Education Flaws

(adapted from Bangkok Post, Education, 26/8/2008)

It appears a Suan Dusit Poll has highlighted major weaknesses in the Thai education system. These include:

• inadequate teaching materials
• lack of teachers
• inefficient curriculum
• students' failure to focus on their studies

The Suan Dusit rector explained to a Senate panel they had conducted the survey in order to identify which problems to tackle first. The poll also asked about what solution people felt should be implemented first. Respondents called for:

• improving the curriculum
• student-centred approach
• adequate teaching materials
• efforts to get families to instil in children a love of reading
• lessons on ethics

Relevant authorities would be informed about the findings. Follow up on how they implement the solutions and updating the public on the progress would be done as well.

Well, what can I add? Let's just say I wasn't surprised at all by the findings, nor by the proposed solutions. What is needed is immediate action instead of more surveys and feet-dragging by officials in charge.

Goodbye Thailand (September 2008)

I’ll get straight to the point of this month’s column: I have given up my job and left the Land of Smiles. I already hinted in my January column that 2008 might be my last year in Thailand, so it’s not a big surprise for most people who know me. The questions I get asked most are: 'Why?', 'What are you going to do?', 'Where are you going?' and 'Are you going back home?'

I'll answer these questions in reverse order as the last ones are the easiest. Am I going back home? What a silly question; I go home every day. Actually, Thailand has been my home for more than four years. Of course, most people use the word home to refer to one's country of origin or birth. Anyway, I'm not planning to turn back the clock and pick up one of my former lives.

So where am I going then? I don't know yet. I could have looked for a new job before quitting my old one, but I wanted a temporary break from work so I could have some time to relax and travel. By the way, I know that starting all over without planning too much in advance can be a refreshing experience; I’ve done it before. Also, I hope I'll be thoroughly rested and brimming with new ideas after a prolonged stay in the Land of a Million Elephants, probably followed by a tour of some other South-East Asian countries. Although I liked my job, I always thought that I didn't have enough time off to enjoy life and get away from it all.

What am I going to do? This question is relatively simple. Unless I get offered a really well-paid job out of the blue, I'll more than likely find a new EFL job, probably somewhere in Asia. Teaching is what I apparently do well and it's also what I've been doing for the last twelve years. Many countries need qualified teachers, so finding a new job shouldn't be that difficult.

So the question remains why? Why leave Thailand, the Land of Smiles, the best country in the world if Thais are to be believed? The short answer is that I didn't have enough reasons to stay.

Those who have been reading my column regularly will know that I acknowledge and welcome different cultures. When teaching, I don't want to radically change local students' cultural values or ideas as I am convinced that English should be taught as a world language, not misused as a colonial tool to shove British or western values down someone's throat like it was sometimes done in the past. On the other hand, I don't think every cultural reference should be banned from a language course, as it can broaden students' horizons and help them develop their critical thinking skills and personal world view.

I have to admit that I was getting a bit bored with both my job and my host country, so simply finding another workplace wouldn't have solved my problem. I made a list of positives and negatives, and – surprise - the former list turned out to be the shorter one. The plus list told me that I mainly appreciate Thailand because of the climate (hot all year round), the food (one of the best cuisines in the world), the travel and sightseeing opportunities and the low cost of living.

This 'what-I-like-about-Thailand’ list is a very personal list, and although many foreigners in the Kingdom might have one, the contents probably vary. Although quite a few long-term residents or repeat visitors might add other positives such as the abundance of teaching jobs and the wide availability of cheap prostitutes to it, I would rather put them on the negatives list as they often attract unskilled would-be teachers to the Kingdom for the wrong reasons.

My 'pet peeve' list on the other hand started to get too long, although after some reflection, I came to the conclusion that many items were quite trivial. As already stated, I respect other cultures and when living in a foreign land, I'll try to live my life as similar as possible to locals. I'll eat their food, use their means of transport, adapt my teaching style if needed and enjoy local markets and travel opportunities. However, when local culture clashes with my personal beliefs and values, I'll still respect the former but I won't necessarily give up the latter.

Here are some entries which figured on the 'what-I-don’t-like-about-Thailand’ list. By the way, I think that after being away from Thailand for a while, I might change my mind about some of the items and realise I was exaggerating.

• Although Thailand has many breathtaking places to offer, Bangkok and its suburbs – where most jobs can be found - are just one big, ugly, noisy, polluted mess.

• The majority of Thai students are rather uninterested, unimaginative and lazy. Instead of soaking up knowledge as a sponge, they usually need to be force-fed.

• Appearance is more important than substance. Good-looking (white) teachers will always be in high demand, even if they have never taught and think a gerund is a tropical disease.

• Any form of criticism in Thailand is taboo, even positive criticism. People prefer undergoing bad practices instead of wanting to change them, as this might cause loss of face for the one who implemented them. Actually, causing loss of face is probably considered worse than committing murder. Lots of people have been murdered because of petty insults.

• Dual pricing and ongoing tourist scams ensure that foreigners will often leave Thailand with mixed feelings.

• No-fail policy in all schools ensures that enough teenage morons graduate to fill (private) universities. Many university graduates would probably fail western high school exams.

• Foreigners cannot own a business, land or a house (condo only). Buying a car or motorbike is possible but not straightforward; red tape and corruption are prevalent; banking is anything but foreigner-friendly; consumer service is virtually non-existent.

• Traffic is dangerous. Most motorists think speeding, tailgating, weaving through traffic, using a mobile phone and drink driving are no big deal, despite the abhorrent death toll on Thai roads. There is a complete disrespect by motorists for pedestrians and cyclists.
  

Some of my concerns might seem petty and also exist in lots of other countries, so they’ll erode over time. I don't think I've been much of a moaner during all the time I've been in Thailand, partly because I feel that endless complaining doesn't solve any problems.

As a final thought, I really enjoy the teaching profession and have always done my best to further my students' English skills. However, being employed by a language school where many young students study at the weekend, I feel that Thai youths are somewhat being denied their childhood. For many of them, life is a continuous learning nightmare as they are being dragged from one tutoring school to another. Few seem to realise that all this tutoring wouldn't be necessary if youngsters were given an adequate education from Monday to Friday. Unfortunately, unless parents can shell out big bucks for top international schools, this a pipe dream as the Thai education systems remains in tatters with oversized classrooms, inadequate and apathetic teachers, lack of decent materials, a no-fail policy and an everything-needs-to-be-fun attitude completely undermining effective learning. Unless the whole education system is fundamentally revamped, the future of Thailand looks gloomy. But hey, who cares as long as we’re all having ‘sanuk’ (fun)?

After rereading this column, I felt it was too negative. I trimmed down the negatives list and decided to go ahead with it anyway as most – if not all – of my previous columns were by far and large positive. Thai censors would probably want to take it off-line or censor it if they could find it and understand it. Thailand is a wonderful country but I doubt it’s the best in the world; I surely wouldn’t want to be stuck here for the rest of my life. I’ve been to quite a few countries, but there are still countless places out there waiting to be discovered. Because of my thirst for change and with life being so short, I feel there is no time to waste.

The author of this article can be contacted at philiproeland@hotmail.co.uk.
1/09/2008

Bangkok Getaways (2) - Lopburi (August 2008)

It’s another getaway column this month. If you can’t be bothered to read it or don’t have any spare time to get away from the drudgery of daily life, check out my photos at www.flickr.com/photos/philiproeland.

A few months ago I went to a town located just a few hours from Bangkok that's worth definitely worth a visit. Lopburi, famous for its ruins and monkeys, lies some 150 kilometres north of the capital and can easily be reached by either bus or train. I opted for the latter mode of transport since I live not far from a train station. Most day trains are 3rd class only, dirt cheap and well-ventilated since they all run with both windows and doors wide open.

Buses depart frequently around the clock from the Northern bus station, aka Morchit, and take two to three hours. Trains are regular as well and take slightly longer. The advantage of trains is that they take you straight to the centre of old Lopburi, whereas buses go to the bus station in new Lopburi, from where you'll need to take another bus or shared taxi to the old town.

While inter-city buses in Thailand are usually modern and air-conditioned, trains take you back in time, especially when travelling in 3rd class. It seems that the Royal Thai Railways haven't invested a penny in rolling stock for the last few decades. Railway carriages are worn-out and their wooden benches become uncomfortable after a few hours. I wouldn't recommend them for long-distance trips as they are not only more uncomfortable, but also slower than buses. Buses, on the other hand, do have a worse safety record. You might get a sore derrière, but you'll never die of starvation on a train, as there is an endless procession of vendors going up and down the aisle selling a myriad food and drinks. The wide range of inexpensive food for sale includes grilled chicken or pork with sticky rice, fresh fruit, peanuts, dumplings, stuffed buns, local sweets and even dried squid; water, iced coffee and tea, fizzy drinks and even beer can quench your thirst.

Although seeing all the major sights of Lopburi can probably be done in just a day, I preferred to stay overnight in a typical local hotel. The Asia Lopburi Hotel, in the centre of the old town opposite King Narai's Palace, might sound expensive but it wasn't. Single fan rooms with private bathroom and TV could be had for as little as 250 baht (add another 100 baht for A/C) thus confirming again that travelling in the Kingdom can still be economical.

Let me remind readers unfamiliar with Thailand that single room in traditional Thai-Chinese hotels usually refers to rooms with one double bed. Double rooms sport two beds, so make sure to ask for the right room if you’re travelling as a couple. 'Suits’ (sic) or 'sweet rooms' are the mispronounced or misspelt Thai equivalent of suites and only available in luxury hotels. In the local lingo, 'hong tamadaa' means ordinary room or fan room while 'hong air' is an air-conditioned room.

As already mentioned, the main attractions of Lopburi are its ruins, temples and monkeys. All of them are conveniently located within walking distance of each other in the old town. The most interesting sites charge a moderate 30 baht entrance fee (10 baht for locals), so they are within anyone's budget. Travellers on a shoestring can limit themselves to the few free ruins or gawk at the good stuff from outside the fence. However, is money is that tight they might just as well start thinking about which body part to sell next.

