about Thai products that have English translations on them.

The big international companies are no worries; they often have multiple languages on their products. It is the locally made products that I often get a good chuckle out of. At times I have absolutely no idea what they are trying to say as the English is so bad.

Above is a bottle of “Milk Vitamin” from a Thai company that I blurred the name out. Thai people are very vain and the amount of “defamation” cases I have read about in papers is laughable. Thai Hi So’s suing some other tosser because they called them a pea brain or something along those lines. So I am just being careful.

Thai beauty products are in a surplus, never have I seen a country that offers locally made miracles and cures for all sorts of things, from acne to enlarging your breasts. These are all curable by some sort of cream in Thailand.

The amount of Dr’s, which grace the product label for the miracle cream, gives me a chuckle. I cannot remember a Dr, back home claiming a product cured some ailment. I am sure there were but I never noticed.

Anyway, Noot’s older sister has been visiting for a week and her usual arsenal of products have been gracing the bathroom. Each trip the product changes to a new brand, the newest fad I am sure.

I would not lie; Noot’s sister would spend somewhere close to $10,000 baht per month just on product care, not including all the hairdressing appointments and so on. She just had rhinoplasty done. When they see me giggling at products they will often enquire to what I am laughing at.

Usually the price of the products. You can get cheap products in Thailand, but if you are ever at border crossing and even bus stations you might notice the posters warning of the dangers of buying beauty creams. Pictures accompany of women’s faces that are permanently scarred for life.

Anyway, the “Milk Vitamins” was 790 baht a bottle, around $24 Australian dollars. That is an outlay for most Thais, trust me. But when you look closely at the instructions, this is where it makes you laugh.



Here is a bottle of “Mineral water for showers” and also 790 baht.

Pure mineral water nourishing with vitamins for skincare. Making your skin brighten, softness, with herbal smell made you feel fresh relaxing and protected your skin from inflame, pimple, heat and reducing from body odore (odour).

And the directions to use it:

Using in shower, rinse the mineral water on synthetic fiber, with pure water, scrub its until the bubble.

I am not picking on this company as they are a dime in the dozen in Thailand. What I cannot understand is how they let such poor English onto their products.

Even if these companies had people with degrees, masters or even doctorates in English, this means shit. I met an older lady who has a doctorate in English, but she could not even have the most basic of conversation. I also have met many with degrees in English, some can hold a basic conversation but that is the limit of it.

I cannot understand how these companies don’t outsource to a native foreign speaker to check their product information. I am sure many of the company owners must have foreign friends, most are well off Thais and surely meet foreigners. How they don’t just ask, “Hey John, can you check the English for our product please?”

I think it is Thailand’s stupid “face” crap. The loss of face, asking for help. If they ask for help it means they are not competent or something along those lines. I think this has to be it.

They would probably be better off grabbing a bar girl with 10 years experience, she would have a better command of English then most scholars and graduates. Heck, head down to Nana or Patpong and buy a foreigner a beer and have the English checked.

But if this happens I won’t have anything to giggle at when I am having shower.

Brunty

My Delusional Mate.

This is what Aussie mates are for. Last week I cheekily wrote about my team Collingwood playing my mate’s team, West Coast in a final in the Australian Football League.

Of course The Might Magpies (my team) won but he was lucky as his team had another chance this weekend. Last night they played Carlton and I sent my mate a little email to gee him up a bit. I received this comment and have to share. His comments are in green. In black is what I had sent to him.

For anyone who bothered to read this stupid post (see above link and his reply here) I thought I should provide an update.

You may have noticed that Brunty, the football expert said this last week.

"The sad part here is that his team will fight another day but will not make past next week, even though history shows his team should win I am confident this will not be the case. I think next week will be the end of their football year."

Well, the game he was waffling on about was today (Yesterday Saturday). At the beginning of the game he sent me this email:

"You will be in tears in just over a few hours from now :) There is always the next decade. You guys over achieved anyway."

The team he wanted to win got off to a good start kicking three straight goals in the first 5 or so minutes so he sent another email which said this:

The Subject heading was 'Bang bang' the message was

"Yeah let’s see more of them, not even a minute gone. You guys were $1.38 hahaha"

Now who do you think won? Of course, it was my team, The Mighty West Coast Wedgies.

