Thailand Goes Chinese Style

[Heng]

Sino-Lao, Sino-Malay... same same. The problem with the south is that there hasn't been enough utilization/intergration of the locals into the work force.... unlike the Issan. I'd say Bangkok is closer to 20% Sino-Thai and 80% Issan/Indian/other. Just look how much the city clears out come holiday time.

[camerata]

I wonder if they'll treat Mandarin teachers as well as they treat English teachers?

[Lynnx]

What is Mandarin? Is it a form of Thai/Chinese language or something?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

try www.ask.com

[astral]

But where will they get the competent teachers for this scheme?

Chinese back packers?

All the Chinese I see come in tour groups, rather like sheep.

[astral]

Or when one flies a flag of convenience?

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What flag do they fly at the conveniences?

[The_Other_Mac]

But where will they get the competent teachers for this scheme?

Chinese back packers?

All the Chinese I see come in tour groups, rather like sheep.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Wages in China are currently lower than Thailand.

[richard10365]

Maybe they will toss in French and Spanish in their too. Thailand has such success with English I'm sure they can master all the other languages too.

[wolf5370]

Have we not just had this thread - I kinda remember posting (de Ja Vue?).

Anyway, I can't see this being taken too seriously. The Sino-Thais that hold power in the country already have their kids schooled in Mandarin. Do they really want all and sunder competing.

English is the language most countries learn for business as it is the international language of busines and diplomacy (the french lost out here a centuary ago!). That includes the Chinese - and I have a friend teaching English out in the sticks somewhere in China (for a charity company) and they really make an effort to learn! China wants all its people to learn tghe language as they realise that it is the poeple that will make the money for the country and thus the richer still get richer.

In Thailand, the rich seem to have a perpetual fear of the rice farmer's son becoming educated enough to see through the smoke and mirrors and the house-of-cards to do a Jerico!

[Heng]

Actually the rice farmer's kids are already more than welcome at OCA, OKLS, CCC, etc. They last about 1-2 terms on average before putting it into the "mai sanook" category.

[jrincon17]

What is Mandarin? Is it a form of Thai/Chinese language or something?

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1 of chinese Lang , ( i cant speak that , just some words of hainanses..coz its my half blood)

anyhow its good idea that TH try to learn other language ... as we know the most population in this world is chinese (right??)...

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Yes but english is the international language , why dont they worry about getting education to everyone .

[jrincon17]

Most thai students are too lazy to learn even basic English, so how can they achieve this?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

are they too lazy or dont have quality teachers and classrooms ?

[jrincon17]

I wonder if they'll treat Mandarin teachers as well as they treat English teachers? 

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Nope , Taxin is chinese , remember ?

[Neeranam]

Thailand is becoming more and more chinese, it's almost laughable.

Thais with chinese paernts getting in the army, and worse of all a chinese getting in the family that we are not allowed totalk about.

[Bryan in Isaan]

Actually the rice farmer's kids are already more than welcome at OCA, OKLS, CCC, etc.   They last about 1-2 terms on average before putting it into the "mai sanook" category. 

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Good point. I am not familiar with OCA, OKLS or CCC. Are those Chinese or English language institutes? I will talk about English language. I think any kid with average or better intelligence can learn it. The kid must also be able to stand on his own and resist peer pressure, which usually discourages performance or work ethic.

The resources are there. The textbooks are good. There are cheap dictionaries and reference books.

My wife is a rice farmer's kid. She learned English just by paying attention in school. She was fluent and earned a good score on the TOEFL test by the time she graduated from high school. She had no special extracurricular classes or tutors and didn't even see the English alphabet until she was in 5th grade. However, she did get academic scholarships to get out of the village where school only went up to 4th grade, and ended up in good schools where there was better English instruction.

That was a long time ago. It should be even easier now. The problem is with the rice farmer's kids; not the rich people, the Chinese or Thaksin.

Bryan

[Heng]

and worse of all a chinese getting in the family that we are not allowed totalk about.

That kind of comment is something straight out of 200 years ago for most of the families we don't talk about. If the Chinese didn't own and run the entire show here... that'd be a racist comment.

[Heng]

Actually the rice farmer's kids are already more than welcome at OCA, OKLS, CCC, etc.   They last about 1-2 terms on average before putting it into the "mai sanook" category. 

Good point. I am not familiar with OCA, OKLS or CCC. Are those Chinese or English language institutes? I will talk about English language. I think any kid with average or better intelligence can learn it. The kid must also be able to stand on his own and resist peer pressure, which usually discourages performance or work ethic.