In my opinion as ruin and temple lover, the following sites are a must-see when visiting Lopburi: Wat Phra Si Ratana Mahathat (temple ruins on a large area opposite the train station), Phra Narai Ratchaniwet or King Narai's Palace (walled compound smack in old city centre) and Prang Sam Yot (Khmer temple ruins, aka the monkeys' lair, along the railway near the main thoroughfare). Other interesting but less spectacular sites include Chao Phraya Wichayen (ruins of the former residence for foreign ambassadors), San Phra Kan (small contemporary temple where Thais make merit and another monkey hangout) and Wat Nakhon Kosa (temple ruins near the latter, along the railway line).

If the above names are just gobbledegook to you, just have a look in any travel guide or surf the Internet and you'll find tons of useful information as I couldn't be bothered with copying what's in my Lonely Planet. By the way, travel information is often just meaningless words on paper. To really enjoy the great stuff that's out there, you'll need to get out of your sofa, put on your walking boots and find out for yourself.

Basically, what draws tourists to Lopburi is mainly ruins and monkeys. It would be fair to say that the area around Prang Sam Yot is being completely overrun by monkeys. Estimates put the number of these long-tailed macaques at a couple of thousand! Although they are a major tourist magnet, these seemingly cute creatures can get on the nerves of local shopkeepers and vendors alike who use sticks and slingshots to prevent them from stealing their merchandise.

For many tourists, hand-feeding these seemingly nice animals with fruit and veggies and taking close-up snapshots of the experience is high on their to-do list. However, once the cheeky buggers start jumping on your shoulders, pick your pockets or give you a nasty bite, you'll quickly start losing sympathy for them and wish the evil beasts were somewhere in a laboratory undergoing vivisection. Remember that they are wild animals and not miniature humans, so be prepared for a visit to the local hospital and a rabies shot if you get up close and personal.

In November, there is the annual Monkey Festival during which the monkeys can gorge themselves on a lavish buffet set up around their lair. Don't think that is the only time for the poor animals to eat properly. Every day of the year they are given more food than they can possibly eat.

Many of the Lopburi sites present great photo opportunities. Let me remind you that most great pictures are usually taken either early morning or late afternoon with the sun behind you or, at sunset, directly in front of you. If you're a lone traveller, don't forget to take a tripod as the pictures will become more entertaining for both yourself and friends or family. If you hate lugging a regular tripod around (like me), get yourself one of those mini-tripods that fit in your pocket. If you're not a (semi-)professional photographer, they'll do the job without other sightseers staring at you. By the way, when I was in Lopburi, many of the sites I visited were nearly deserted, thus giving me the opportunity to take some memorable pictures. So get off that couch and drag yourself to Lopburi! It's much more interesting than sitting in front of the TV all day or sleeping off a hangover. Have fun.

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In a totally unrelated story, the press reported a few months ago that many of their sleeper train carriages were infested with bed bugs. Ten trains were subsequently disinfected and refurbished. I wouldn't have included this trivial news item, weren't it for the fact that the Thai tourism minister and a so-called expert from a leading university pointed the finger at foreign tourists. According to them, backpackers were responsible for the infestation because (a) they might pick up the bugs when going on a trek and (b) they don't like to wash and often go without a bath for days, thus attracting the bugs. This is of course total nonsense and proved yet again that many Thais don't have a very high opinion of anyone who isn't Thai. Shame on them!

For more photos of Thailand and the rest of the world, you can visit my photopage on Flickr: www.flickr.com/photos/philiproeland.

The author of this article can be contacted at philiproeland@hotmail.co.uk.
1/8/2008

Back To School (June 2008)

In Thailand, May is the month when most students go back to school after a two to three-months summer holiday. For some, this is a joyous occasion as they are getting bored stiff sitting at home with nothing to do; for others, it’s a relief for not being sent to summer school tutoring every day anymore; for many, it's the dreaded return to the Thai classroom where killing time is the main task of the day.

In this month's article, I'll give a brief overview of primary and secondary schools in Thailand, introduce you to a few of my students and discuss some burning issues on the Thai education front. Being employed by a private language school, I have the privilege of meeting students of all different walks of life, well upper walks to be correct. Usually they have one thing in common: they – or their parents – can afford private tuition outside of regular school hours.

I feel that extra-curricular tutoring can either be a blessing or a curse. It can be a blessing because apparently the quality of regular Thai education remains so inadequate in many schools that in order to learn anything useful at all, tutors – be it language, maths or science tutors – are an almost necessary addition to a student's formal education. However, as I mentioned last month, I have the impression that dragging children to several tutoring school at the weekend or after school hours can rob them of their childhood. Aren't children supposed to play with their friends and have fun after having completed their homework?

There are three main kinds of schools in Thailand: government schools, private schools and international schools. Internationals schools are the most expensive, with average yearly fees ranging from 200,000 to 600,000 baht, depending on the quality and reputation of the school. All lessons are conducted in English, except foreign language lessons and Thai language lessons of course. Class sizes are usually small (15–25 students per class) and most, if not all, teachers are foreign. Admission criteria are strict.

Private schools are schools resembling government schools, but are privately owned and managed. Tuition fees are much lower than international schools, ranging from around 50,000 to 200,000 baht per school year. Admission criteria are not as strict as for international schools and class sizes are bigger (25–40 students). Most of these schools run English programmes, meaning that students are usually taught in both Thai and English. It is possible for students to have a geography lesson in Thai, only to be followed by the same lesson taught in English by a foreign teacher. Unfortunately, despite the existence of admission criteria, some schools will admit just about anyone (they're running a business, remember), even if the candidate’s English is much to poor to undergo lessons conducted in English. These students often require extra tutoring to bring their English skills up to speed.

Government schools are schools run under the patronage of the Ministry of Education. There are tens of thousands of them across the country and most don't have a very good reputation. A lack of funding, limited resources, not always qualified teachers and the no-fail policy all contribute to students graduating with few useful skills at all. Most schools admit just about anyone. Class sizes are big (45–60 students) and often most – if not all – teachers are Thai. Education is supposedly completely free, although many schools charge small fees to cover expenses such as utility bills and foreign teachers' salaries. School uniforms and text books are other costs incurred by parents.

Surprisingly, some 300 government schools country-wide, most of them in and around Bangkok, are considered top-notch and places in these schools are highly sought after. These schools usually have strict admission criteria. To give an example, more than 20,000 students sat the test to get into the top senior high school, with only 1,400 places available. Offering gratuities or tea money by patrons to secure a place for their offspring has been banned by law. Although considered excellent, classroom sizes in these schools remain high (around 50 students per class is not unusual).

I imagined that teachers working in these establishments were better qualified and more dedicated than elsewhere and thus delivered a higher standard of education. The truth, however, seems to be that these teachers are often associated with prestigious universities and are thus abler to coach their students to pass entrance exams. If you get into one of these high schools, you’re almost sure to get into a good university. This emphasizes yet again the fact that Thai students aren’t in school to learn anything valuable for life; their only purpose for studying is passing exams.

Let me introduce you to some of my students. Aclaire (not real name) is a 15-year old student of mine who got into what is considered the top government high school. There are 47 students in her class. She says courses are difficult and students are required to study hard. Every student also has to join one of the many school clubs with choices ranging from the English club and the cooking club to the movie club and the music club. These clubs aren't just for fun. Aclaire joined the movie club and her first assignment was, together with four other students, to write a screenplay for a 15-minute murder mystery video that will be directed and produced by the club. Apart from going to school on weekdays, Aclaire also studies on Saturdays and Sundays. Extra English, chemistry, maths, Chinese, music and art classes keep her busy most of the weekend. Although this year all her school subjects (except English) are taught in Thai, her English is of a high standard because she used to be enrolled in an intensive English programme the previous years.

Nana (13) goes to a regular government school which is not considered exceptional. She is at the top of her class (51 students) when it comes to English grades, but she still takes extra lessons on Friday evenings. Her passive skills are quite good, but her active skills are sorely underdeveloped. Although she can make herself understood, she speaks very slowly, lacks confidence, hesitates often and thinks too long before speaking. She lacks fluency because she never needs to speak English, not even in class during an English lesson. She told me that during English lessons at school, her Thai teacher of English never speaks English at all. The only thing she does is explain the subtleties of English grammar in Thai. No wonder most Thai students don't have basic conversational skills. Although there might be some valid reasons why local teachers keep doing it their way, I think they deserve to be named and shamed more often if they underperform consistently. When asked what she does at the weekend, Nana guiltily admitted that she stays at home and relaxes, except for her piano lesson on Sunday. I was pleased to hear that she is allowed to be a normal kid.

Nene (8) goes to an international school and has needed lots of extra tuition over the last 18 months. I suspect she wasn't ready to study every subject in English, but she was thrown in at the deep end, possibly because her school was too lax when enforcing entrance criteria. Fortunately, thanks to the quality of education and the benefit of private lessons, she is already showing the beginnings of real fluency and speaks very naturally with a slight American accent. Her reading skills are still lagging behind, but have progressed light years compared to last year. Although she is one of my younger students, she is one of the most talkative and will often start a conversation without being prompted. She is a really sweet girl and a joy to teach. I’m pleased that she is actually learning useful skills at school and not just becoming a trained monkey who is good at taking absurd multiple choice tests. Of course, this is just how I see it from my limited western point of view.

An issue that has been discussed to death in teachers' rooms lately is the Thai culture course. This 20-hour course which costs from 4,000 to 8,000 baht now seems to be mandatory in order to obtain a teacher's license. Many teachers, especially the 'old hands' who have been in Thailand forever and often have a Thai wife and/or partner(s), have questioned the usefulness and relevancy of said course. As I haven't taken the course myself, it would be nice to have a reader or other columnist do a write-up of their experience undergoing it. I agree that it is important to know the cultural values of the country you're living in, so in that respect, the course might be interesting to newbies fresh off the boat. If it is, however, just a blatant attempt to make money at a teacher's expense or to assimilate all foreign educators by teaching them to sing the Thai anthem and to appreciate Thai classical dancing, then I would consider it another 'This-is-Thailand' scam.