I hope you pick horses better then you do footy teams!

Yes, it is true. I sent him the email telling him his team was going to lose and that he would be in tears.

The funny thing was this; until there was 5 minutes left in the game I received no correspondence. Then my mate sent this.

“See you in two weeks at the G.” (The “G” is the home of football, The MCG or Melbourne Cricket Ground.)

Now there was still 5 minutes to go in the game and his team had a 15 point lead.

I sent a reply, “15 in 5 minutes you are kidding.” Meaning this was nothing and he was counting his chickens a little early.

Then after the game finished, I received this, “Never any doubt.”

I replied again, “U guys will be dead next week. Geelong will tear you guys a new rectum :)” This is the team they are playing next week.

He replied with, “Sure sure. Can u get grand final tickets for us? Will meet u there.” Now this would be fine for me as Collingwood will be there, but his team is guaranteed not to be, history shows this.

I then sent this, “I bet you have skid marks, check!” This was referring to his team falling over the line by two points. In those 5 minutes 13 points were erased and I was praying (first time ever) that his team lost.

To which he replied, “Nah, never in doubt. Had it in the bag from the first minute of the first 1/4. :)-“

Obviously this is the ranting of a delusional man. He would have been shitting himself watching Carlton storm home and nearly snatch the win. But it is history now.

Carlton had to travel all the way to the Wild West, face The Wedgies on their home turf and all their two-headed supporters. Of the 43,000 strong crowd, only 1,000 were Carlton supporters. The umpires on the night were all over the place. Early on free kicks were being given away everywhere, then after halftime, the whistles were put away and many free kicks went begging.

But no matter what, his team won. I was wrong. But I do know this week they will not be $1.38, they will be lucky to be under $10. Geelong will be able to turn off the burner at half time as they will be so far in front. I would be confident in taking or giving a 39 point handicap. But knowing Geelong will cruise to the line to preserve themselves for the following week in the Grand Final against Collingwood the margin may be under that. I am hoping for a record losing margin in a final.

Anyway, just some friendly banter and ribbing between two Aussies.

I know today being Sunday. He would have been at church on bended knee, head bowed and hands clasped together in front of his chest. He would have been praying for a miracle to happen next weekend, for sure.

But as the famous old saying by a great Australian goes. “Well may we say "God save the Queen", because nothing will save The West Coast Wedgies!”

Brunty

A Brain Snap, Isaan Thailand.

The crazy farang struck again. In Thailand I can put with a lot of things and just put it down to TIT (This is Thailand) but one thing that fuc#s me off beyond anything, are dogs that chase people or motorbikes. Thankfully near my house this doesn’t happen, well I thought.

Today Ben is having her motorbike serviced just around the corner at our local mechanic, maybe 200mtrs from our house. She asked me to drop her at her friend’s room while she waited. Her room is one street across from the mechanics and maybe 300mtrs from my home.

I never go down this street; it is full of student dormitories. So I dropped Ben at the dormitory block and then headed off. About two dormitory buildings down from where I had dropped Ben, I caught from the corner of my eye something coming out.

It was a big dog and it was going to chase me. It did scare the crap out of me at first. I never run from dogs. I always stop and confront them. I hit my brakes and then another two dogs came out, one small and a medium sized mutt, all barking. I got off my bike and started at them and then removed my shoe and said, “Lets rumble.”

The dogs took off with me after them. Well in this dormitory building there were no joke at least 8 dogs, so I retreated and the brave dogs followed. I got onto my bike and headed towards home, the bigger dog again wanted to chase me, so I stopped and it stopped. Then an old lady came out and called the dogs but they didn’t seem to listen.

I took off and arrived at home, opened my door and grabbed my aluminum baseball bat. I then headed back to the dormitory building and the gate was still wide open and went charging in with baseball bat in hand.

Well a couple of the dogs charged out from behind some pot plants and I was wide eyed with a big smile and screamed, “come on you cu#ts” like a madman. Well the dogs stopped dead and I charged at them. I was going to beat the living fu#k out of the big dog. If I could have got to it before it ran off like a cowardly piece of shit, I would have smashed its head in.

