Many students seem to be getting one year ed visas just so they can stay in the country and perform other activities. The go to class when they feel like it and in one case this has been only one lesson out of three. This causes a problem for those students who want to learn as the teacher must go back and redo all the work and the students cannot participate in group conversations at the correct level having neither the vocabulary or grammar that has allready been covered.

There are times I have been tempted to pick up the phone and call immigration but this is a bit extreme.

Any ideas on how schools and other students should handle this problem.

Many students seem to be getting one year ed visas just so they can stay in the country and perform other activities. The go to class when they feel like it and in one case this has been only one lesson out of three. This causes a problem for those students who want to learn as the teacher must go back and redo all the work and the students cannot participate in group conversations at the correct level having neither the vocabulary or grammar that has allready been covered.

There are times I have been tempted to pick up the phone and call immigration but this is a bit extreme.

Any ideas on how schools and other students should handle this problem.

relax.

that is the downside of group work, but if you eliminate always the weakest element, there will comes one day where you are the runner-up and tomorrow the next. imagine, if you can (i guess you never had that experience in your life), how the smart ones feel annoyed by the stupid. but there is not much you can do.

calling the immigration for this is more than a bit extreme.

why not ask at the school to come into some advanced class or change the school. do you take thai lessons for your career or did you start school because there is that one year education visa? did you choose one of these school that have this big advertisings around that promised you a one year visa as the main reason to matriculate? if the answer is yes - you get what you have paid for, don't blame your fellow students.

are on beginner level? possible solution: take an intensive course with lessons on 4 -5 days per week, 4 hours per day and after one , two month you should be able to attend a course with more diligent students, a course on a level that this lazy students will never reach. don't take the only 3 hours per week over the span of one year option - this is not for the serious hard core learner, but for the one who wanted just the one year visa and attending school is an optional plus of spare time activity.

It's unbelievable that you get a Ed visa if you study only 180 hours per year. That's less 30 minutes per day! And even that seems to be too much for some. You can hardly call yourself a student if you study that little.

If you really want to study Thai you better go to a different school. Schools that give only 180 or 200 hours per year attract people that are looking for an easy visa solution without really being interested in studying. These people will slow down the few others that really want to study. This is something one could have known before entering the course.

Schools that teach 3 hours or 4 hours per day have less than 20% absence and students that are absent often will not be allowed to go to the next level.

Is it possible you are at a school that is *designed* for this purpose? i.e. minimal teaching, maximal money (= visa for sale)? They're not uncommon. Maybe look around for a new school.