A dress controversy has resurfaced at Thai universities. As you may or may not know, Thai university students are required to wear a uniform, consisting of a white blouse and black skirt (for girls and ladyboys) or white shirt and black trousers (for boys). If I remember correctly, girls' skirts shouldn't show more than a few inches of flesh above the knee and blouses should fit. Many girls seem to have a problem with this as, in the name of fashion, they deem it necessary to wear ultrashort mini-skirts, revealing just about everything but their knickers (especially when sitting down) and blouses fit for 12-year olds, i.e. two or three sizes too small.

There has been a lot of debate about this in society, in the press and even on Thai TV talk shows where female students heatedly defended their right to dress like sluts. As I am not a directly concerned party, I won't take sides. On the one hand, I'm not particularly into sweets or sugary snacks, but I don't mind some eye candy from time to time. On the other hand, from a teaching point of view, it can get awkward and irritating in the classroom when students invariably start clutching their imaginary cleavage or try to pull their skirt down whenever you come within a 5-metre radius.

I've attached a picture collage to give readers who don't live in Thailand an idea of what I'm talking about and judge for yourself. I strolled around a university neighbourhood armed with a camera, but couldn't locate many students. I then decided to check out the students' more natural habitat, namely the local shopping mall, and I had instantly more luck. Within a few minutes I had taken two dozen useful snapshots depicting current fashionable student apparel.

The questionable dress sense of Thai college students is not the only raging fashion controversy. Thais seem to have this bizarre idea that wearing dental braces is extremely attractive, possibly because girls flashing multi-coloured metallic grins are regularly featured in teen magazines, thus transforming the dental gear detested by western youths into a fashion statement. Needless to say that from a medical point of view, most teens (or even adults!) don't need to wear these monstrosities. Some, but not all, dentists might also be reluctant to prescribe them if they are unnecessary. Market forces, however, have brought braces within anyone's reach, as do-it-yourself kits can now even be purchased at local markets for very little money.

Scores of illegal dental clinics have also sprung up around popular teen hangouts where youngsters can have their cute smile ruined for a fistful of baht. To make matters infinitely worse, many of the outlawed low-quality braces glued on healthy teeth can cause sores on the gums and contain dangerous metals such as lead. I wonder what will be the next fad. Wearing an eye-patch? Having fake buckteeth fitted? Nothing would surprise me anymore. One thing that has remained unchanged over the years is the students’ favourite complexion: acceptable colours are pale, ashen, pallid, pasty, sickly white and anaemic; definite no-nos are tropically tanned, mysteriously mocha and sensually dark.

To end this month's column, here is my nickname of the month May 2008: Hygiene (girl, 12). What on earth were the parents thinking? Of course, it could be that I’m culturally ignorant and badly in need of the aforementioned workshop.

The author of this article can be contacted at philiproeland@hotmail.co.uk
1/6/2008

Ignorance Or Arrogance? (July 2008)

Studying overseas has become increasingly popular with Thai students over the last decade, in undergraduate as well as graduate programmes. Not only do these students need robust finances in order to do so, they also need excellent English skills. Most foreign universities expect applicants to take either a TOEFL or an IELTS test in order to prove their English abilities.

TOEFL and IELTS are the two most important, internationally recognised tests for admission to tertiary education conducted in English. By the way, contrary to what I said in my introductory paragraph, this education doesn’t necessarily need to take place abroad since quite a few Thai universities – both public and private – now offer international programmes in Thailand, open to local and foreign students. The need for candidates to take an English language test remains though.

Readers who have ever taken either test or teachers who have taught TOEFL or IELTS courses can attest that for non-native speakers, doing well on these tests translates into a lot of hard work. Apart from becoming proficient in English, students will also need to fine-tune their test-taking skills and build up their endurance and concentration, as these tests usually take about four hours to complete.

Most universities require TOEFL iBT (Internet-based Test) scores of minimum 80 and IELTS band scores of minimum 6. For more exact information, students should contact the university they want to study at. Although most countries have now implemented the latest version of the TOEFL test, i.e. iBT, it is not unusual for universities to still use the older PBT (Paper-based Test) scores. Confused? Google the Internet for more information or look at my original column on www.ajarn.com where I've included a comparison table.

Anyway, this article isn’t about the exact scores needed to gain entrance to university; it’s about Thai students’ preparation – or rather lack thereof – before taking these tests. Readers familiar with Thailand might know that getting the required score on these tests is often a Herculean task for many students, thus the need to start early brushing up their English, planning wisely and making English part of their daily routine. For more tips on how to improve your English, please read some of my earlier columns.

As taking TOEFL and IELTS test has become commonplace in Thailand for many university entrants and graduates, tutoring schools helping students prepare have mushroomed. Unfortunately, many wannabe (under)graduate students still think preparing for a possibly life-changing English test is something which can be done in a matter of hours, days or weeks, whereas they should rather be thinking of months or even years.

During the last few weeks, as part of my school’s placement test, I interviewed half a dozen candidates, all expecting to be taught the TOEFL or IELTS nitty-gritty in a few weeks. All but one student scored higher than elementary on the placement test. I have to admit that I was not really surprised. The tragic part was that most were planning to take the test at the earliest the next month and at the latest by the end of the year and all considered doing well extremely important.

What baffled me most was that all these people, whose English could at best be described as poor and at worst as appalling, had no reservations at all about being able to study in an international programme where the lectures, assignments and even the possible overseas environment would be exclusively English. One woman, who was planning to enrol in an English PhD programme, couldn’t even answer basic conversational questions. She looked at me as if I was speaking Russian (to her, I probably was) and kept asking in Thai if I spoke Thai, which I of course stubbornly refused, as the whole point of the interview is to assess students’ speaking and listening skills.

I tried to explain to her, with the help of a Thai colleague, that in order to prepare for IELTS, her general level of English needed some improvement first (understatement of the year) before embarking on a much more challenging test preparation course. She pretended to understand yet didn’t sign up for a course, meaning she probably went to another language school willing to let her part with her money and sign up for an IELTS course immediately. At one point I was about to ask her why she didn’t pursue her PhD in Chinese. If she had answered that she didn’t speak any Chinese, I could have replied that she didn’t speak any English either. Of course I didn’t, but I kept wondering if this university graduate whose English was virtually non-existent was really expecting to be able to study full-time in a language she barely understood. Was that out of complete ignorance or arrogance?

This article would have ended here if it weren’t for an irksome incident I experienced the other day. Unfortunately, the title of this article does not exclusively refer to Thais' language skills. As you may know, Thai roads are among the most dangerous in the world and saying that Thai drivers, even the ones employed in the public transport sector, aren't the world's most skilled drivers is tantamount to calling a Turkish bath rather tepid. Although I don't complain easily and I am aware of the cultural sensitivity of complaints and the ensuing loss of face for all parties concerned, a van driver was driving so dangerously during my last trip to Kanchanaburi that my blood started to boil and I couldn’t help berating him for driving so recklessly. I am sure that in just 30 minutes he had accumulated enough traffic violations to revoke his driving license for the next three lifetimes. Although weaving through traffic, speeding and tailgating – simply put, driving like an utter maniac - are very common, I couldn’t appreciate him doing so when it started to drizzle.

In true Thai fashion, he completely ignored me apart from a condescending chuckle. His female companion tried to reassure me all was good by claiming ‘he vely good diver, no wolly’ , but although Evel Knievel slowed down slightly, I still felt far from being in safe hands. The look on the other passengers could only be described as completely indifferent and of course nobody wanted to get involved, either because they preferred running the risk of accidental death to losing face or because the simpletons thought driving like Lewis Hamilton on busy roads was swell.

A few days later, after I had cooled down and decided to start my private boycott of vans, I read an article in the Bangkok Post about road safety. The Thai Health Systems Research Institute recently released figures putting the number of people disabled in road accidents at 35 and those injured at 350 a day. A quick Internet search put the number of people killed in traffic at around 13,000 in 2005, and rising yearly. Taking into account the number of vehicles, miles travelled and population, this is far higher than most other countries. Such tragic figures should spur passengers into demanding safer drivers, especially on public transport. Are drivers so ignorant about what causes accidents or are they so arrogant to believe that their driving skills, amulets and flowers garlands will protect them from any harm?

The author of this article can be contacted at philiproeland@hotmail.co.uk
1/7/2008

Bangkok Getaways (1) - Kanchanaburi (April 2008)

A while ago I had four days off and was in need of a change of scenery. I wanted to escape the hustle and bustle of noisy Bangkok and find some cleaner air and more relaxing surroundings. I decided to revisit Kanchanaburi, a small town some 130 kilometres west of the capital and mostly known for its historic landmark, the Bridge on the River Kwai.

Although frequent buses depart from Bangkok's southern bus terminal and trains run twice daily from the Bangkok Noi train station, I opted for a passenger van originating at Victory Monument. The fairly spacious van took me and ten others for 130 baht to the centre of Kanchanaburi. Apart from an obnoxious mobile phone user sitting next to me spouting rubbish at high volume for the first 30 minutes, the journey was pleasant, quick and uneventful.

After about two hours, the driver let out most people at the Kanchanaburi bus station and asked me where I was planning to go. 'Near the river,' I told him, as that's where most of the tourist accommodation is situated. 'Okay, River Kwae,' he said, 'no ploblem'. As you may have noticed, the correct pronunciation of Kwai is 'kwae', so don't be surprised if locals are dumbfounded when you ask for the River Kwai (‘kwai’ means buffalo in Thai). After another two minutes, he dropped me off in front of the River Kwai Hotel, a medium-range hotel in the city centre, quite far from the actual river.

I didn't argue and got out, sensing that he might not comprehend why a wealthy foreigner would want to stay in budget accommodation overlooking a river. I hailed a motorbike taxi which took me for another 20 bath to the tourist street running parallel with the river. 'Pai nai?', asked the motorbike driver and I blurted out 'Jolly Frog', as that was the only one of the ubiquitous guesthouses I could remember from my previous visits three and six years earlier.