The old lady came running out from a small unit, she was “waiing” me, the way Thai people greet and also apologize to people. She must have thought what the hell was going on with an enraged foreigner screaming at some dogs with a baseball bat in their hand.

An old guy then emerged from the unit and also some girls from some of the rooms, they must have all been thinking, “what the fuc#!”

The old guy said to me, “Jai yen yen," this means have a cool heart and I replied that I will kill the dogs if they ever chase me again. Both of them were saying, “sorry.” Before I left I again told them that I will kill their dogs if one of them ever chases me again and added Jing Jing (true and that I was crazy.)

Well the faces on the girls looking on where wide eyed. I walked off and a few of the dogs again started to show their balls and move forward as if wanting to dance. So I thought, “let’s dance” and took a few quick steps after them and they ran off. The guy was trying to usher me off the property.

I got on my bike, and across and next to the building people were out the front looking on, I gave them a big smile as I headed off and they must have been thinking, “He is bonkers.”

I arrived home and was fired up and thought I would blog on it. Express my mind. I was home maybe 5 minutes and Ben turned up. She said, “You are crazy! You kill dog!” I said that I will kill the dogs, and she knows I will.

She said her friend came to her friend’s room and told them, they apparently know of me because of Ben, they all study at university together. The girl must have gone to tell the news of the mad foreigner.

I have no qualms about killing an animal, especially animals like this. I would actually like to beat the living shit out of their owners for being imbeciles, but they are old.

I have seen people chased by dogs many times, and the people where the dogs come from they do nothing. They stand at their gate calling the dog and when it returns do nothing, don’t give it a flogging. If my dog chased a bike, a person I would punish it, give it a flogging. But it won’t as it is trained. It knows it is wrong to chase bikes.

If I had a dog that chased a kid, I would kill it. No chances. I don’t blame the animals. It is the fools that own the animals. I wish I could euthanize them; I would love to be able to do this. They have failed the animals by not training them in what is right and wrong behavior.

So maybe I am a little crazy, the other week in peak hour traffic, a van cut off about four of us on motorbikes, right near Sunee Hotel here in Ubon Ratchathani. He just swerved out into the right hand lane where we were. I tooted my horn but was ignored.

I was back a bit but a girl in front of me had to hit her brakes hard. Well I saw red. It was peak hour traffic, I got beside the passenger side window and gave him a mouthful. I couldn’t see inside as the window was tinted. Suddenly the window came down and a young guy smiling at me gave me the middle finger.

Well I snapped. So I rode next to the van until the traffic stopped at Nong Bua lights. Traffic all around I reached for the passenger door and opened it, it wasn’t locked. All of a sudden the smiling little piece of shit didn’t have a grin. I put my stand down and hopped off my bike and told him to get out, I was speaking in Thai and screaming at him to get out. He could go nowhere as the traffic was stopped for the red light.

He said in Thai, I don’t understand you and I replied and asked him “if he was stupid.” I called him a piece of shit and told him to be very careful in Thai. I left his door wide open and rode off. Again people were looking on probably thinking I was mad.

I know and have warned people about being careful going off in public, or doing road rage as people get killed for it. People have been shot and killed for tooting horns, yelling, flipping the finger. I know this. But sometimes I cannot help it. If the person who does something wrong, gives an apology, a sorry wave to acknowledge they were wrong and an idiot, fine. Take the abuse you deserve and get on with it.

I have started to cool down, a little. But I am still pissed off. Was I stupid what I done. Yes! But sometimes you cannot help buy loose it and flip.

Brunty

A Thai's Thought on Education in Thailand and Tea Money.

I was going to blog on something else tonight but after reading an excellent column written in The Bangkok Post by Sanitsuda Ekachai, an assistant editor there.

It is another article where a Thai person points out just one of the many things wrong with Thailand’s education system. Thais have written about it for so long but it never gets fixed and below is one of the things that disgusts me.

