Wednesday, January 31, 2007
Australian funding for Beijing Olympics
Business the Thai way
For many people, the big decision to move to Thailand is not made with a realistic expectation of what the future will bring. For my part, I thought that every day would be filled with sunny haze, polite students and ever smiling Thai colleagues with whom I would work in perfect harmony. Of course, this was not to be. I jumped a few hoops and sailed a few learning curves on my way to peaceful co-operation with my colleagues. Let me share a few of those experiences accompanied by a few other pointers.
One thing that's important to bear in mind from the offset is that , as a developing country, there is more than one mainstream psyche to the Thai business. To generalise greatly, I will split the Thai system of thought into two sections. The first is the 'old school' system. These include government institutions such as state schools, state banks, the police force and so on. These institutions are ubiquitous. The second is the commercial sector. This could be said to include the commercial banks (of course) , television and computer companies, private schools and more. Most of the following comments will apply to Thai culture which is prevalent in both sectors but commercial institutions can be more aware and understanding of foreign culture which can be helpful in resolving misunderstandings and tribulations.
Respect is crucial. That might sound glaringly obvious but it's also important to appreciate that methods of showing respect can be different in Thailand. The "Wai" is a famous cultural embelem, but many farangs don't understand that there are different kinds of wai. The greater the rank of the person you wai, the lower the head should bow. Thais are generally forgiving about westerners' wais and will appreciate the effort and the sentiment even if the wai itself is technically incorrect.
Wais should be offered to anyone older than you and anybody ranked above you at work. It's crucial to do this on a first meeting and probably thereafter until it becomes obvious that it's not necessary (I still wai my parents in law every time I see them). As a rule, children who wai you should not be waid back. A foreigner once said to me: "I always wai them back, why should I belittle them?". What she didn't understand was that returning a wai to a young child is so unusual that it runs the risk of embarrassing that child or making them uncomfortable. As a rule of the thumb, it's best to "go with the flow" when waing others rather than designing your own rules.
Other forms of respect involve use of language. It's important to use "khrap" for males and "ka" for women at the end of sentences, especially at the beginning of a conversation. There are other polite markers and terms to use. Thais are big on bestowing titles on people; "doctor" "teacher" "captain" and so on are often used in place of names.
Saving face:
Again it's a well known rule that Asians place value on the concept of keeping face. Whilst being a widely appreciated concept, it can sometimes manifest itself in ways that we foreigners can find hard to recognise and as such, can become angered over. As one example of this, a fellow teacher once arrived at work to be told she was late for her lesson. She replied that she wasn't late, her first lesson started in one hour. It turned out that she had been allocated an extra period by a senior teacher ("ajarn yai") but the senior teacher had forgotten to inform the girl. The girl immediately shouted across the room "I wasn't told about the lesson" The senior teacher replied "OK You have time, you can go now" The girl again complained that she wasn't told about it, and the teacher repeated her statement before walking out of the room.
In the eyes of the foreign teacher, she was not receiving an apology for a mistake that had placed her in hot water. What she didn't realise was that by discussing the senior teacher's error in the presence of others, she was causing her to lose face. Such a problem would have been far better to discuss in private.
This is perhaps the area with the most confusion, dealing with mistakes. Thais will occasionally allow a document, a public announcement or almost anything else to go out with errors or mistakes if they believe that such corrections would cause a loss of face to someone. Westerners often snigger or criticise such actions, often for the purpose of boosting their own fragile ego that they can see mistakes that other's can't. This may occasionally be the case but often it's simply a matter of the locals saving face for somebody.
Confrontation, dealing with problems and complaints
If I'm being honest, this is the area where I've had the most trouble adapting, and still suffer the occasional flare up.