Jolly Frog's Backpacker's was still around and going stronger than ever. Although I hadn't really planned to stay there, I had a meal in their restaurant and checked out the rooms anyway. The guesthouse had a nice, big garden with well-kept grass, palm trees, deck chairs, some hammocks and access to the river. Although it is a typical backpackers' haunt, I thought it would be hard to find better price/quality.

Prices at the guesthouse were low, ridiculously low even. In fact, I regained some of my travelling enthusiasm I had lost on overpriced Ko Chang a few months earlier. It appeared that not everywhere in Thailand tourists are being squeezed like lemons. Jolly rooms started at 70 baht (no typo, about 2 dollars) which got you a single room with fan and shared bathroom. Raft rooms on the river went for 150 baht (shared bathroom); in the main building, doubles with private bathroom cost 200 baht (fan) or 290 baht (A/C). As it wasn't too hot, I settled for a fan room.

If these prices seem incredible, food at the Jolly restaurant was equally cheap, with meals starting at 25 baht. Just outside the guesthouse, 'Jolly Good Massages' offered Thai torture for as little as 130 baht per hour. Renting a bicycle cost 50 baht for 24 hours. Motorbikes were on offer as well for lazy buggers with a death wish or a local sweetheart.

Now what is there to see and do in Kanchanaburi apart from lazing in a hammock or sipping cold ones on a pontoon in the river? There is of course the famous bridge on the River Kwai, known around the world thanks to the war movie bearing the same name. The bridge was successfully bombed by the allied forces at the end of World War II, but was quickly thereafter restored. It is still used by the State Railway of Thailand which operates several trains daily on what is known as the Death Railway. This railway was designed by the Japanese and constructed by their prisoners of war linking Thailand with Myanmar, formerly known as Burma. It is said that one prisoner died for every sleeper on the railway.

Nowadays, the line only runs as far as Nam Tok, some sixty kilometres west of Kanchanaburi. Tickets on the tourist train originating in Kanchanaburi cost 300 baht for foreigners (100 baht for Thais) and include - apart from a seat in the special carriage on the train No. 257 - a soft drink (tea or coffee - sic), a snack (cookies), a certificate of pride (?) and a 200,000 baht insurance. You can either buy tickets at the train station yourself or join one of the several tours offered by local guesthouses and travel agencies. If you don't like trains, just walk across the bridge to soak up some of the atmosphere. There is even a shuttle train for tourists unable to walk the 200 metres across the bridge, which is ideal for the disabled and Thai sightseers.

Various day trips or half-day tours are sold everywhere in town and usually include more than just a trip on the Death Railway and a stop at the Hellfire Pass Memorial. Other diversions are visits to local waterfalls, hot springs or caves; bamboo rafting, elephant treks, elephant bathing and so on. Some agencies even offer overnight trips to hill tribe villages and the Three Pagodas Pass, located on the border with Myanmar, some 240 kilometres from Kanchanaburi. If you haven't seen a lot of Thailand yet, most of these tours are convenient and offer fairly good value for money (most one day tours cost 550 to 850 baht; entry fees and are food included).

None of the travel agencies include the Tiger Temple in their tours, but do offer transportation to this increasingly popular but controversial tourist attraction. I had heard quite a bit about this temple where tigers supposedly roam free and wanted to check out myself what the fuss was all about. Let me start by giving you a brief history about this temple, based on the temple's own leaflet.

The Tiger Temple is actually called Wat Pa Luangta Bua Yannasampanno. You can understand why it is commonly known as the Tiger Temple. It opened in 1994 and has gained a reputation as a wildlife sanctuary. Apparently, it all started with an injured jungle fowl given to the monks by villagers, followed by peacocks, wild boars, unwanted pets, deer, buffalo, cows, horses and wild goats.

The first tiger cub arrived in 1999 but died soon thereafter. However, since poaching is a lucrative business in Asia, cubs are often left to fend for themselves after their mother is killed. Some of these were brought to the temple. As the years went by, the cubs grew up and 'to the abbot's delight and surprise started to reproduce'.

Now hold on a minute. Surprise? The abbot might have guessed what would happen if you put male and female tigers together. Delight? Definitely, since the temple charges a 300 baht entry fee. As a result, 'the abbot conceived an ambitious plan to create a large open air enclosure where each tiger would be given one rai (1600 m2) of land'.

I thought this all sounded good at the start: rescuing tiger cubs from the hands of greedy poachers and building a sanctuary. The truth however is that although the tigers are still alive and given ample food and decent-sized enclosures, they are still locked up. No tigers roam free at the Tiger Temple. Nor is there any initiative to reintroduce them back into the wild, or so it seems.

When entering the grounds and following the crowds, the photo opportunity with tiger cubs is what you'll probably see first. A monk sits and plays with a number of young cubs which have been taken away from their mothers and hand-reared in order to domesticate them and suppress their natural instincts. Tourists can sit with the monk and cubs and have their picture taken. Allegedly, none of the tigers are ever fed raw meat in order to prevent them from having the occasional tourist for lunch. This might be working as I haven't heard of any maulings lately.

The adult tigers are taken daily from their enclosures to the Tiger Canyon, walked there by the monks assisted by a horde of volunteers working at the temple. In the canyon, the tigers are chained to the ground and visitors can have their photo taken squatting behind some of these fearsome beasts. The photos are taken with the tourists' own cameras by the volunteer workers and are free of charge. This lasts under a minute as on busy days hundreds of would-be Tarzans line up to be immortalised with a species that might soon feature on CITES EW-list (extinct in the wild).

Special pictures can be obtained for an extra 1,000 baht. For this hefty fee, you can spend more time with the tigers and have your picture taken with one of the biggest but tamest tiger’s head on your lap. This might be the time to remember that in order to get access to the temple, you have to sign a waiver, agreeing not to hold the temple responsible for any injuries or damage that you or your personal belongings may sustain.

Should a visit to the temple be on your itinerary when visiting the region? I think everyone should decide for themselves. There is a lot of controversy surrounding this temple on the Internet (cf. The Thorn Tree, Lonely Planet's online forum) and there are as many friends as foes of the temple. Friends describe their visits as an unforgettable experience, foes point out that this is no more than an ordinary zoo, where tigers are occasionally mistreated.

I didn’t witness any cruel treatment myself, but if what the monks do is conservationism, then it's definitely Asian-style. It is clear that the temple has become a well-oiled commercial operation with hundreds of daily visitors. I suppose it’s running a healthy profit, although a substantial part of this must be used to feed the tigers and build their enclosures. The temple seems to have no plans whatsoever to release any tigers back into the wild. This would actually be impossible as they have become domesticated and probably wouldn't be able to survive in the jungle. On the other hand, tigers in the wild are facing a grim future, and the temple is one of the only places where one can see these beautiful creatures close-up, albeit in chains. So to go or not to go? Without intending to influence readers, I didn't think it was worth it.

If you don't like seeing animals in captivity or want to avoid being mauled, you could visit some of Kanchanaburi's museums or war cemeteries instead. No danger there of being eaten alive. Like the Bridge on the River Kwai, all cemeteries and museums are conveniently located within cycling distance of the riverside accommodation. I thought the somewhat dilapidated and slightly bizarre World War II museum next to the bridge was the most interesting one, followed by the brand new, air-conditioned Death Railway Museum next to the centrally located Don Rak War Cemetery.

For food, drink and entertainment, there are a string of pubs and restaurants along the River Kwai Road in the vicinity of the guesthouses. Although their food and drink might have been good, they all suffered in February from the lack of tourists. The Jolly Frog restaurant, however, was always quite full, unlike the 15-odd roadside establishments that vied for the remaining twenty tourists roaming free.

My return to the capital on the fourth day was uneventful. I had booked a ticket for one of the vans that made the trip every hour to Sanam Luang, the park located near Kao San Road, and it picked me up right outside the guesthouse. Although I stayed 4 days/3 nights, Kanchanaburi can be visited in just a day or two if time is scarce. It's definitely worth it if you're in dire need of some low-cost rest and relaxation in unspoilt green surroundings.

The author of this article can be contacted at philiproeland@hotmail.co.uk.
1/4/2008

My Songkran Escape (May 2008)

For those who don’t live in the Land of Smiles, let me remind you that the Songkran Festival is the Thai celebration of the Buddhist New Year and is celebrated in the middle of April. Festivities usually last three to seven days and their main focus are on partying and water-throwing. Whereas the original festival was respectful and fun, nowadays it has completely degenerated into a drunken orgy of water hooliganism, harassment and binge drinking. No wonder that almost 500 deaths on the roads and several thousands of accidents occur yearly on Thai roads during Songkran. By the way, I completely disagree with most travel guides that say Songkran is one of the best times to visit Thailand. In my opinion, it’s one of the worst.

The festival isn’t about gently pouring water onto people’s hands anymore as it used to be; it has become real guerrilla warfare where water cannons, dirty water and even ice water are used as weapons. Many sexually frustrated male punters also seem to think that groping females is a legitimate part of the ‘fun’. In order to avoid this misery caused by bullies and barbarians, many foreign residents barricade themselves indoors for several days during this period, I kid you not.

This year, the missus and I decided to go on a 10-day trip to Singapore and Malaysia, partly to avoid the above-mentioned hysteria. I had been to the southern part of Malaysia (Langkawi and Penang) before but never to Singapore. She hadn’t been to either. Thanks to the Internet, I managed to buy some very reasonably priced aeroplane tickets to go from Bangkok to Singapore and come back from Kuala Lumpur to Bangkok. These ‘open jaw’ tickets made it possible to see both countries without having to do any backtracking.

Singapore

Although some friends and colleagues had depicted Singapore as rather dull and outrageously expensive, I wanted to see for myself. Most also reckoned that a two or three-day stay was ample time to see the mini-state, one even thought that one day was more than enough. How wrong they were.