The article below is in its entirety and the link to the paper is here at, Education Ministry is the problem! I will print in the full form as often the links go dead from this paper, I don’t know why.

When my young co-worker was trying to enrol her child into a prestigious school, my first question to her was: "How much did you tell them you would pay?"

The figure was in the mid five-figures range. An exorbitant amount of money for her, but a necessary investment for her child's education and future, she said.

"I'm worried," she added, sighing. "I heard other parents would pay up to six and seven figures. I wouldn't have a chance."

Money is not the only channel to get a seat in the best schools, however. Connections count. Like other parents, she frantically started finding people who knew the school administrator who could help.

This is the stressful game all parents must play if they want to enroll their children into famous schools for access to academic excellence and work success.

Since "tea money" for school admissions is illegal, many schools in need of financial support to train teachers and improve school facilities have devised a system to avoid being targeted for misconduct, as well as to maintain quality control and the school's allure.
The system requires parents to overcome many hurdles.

First is the tough screening exam to ensure that the school still gets the cream of the crop to maintain brand reputation. Fierce competition then starts very early, forcing the kids to attend tutorial schools from kindergarten onwards.

But having good scores is not enough. Many schools require the parents of prospective students to be actively involved in the parent-and-teacher associations for a number of years, to heighten their children's chances of school admission.

Tea money is also no longer called tea money. It is pledged donations for school development.
When there are much more qualified students and engaged parents than available school seats, the pledged donations can make or break the parents' dream. Hence the fierce donation bidding game.

Education Minister Woravut Au-apinyakul is right when he says the law has failed to stem the "pae jia" or school admission tea money, and pushing it underground only fosters corruption.

But he is totally wrong to believe his plan to legalise school admission tea money is the solution.

As education minister from a political party that rode to election victory on the disparity ticket, Mr Worawut should know better than anybody else what education problems plague our country.

Amid the serious education gap, the Education Ministry's policy that equates rote-learning to academic excellence has enabled well-off kids who can afford expensive tutorials to get ahead, leaving the poor further behind.

Amid the rising popular frustrations against social injustice, the current education system still endorses the hierarchical social structure that perpetuates disdain for the poor and exploitation of the weak.

To defuse ethnic tensions, the country needs to embrace cultural pluralism and tolerance. Yet the education system continues to contaminate young minds with ethnic prejudice and ultra-nationalism.

Against the ever-louder cry for decentralisation, the education authorities still fiercely hold on to central power that prevents local communities from managing the education of their children.

The "pae jia" or tea money system is the byproduct of disparity and the education authorities' not understanding the value of learning. This problem will not end with top-down orders from the minister. Neither will it end when school decision-making is being monopolised by school directors.

Each community is different. With active participation in school management from parents and communities, they can choose their own different methods to manage the "pae jia" money.

Participatory education reform is the key answer. But this is a pipe dream when the centralised Education Ministry refuses to budge.

What we need is not the "opening up" of the tea money system as proposed by Mr Woravut. We need the "opening up" of the Education Ministry. The "pae jia" is not the problem. The Education Ministry is.

Tea money is illegal, but all schools do it as a donation now, Assumption College, my old school has this on the application form when you apply. You write a figure and then wait to see which class your child gets into. The new school I am at now also does it as well.

And it is “tea money” as simple as that. The money goes where, and how it is spent I shudder to think. An English programme at a school that is meant to be the best for secondary education here in Ubon Ratchathani. The school is not, it is the same fuc#ed up system like every other school and the teacher change over rate is high, last year they sacked the entire foreign teacher force. I met one of them and not a word of a lie, he told us he was a god, he could make it rain, snow and so many other things, and he was teaching there. He was an utter fruit cake, he had so many screws loose but he was teaching there.

I know a parent that paid a six figure amount to get his boy into the programme, I told him he was mad, absolutely mad. The money to this guy isn’t a problem but it secured his boy a spot, his son is useless at English, and that is being polite. He asked me to tutor him about 4 years ago, to prepare him for the entrance exam, his son could hardly read, could not pronounce basic words, no idea about basic grammar as so forth. A nice kid but spoilt and had no chance in hell of passing the exam on merit.

