The Ramkanghaeng Debacle

[Chan mai roo crap]

Sorry everybody, I already posted this last night, but it looked such a mess. I must have been really pissed off and stressed out when I wrote it. Here is a version with actual paragraphs........

UPDATE

In theory, we need to have finished the WP and visa business by tomorrow, as we are expected in school on Monday. Up to now, 6pm Thurs, not a word about coming in and picking up the paperwork.

Let me tell you. Currently the Nonthaburi project is in chaos. The majority of teachers who have been with the project for 3 to 4 years have all been offered a 4 month contract...yep, you read it right, 4 MONTHS, due to the amazing incompetence and mis-management by the Colonel in charge (that's what she is called there).

The rationale goes like this. As your temporary teachers licence is only valid until September the 10, we cannot offer a contract that finishes in the middle of the month and RAM contracts must run for 4-5 and 11 months. 5 months takes us into March, so that is out of the question, so we can only offer 4 months. Nobody ever thought of that when the temp licences were issued. So, a lot of teachers wasted a lot of time and money rushing back to meet the sign the contract deadline (5pm Monday Oct 25)

I personally was only given 1 days notice (email Sunday to be there on Monday)and i happened to be overseas at the time, as were a lot of our Filipino brothers and sisters. Further to this, the teachers council agreed to extend the temp licences to expire at the end of September so that we could then get an 11 month contract and so facilitate getting full use of our temp teachers licence. But the colonel in her usual heartless, unkind and cold manner said...nope, sorry, get lost. So, there is much unhappiness and bitterness among the rank and file.

After being reduced to being unwilling tourists at our own expense...FOR LEGAL REASONS......<deleted> and then faced with being disenfranchised regarding the temp teachers licence, some teachers ended up crying, but not one word of sympathy from the turncoat Australian who purports to be "teacher support", he is just a forelock-tugger to the Fraulein colonel and in the words of a famous german (was it Herr Klink or the fat german guard?), just replied to every question with " I know nothing" you must ask the untouchable and inaccessible Dr Rapin.

It turns out that this whole charade is connected to a court case that Ramkanghaeng lost, for the wrongful dismissal of a teacher. They had this lovely habit of asking a teacher to come into the office and giving them a moments notice, like, get out now, the school doesn't want you back. Apparently the high and mighty in RAM thought they were above the labour laws and found out to their cost that they are not (as the teacher had worked there for several years, he got a big payout). So, they have connived to reduce every teacher to being a tourist and then re-employ them as if they are a new employee, thereby circumventing the intent of the labour laws.

So, it appears that all of the heartbreak and stress to the teachers is a result of paranoia on the part of the colonel and her masters, in fear of ever having to lose face by being successfully sued again. There are other twists and turns in this saga involving infighting among certain members of the staff, which almost came to blows and by all accounts has resulted in another court case, the details of which are not known by this writer.

BE WARNED ANY WOULD BE NEW TEACHERS.....YOU ARE IN FOR A ROUGH RIDE. This is the only job I have ever had where every year the terms of the contract get worse and worse, all stick and no carrot, no incentive to do your job well, no rewards for loyal service, only further reductions in terms of days off sick.....now 4 days only. Personal business leave....4 days. If you are off on a Monday or Friday, you can be fined 1000 baht for each day, not allowed to be ill on those days......!!!! Not a kind word to be seen anywhere in the contract, it is all punitive. Ok...that's enough, my head hurts......had to get it off my chest, because no one gives a shit at the office.

Oh! and why would the most demanding job of arranging contracts, visas etc, be given to a nincompoop who can barely speak English?.....is it all part of a dastardly plot to confuse us? Let's all drink to the Thai way of doing things...........cheers Why do I stay there you might ask...the big problem for me is that I really like my school, but I am now considering jumping ship..end of my tether has been reached.

[elcent]

One could think that it would be much better for all involved to adjust to local teacher's salary with some little extras for living and problem's solved.

Ngi-ngai

[lovelomsak]

Have you failed to tell us something?

Are these all native english speaking teachers.

Or is it many different groups some native speakers some not?

Is there a probblem with undermining authority, or lack of respect for leaders?

Please tell us more I am interested?

I see by your post you are Filipino yes.

Is this s Filipino issue with the school?

Please give us more info.

[Scott]

Sorry to hear about your problems. In my years here, the contracts have gone from quite permissive when I first started to being quite restrictive now. Each change was as a result of people abusing things. For example, we were never docked for going to the Embassy on passport matters. Had a rather well-to-do lady who traveled a great deal and took off days right and left to head off to an embassy for a visa. We lost that privilege.