My first impressions of the smallest South-East Asian country were very positive and I soon realised that one could easily spend a month there in order to explore every nook and cranny without getting bored. That is, if one had the time and money to do so. Although prices in Singapore aren’t prohibitively high, the country is truly expensive when compared to Thailand.

While walking along the Singapore River in the evening of our first day, my reaction was: ‘This isn’t Asia’. Singapore is really very different from most Asian countries I have visited. All the streets are clean. Traffic is very light. All motorists and pedestrians obey traffic rules. There aren’t any food stalls on the pavement or mangy dogs in the streets. Whenever there is an open space, there are some trees and well-kept grass instead of a pile of rubbish. New buildings are modern while old and historic buildings are tastefully renovated. Credit cards are accepted almost everywhere.

The reason behind the light traffic is a government policy that forces car lovers not only to buy a vehicle, but also a permit to drive it. This so-called Certificate of Entitlement (COE) costs about as much as a small car.

Singapore struck me as being similar to several western cities. I thought it combined the cosmopolitan atmosphere of Sydney, the sophistication of London and the homeliness of Amsterdam. Remember that this is just an impression based on a three-night stay. Thinking of the saying that a new broom sweeps clean, my positivism might erode with time.

Anyway, I’ll go over the most interesting facts of our stay without trying to bore you with every detail. Accommodation is expensive: dorm beds start at 20 Singapore dollars (SGD), the shabbiest hotel rooms go for 50 SGD. You’ll need to pay at least 70 to 100 SGD for a half-decent room, as we did in Little India, one of the cheaper city districts.

There are plenty of things to see and do; unfortunately they all cost money. We did seven of the ten must-see attractions (the iconic Merlion Park, tourist-friendly Sentosa Island, the original Chinatown, historic Clarke and Boat Quay, authentic Little India and alleged shopping paradise Orchard Road). Because of time constraints, we basically skipped all the animal and natural attractions such as Singapore Zoo, Night Safari, Jurong Bird Park and the Botanical Gardens. There are lots of good photo opportunities, so don’t forget your camera.

Tourist brochures are plentiful at Changi Airport, but they are disappointing as they mainly focus on high-street shopping and swanky dining, both of which cost tons of money. As I’m based in Bangkok, I’d never go to Singapore for shopping. An Arab wouldn’t go to Australia to buy a camel, would he now? (Yes I do know there are camels in the Outback.) Actually, we cut short our trip to Orchard Road, as seeing expensive department stores is not my idea of fun while on holiday.

If you want to put your platinum credit card to good use when you’re getting hungry, you can wine and dine at the ubiquitous classy restaurants found all over the city centre. However, if you aim is to keep the food bill affordable, try eating at food courts or local, down-to-earth eateries, where the food is usually just as tasty but where you won’t need to sell a kidney to settle the bill. Food courts can be found in most shopping areas while basic restaurants are abundant in the ethnically diverse districts such as Little India and Chinatown.

There is no Singaporean language. Most people speak Malay, Chinese or Hindi. Just about everybody speaks very good English as well. It was actually a relief to be able to speak English again wherever we went – contrary to Thailand, where hardly any local has the skill to conduct a basic conversation in fluent English.

Sources have told me that Thais are envious of Singapore, and so they should be. General living conditions are much better, e.g. no traffic jams, limited air and noise pollution, clean and wide pavements, better working conditions and decent salaries. Also, very few people in Singapore seem sexually confused: there are no ladyboys, transvestites, transsexuals, eunuchs or tomboys to be seen on every street corner, contrary to Thailand. By the way, Singapore has also shown the world that it is possible to have an abundance of squeaky-clean, non-smelly public toilets. I wish the rest of the world would follow suit.

Isn’t there anything negative about Singapore then? I suppose there is, but I just wasn’t there long enough to experience it. Rules are said to be very strict and laws are rigorously enforced. I saw a T-shirt for sale claiming that ‘Singapore is a fine city – smoking $500 fine, littering $1000 fine, jaywalking $300 fine’. Press freedom is supposedly suppressed and the government doesn’t seem to handle criticism very well. Also, if your daily diet requires lots of alcohol, remember that beer is about three times more expensive than in Thailand.

Malaysia

After three nights in Singapore, it was time to catch a bus to Malaysia. To our surprise, we were the only two passengers on the coach to Melaka (aka Malacca), a coastal city in the south-west of the Malaysian peninsula. Malaysian immigration was efficient, friendly and swift. I received a visa-free three-months-on-arrival stamp without even the need to fill in an arrival card.

Although it doesn’t have the sophistication of Singapore nor the sandy-white beaches and nightlife of Thailand, Malaysia is a pleasant and relaxing place to visit with a lot of atmosphere. Melaka, which is rapidly being developed as a seaside resort city cum fancy shopping malls, has lots of interesting buildings, museums and remnants of the colonial era, mainly located around Bukit Saint Paul (Saint Paul Hill), in the middle of the old town centre.

Accommodation in Malaysia is much cheaper than in Singapore, albeit slightly more expensive than Thailand. The hotel room we found was twice as nice and half the price of Singapore. Food is tasty and restaurants cater to most palates, with a mix of Malay and Chinese food being prevalent. Most restaurants are ‘halal’ (conforming to the Islamic dietary laws) of course, as the majority of Malaysians are Muslims. Alcohol is expensive.

Seeing all the sights in Melaka and getting some relaxation took us three days, after which we moved on the capital Kuala Lumpur. After a two-hour bus ride we arrived in KL, as it is commonly known; it’s a big, modern city which doesn’t seem to be plagued by never-ending traffic jams and near-fatal air pollution. A swath of fairly inexpensive but scruffy hotels and guesthouses is located in and around Chinatown, so choose wisely. Most Malaysians speak basic English, although some can be hard to understand.

KL’s Chinatown should really be called Faketown, since I hardly saw anything authentically Chinese sold at the Petaling Street market. Fake perfumes, designer clothes, leather ware, watches, pirated DVDs and the like was all there was. One could of course argue that producing fakes is an art the Chinese have perfected. On top of that, the market was swarmed with herds of obnoxious and bothersome vendors – none of them Chinese – who couldn’t sell a bottle of water to someone stranded in the desert.

The main tourist sites in KL include Independence Square (Dataran Merdaka) with the picturesque Sultan Abdul Samad building, the Petronas twin towers and a number of famous mosques. Besides these, the Lake Gardens in the middle of the city provide a welcome oasis of green with several attractions such as a planetarium, orchid and hibiscus garden, butterfly garden, the biggest bird park in the world and a placid lake with boats for rent. Lake Gardens cover quite a big area, and doing all of it on foot can wear you out in the heat. I wish they would have banned all cars and rented bicycles instead.

After another three nights in KL, it was time to return home. The Air Asia flight was not only cheap but also punctual and took us in two hours back to Bangkok. It had been a very nice break from Thailand indeed. Looking back, I was very pleasantly surprised by Singapore and racked up another positive experience in Malaysia. However, I was a bit surprised and dismayed that a lot more people than I had imagined in both Singapore and Malaysia smoked, with countless cigarette butts littering the streets especially in KL.

Several English language newspapers are available in both Singapore and Malaysia. While we were there, two Malaysian stories caught my teacher’s eye. The first one decried the situation in which youngsters find themselves pushed to the limit by their parents to perform well academically and are dragged kicking and screaming to tutoring schools every weekend, thus denying them the opportunity to be a child and play with friends. It surely reminded me of Thailand. The second one focused on parents’ anger towards a teacher who thought nothing of caning a boy after he had supposedly misbehaved. Locals usually condone corporal punishment and wouldn’t have batted an eyelid if it weren’t for the fact that in this particular case the boy who underwent the caning suffered from Down’s Syndrome.

A belated Happy Buddhist New Year to everyone.

The author of this article can be contacted at philiproeland@hotmail.co.uk
1/5/2008

Ways to improve Thai education (February 2008)

In last month’s column, I indicated that reforming Thai education should be one of the new government’s priorities. Although I predicted that this probably wouldn’t happen, I would nevertheless like to put forth some ideas as to how Thai education in general – and English language teaching in particular – could be improved in the Kingdom. In my opinion, this could be achieved through better teacher training, the use of appropriate teaching methods, reduced classroom size, fairer salaries, a more selective hiring process for foreign teachers and better motivated learners.

Teacher training

I think that first of all, teacher training should drastically improve. Students who are working their way through a university course in order to become a teacher should graduate with at least a decent working knowledge of English. Too often have I met university graduates with very poor language skills – even English majors often seem to struggle with the basics of the language!

One way of improving skills of future teachers – be it English, French or Chinese teachers – is to include a mandatory students’ exchange programme into the course, thus forcing students to study abroad where they will be able to use and fine-tune their language skills. For Thai English teachers, a stint in an English-speaking country can only be beneficial – even if it’s only a few weeks. Should this prove too expensive, regional countries with proficient English such as India or Singapore could be taken into consideration as training grounds.

Of course the problem isn’t really recently graduated teachers, but rather the older and more traditional teachers. Older refers to the many Thai teachers are now approaching retirement age; traditional refers to the local educators who stick to grammar-translation and rote-learning when teaching English. The grammar-translation method was devised centuries ago and focuses on grammar, reading and translation. Without going into too much detail, teachers using this method usually conduct an English lesson entirely in Thai, without any speaking or listening practice in the target language. Need I add that this method has been shelved for decades in most countries worldwide?

Teaching methods

Instead of using the ancient and ineffective grammar-translation method, teachers should rather use a mix of the communicative approach (focus on speaking and listening), the direct method (only English is used without translation, making use of props such as realia, flashcards, etc.), the audio-lingual method (focus on drilling, memorisation and pronunciation) and the lexical approach (focus on vocabulary, phrases and chunks of language).

I don’t want to go into too much detail, but it should be clear by now that in the English classroom, anything is better than the grammar-translation method; attention should be given to the four skills, with an emphasis on speaking and listening – skills which are essential for effective communication. The older generation of traditional Thai teachers should understand by now that being able to read Shakespeare and explain the usage of the present perfect continuous in their mother tongue gets students absolutely nowhere.