I was paid a stupid amount for an hour of tutoring, two hours each weekend, to try and raise his level of English to a passable standard. After a month I told my friend (a golf buddy) it was a waste of time and money. I told him the truth but we pushed on for the last three months and the poor kid still could not get his head around the basics of “verb to be”, subject / object pronouns and so on, to the hardest part on the entrance test being, describing a picture in detail.

Anyway, a few weeks after the test I played golf with the guy and he told me his boy was in the programme and I was miffed but when he told me how, I understood!

Where Sanitsuda says,

“First is the tough screening exam to ensure that the school still gets the cream of the crop to maintain brand reputation.”

I have not seen this, my old school was private and we tried our hardest to have entrance exams, the reason being the difference in students’ abilities in classes. I am not talking about young learners but secondary students.

Each year we would arrive back for a new year and you would be met by the old, straight and expressionless faces, but also scared to the bone new ones. I remember one student, a boy in year 10, so around 16 years old. After starting the first class of the year and students started their activity, it was time to mingle.

So I made my way around, small chat with some old students and then I arrived at the new fellow. Some basic questions, “What is your nickname? Where do you come from? Where did you study before? How many fingers am I holding up?”

One of my old students said, “He cannot speak English!” I of course enquired to why and it came out that he had never studied with a foreigner before and not really learnt English before at his old school.

So I arranged for him to be brought to my office at lunchtime and I gave him a basic test. I gave him the test I gave to all my primary 1 students (6 and 7 year olds) when we started each year.

I had laminated sheets with some basic words printed on them. Things like, cat, dog, boy, girl, one, two, the, it and so on. He could not read one word, not one.

I grabbed the other test I gave the primary one students, the alphabet. A sheet of laminated paper with the alphabet mixed up. So I started pointing to letters and he got two letters correct, that was it. I was pissed off, not at him, it wasn’t his fault. I was pissed at the administration. The administration who accepts these kids and cheat them out of an education. That is what they are doing! They are cheating the students as these kids have absolutely no hope in an English programme studying about perfect tenses, passive voices, adjectives order, reading and comprehension and the list goes on.

And we had a basic entrance test, a primary three or four test that these students had to do, but pass or fail they were accepted as they paid their school fees, paid their “tea money” and peoples' pockets were padded and they were happy.

Sanitsuda said,

“Amid the serious education gap, the Education Ministry's policy that equates rote-learning to academic excellence has enabled well-off kids who can afford expensive tutorials to get ahead, leaving the poor further behind.”

Again so true, rote learning saturates the Thai education system; I have seen it day in and out. I have never come across people who are meant to be educators that are plain selfish. I do not think I have ever met a Thai teacher that I can truthfully say gives 100% in their class to make it a student centred learning environment.

This is pure gold, Sanitsuda said,

“To defuse ethnic tensions, the country needs to embrace cultural pluralism and tolerance. Yet the education system continues to contaminate young minds with ethnic prejudice and ultra-nationalism.”

I like this,

“Neither will it end when school decision-making is being monopolised by school directors.”

School directors (principal) are seen as gods here. The masses bow and grovel to them. Thai principals are nothing of principals I remember from home, back home principals were so active with the running of the schools, most rolled up sleeves are got the arms dirty, kept all the parts well greased.

My old school, I never saw my first director (4 years he was there) once walk into my classroom, to say “hello” or just check that I wasn’t asleep, throwing kids out windows, belting the shit of students with small cane sticks or rulers, not once in 4 years. I think he walked past my classroom a few times but that was it.

I am horrified at the amount of classes that go unattended. Every day I have to endure students from other classes loitering outside the classroom I am teaching, some even enter to see what I am teaching, others run up and down the corridor and when I enquire to what they are doing, the reply is usually always, “The teacher didn’t come.”

Teachers are often in meetings, away at competitions, and the best are the ones that go the class ten minutes late, give some work and then leave, back to their office thinking that twelve or thirteen old kids will sit down and complete their work quietly.

I have been critical of the Ministry of Education (MOE) many times here. I have written my thoughts plenty of times and often scathing. I have at times emailaed them; I have written around 7 emails over the last 6 years and never had a reply.