Thais dislike confrontation of any nature. This partly because it leads to the danger of losing face (see above) but also as it generally goes against their nature and makes them feel uncomfortable. I could offer numerous examples of this, but one springs to mind:
My house is the end of a beautiful, newly built village. As our house is the final house, a large area of farmland lies to the south of it. Across that farmland is a village for the farm workers. Last week, I noticed music blaring out from across the farm so loud that I could hear it like it was playing in my own living room. I ignored it for a long time. By the time the sun had set, I was feeling a little aggrieved at the non stop barrage of dance music and bass that was now so loud it was causing my house to shake (If it had been quality rock music like Korn, Nirvana or Guns N Roses it would have been OK!). At bedtime it was still going. My wife reacted in the customary Thai way, she simply pulled a pillow over her head and tried to ignore it. I did the same but the music was getting louder and had now been played for over seven hours. At midnight I looked out of my window and I could see other homeowners with their lights on looking out of windows trying to see where the music was coming from. At one-thirty am , with my baby son unable to sleep, my wife finally succumbed to my granddad like moaning and called the police. The music stopped within twenty minutes.
What was significant about this was that one person who decided that it would be great to hold his own disco marathon in the middle of two villages was causing discomfort for well over five hundred people. We were the only ones to complain. The others had all resorted to the Thai characteristic of simply trying to ignore it and showing the Buddhist traits of calmness and tolerance. The idea of confrontation was very hard for them to fathom.
Incidentally, I checked with my wife that it was not some village party or another cultural event as this would have made it easier for me to understand. Her reply was "No it's probably someone who has bought a new stereo and wants to show it to people".
So given this gentle nature of avoiding conundrums, how do the locals deal with problems or disagreements in the workplace? Well, often they don't. Part of the reason that some farangs get away with offensive or vulgar behavior in Thailand is due to the Thai tolerance (and also the fact that many Thais don't understand what is being said or done). However, that's not to say Thais don't have their own methods of dealing with trouble.
One system is to use an intermediary. Remember I mentioned before that age is a big factor of rank in Thailand. When faced with a problem between a young person and a senior, the custom is to use someone nearer to the young person's age to act as a 'go between' or a messenger of the problem. The "go between" will either state directly the message they are carrying or they will simply discuss and deal with the problem themselves.
There are many examples of this happening in any school. For example, a teacher who arrives late and is noticed by a senior teacher is likely to be spoken to by a younger teacher who is close to the ajarn yai.
Sackings and firings are rare events here. Anyone who is close to being "fired" for any reason is simply transferred. In prominent positions the term is "transferred to an inactive post" such as the army generals who were deemed to be close to Thaksin Shiniwat, for example. In lesser jobs the individual could simply be nudged to a position that is untenable. I recall last year one teacher was transferred to my school by another school in our chain. His previous workplace was close to his home while our school was very, very far for him. It quickly transpired that he had had clashes with the manager. Despite his length of stay in Thailand, he didn't seem to understand what was happening. He would complain that he had been told 'There's no work for you here' despite the fact that he had been doing the same job for five years and the school was short of teachers. I was tempted to point out to him what was happening but I figured it was better to keep out. Eventually, he seemed to get the message and found a different job.
Abuse
The Thais can be very subtle with their abuse i.e. talking to or about someone they don’t like. Foreigners, even those who speak Thai, can be caught out by these little ploys. I don’t know all the words or the tricks, partly because my Thai is poor anyway but partly because, once I stopped to think, I figured that I didn’t need to know. If someone wants to put one over on me by using subtle little changes of tone or ’sound alike’ words then good for them. I have better things to worry about. Speaking of subtle tricks….
Smiling
Ahhh, the famous Thai smile. It’s real. Young people in particular can dazzle with their beautiful and innocent smiles. Like anywhere else, well meaning people who cannot communicate with you in other ways will offe
r a smile and love to receive one back.
That’s the tourist promoted smile and it is everywhere (just like on the left here!). However, there are many other forms of smiling. Smiling to cover embarrassment, smiling to deliver bad news, smiling to convey a strong dislike.
“Strong dislike”? No that’s no an oxymoron, and it’s a fact that Thais have their own phrase for this. Its called “Kee maa” (dog crap) smile. This smile is formed by pulling the lips tightly together and almost dragging them across the face, the kind of face you’d make if you stepped in dog poo.
The last time I saw this smile was in my last day at my old school. A teacher that had a particular dislike for me (the same teacher that enjoyed hitting kids) saw me coming out of the school immediately after I had signed in. Unable to take any other action – we had already made eye contact – she gave me a nice, tight full faced “kee maa” smile. Maybe she thought she was being smart. I lost no sleep.