Ways to improve existing teachers’ skills include appropriate and regular workshops in English led by qualified teacher trainers, teacher observations with useful feedback and peer observations. Teachers should also gradually move from teacher-centred learning to student-centred learning. The teacher-centred approach that Thai teachers use is obsolete, does not allow any student participation and stifles debate and critical thinking. Even today, too many Thai teachers still see themselves as either omnipotent classroom dictators or infallible preachers who are never to be challenged. Unfortunately they haven’t noticed that most of their audiences have long fallen asleep.

So in order to improve students’ English skills, teachers should use a mix of appropriate teaching methods, be proficient in English, use more English when teaching (the more the better, but I feel that 50% - if not more – is an absolute minimum) and give more importance to speaking and listening.

Classroom size

Even the world's most qualified teacher wouldn't be able to teach decent English to classes of up to 50 unruly students or more, especially given the often limited time and resources at their disposal. In fact, learning a language effectively needs to be done in smaller groups of maximum 20. I personally think that teaching 10 to 15 students is ideal, but it would be foolish to believe this will ever be possible in Thailand (except for the upmarket private language schools). Apart from being well-trained, flexible, creative, patient and enthusiastic, teachers should be realistic and pragmatic; having a good sense of humour is also not to be underestimated.

So in order to improve language learning in particular and education in general, more efforts should be focused on decreasing class size. Doing so will involve building more classrooms and/or schools and hiring more teachers. Given the acute lack of local teachers at present, achieving this will be no small feat.

Fair salaries

In order to recruit new teachers successfully, the authorities will have to put more efforts into revaluating the teaching profession. Like almost everywhere in the world, teachers in Thailand are overworked and underpaid, especially the local teachers. Whereas most foreigners teaching in Thailand usually earn a fair salary - albeit rather modest on an international scale - beginning Thai teachers often make less than needed to survive. Although salaries increase with seniority, this won't lure new graduates into becoming teachers.

Therefore, the teaching profession should be made more attractive by offering a better starting salary and possibly performance bonuses (e.g. for attending or leading workshops). Moreover, teachers should be given more teaching responsibilities and fewer administrative tasks. Teachers should primarily teach, not push paper or other do chores which could basically be done by the school’s janitor.

Foreign teachers

As there is an acute lack of good local English teachers, hiring foreigners is a quick and easy way to cope with this problem. Until there are enough Thai teachers who are capable of delivering English lessons in English with a half-decent pronunciation, recruiting hordes of barbarians to fill these jobs is a necessity.

Does it matter where these foreign cohorts come from? Not really. When it comes to teaching languages, students should be taught by well-trained teachers who master the language they are teaching. It’s not really important if these foreign teachers are American or British. They could even be non-native speakers, such as Filipinos or Kenyans, as long as they can teach and are proficient in the language of Shakespeare.

In order to attract well-qualified foreigners, Thai schools will have to cough up enough hard cash. Although some schools pay relatively good salaries, many schools still try to get teachers on the cheap. They try to get away with paying Filipino teachers a pittance (actually a salary somewhere between that of Thais and westerners, which some Pinoys – in particular the not-so-qualified ones - accept, thus shooting the whole community in the foot); schools even revert to hiring poorly qualified but cheaper Eastern Europeans, mainly because they are carbon copies of white-skinned native speakers, albeit with an often heavy accent. Of course, school administrators shouldn’t forget that if you pay peanuts, you get monkeys.

Learners' motivation

Motivation to learn is one of the most important factors for students to achieve their goals quickly. Research has shown that average students who are well-motivated usually do better than excellent students who are not.

Although motivating students to learn isn’t always easy, I see a clear correlation between the students’ motivation and the teacher’s enthusiasm and teaching skills. I also think that motivating children and teenagers should be a joint effort between parents and teachers. Imagine children who are asked by an enthusiastic teacher to read a book, follow the news or practise some English outside the classroom only to go home to parents whose idea of time well spent is to watch never-ending daily soap operas, to spend most family time inside shopping malls and never to discuss anything more profound than what they have eaten or going to eat. I’d say the teachers’ efforts will largely have been a waste of time.

Thirst for knowledge isn’t innate. If children never see parents read a book or watch the news on TV, are never taken to a park or a zoo at the weekend, are never asked for their opinion or expected to be creative, it will be very difficult to undo this attitude they see as the norm. They’ll just be assimilated into a society where consumerism, ignorance and xenophobia are considered acceptable.

Will it happen?

So how can Thailand improve its education? In a nutshell: train the trainers, put fewer students together, motivate them better, hire the right foreign educators to help this bring about, and involve parents more.

I am aware that efforts are already underway to improve teachers’ skills, but it seems that either not enough teachers are reaping the benefits from this programme or that too much is expected in too short a time. It is ludicrous to think that such profound changes can be achieved in one year.

I fully realise that most of the measures I put forth in this article are largely policy decisions, thus depending mainly on the insight, common sense and willingness to change of politicians. Consequently, I have to admit that I am somewhat doubtful that any of the above ways to improve education will be implemented in the near future.

In the meantime, as teachers, we can only continue to proffer advice and help and teach our Thai students to the best of our abilities. Let’s hope that the efforts of dedicated teachers will inspire learners and in the end rub off on both students and society. Among the students of today will be the policymakers of tomorrow, so in the end the seeds we sow today might one day bear fruits and lead to a change in attitude towards learning in general. As this is a long-term investment, we can only hope that it comes full circle sooner rather than later.

If some readers see this article as an indictment of not only Thai policymakers, but also of established teachers and parents, well, it suppose is. I think it is about time for everyone involved in education to wake up and realise that something needs to be done and that if you’re not part of the solution, you’re more than likely part of the problem.

The author of this article can be contacted at philiproeland@hotmail.co.uk.
1/2/2008

How to Motivate Students (March 2008)

motivate (verb)
• to cause someone to behave in a particular way
• to make someone want to do something well
motivation (noun)
• enthusiasm for doing something

Last month I suggested that improving student motivation is one of the keys to improve education in general and language learning in particular. This month I’ll explore some possible avenues as to how exactly students can be motivated. I am aware that many articles have already been published on this topic, but I’ll put in my two cents/pennies/satang anyway; if there is any repetition, please fast-forward.

Research has shown that average students who are well-motivated usually do better than excellent students who are not. Motivation is important if we want students to exploit their capabilities to the fullest. Remember that in real life as well, there usually – if not always - has to be some kind of motivation, a purpose or an incentive for people to do something, be it learning English, enrolling in a cooking class or going swimming.

Motivation can either be internal or external. Students who are internally motivated usually learn English because they want to, because they enjoy learning or because they want to achieve a certain goal, not because they have to. Examples of personal goals could be pursuing a promotion at work or planning to enrol in a foreign university’s graduate programme.

Goals can be more general as well: some people just want to be able to speak better English with friends or colleagues, write e-mails to pen pals, read interesting articles on the Internet or be able to travel the world without always having to rely on tourist guides or talking dictionaries. Most students who are internally motivated tend to be adults.

Few children or teenagers have the internal motivation adults have, which is not really surprising. Have you ever heard an eight-year old say ‘I want to learn English so I can find a good job when I graduate and make lots of money?’ I haven’t. When you ask children or even teenagers why they are studying English (or any other foreign language), they’ll more often than not say (or think) ‘because my parents want me to’, ‘because I have to’ or ‘I have no idea’.

I admit that some give better reasons such as ‘because I like (sic)’, ‘because it important (sic)’ or ‘because I want to speak English very good (sic)’. In my experience, these replies don’t necessarily prove the student is internally motivated, especially not in Thailand; students usually just want to please their teacher by giving these answers. I sometimes have to refrain from replying ‘Well if you like it that much, why the hell don’t you try a bit harder?’

External motivation means that there is an outside factor giving students a reason to learn English. For adults, this could mean that their boss or company expects them to brush up their English (or face the axe) or that they need a certain TOEIC score in order to be considered for a bonus. Especially for adults, internal and external motivation often overlaps. For children, it is usually their parents or teachers who provide stimuli for motivation.

Getting students motivated just by the power of persuasion is quite difficult. Thus, parents and teachers alike often use reward or punishment to motivate students. Here are some examples:

• (Loving parents talking)
If you get good grades,
o we’ll go to KFC every day. (this makes not only students, but also Colonel Sanders happy; it also assures doctors' future employment thanks to obesity and clogged arteries)
o we’ll buy you a new computer game. (with illegally copied games to keep Thailand on the Priority Watch List)
o you’ll get your dinner every night. (a bit more old-fashioned, I admit, but food is extremely important to Thais)

• (Strict parents talking)
If you fail or do worse than the neighbours’ kids,
o Santa won’t come this year. (only works with kids under 15)
o we’ll have you do exercise. (every couch potato’s nightmare)
o we’ll start calling you Buffalo. (only works in Thailand)

• (Caring teacher talking)
If you do your best and cooperate well,
o your parents will be proud of you. (a long shot, I admit)
o we’ll play a (language) game after the break. (kids love games)
o I’ll buy everyone pizza at the end of the term. (budget wisely)

• (Fed-up teacher talking)
If you keep mucking about,
o I’ll have teacher Somchai cane you. (it's outlawed, but who cares)
o I’ll confiscate your mobile phone and Game Boy. (ouch!)
o I’ll tell your parents. (only works with strict parents)
o I’ll send you to the principal. (annoys them both)

There are of course other techniques in order to make students – willingly or unwillingly – cooperate more. Here are a few ideas:
 Simple oral praise in the classroom.
 Giving a 'thumbs-up' when answering correctly.
 Stars or positive comments in workbooks or notebooks.
 For smaller groups, wall charts or whiteboard-based systems for keeping track of students' cooperation and effort (e.g. Students' names with smiley faces or ticks for positive participation, sad faces or crosses for disruptions or laziness; possible prize for the best student at the end of the term).