I had people warn me about doing this, they said, “you could be refused a teaching licence, they won’t allow you to teach, you will be kicked out of the country,” and so on.

I don’t give two hoots if they refused a licence, didn’t let me teach. Go for it. People should be able to be critical of a government department that continues to fail in its duties as The MOE does.

I just wish they would retrench the entire MOE department and the majority of directors of schools across Thailand and replace them with people who are dedicated to their job, live and breathe it, want to improve the system for the better of the children.

I personally believe now that 90% of these people do not have the best interests of students in their thoughts. The students should come first, above all else in my book, but they are sadly so far down the rung on the ladder.

Thailand’s education system is in a shambles, it is the complete mess that is written about it, and the terribly low scores that are collated each year after national tests are true, this is because the students’ level of competence for their age for the majority is poor.

I do hope that people, like the above columnist continue to write about the education system and its failings as they have done for years, you hope that one day there has to be one person at a high level that takes a step to start to change things for the better.

I can only hope this for the children of Thailand.

Brunty

Just Letting The Parents Know, I am Looking After Myself!

This is just to show mum and dad that I am looking after myself.

Spicy Beef Stew, I add a curry paste a lady makes from the market to the meat and it gives it some real kick.

Everything ready to go, I remember when I used to cook and not be prepared and would be stir frying something and the recipe would say, “add two teaspoons of salt” and I would just go, “Bugger that” and leave it out. Now I have everything ready to go and I just have to throw everything in.

This was very spicy, but bloody good (I thought so). The girls prefer the stew I make with pineapple. I have been told I have to make that this week.

I often make salads as they are so bloody easy to knock up! Noot’s younger sister Benjawan asked me the other night, “Jay, when you going to make a salad?”

“I don’t know, why?” I replied. “You make good salad.”

I did scratch my head and then said, “You could make, it is very easy.” But Ben replied, “No, the sauce (dressing) you make is delicious.”

Now sometimes I do make dressing from scratch but also buy some and then tweak them a bit. I have shown Ben the recipes for the different sauces but I think it must be daunting being in English.


Spaghetti bolognese is another dish the girls like but most of all is my little princess Nong Ja. Ja loves spaghetti and I actually knocked this up an hour after I had had my toenail ripped off. I don’t think the local had completely worn off but a little later on it ached a bit.

My parents have just returned to Victoria after spending a few months up north, in sunny Queensland. Each year they escape Melbourne’s cold winter and end up near Bowen. There they play golf whenever they like as the course is a minutes’ walk away.

Lawn bowls is another activity they have also taken to in recent years and really enjoy rolling up and having a bowl. The beach is also just a couple of minutes walk, mother can wonder up and down and dad can go fishing off the beach. Apparently this year it was very windy, much more than any other year, so not a lot of fishing was done.

They are now back home for spring, Melbourne is beautiful in spring. My brother’s dog, who adores mum and dad, as they completely spoil her. Each day my brother will drop her off with the parents on the way to work; there she has the run of the house.

Sleeps where she likes, apparently she even thinks she owns the bed at times when she stays over, some evenings my brother drops in to pick her up but she hides and doesn’t want to go. She sleeps in the bedroom and more than likely thinks she is a human and not a dog.

They will take her up to the Laanecoorie reservoir or Lake. They have a permanent caravan there and spend many weekends away there. Other mates have vans there and it is only a 2 hr drive from the city. You can water-ski and fish there or just sit around a fire and have plenty of cold beers while chatting to mates.

Also the grandkids will have missed them, well one for sure. He had already asked mum to go down and pick him up. He doesn’t get spoilt, of course not.

I thankfully have three weeks holiday on the horizon. And I can tell you I need a holiday after working so hard for the past 20 weeks.

Brunty

My Mates Right of Reply.

My mate has dropped by and offered his thoughts on my little blog between our two teams being Collingwood and West Coast in the Australian Football league.

His comments are in green and following are my replies.

Boy you must have been having kittens during that game mate!

I don’t have cats, I hate cats so no idea what he is on about!

You got a real good scare and if it wasn't for missing two sitters with 10 minutes to go we would have upset The Pies!

