Basic Reason Thailand is killing itself!

There is a very good reason that the Gov't doesn't contend articles that are published like this,because it is fact!It seems that Thailand Elitist will play their hand until the country either implodes or explodes,because there is no a whiff of change in the wind!

This Bangkok Post writer has her finger on the basic problem,I would like to see her publish a direct challenge to the gov't by publishing not only these issues,but suggest specific consructive steps for them to take and demanding specific answers from the gov't regarding why they don't implement the steps!

The comments are interesting also,as they confirm the reality of her article.Also interesting,there are no rebuttal comments to her main points!

http://www2.bangkokpost.com/blogs/index ... ti?blog=64

The status quo is well entrenched. I came here in 2002 and there has been frequent talk and little action about educational reform and the results are the same; no change. Educated citizens are difficult to control and manipulate.

This article, with a few modifications could have been written about the US education system, teachers, and students.

I'm always suspicious of people who blame all the world's ills on the school system. I went to an inner city school in the US that was nothing more than protective custody, keep the little urchins off the streets. A parochial school run by nuns, I doubt if any of them had ever been inside a university. Descriptions I read on here of the Thai education system sound exactly like what I experienced as a slum kid in Philly. Yet I went on to graduate from university with a Master's degree in engineering. I recently have hooked up with some of my old elementary school chums and find that many of them went on to successful careers. A couple Army officers, golf pro, high school teachers, etc. Yes we had our share of prison inmates, but on the whole we turned out pretty good.

I have always maintained that the parents and family have more to do with education than the schools. Instill an appreciation for knowledge and nurture the kids' natural curiosity,the ability to question, figure things out, and the kids will turn out OK.

I really can't answer that, Jack. If not the parents, maybe someone will inspire the kids to want to achieve. In my case it certainly wasn't my parents, neither of whom got beyond the 8th grade. In fact, they scoffed at me when I announced my intention to go to college. But I had two older sisters that taught me to read before I ever went to school. I guess the bottom line is that a "superior education system isn't the answer, at least in the formative years. Yes, it will help and maybe lead to a higher success rate but my point was that the education system can't be blamed for an entire society being out of kilter.

jimboLV wrote:I'm always suspicious of people who blame all the world's ills on the school system. I went to an inner city school in the US that was nothing more than protective custody, keep the little urchins off the streets. A parochial school run by nuns, I doubt if any of them had ever been inside a university. Descriptions I read on here of the Thai education system sound exactly like what I experienced as a slum kid in Philly. Yet I went on to graduate from university with a Master's degree in engineering. I recently have hooked up with some of my old elementary school chums and find that many of them went on to successful careers. A couple Army officers, golf pro, high school teachers, etc. Yes we had our share of prison inmates, but on the whole we turned out pretty good.

I have always maintained that the parents and family have more to do with education than the schools. Instill an appreciation for knowledge and nurture the kids' natural curiosity,the ability to question, figure things out, and the kids will turn out OK.

It's pretty much still the case today, jimboLV, but I found fewer and fewer of my students able to achieve at the next levels beyond high school.

Those who have and continue to achieve were certainly from environments that placed a high value on education and personal discipline and self control.

JS I think that was Jimbo's point, they can't but they should. Someone somewhere needs to work out a way to break the cycle. But then I'm one of three boys, same parents (still together) The eldest was crap at school also a very selfish person, the middle one was crap at school and very rebelious (but always had a heart of gold) he ended up in & out of prison, the youngest was a right fukin swat, yet became very anti-establishment later that made him quit school at 18. Yet both my brothers are very successful and happy in their lives, I won't tell you which one I was but I'm definitely the poorest of the 3 if money is the only thing to measure it by, but then us expats no that money doesn't buy happiness.

Stan - as for the article, I haven't read it, both the Nation and BK Post are owned by the elite (even if it appears to be privately owned) and they control all its content, so I doubt it can be to damning and honest against the government.

Maybe a few examples of kids from the Klong Toey slums in Bangkok or the sons/daughters of rice farmers who went on to become doctors/engineers/professors......maybe that would help give these people some hope.
Sadly, the ability to acquire anything close to a quality education in Thailand seems to be increasingly dependent on off-hours tutoring.......and we all know who can and who can't afford such a luxury.