Although I am currently based in Thailand, I have no reason to think that lack of motivation is typically Thai. It can be found in EFL classrooms around the world. In Thailand however, the lack of motivation seems to be more ingrained and tougher to stamp out. This could be due to the no-fail policy, which ensures students graduate no matter how good or bad their English is or how lazy they are.

Also, many Thais – especially children and teenagers – don’t see any reason why they should speak English. As said before, they know a foreign teacher can’t fail them, so they feel untouchable. On top of that, many of them have absolutely no desire to go abroad or to speak to foreigners if they can avoid it. All foreign TV programmes are dubbed in Thai and cinemas provide either dubbed or subtitled versions of most films.

Although I’ve been somewhat pessimistic, I’d like to end on an optimistic note. I do think it is possible to motivate students, even in Thailand. I am certain that the enthusiasm and creativity shown by many teachers eventually rubs of on learners, well, at least to a certain extent and if not on all, then at least on some students. We teachers can only do so much. As the saying goes, you can lead a horse to water, but you can’t make it drink.

The author of this article can be contacted at philiproeland@hotmail.co.uk.
1/3/2008

Goodbye 2007, Welcome 2008

First of all, my best wishes for the New Year. I hope you all had a good time and are keen to get back to work, full of renewed energy. Personally, I’m really thankful Christmas and New Year are behind us as, apart from Songkran (the Thai New Year), it’s one of the times of the year I appreciate the least. In this column I’ll briefly look back on 2007 before making some predictions for the year that lies ahead.

I spent the final days of 2007 on Ko Chang (Elephant Island) in the Gulf of Thailand. Although I have been quite a regular visitor there over the past years, I have decided that I won’t return anymore. Without going into too much detail or being too critical, let’s just say that the place has lost most of its charm to me and that the development going on there is – in my humble opinion – not sustainable and will just turn the island into another ugly and overpriced tourist trap. Despite the advertisements claiming the opposite, Ko Chang is not a world-class destination; nor is Suwannapoom in Bangkok the best airport in the world. Come to think of it, I’d be reluctant to recommend a holiday in Thailand to friends or family nowadays.

So what happened in 2007? The main international stories of 2007 that I remember are the worldwide awakening to the fact that global warming might actually be a real threat after all, the short-lived but fierce uprising by Burmese monks and ordinary citizens fed up with their military dictators, the ongoing tragedy in Darfur, the turmoil in the financial markets leading to a global credit crunch and the first run on a bank in modern history and the tragic death of Benazir Bhutto, brutally assassinated shortly after her return to her home country. Education-wise, the collapse of Nova, the biggest English language school in Japan, deserves a mention.

Also, let’s not forget the new batch of world leaders coming to the fore in 2007 (Brown, Sarkozy, Rudd, Fukuda), Al Gore receiving a Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts, and the continuing plight of Aung San Suu Kyi, the Burmese pro-democracy icon who remains under house arrest. I suppose the war in Iraq should get a mention with its relentless suicide bombers still wreaking havoc and the rising disgruntlement of US citizens with George’s disastrous adventure, but it is clear that global interest in this seemingly endless conflict has been waning.

Although many Thais seem to think that 2007 was a bad year for their country, to me it was just business as usual. The main stories I remember were the public referendum for the new constitution (approved by 60% of the population), the run-up to the December elections and the resurrection of the defunct That Rak Thai Party under the name of the People Power Party, and the elections themselves with the aforementioned PPP as the clear winner.

There was also the ongoing slaughter in the restive South, where rebels keep killing and beheading innocent people for no apparent reason (do they really want independence?), the numerous stories about the struggling economy (although 2007 was a top year for Thai exports), the fact that schools nationwide received the authorisation to increase classroom sizes as an ill-conceived panacea for the lack of classrooms and teachers (classes can now have up to 50 students if I remember correctly, but that’s irrelevant as 30+ students in a class is already too high to get a quality education). Finally, the Jatukarn Ramathep amulet craze and the King’s brief hospitalisation kept Thais spellbound in 2007.

Many Thais had the impression that, economically, 2007 was a bad year. Although Thailand lagged behind most other ASEAN countries in terms of growth, the country’s economy still grew by about 4 per cent. I suspect the people’s unfavourable impression was especially fuelled by rising oil prices and the realisation that the government wouldn’t keep bailing out its gas-guzzling citizens and industries any longer. Thais should start waking up to the fact that global oil prices affect everyone and that the only remedy is to start economising fuel. State subsidies will not accomplish this as they are seen by most as a get-out-of-jail-free card and rather lead to an increase instead of a decrease in fuel consumption.

So far for 2007, now what about 2008? Internationally, the US presidential elections will dominate the world headlines, with a predictable win for Hillary Clinton as the first female president in US history. Other topics that will dominate international news are Pakistan and global warming.

Although global warming will continue to attract the attention it deserves, I still feel that equal efforts ought to be made to combat pollution in general and the depletion of the Earth’s natural resources if mankind is to survive the 21st century. As for Pakistan, it’s anyone’s guess what the outcome of its precarious situation will be.

For Thailand, one can only hope that the newly elected politicians will be able to form a fair and democratic government, taking into consideration the delicate situation the whole country is facing. Reconciliation between the pro- and anti-Thaksin groups will be vital, as well as bridging the gap between the wealthy and the poor with sustainable policies instead of populist hand-outs. Other priorities of the next government should include finding a solution for the unrest in the Deep South, weeding out corruption at all levels and improving and reforming education, just to name a few. I predict that few of these wishes will come true though.

For myself, I predict that I’ll stay just another year in the Land of Smiles. It seems that the longer you stay in Thailand, the more it grows on you but at the same time the more it gets to you.

The author of this article can be contacted at philiproeland@hotmail.co.uk.
1/1/2008

Using the Internet to improve your English (November 2007)

During the last few months I received several requests for advice from learners of English eager to improve their English skills. In this column, I’ll give a brief overview of possibly useful resources that can mainly be found on the Internet.

Let’s start with reading. When asked to advise students what to read, I never recommend any novels or other full-length English books to students. In my experience, students who try to read English novels often get discouraged easily, unless their level of English is really good (we’re talking upper-intermediate to advanced here). Buying an 800-page Harry Potter book is usually a complete waste of money if their English is below intermediate. Instead, I’d recommend graded readers for students keen on reading English.

Graded readers are fairly short English books – often adaptations of real English novels – suited for almost every level. Graded readers usually come in five or six levels, from starter to advanced. I included links to a few of the major publishers’ websites at the end of this article. These sites give a good overview of what’s available and offer free downloads of extra materials (stuff to be used by teachers or students who bought the books). Unfortunately, there are no free book downloads available, but not to worry, as they are very affordable compared to full novels.

Apart from graded readers which have to be purchased in real shops with real money, there are of course loads of free reading materials available online. The choice is vast, so I’ll limit myself to two of the websites I find particularly useful: www.readbangkokpost.com and www.student-weekly.com. Both provide lots of authentic articles and provide a word bank at the end of each article, so there’s no need to waste precious time looking up words in a dictionary.

On top of tons of reading materials, the Internet provides many other opportunities. To practice listening, just tune in one of the numerous Internet radio stations. The BBC News website (www.bbcnews.com) – among a plethora of others - provides lots of high-quality news reports and radio shows. This same website also provides authentic video material as well as an abundance of world news. As this is not a learning website, elementary or even pre-intermediate students might find it too difficult though. They should rather visit the part of the site dedicated to education (www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish).

Apart from the video footage available on the BBC site, there are many other sites which offer similar services – all for free. For students who prefer a US accent, once ground-breaking CNN and bigoted Fox News are just two American examples of news providers with massive content and good-quality video.

Other authentic video sources include YouTube and podcasts. Although popular YouTube with its millions of video clips offers the possibility to view and upload home-made clips, I think it has more entertainment than educational value. Podcasts – a kind of video (or audio) clip that can be downloaded and viewed off- or online - are now also widely available on the Internet. Pioneer Apple with its slick iTunes interface offers a fair selection of free podcasts; it is necessary to install the iTunes software though if you want to download and view them (make sure you have broadband as it’s a rather big download). Although podcasts are available straight from several other websites, I still enjoy the tastefully designed Apple software.

For students looking for more educational content and online courses instead of authentic materials, a myriad of websites provide free English lessons for all levels, ranging from beginner to advanced, from IELTS preparation to business English, from Pidgin English to skid row slang. Australian ABC and Australia Network for example offer very decent educational English content, entirely free. Better@English is another busy site full of useful stuff.

Although it might seem that the Internet only provides opportunities to practise passive skills (reading and listening), this is not really true. Email, instant messaging programmes, chat rooms, forums and message boards are all wonderful tools to practice writing skills in an informal manner and without the pressure of a classroom environment.

Moreover, with either an instant messaging programme and a headset or the use of an Internet telephone service (e.g. Skype) at ridiculous prices, learners can now even fine-tune conversation and telephoning skills. Why not talk to your online chat friend or give that anonymous cyber pen-friend a ring?

I could go on forever about the availability of decent material and opportunities on the Internet, but I won’t. Computer-savvy learners surely know how to use search engines to their advantage and uncover more hidden gems. Make sure to share that knowledge with others if needed.

Internet links:
www.penguinreaders.com (Penguin graded readers website)
www.macmillanenglish.com/readers (Macmillan graded readers website)
www.oup.com/elt/catalogue/general/readers (OUP graded readers website)
www.readbangkokpost.com (Bangkok Post site for learners of English)
www.bangkokpost.com (the real deal)
www.student-weekly.com (articles for learners of English)
www.bbc.co.uk/news (news, radio, video)
www.cnn.com (news and video)
www.foxnews.com (news and opinionated but good quality video)
www.youtube.com (video)
www.itunes.com (Apple iTunes podcasts)
www.podcast.net (podcasts)
www.abc.net.au/vod/education (educational part of the ABC website)
www.australianetwork.com/learnenglish
www.betteratenglish.com
www.skype.com

The author of this article can be contacted at philiproeland@hotmail.co.uk.
1/11/2007

Land of a Million Elephants (December 2007)

No, this column isn’t about Thailand, India or Africa, where elephants abound. Land of a Million Elephants, or Lan Xang in the local lingo, does not refer to the Land of Smiles as readers familiar with South-East Asia will know, but to Thailand’s northern and north-eastern neighbour Laos. Strangely enough, I’ve never seen a single elephant in Laos. In this article, I’ll give a brief account of my recent trip to this landlocked country which is far less travelled not as well-known as its Thai neighbour.