The funny thing is Collingwood also missed many opportunities during the game and it a the team of champions that can stand the pressure in the big games and pull through, some are just not made for that.

Considering that the betting was at $1.20 for your team and $5 for my team then you should have been confident as you were the raging favourites. Just imagine the fall out if we had beaten you across the line.

Yes, my team was the short priced favourites but bookmakers do this to make the uneducated mob in believing the handicap odds on offer are worth taking and then cry when the team doesn’t run away and win by a mile. There would have been no fallout as we Collingwood supporters have faith in our team and you cannot always be at your best every game and we understand that some days are just not going to go our way. But we know that we will prevail many times.

As for a tattoo? Only people with short memories need them. I can remember all the premierships the Eagles have won in my life time. 1992, 1994 and 2006. How many have the pies won in your lifetime? Remembering of course that you are almost 10 years older then me. What's that you say? Only 1990 and 2010? Just two yet you still need to ink them onto your skin so you can remember!!

Tattoos are for short memories. No, it is to show loyalty to a team, people jump on and off bandwagons but for some we are dedicated through good and bad times. The West Coast had so many concessions and extra money when they joined the AFL that of course they had to be successful. You only succeeded when a Victorian took over as coach. I also have tattoos of Peter Daicos, Nathan Buckley, Darren Millane, "Jock" McHale, Bob Rose and more. The jibe of being ten years older, I will not bite at as I still have all my hair.

Collingwood has been the minor premiers 19 times and this is a record, won the premiership 15 times and been the runner up 25 times sadly but this means we have been in the mix many times. I do wish we had won more premierships during my lifetime but I have been blessed in watching them play many finals, something many others don’t get the chance to do.

Still, we live to fight another day and I can think of nothing better than to see you mob on Grand Final day.

The sad part here is that his team will fight another day but will not make past next week, even though history shows his team should win I am confident this will not be the case. I think next week will be the end of their football year.

Hope you are having a good day mate, did you watch the Wallabies kick some Italian butt? Please make sure you remind Franco of the score next time you see him.

Yes, I did watch the Wallibies (Australian Rugby Union Team) kick the Italians’ backsides, but the first half was tight even though we had all of the ball. I will let Franco know but I do believe I already know his answer and would not be able to print it here.

Brunty

My Niece Nong Ja, Isaan Thailand.

This is my little princess and she is fast asleep. She complained yesterday after returning from school (daycare) that she had a tummy ache. There has been no temperature but the last two days complains of a tummy ache and a headache.

She hasn’t eaten much these last two days but is keeping her fluids up, has been sick a few times and a little clingy at times. There has been a terrible flu going through Ubon, adults and kids struck down and with some ending up in hospital. Ja’s class only had 7 or 8 students for a few days as the rest had fallen ill.

Ja has so many stuffed toys, they get accumulated and then given away and accumulated again. But these ones stay as they are her own little family. Ja is holding herself here.

This is her mum Joom.

This is her dad Jack.

This is her Auntie Miss Noot.

And this is me, Jay. I used to be a bear. I don’t know if this is worse or better being a frog.

She will often come into the bedroom telling me that one of the dolls is crying or sick and then we have to have a little chat and make them better. She gets medicine and food for them if they are hungry. It is absolutely priceless and love it.

Ja loves Power Rangers, Ben 10, Mr. Bean, Looney Tunes and so on. But her Rangers outfits are special and when we first bought her a matching outfit, we couldn’t get it off and bought another so we could alternate and wash them. Now her dad jack has bought her a few Ben Ten 10 shirts and she was very happy to model the new addition although not so well.

The girls have gone out tonight, so Ja and myself have been alone. Ja’s mum has arrived back in Ubon for a month’s holiday so she is here as well. Tonight Ja has been so quiet, a few times tears and complaints of a head or tummy ache. She has had some medicine and spent most the day sleeping.

I hope tomorrow she will be back to her normal little self soon and driving me completely crazy again.

Brunty

Actually just now she woke up and crying and has a bit of a temperature, so maybe it is the flu. She is not a happy camper as Noot isn’t here.