For my part, I don’t worry about the kee maa smiles or even let on that I know what they are. I just ignore them and return the genuine smiles. They make such a difference to my day.
Marriage and dowry
This is probably the area that causes the most problems. I was very lucky here, my wife came from a wealthy and very easy going family and I was never asked for a dowry (that's a little more personal than I usually get on here and I won't discuss my private life any further, I will talk generically). In Thailand, the concept of living is that the male will provide for his wife. It is a symbol of his love and commitment that he will provide and provide very well. What some westerners would perceive as greed or materialism, the Thai would recognise as a sign of showing love and care.
From my experience of other's problems, there seems to be two areas of confusion. The first is with the dowry and support for the wife's family. It's a sad fact that many marriages end or become stormy because the farang believes the spouse's family are being covetous or just asking too much. However, the fact is that when living in Thailand it's important to at least understand Thai customs, and Thai customs state that in marriage, the richer family should provide support for a poorer family. It just so happens that many foreign men marry a woman from a poorer family.
The second area of confusion is that there are greedy woman and families here. There are many, many good Thai men and woman but also like any country there are some greedy ones who will try and screw every last penny out of the foreigner.
I guess it's down to each individual to decide if their spouse is honest and wants their partner to simply follow culture, or if they are being plain greedy. Considering the environment where you met is one consideration that is often overlooked. It's not something I have extensive knowledge on. Stickmaninbangkok has a very interesting selection of letters on this kind of topic.
So that's a few pointers. I'm certainly not pretending I'm a cultural guru. On the contrary, I still have problems and rare losses of temper even when I know the problem at hand is cultural. Once the novelty of living here has worn off, it can be difficult to contain natural western characteristics with attitudes like "If you've got a problem, tell me face to face" or "Why the hell is nobody complaining about that idiot?" and so on. However, after making a few mistakes and mellowing a little, I can roll with it a lot better than I used to. It helps.
I'd still love to smash that dance disco guy's stereo over his head, though.
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Two more explosions happened in Bangkok yesterday. Nobody was hurt.
Fellow (but more experienced) blogger and occasional debate opponent Bangkok Pundit has posted a very interesting analysis of the New Year bombings and for my money, paints an interesting argument for the suggestion that squabbling factions of the army did it. I often disagree vehemently with BP's politics but his blog is very well maintained and if you read his post, the arguments against TRT or Muslim insurgent involvement are compelling.
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Monday, January 29, 2007
UK Sport goes global on anti-doping
Friday, January 26, 2007
A battle for Thai hearts
Now I'm breaking my own vow not to discuss politics on here but I am going to try and make this as relevant and light as possible.
Thaksin Shiniwatra went on CNN last week and cunningly portrayed himself as the innocent, democratically elected leader removed by a greedy military coup.
It was the latest episode in a mental warfare so subliminal it almost feels like a real life rendition of the old "Tron" movie. This time however , the enemies consist of an adroit but utterly corrupt and cold politician with his cronies on one side and an aging, outmoded but powerful military junta on the other.
Thaksin followed up this propaganda effort by travelling to Japan and telling the awaiting press "I am disgusted with the media interference" , referring to the fact that the military junta censored his previous CNN display in Thailand.
Anybody with rudimentary knowledge of Thai politics watching the CNN interview could be forgiven with sympathising with Thaksin's cause. These people would be misguided. Thaksin is a master of mental warfare and subtle intimidation, and the fact that he is a weak public speaker who stumbles at English only enhances his feigned innocent demeanour.
Rather than launch a tirade of rebuttals , I will try to list some precise facts here:
1) Thaksin took corruption in Thailand to unprecedented levels. When he took office - after lobbying judges to forgive him for blatant asset concealment - he told the people "I do not need to be corrupt, I am already rich" (He neglected to mention he was already rich from using contacts to win government concessions and alleged insider trading to avoid the Asian crash of 1997). The day after taking office , Thaksin launched decrees to put mobile phone competitors out of business and never looked back. His family became the richest in Thailand by (ab)using their power to eliminate all forms of competition. It would take a book to list his alleged misdeeds.
The junta have installed a hand picked team known as the Assets Scrutiny Committee (also known as the Assets Examination Committee) to investigate corruption. They have been criticised for being slow but they are trying to do things lawfully, and incriminating a team of powerful and devious crooks is not easy.