Laos, officially called Lao People’s Democratic Republic, is about half the size of Thailand - or roughly the same size of the United Kingdom - but has only 6 million inhabitants, which is only a tenth of the population of the two previously mentioned countries. It is basically one of the last remaining communist countries in the world, although various forms of free enterprise seem to be allowed nowadays. The economy is mainly based on agriculture, forestry, mining and tourism.

Contrary to visiting Thailand, which is only a package tour away for most international tourists, holidaying in Laos takes some more time and planning. Also, it isn’t (and will hopefully never be) the ideal destination for tourists seeking to stay exclusively in four or five star hotels, to have themselves pampered by masseuses on white beaches or to pursue the personal services of local ‘business’ girls, be it bar, beer, karaoke or go-go girls.

For more detailed information on this beautiful country, I suggest you just use Google and surf to the most appropriate webpage among the 3.5 million search results. I’ll limit myself here to giving information that might be useful for a short trip to Vientiane, the Laotian – or Lao – capital and Vang Vieng, a rustic rural town some 160 clicks north of Vientiane.

For would-be tourists based in Bangkok, there are a few different ways to get to Laos. With budget airlines such as Nokair and Thai AirAsia, flying to Udon Tani in the upper North-East of Thailand is now within anyone’s budget. Promotional tickets start at 3 baht (10c), but with taxes and surcharges such as fuel, weight, height, luggage, check-in, nationality and gender surcharge, cost an average of 1,500 baht (1 US dollar = 34 baht; 1 euro = 49 baht; 1 pound = 70 baht). It’s still cheap though considering they take you to Udon Tani, located about 550 km north of Bangkok and 50 km south of the Lao border. Although direct flights to Vientiane exist, flying within Thailand saves significantly on airfare, airport taxes and service charges.

From the Udon Tani airport, either use the ‘limousine service’ to the Friendship Bridge in Nong Kai (basically a small air-conditioned bus; fare 150 baht) or take a van to the local bus station to catch the convenient international bus Udon Tani – Vientiane (fare 80 baht; only do this if you have a Lao visa in advance as the bus doesn’t wait at the border). Visas can be obtained either beforehand from any Lao embassy or consulate or on arrival; visas usually grant a stay of up to 30 days and can be extended. The visa on arrival will take approximately 20 minutes to process at the border checkpoint and cost between 20 and 42 US dollar. The Chinese are happy campers while Canadians have the right to look sour-faced. Most other nationalities pay between 30 and 35 dollars (or the equivalent in baht). Make sure to have a passport photo handy.

Another straightforward, but less comfortable way to get to Vientiane is taking an overnight bus to the Thai border town of Nong Kai. Buses departing from Morchit bus station cost between 350 baht for a second-class A/C bus to 700 baht for a 24-seater VIP bus. It’s always a good idea to pay a little bit extra to make the 8 to 10 hour journey more agreeable. Alternatively, people with lots of spare time might ‘city-hop’ to the border, visiting the main tourist attractions of - in my opinion - rather dull cities such as Nakon Ratchasima, Kon Kaen and Udon Tani along the way.

For more detailed travel information, just visit one of the thousands of travel forums or tourist websites available online – or go with the flow, as travel should be partly a personal discovery, instead of just retracing someone else’s footsteps.

Once you’ve crossed into Laos, you are still twenty odd kilometres away from the capital. If you came without using the international bus, dilapidated, metre-less taxis, private or public tuk-tuks (the smaller ones are called jumbos, the bigger ones Skylabs) or public buses can get you there. Don’t be afraid to bargain, but remember that the price of petrol has gone up markedly lately. Don’t think that because Laos is poorer than Thailand, it will consequently be cheaper to travel. Like Cambodia, it’s not; it’s even slightly more expensive (less cheap is actually more appropriate).

Accommodation in the Lao capital ranges from the very cheap to the expensive. Five dollars might still get you a dorm bed or sleazy room in a grotty guest house, while credit cards are probably a must in Don Chan Palace, the one and only five-star hotel in the country. There are lots of options in between these two extremes; just walk around the small city centre and look around.

Now what is there to see and do once you’re in Vientiane? Actually, the capital of Laos is a very laidback place, quite the opposite form the hustle and bustle of mega-Bangkok. It is similar to a provincial Thai city and lacks high-rise buildings. Traffic jams are also an unknown phenomenon in this city. Although Laotians do enjoy the comfort of a modern car, many cannot afford one and get around by motorbike. When travelling in Vientiane, there is always a whiff of a two-stroke engine’s exhaust in the air. Similar to their Thai neighbours, locals don’t seem to enjoy the pleasure of pedalling a bicycle, although the absence of heavy traffic makes for fair and enjoyable riding conditions.

Bicycles as well as motorbikes can be rented along the Mekong River and are ideal to explore the fringes of the city. For sightseeing in the city centre, all one needs is a good pair of walking shoes. Compared to five years ago, most roads are now nicely paved and even sport pavements and a bunch of new traffic signs. Potholes no longer threaten the lives of bikers and hikers alike.

The main attractions of Vientiane are its temples and its unhurried atmosphere. Just walk or cycle around the city centre to discover these hidden beauties. Wat Si Saket and Ho Pra Kaew are probably the most interesting temples within the small city centre. Admission price is a mere 5,000 kip for foreigners (1 US dollar = 9500 kip, 1 euro = 13000 kip, 1 pound = 18000 kip). Apart from these, there are plenty more where entrance is free.

Other interesting sites in Vientiane include Patuxai, the Lao version of the French Arc de Triomphe and That Luang, the most important national temple and pride of the country. Just rent a bicycle or put on your walking boots to get there. Take a tuk-tuk if it’s a hot day or if you’re handicapped. When temple-fatigue sets in, just wander along the banks of the Mekong River and indulge in some local food and drink. Beer Lao, fruit shakes or fresh coconut juice as well as nice local food can be found anywhere at very moderate prices.

Nightlife in Laos isn’t particularly exciting, but that has never bothered me or stopped me from visiting. With a midnight closing time for all entertainment venues, there are no opportunities for all-night drinking sessions or other debauchery, which is exactly what the Lao government intended when they implemented this so-called curfew. The most popular tourist haunts still seem to be Kobchai Deu Bar & Restaurant near Namphu Fountain, Samlor Pub which offers live football and the string of restaurants and beer gardens along the Mekong. There are a number of discos and nightclubs on the road to the airport, but these are primarily a deafening Lao affair.

Seeing Vientiane can be done in just one or two days. If you’re fed up quickly, the most interesting site outside the city is probably Buddha Park, a green area full of Buddha statues and sculptures near the Friendship Bridge, some 25 kilometres east of Vientiane. Take either a local bus from the Morning Market bus station or rent a motorbike to get there. Don’t forget to take your camera if you’re a photo aficionado. Laos offers plenty of marvellous photo opportunities. In Vientiane however, you sometimes just have to go the extra mile to find them. Remember that the best time to take great pictures is usually early morning or late afternoon, when the sunlight isn’t too harsh, so even late or hung-over risers need not despair.

If you’re not into city trips, Vientiane can be the stepping stone to a relaxing stay in Vang Vieng, a small town 160 kilometres north of the capital which is on every backpacker’s itinerary. The main draws of this insignificant town are probably the fact that it’s fairly far from modern civilisation (although there are several Internet cafes), the abundant possibilities it offers for relaxation and its laidback – even dormant – atmosphere.

What most people do when they end up in Vang Vieng, which lies at the banks of the small Nam Song River and is surrounded by breathtaking mountains, is going tubing, kayaking, caving, cycling, hiking, sunbathing or swimming in the fast-streaming and shallow river. Other less adventurous options include just sitting along the banks of the river drinking Beer Lao, watching endless reruns of Friends in one of the ubiquitous restaurants or getting high on illegal substances (remember that penalties are harsh when caught).

Accommodation in this small town is cheap and plentiful. Guesthouses are everywhere and charge as little as 3 dollars per night. Better rooms with A/C and hot water (depending on the season you might need either or both) cost a fistful of dollars more. My premium room at the Gran View Hotel on the riverbank came with A/C, hot water and a splendid vista of the river and mountains, and set me back fifteen greenbacks (only ten dollars for similar rooms without the view).

Getting to Vang Vieng is quite straightforward. Just book a ticket for a tourist bus or van at a guest house or travel agent (6 dollars, 4 hours); go to the Morning Market bus station and take a public bus (2.5 dollars, 28 hours); go to the pickup (songtaew or shared taxi) station west of the airport (2.5 dollars, 4 hours); or rent a dirt bike near Mekong River and design their own road trip.

Although this article only focused on Vientiane and Vang Vieng, there are many more interesting places to visit in this welcoming country. Quiet and colonial Luang Prabang (with airport) in the North and remote and relaxing Si Pan Don or Four Thousand Islands (fortunately without airport), in the South are rapidly becoming tourist hotspots. Although they are not exactly off the beaten track anymore, these places are still relatively unspoilt and definitely merit a visit before they become overrun by hordes of airborne tourists. Don’t forget to enjoy the serenity and beauty of the country and turn of your phone for a really relaxing stay. Also, even though the most rural places now seem to offer Internet access, checking your email account twice a day or updating your blog, or Facebook webpage with stories and pictures can really wait a couple of days. Stress and rat race are words which aren’t part of the Lao vocabulary.

The author of this article can be contacted at philiproeland@hotmail.co.uk.
1/12/2007