We had 15 days of sick leave, but that was abused and many insisted that it was their right to use it as they pleased. Now it's 10. Long ago, no problem with being late or leaving early, until some people decided they didn't need to come until their first class and then a few times when they didn't show for that. Now it's 50 baht deduction for each 15 minutes late. There is no leaving early without a signed excuse from admin.

Etc. etc. etc.

It doesn't make it right, but it helps explain it a little. Newer teachers don't know any difference, but some of us who have been around for a while remember the good ol' days when the director granted our every wish. People walked all over her. Now we all suffer.

[PeaceBlondie]

I followed the Nontaburi Project from the beginning. It always always seemed messed up. I expect nothing to be perfect, especially here. I thought the project died from gross mismanagement.

[Chan mai roo crap]

Have you failed to tell us something?

Are these all native english speaking teachers.

Or is it many different groups some native speakers some not?

Is there a probblem with undermining authority, or lack of respect for leaders?

Please tell us more I am interested?

I see by your post you are Filipino yes.

Is this s Filipino issue with the school?

Please give us more info.

Most of the teachers are Filipinos, with a mixture of native speakers and Europeans.

I am a native speaker. The teachers employed by Chula Uni are being treated in the same manner and are as pissed of as me.

No, there is no problem about respect for leaders. Our "leaders" are from the UK and Australia and should be ashamed of themselves for being a part of the deception going on.

They actively look for Filipino teachers, but some schools will only accept teachers with white skin, so they have to employ a certain percentage of them.

UPDATE: We are expected to start work on Monday, but only 20 teachers have been to immigration to get their non B visa. They paid 2000 pesos (4 month contract) and were told to come back next week. The rest of us are in the dark...not one teacher other than the 20 has been contacted to go to Imm.

[termad]

Sorry everybody, I already posted this last night, but it looked such a mess. I must have been really pissed off and stressed out when I wrote it. Here is a version with actual paragraphs........

UPDATE

In theory, we need to have finished the WP and visa business by tomorrow, as we are expected in school on Monday. Up to now, 6pm Thurs, not a word about coming in and picking up the paperwork.

Let me tell you. Currently the Nonthaburi project is in chaos. The majority of teachers who have been with the project for 3 to 4 years have all been offered a 4 month contract...yep, you read it right, 4 MONTHS, due to the amazing incompetence and mis-management by the Colonel in charge (that's what she is called there).

The rationale goes like this. As your temporary teachers licence is only valid until September the 10, we cannot offer a contract that finishes in the middle of the month and RAM contracts must run for 4-5 and 11 months. 5 months takes us into March, so that is out of the question, so we can only offer 4 months. Nobody ever thought of that when the temp licences were issued. So, a lot of teachers wasted a lot of time and money rushing back to meet the sign the contract deadline (5pm Monday Oct 25)

Are you saying that you previously all had Work Permits and one year Non B Visas but now you have only have a 4 month contract and no Work Permits? Or can you get a Work Permit with a 4 month contract?

Termad

[Chan mai roo crap]

Sorry everybody, I already posted this last night, but it looked such a mess. I must have been really pissed off and stressed out when I wrote it. Here is a version with actual paragraphs........

UPDATE

In theory, we need to have finished the WP and visa business by tomorrow, as we are expected in school on Monday. Up to now, 6pm Thurs, not a word about coming in and picking up the paperwork.

Let me tell you. Currently the Nonthaburi project is in chaos. The majority of teachers who have been with the project for 3 to 4 years have all been offered a 4 month contract...yep, you read it right, 4 MONTHS, due to the amazing incompetence and mis-management by the Colonel in charge (that's what she is called there).

The rationale goes like this. As your temporary teachers licence is only valid until September the 10, we cannot offer a contract that finishes in the middle of the month and RAM contracts must run for 4-5 and 11 months. 5 months takes us into March, so that is out of the question, so we can only offer 4 months. Nobody ever thought of that when the temp licences were issued. So, a lot of teachers wasted a lot of time and money rushing back to meet the sign the contract deadline (5pm Monday Oct 25)

Are you saying that you previously all had Work Permits and one year Non B Visas but now you have only have a 4 month contract and no Work Permits? Or can you get a Work Permit with a 4 month contract?