2) Thaksin had no respect for law whatsoever. The law major and former police captain packed and lobbied every independent body to allow himself free passage of action. The Election Commission, the National Counter Corruption Commission and of course the police force was headed by hand picked men sycophantic to Thaksin. Various charges were bought against TRT MPs but could reach no conclusion as the reponsible bodies would simply throw all cases out. The opposition parties had so few MPs in the house that 'no confidence' debates were a forgone conclusion. TRT MPs who wanted to keep their little piece of the greedy pie knew what they had to do in such situations. During the debate on the airport CTX scanner scandal (scanners were sold at a 20% greater than invoice price and the US trader admitted paying kickbacks) one female TRT MP Pattra Waramit actually dared to abstain rather than vote for her party colleague, stating she could not support him with a clear conscience. The masters degree holder Waramit was escorted to a meeting room from where she emerged crying and said: "I'm sorry, I was tired and pressed the wrong button". These actions came from the same people who were being paid massive salaries to run the country.
(For yet more quotes from Waramit and her father who is also a TRT MP , click here. The quotes give an excellent insight into politics, especially the quote "he hoped she had learned something about politics")
3) Thaksin was sickeningly arrogant and unrepentant. He had a clever populist line of rhetoric that turned any criticism or complaint against him to a complaint against Thailand , a ploy that worked well on the rural masses that formed his main support base.
A few select quotes are:
On taking office:
"I will serve twenty full terms and then retire out of sympathy to the opposition. There will be no crime, no Mafia and no social ills"
In response to academic criticism:
"I have full knowledge of democratic values, those who know less should refrain from talking"
" Some teachers cannot teach and just criticize to look cool. They will have to go".
On concerns about compramisation of independent checking bodies:
"The woman who cautions me is my wife. People needn't worry, my wife keeps me in check"
(Two points of note here: Firstly, Thaksin didn't mention that since he took office, his wife had become the richest woman in Thailand and was heavily implicated in tax evasion allegations. Secondly, this quote was made not longer after HM The King had made a speech in which he mentioned how his mother used to keep his feet on the ground. I wonder if Thaksin simply liked the sound of HM The King's speech).
Talking to the rural masses about the protests in Bangkok:
"These people think they are smarter than you, you must tell them loudly how you feel"
After losing two by - elections:
[to the voters in those two provinces] "Let me be very clear, we will take care of our own first, we will give priority to those provinces who voted for us"
(NB Thaksin seemed unconcerned that he was publicly declaring a breech of constitutional rule by showing favour to provinces that voted for him)
Now watch for a trend from here on............
After protests against the government decision to privatise public businesses without referendum and sell them to politician shareholders:
"Some people don't understand what we are doing because they don't have enough knowledge"
During protests against Thaksin using public funds to buy Liverpool Football Club:
"Some people simply don't understand. They aren't ready for my vision yet"
"Some people might be upset because they don't have access to all the information"
After the Constitutional Court rejected Thaksin's bid to privatise the Electric Authority:
"Some people are confused and don't understand, that's OK"
"Some people might not be aware of all the facts"
After massive Bangkok protests in response to Thaksin selling his main business and avoiding paying tax:
"There are technical issues that most people don't understand so they are confused"
A second standard response was to state that any critic of any form "doesn't love the country"
4) Last but not least , Thaksin was involved in huge scale media intimidation. I could write another ten pages about all of this, but I've waffled enough already. Suffice to say that this letter from today's edition of The Nation provides a nice summary:
Ex-PM getting a taste of how his regime dealt with media
Re: "No plans to return yet, says Thaksin", News, January 24.
I must confess I fully sympathised with ousted prime minister Thaksin when he said "I am outraged at the interference to the mass media", this week.
Of course, he was referring to the censorship of his recent CNN interview. However, I was also shocked when, during the time of his regime, a total of 32 reporters quit ITV after alleged government interference with programming. Likewise, I was disgusted when radio stations that happened to be critical of the prime minister disappeared from the airwaves. I reeled with horror when the English-language newspapers became victims of various threats, clandestine investigations and buyout attempts as they dared to cast a critical eye at the Thai Rak Thai Party. And I was stunned when one single journalist was struck with an extortionate damages claim for venturing to suggest Thaksin's family businesses had profited from his tenure as premier. Indeed, one must fully sympathise with Thaksin because media intrusion is indeed a major sin, and one that should not go unpunished.
