I'm not sure if what I'm saying is right here but thought I'd throw it out anyway.

My wife and I took our daughter back to school today. We had to pay the term fees which really isn't that much (she's only 5) about 5000 baht.

My wife told me that if you're a teacher or police officer then you get a big reduction on fees.

I live in the boonies. Not much going on work-wise. The teachers and Police officers are by far the best paid.

I just don't understand why those with better paid jobs would get the reductions as opposed to poor farmers who really struggle and perhaps would like their children to get an education so as not to have to work on the rice farm for the rest of their lives.

Could this be another reason we have the troubles we have? People being denied an education because they are poor. There are free schools but sometimes there are no teachers..

You just now are figuring this out?

It's quite standard in alot of countries for people who work in the public sector to get concessions. In the UK there's the 'Key Worker Living' intitlements where teachers, police, nurses etc can get money to be able to buy house. Although they might earn an ok wage it's nothing compared to the average wage and in the case of the UK along way rom ever being able to own a house. I'm sure it's the same here, it's a way of getting people to go into a profession that doesn't pay overly well after they have done their education. Yes, they get paid alot more than a farm worker, but you can't compare the wage of someone who has an education to someone who hasn't.

The main thing this country needs is to have free education for all like in the western world. Which insidently is Abhisits plan if he gets another term in office. Having free education would mean Thailand would progress so much faster and would do more for this country than anything else. Sadly with all the fuss going on at the moment things like this gets left behind. If the PM (and all the opposing parties) were able to get on with sorting the country out rather than fighting then free education would be avaliable to all Thais in the near future.

I also wonder, with all the properganda that goes on, how many of the poor who think they are fighting for Democracy realise that the PM they hate so much has been trying to organise the one thing that would benifit every Thai family in the country, especailly the rural poor.

It's quite standard in alot of countries for people who work in the public sector to get concessions. In the UK there's the 'Key Worker Living' intitlements where teachers, police, nurses etc can get money to be able to buy house. Although they might earn an ok wage it's nothing compared to the average wage and in the case of the UK along way rom ever being able to own a house. I'm sure it's the same here, it's a way of getting people to go into a profession that doesn't pay overly well after they have done their education. Yes, they get paid alot more than a farm worker, but you can't compare the wage of someone who has an education to someone who hasn't.

The main thing this country needs is to have free education for all like in the western world. Which insidently is Abhisits plan if he gets another term in office. Having free education would mean Thailand would progress so much faster and would do more for this country than anything else. Sadly with all the fuss going on at the moment things like this gets left behind. If the PM (and all the opposing parties) were able to get on with sorting the country out rather than fighting then free education would be avaliable to all Thais in the near future.

I also wonder, with all the properganda that goes on, how many of the poor who think they are fighting for Democracy realise that the PM they hate so much has been trying to organise the one thing that would benifit every Thai family in the country, especailly the rural poor.

Thanks for clearing that up