Not again

It takes a little while for news to filter through to rural Isaan. Even in it's bustling capital Khon Kaen. So last night when my neighbor told that they were protesting in Bangkok again I didn't think much of it. Until he pressed me to try to find out what the western media were saying about it. So I looked. This is what I saw.... And no: this is not small potatoes. Especially after the arrest warrants issued for guys orchestrating this protest. This should end well....

Update 29/8: On live TV there is ample footage of the police storming the grounds by brute force. People you talk to on the streets are outraged about this. The media is having a field day showing women and kids getting whacked. Although according to the Bangkok Post it wasn't all that bad...

Meanwhile, on the other side of the coin...

Some of you guys might think I spend my time in dread and go to school feeling all down and stuff because of all that nasty paperwork business. Not true. The most important thing is still great: the kids. Here's proof:

Fancy a headache?

If you are a regular here you know that all the teachers in Thailand have to do a cultural course. And exams. And another course. And more exams. And you have to do those in your own time. And you have to pay for them with your own money. And I refused to do any of that.

One of the reasons why is that the test subject matter and questions are ridiculous. And that's not only because of the bad English. You want a sample: here it is. From a pretest given out at the (FREE!) curriculum workshop that I did go to and that precedes the cultural course. Check it out. And if you figure out the answers be sure to post them in the comments. Good luck. You'll need it.

(click for a larger version)

New lay

Something is different isn't it? No all that white was not there before. Neither was all that orange and yellow. Let's just say it's an indication of some changes to come... *very long dramatic pause*

Course+exams+course=you've got to be kidding me

And another update. The short and not so sweet of it: every foreign teacher's future in Thailand is up in the air. Especially if you have no degree in education and 'just' a TEFL course like me.

The latest can be found here and here and together with the previously posted account of what happens during the cultural course and what goes on at the various farangs in Thailand forums it doesn't paint a particularly rosy picture. For me (BA, work permit/Non B-visa, government primary school) it means this:

*I should first do the infamous cultural course for 3.500 Baht (or since I've refused to sign on for this one, later for +8000 baht in Bangkok) with my own money and in my own time.

*I should pass 4 huge and impossible exams for +1.000 Baht each and pay them again if I fail them even (which is very likely, since the questions I've seen online are either questions about Thai educational law or formulated in a language that only upon close inspection resembles English).

*According to the law as it is I should do all of this before the end of the school year or my visa and therefor my work permit will not be renewed. That's right: only the cultural course does NOT suffice, although at many schools people are being lead to believe differently.

*It is possible (but definitely not certain and not according to the law) that the government will grant last minute temporary licenses (no doubt for at least 500 baht) upon completion of the cultural course which can be used to extend your visa.

*It is possible (but definitely not certain and not according to the law) that the government will grant last minute temporary licenses if you sign on to/pay for the mandatory 1 year universal course in your own free time prior to doing the exams. This enormous course will cost you around 60.000 Baht 144.000 Baht.

This entire route to the coveted teachers license will set me back 8.000 + 4.000 + 500 + s>60.000 Baht 144.000 Baht= approximately 72.000 baht 156.000 baht(say 1.400 euros 3.100 eruos and I could get a real 1 year master's degree for that back home). Mind you, that is without taking into account the fact that I can not work on the side or spend my own time in other ways as I see fit. And it doesn't take into account that you might have to sit those exams again.

I can hear you thinking: what if you just pass those exams in one go. Alright. Let's assume that it's possible. Let's forget about the 95% that failed the exams that were previously held. That route would cost less: 8.000 + 4.000= 12.000 Baht (240 euros). Or cheaper still (had I signed up under the pressure of the Thai teachers): 3.500 + 4.000= 7.500 Baht (150 euros).

But I would still have to pay by myself and lose massive amounts of time doing nonsense. And although I usually do good at exams I'm not so sure I will be able to recall article 56 subsection D of the National Education Act without ever seeing it. Or the answer to any other question geared to making me fail and making me pay for the 60.000 144.000 Baht course for that matter.

Even if the school I work for would be so kind to pick up the tab (snowball's chance in hell), like some private schools have started to do, I would still either lose either tons of secondary income or the basic quality of life I came here for in the first place.

Worst of all: I don't feel like waiting around to see what happens and I simply can't afford to. It won't take long for most farang teachers to realize the same thing. We basically have until March and even that's a stretch...