A Father in Thailand
I could go on but I think you get the picture. Thaksin isn't a wolf in sheep's clothing , a more accurate description came from academic Thirayuth Boonmi who described Thaksin as a "monstrous baby".
Nobody likes a coup, it is an unforgivable sin. But in the case of Thailand - as I have written before - the country was in grave danger of a class war or at least a unbridgeable gulf between the Bangkokians with a new generation of university students and an educated workforce who opposed Thaksin, and the rural masses, subject to populism and manipulation, prone to sporadic bursts of violence and given taxpayers money to parade their support of Thaksin.
General Sondhi is set to appear on CNN next week to give the other side of the view.
The future look cautious. A new constitution is in progress, the government has promised police reform and elections within a year , bomb investigations are underway and already the army and police are contradicting and opposing each other. But while the ASC seeks to uncover solid evidence to convict the Thaksin family, the man himself is circling Thailand like a hawk. His screeches cause the aging junta to act rashly, bureaucracy to procrastinate ASC investigations through fear of reprisals and the Thaksin supporters to continue their resentment of the new regime.
One can only hope that all the rifts are healed, justice is served and the country moves forward. Ultimately it will be down to the Thais themselves, and those in power must have the courage and the love to do what is best for the country and its populace, rather than serving themselves and their own selfish narrow minded greed and ideas.
Thursday, January 25, 2007
The good news about Thai schools
Later, I discussed a particularly nasty teacher who had struck a student simply because she didn't like her. Then I said: "Once again, if that surprises you , you have never worked in Thailand."
Let me now give the correct structure of both phrases. Firstly: "International schools seem to be high on facilities, high on teacher discipline and meticulous on testing. However, they still contain some of the negative Thai educational traits which I will touch on later."
Secondly: "Once again, if that surprises you , you have never worked in a government school in Thailand."
I feel bad because my hit ratio has been high this week, and some people reading my slips may have received a negative impression of Thai schools as a whole.
There are some great schools here. My current school (which is bi-lingual) is far from perfect, but it's full of good and happy kids. A student of a school in our chain recently won national singing competitions on TV several weeks in a row. Another positive trait of my current school and many others is improvement in sports. Football (soccer) is huge in Thailand and other sports such as badminton, volleyball and tennis are popular and students frequently participate. Taekwondo is ever growing and some excellent young prospects for the art are emerging.
Another characteristic I admire is the passion for music, both old and new. Thailand has achieved something that Britain failed to do, it has assimilated modern culture such as music, clothes and movies while keeping a strong semblance of its own identity and culture. It's not just the elder generation either, most youngsters will put just as much enthusiasm into Muay Thai, Thai music and Thai food as they will for the western counterparts. If only England had taken care of its own people and culture as well as the Thais do.
It's not just the students improving either. The younger generation of teachers - who lie mostly outside the government schools - are adapting to modern methods and use of language. There are still areas of concern and needed improvement, but that applies in any country.
So please don't get me wrong. Thailand is aware of its need for educational reform, especially in the government sector, but it's certainly not all bad news. The new wave of schools are a big step forward for the country's youth, and I'm proud to be a tiny part of that.
Tuesday, January 23, 2007
Thai government schools
So you've decided that a holiday in Thailand was not enough. You like it so much you want to stay long term. You know people who work out here as English teachers, and they've told you it's easy. You've got your paperwork, you've got a lover waiting for you and you're all set to start work. What should you expect?
The first thing to remember is that many who say English teaching is easy are wrong. What they mean is, it's easy to get way with a lot. There are many "teachers" out here that I would not let near my son. Bear in mind that there's a difference between getting by and doing a job properly.
But of course a big part of your happiness and success will lie with your choice of employer and how they treat you. That in turn will depend on the type of institution that employs you. I've written before about the types of schools so I'll just re-cap here. Private schools are the educational equivalent of fast food chains. They have a high staff turn over, provide immediate - but often un-nutritious and unhelpful - gratification to the student and are easy to find.