The resources are there. The textbooks are good. There are cheap dictionaries and reference books.

My wife is a rice farmer's kid. She learned English just by paying attention in school. She was fluent and earned a good score on the TOEFL test by the time she graduated from high school. She had no special extracurricular classes or tutors and didn't even see the English alphabet until she was in 5th grade. However, she did get academic scholarships to get out of the village where school only went up to 4th grade, and ended up in good schools where there was better English instruction.

That was a long time ago. It should be even easier now. The problem is with the rice farmer's kids; not the rich people, the Chinese or Thaksin.

Bryan

All three are Chinese language schools. I'd say 95% of the students are 3rd-4th generation Thai-Chinese whose parents speak little to no Mandarin but were rather Teochiu Chinese dialect speakers. The other 5% are ethnic Thais. They don't all drop out, but more often than the rest.

[baba]

After all, it will facilitate corruption. Soon, the Chinese can do their business in Thailand in their native language....

[baba]

Thailand is becoming more and more chinese, it's almost laughable.

Thais with chinese paernts getting in the army, and worse of all a chinese getting in the family that we are not allowed totalk about.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

So true, the sell out of Thai culture has long begun...not to the West, but to ur Chinese friends. Well. there are good harvests in Thailand...

[The_Other_Mac]

Voluntarily deleted. I won't contribute any further to this thread.

[wolf5370]

Voluntarily deleted. I won't contribute any further to this thread.

Eh? Er OK Mc, nice of you to tell us

[Lusifer]

What A Sick rule,, but ofcourse Mr.EDU Minister is by him self half Chinese.

Why he dont look good example from EU Schools, give student a cnage to pic up the language what they wanna learn, from chiose of 3 or 4...

If i would have my kid in TH, i would not for sure put him\Her to TH Hi-school..

OZ is not that far and style\freedom is much easier

[sugarbaker]

When the teaching of Mandarin in schools is concened, Thailand is far far behind.

In Malaysia, and Singapore, Mandarin and English are being taught in private and government

schools for more than a century. Even in Malaysia, the Chinese population is less than 30%,

yet Mandarin is being taught in schools, private as well as government.

The reason is this. We in this region are in constant touch with China, Taiwan, and Hong Kong in

terms of business, trade, industry, tourism, and on. The China market is to big to ignore.

As an example, when I visit these Asian countries, the first language I speak is English.......

and if they can't speak English, they would answer me in Mandarin. This also happened

in the Land Of Smiles.

[thedude]

seeing as most of the world's knowledge is stored and distributed in english text, it would be a shame for any country to not recognise its importance in developing sustainable growth and progress.

i think the results of this mandarin teaching drive will end up being half-baked. following along the "teach a man to fish..." philosophy, if i had very limited resources to use on education, i'd focus on teaching english, and also learning skills through the use of computers.

if the PM spent some of the 1.7 trillion baht meant for infrastructure on compulsory english education, i'd wager that the social-economic benefits over say 10 years, would be far greater than just spending that same money on infrastructure alone.

unfortunately, the problem with education is that its a very weak tool for getting re-elected because results usually take too long to show itself.

[Johpa]

After all, it will facilitate corruption. Soon, the Chinese can do their business in Thailand in their native language....

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Much local business in Thailand is, and as long been, conducted in Teo Chiu and not in Thai. Only the retail sales tend to be conducted in Thai.

[wolf5370]

We in this region are in constant touch with China, Taiwan, and Hong Kong in terms of business, trade, industry, tourism, and on

Don't they speak Cantonese in Hong Kong? I do believe, the HK population is being taught Mandarin at school too - as a foreign language!

English is the way to go. Speaking Mandarin will not help Thai kids as the people that deal in Mandarine would still tend to deal with their Sino-Thai 'cousins' than a native Thai with the language - they don't deal in Mandarin because they can't speak Thai (or English), but to exclude those that don't speak Mandarin; does anyone really believe these people will suddenly allow the Thais to participate because they can speak the lingo, rather than just finding another way to exclude them. Wast of time and money, when it could be better spent on improving schools, equiptment and teacher training/pay instead and improve the educational standard as is.

[PS: Sorry for typos etc - I've got a headache and can't be arsed to check it]

[Heng]

In a lot of cases, as it is among Chinese, when the dialects are different, one can simply communicate in writing. For Thais (or anyone really), the grammar is certainly a lot less complex than English.

It won't bring them closer to the 12 million Teochiu Thai Chinese (as we already communicate in Thai with one another), but theoretically it'd give them more access to 50-60 million overseas Chinese all over the world and of less importance the billion or so on the mainland.