For all the ills of the education system in the US, Jimbo and many of his classmates faired quite well compared to how his counterparts in Thailand would fare.

parrot wrote:Maybe a few examples of kids from the Klong Toey slums in Bangkok or the sons/daughters of rice farmers who went on to become doctors/engineers/professors......maybe that would help give these people some hope.
Sadly, the ability to acquire anything close to a quality education in Thailand seems to be increasingly dependent on off-hours tutoring.......and we all know who can and who can't afford such a luxury.
For all the ills of the education system in the US, Jimbo and many of his classmates faired quite well compared to how his counterparts in Thailand would fare.

Like comparing apples to oranges,the Thai system does not allow for economic opportunity!Once in it,there is no out.Western cultural systems allow for reconciliation of those is disadvantaged early situations,if they ''strive'' !

Thailands ''system'' seems designed to maintain status quo amongst defined classes of people.

nkstan wrote:Like comparing apples to oranges,the Thai system does not allow for economic opportunity!Once in it,there is no out.Western cultural systems allow for reconciliation of those is disadvantaged early situations,if they ''strive'' !

Thailands ''system'' seems designed to maintain status quo amongst defined classes of people.

Stan I would agree with you on that statement, as long as you mean the entire "system" not just the education system.

jimboLV wrote:

nkstan wrote:Like comparing apples to oranges,the Thai system does not allow for economic opportunity!Once in it,there is no out.Western cultural systems allow for reconciliation of those is disadvantaged early situations,if they ''strive'' !

Thailands ''system'' seems designed to maintain status quo amongst defined classes of people.

Stan I would agree with you on that statement, as long as you mean the entire "system" not just the education system.

It is the education ''system'',that is the main tool used to continuosly reinforce the problem.Comparing poor education programs in the US or most other countries,is not a fair argument,IMO,because in most of those compared systems,individuals have opportunity that is not available in Thailand.
In Thailand,a ''lower classed''gifted individual with great learning capacity would be exploited for Nationalistic proganda purposes only,not given individual opportunity!To do anything else,might influence others to break class barriers,upsetting the status quo.Not that there would be any support for their economic success,but would probably cause conflict only!

Interesting article Stan.

Or are they [schools] just one of the institutional tools to pass on the oppressive, authoritarian cultural values to maintain the status quo that is rooted in strict social hierarchy and inequality?

Yes, they are. Primarily, Thai schools teach children to stay in line -- any further learning is merely a bonus.

I agree with jimbo. Parents have more to do with the success or failure of children than the schools. Unfortunately, most parenting I see here is likewise, abysmal.

and how can we define what will make a poorer class Thai kid a success?? What affects a kid's ability to succeed?? Puts "fire in their bellies??"?? I've got a number of seemingly smart kin folk here.. One's gone through college and gotten a degree in accounting.. She makes about 15K Baht a month down in BKK.. She doesn't look to where she'll go or what she'll be doing 5 years down the road.. For the younger great-neices and nephews.. some of the smarter ones flat out told me they didn't want to go past 9th grade, that at 16 they just wanted to get a job despite our offer to subsidize a better education... Their parents vary.. One pair sees no reason to get beyond the mandatory schooling. Another couple wants the very best for their kids but haven't instilled any discipline in those kids to succeed. Others see the need for their little ones to get a good education but just don't look down life's highway past a year or two...

What surprises me is the cultural and societal norms that would make an adult (in their 20's) think that "I'm too stupid to learn anything new." or my relatives general inability to see that education at any age has value (other than the one neice that finished college). Questions like "where do you want to go and what do you want to do with your life" generally get blank stares or only short term goals rather than life-changing ones.... Guess I'll never fully understand it as occassionally I've run into totally self-motivated younger Thais from the same villages my relatives are from.. Those kids had the same type of upbrininging but evidently something made them want more and be willing to do more to get ahead in life.. If I could can that flame and ingite some of my relatives it would be great, but I don't see it ever happening... To be happy with one's fate, to be without significant life aspirations seems to be the lot of the average Thai.. Culture, Religion, paternalism encourage folks NOT to question this lifestyle...

To be happy with one's fate, to be without significant life aspirations...

For a second there, I thought you were going to say that this was a good thing...

I mean, what should they aspire to be, after all?

Think I've maybe lived here too long!