International schools are different. I've never worked in one but I've given private tuition to many international students. The schools seem to be high on facilities, high on teacher discipline and meticulous on testing. However, they still contain some of the negative Thai educational traits which I will touch on later.
Government schools are a challenge. I worked in one for three years, three of the best years of my life yet the same three years that allowed me to witness shocking events. When I first entered the school, I had delusions. I believed that teachers would conduct themselves with the decorum their position afforded. I believed that teachers had students' needs at heart. I believed most teachers liked their job.
What I discovered was different.
Now, I about to say some very harsh comments about Thai government schools. I want to stress this is my own humble opinion based on experience. My harshness is based on dissapointment that students are not given the education that the wonderful young people of Thailand deserve. Of course, not all teachers are like those I am about to describe. I've meet some teachers in government schools whom I greatly admire and aspire to copy , what's more there are many who enjoy foreign teachers with new methods and ideas and welcome us. Sadly, these are the exceptions that prove the rule.
Most government English teachers cannot speak English. That is a fact. They are victims of a vicious cycle. They have been bought up to learn grammar over communication, and with an average age of about fifty they cannot change. So, fourteen year old students who cannot say "Hello, how are you?" will be passed a broadsheet newspaper and told to underline noun phrases (a group of words acting as a noun, e.g. The Bank of England) and transitive verbs (verbs that must take an object). Thus, students become proficient at grammar points and useless a holding a basic conversation.
Discipline is also rigorously enforced. In my old blog I told the story of teachers on "gate duty". 'Gate duty' is when teachers stand at the front of the school gates, ostensibly to welcome students. In reality, teachers will check each student to make sure his or her hair is not one centimetre over limit or their socks too dirty. I once saw a student get caned for having dirty socks. The girl was from a poor family - remember Thailand is still a developing country - and conducted herself politely as she apologised to the teacher. The teacher ignored the apology and hit her three times. After the student left the room, the teacher told her colleagues in Thai "I don't like her". She had used the dirty socks as an excuse to use violence on the student.
If that sounds shocking or at least very unprofessional to you, it was an everyday occurrence to me. The same teacher who hit this girl hated work, she would regularly arrive in class at least half way through her lessons and could not speak English. She would teach the entire lesson in Thai.
Once again, if that surprises you , you have never worked in a government school in Thailand.
The Thai smile is conspicuous by its absence in government schools. That's not to say you won't get smiles. Students will often flash a genuine smile at a teacher and that can be a great little lift. However, teachers often use a smile as camouflage. I've seen a teacher smile as she fails a student she doesn't like, or hits a pupil that arrived two minutes late. Many older teachers dislike their foreign counterparts. Old fashioned values rule in these institutions, including the idea that age begets rank. As most farang teachers are younger than their Thai colleagues, they are considered lower. A cynic like me would dare to suggest that older teachers sometimes feel threatened by our presence.
Administration in most of these places is non existent. I would often find out about meetings, holidays and cancellations from students.
Students don't like the system any more than we do, but they are powerless. Government schools are hellbent on enforcing rank and authority. Critical thinking or even questioning is unwelcome. Students have been punished heavily for asking the teacher a question the teacher couldn't answer.
So are these places a hell for foreign teachers? No.
One thing that makes these places worthwhile are the students. Government schools tend to offer very large classes with a great mix of personalities and types. Often the foreign teacher is a novelty for these students and they can make you feel like a celebrity, at least at first! Such large classes can be very challenging to bring under control, especially for inexperienced teachers. The belief that the foreign teacher is an hour of fun is - how can I put this? - not discouraged by some local teachers and this can make life difficult. Often a stern line of control is necessary at first. This can lead to some decent leaning and subsequently good rapport.
Anyone who knows me knows that I grew very close to my main class during my three years at government school. I'm still in touch with many of them now. Although it was difficult working with an antiquated and unwelcoming institution, the magic of seeing fifty smiling young faces each day, and the satisfaction of watching them grow in knowledge and confidence made it all worthwhile. Such experiences can be rarer at the other types of school, and I'm blessed to have received it.
It's no mistake that I missed bilingual schools out in this report. Watch this space.
Thanks to Sriwittayapaknam School for letting me use some of the pictures in this blog. They seem to be a big cut above many other government schools.