Most of us have been on 12 month Non B visas with work permit since 2005. Now we have been told at the 11th hour that we can only have a 4 month contract and work permit, of course no word of what happens on Feb 28 at the end of the 4 months, make us into tourists again probably.

They have tied the contract duration to the temp teachers licence, which in most cases expires on September 10, 2010........

It is beyond them to simply make the contract finish on September 10. The teachers council offered to extend the period of the temp lic to cover the whole month of Sep, but RAM refused to cooperate.

Termad

[bkk_mike]

Maybe I don't understand?

If the job is so crap - leave and get a job somewhere else.

[Ijustwannateach]

We'll allow this thread since it is about an institutional project, not a specific school (though the teachers employed through it do work in specific schools). I remember reading about the onset of this project from the beginning, too, on the old Ajarn forum, and thinking- "that's going to be trouble!"

OP, I don't think you're going to be able to fix this; the best thing to do is probably to walk away. Hang in there.

[Scott]

Walking away may be one solution. I know for a lot of teachers it's difficult to leave if you are established in an area. It also often means starting out at a substantially lower salary. A lot of unknowns when you leave.

Best of luck.

[Unfaithful]

Walk away.Run.

[sunnymarky]

Walk away.Run.

Yes, And "50 Bht for being late" Usually its not a teachers fault . We all know non native speaking English teachers get discriminated against.

As a native speaking English teacher I have never had a problem telling Thai Admin , managers etc what I think of them and what to do with their "job". Never let an employer think you are desperate for the work, they will always take advantage.

Edited November 2, 2009 by sunnymarky

[Chan mai roo crap]

Well, a bit of an update. Most teachers were only offered a 4 month contract until the end of February. This took until now for our Non B visa to be issued, so we were all expected to work illegally in the meantime, yesterday we went to the labour dept for our WP. The Non imm B is only valid for 3 months and the WP is valid for 4 months.......so another 2000B to extend the non B for an extra month. What a bunch of wallys or willies....555

[onyourknees]

Have you failed to tell us something?

Are these all native english speaking teachers.

Or is it many different groups some native speakers some not?

Is there a probblem with undermining authority, or lack of respect for leaders?

Please tell us more I am interested?

I see by your post you are Filipino yes.

Is this s Filipino issue with the school?

Please give us more info.

Most of the teachers are Filipinos, with a mixture of native speakers and Europeans.

I am a native speaker. The teachers employed by Chula Uni are being treated in the same manner and are as pissed of as me.

No, there is no problem about respect for leaders. Our "leaders" are from the UK and Australia and should be ashamed of themselves for being a part of the deception going on.

They actively look for Filipino teachers, but some schools will only accept teachers with white skin, so they have to employ a certain percentage of them.

UPDATE: We are expected to start work on Monday, but only 20 teachers have been to immigration to get their non B visa. They paid 2000 pesos (4 month contract) and were told to come back next week. The rest of us are in the dark...not one teacher other than the 20 has been contacted to go to Imm.

"They paid 2000 pesos (4 month contract) and were told to come back next week. "

oops! Native speaker saying 2,000 pesos??? huh? suppose you mean 2,000 Baht to make clear the veracity of your thread

[jonclark]

Have you failed to tell us something?

Are these all native english speaking teachers.

Or is it many different groups some native speakers some not?

Is there a probblem with undermining authority, or lack of respect for leaders?

Please tell us more I am interested?

I see by your post you are Filipino yes.

Is this s Filipino issue with the school?

Please give us more info.

Most of the teachers are Filipinos, with a mixture of native speakers and Europeans.

I am a native speaker. The teachers employed by Chula Uni are being treated in the same manner and are as pissed of as me.

No, there is no problem about respect for leaders. Our "leaders" are from the UK and Australia and should be ashamed of themselves for being a part of the deception going on.

They actively look for Filipino teachers, but some schools will only accept teachers with white skin, so they have to employ a certain percentage of them.

UPDATE: We are expected to start work on Monday, but only 20 teachers have been to immigration to get their non B visa. They paid 2000 pesos (4 month contract) and were told to come back next week. The rest of us are in the dark...not one teacher other than the 20 has been contacted to go to Imm.

"They paid 2000 pesos (4 month contract) and were told to come back next week. "

oops! Native speaker saying 2,000 pesos??? huh? suppose you mean 2,000 Baht to make clear the veracity of your thread

Does it matter if the OP is Filipino or US, at the end of the day, he / she deserves to be treated honestly. Good luck sorting yourself out. Always try to get a job direct with a school.