Teaching In Southern Thailand

[KIWIBATCH]

I need some good advice please.........I currently teach english to K1 thru P3 in Bangkok andf have done so for four years.

My thai wife has had a changed family situation in Yala (her home town) in southern Thailand requiring her to return to Yala permanently to live, she leavbes in three weeks....so far so good. Very obviously I want to be with my wife and our two children in Yala when the move comes....but here lies the problem.

Either I have been reading too much into news reports on the "unrest" that permeates these southern towns, shootings, bombings etc but I am extremely nervous about the move south for me specifically. Obviously I want to resume teaching in Yala. Teachers are "targeted" and murdered in sometimes cold blood...this send shivers down my spine thinking about it.

I have visited Yala on many previous occasions...in holiday mode....its a liveable town....but is it a town that any member has any experience of working in...specifically teaching????.

Any advice appreciated....dont hold back...if you think I am nuts even contemplating it....say so I won't be offended...on the other hand if you have a different view/outlook please say so.

Any advice welcomed

[Scott]

I hope you get some responses. I am interested in knowing about the situation for foreign teachers in the region. I have interviewed a fair number of Filipino teachers from the area, but never a Western teacher.

The Filipino teachers were quite guarded in their responses--it was an interview after all, but it was clear that most wanted out of the area. None ever mentioned violence as a reason, however.

There might be some safety in being in a bigger city.

[vont]

i do have several relatives living in yala, narrativat et al since 1940 up to present time.

one of the most important question that you should ask yourself is....

whether you would fit into a community and society that....

do not tolerate foreign 'authority'--if you are authoritarian and regard yourself as more important than the have-not, then don't go....

however, if you are kind at heart and do show your kindness to others without showing off your superiority and superior attitudes....

you'll probably be very safe in the southern region....

especially, if you can mix in well with most of the people around you without showing off your wares and without offending anyone by

your superior attitudes expressed in gesture, manner, words or otherwise.... imho, you would be able to live there a long long time

mingling with the locals speaking, thai, malay, chinese et al....

more importantly, if you personally have reservation about malay, indian, indonesian foods or cultures as such.... then do not endanger

yourself and your family by going down south to the three southern provinces, to live and work....

do not believe everything on news print.... most are used as propaganda for some entity or group, or against some entity or group....

which i am sure you are already familiar with.

if and when you do decide to move to yala, and if you have time, stop by for lunch, if you like. address is in the pm.

Edited June 22, 2011 by vont

[bkkboy06]

Well, I'm a Thai Buddhist from Bangkok, but I've worked in Songkhla and Pattani alternatively for about two years, with occasional visits to the other provinces in the deep south. I'm on a stint outside the area at the moment but I'll be back there in a bit.

I've met and worked with several Westerners, all of whom have been staying happily in the area for more than 10 years, many of whom have children living in the area. I didn't meet any Westerner in Yala, though, but my visits to the provincial town were all very brief.

I very much agree with vont on most of his responses, particularly on the fact that if you regard yourself as more important than the have-not, then don't go. All of the foreigners I mentioned have maintained themselves in a very humble and discreet manner and they integrate very, very well with the Thais, Chinese, and Malays there. While the violence is a bit over-rated (as you may have observed during your holidays there), the poverty there is real. It would probably be in the best interest of everyone not to exacerbate the marginalization-based resentment of the majority of the locals.

BTW, no, you're not nuts, but others (Thais and foreigners alike) may and probably will think that you are. They do so in my case :-P

[KIWIBATCH]

Many many thanks to "senior member" and "newbie" for your forthright, no holds barred comments I appreciate them very much. Fortunately I am not a person who considers myself a superior being either as a result of the colour of my skin or in my capacity as a english teacher. I have learnt to be humble, learnt to go the extra mile in making the different makeup of thai society feel comfortable in my presence, this has paid huge dividends...... I have in fact been criticised by other foreign teachers, for the simple act of standing at the school gate at my present school and welcoming the thai Mum and Dads as they arrive with their children for the days schooling activities, and involving myself in the different thai celebrations that take place at the school.

Yes Yala is poverty stricken, but considering the issues in the town, the peoples spirit is wonderful, they are kind, and welcoming (a little stand off-ish at the start which is to be expected).

In my visits on holiday to Yala over the years I have learnt (in fact it comes naturally) to maintain a low key, friendly outlook and persona to everyone I come in contact with.

Thankyou again for your comments......I will reply to the PM

[SICHONSTEVE]

I'm not an expert on this matter but if you look at the number of teachers (and monks) that have been murdered despite some having police escorts to and from school (outside the temple during receiving alms in the case of monks, in certain areas) then it puts it into perspective relating to the dangers you may have to face.

I gather that teachers are targetted (not sure about foreign teachers) because they (the Islamists) are intent on turning the 3 Southern states into Muslim states and are worried that if their children receive education - which is sadly lacking - then that would change their children's thinking against said desires they hold on bringing this into being.

The call is yours obviously but I would carry out some searches on the internet and have a serious look into what dangers might lay in wait for you before committing yourself!!

[mjnaus]

We're living in Hatyai and have some relatives living one of the three provinces (Pattani, not Yala). Ask 10 people wether or not it's safe to live there and you'll have 5 saying it's perfectly safe and the other 5 saying it's dangerous. Therefor I would put too much value in people's opinion and look at the facts and then decide for yourself wether or not you consider it to be safe... Pretty much all the violence over the past years has been documented, so it;s all there for you to look at. It's pretty clear that random targeted violence is still rapidly increasing, targeting seemingly random people (teachers, monks, villagers, workers, etc). Could you live with the idea that this sort of violence is just around the corner? Even if you yourself are not targeted, you're still awfully close to the violence which might take it's toll on the quality of your life. Is this something you want to expose your kids to?

I understand you're in a rather difficult position. Is there any way you and your family could live just outside those three provinces? Songkhla perhaps? Good luck with making this hard decision.

[bkkboy06]

Well, I'm not to comment on WHY the teachers are being killed (as no one has ever claimed responsibility for the killing), but if I may, I would like to put things in a comparative perspective. If you look at the number presented by Deep South Watch, a local think-tank, as found here:

http://www.deepsouthwatch.org/node/730

Under section "3. Dynamics of the Target of Violence", there is a graph which shows how many teachers were wounded or killed from 2004-2010. Teachers make up around 1% of the casualties. Not to say that this is not a cause for concern, though.

--------------

As for myself, when I told my family that I would be working in the 3 provinces, my parents just said no, but Hat Yai / Songkhla would be okay. So I'm based mainly in Hat Yai but I commute or stay a few nights in Pattani from time to time.

Edited June 26, 2011 by bkkboy06

[SICHONSTEVE]

Just out of interest 'KIWIBATCH' have you seen the report at the end of the list of topics (in the Southern Thailand section) about the murders in Yala??? One was a cookery teacher apparently.

Edited June 26, 2011 by SICHONSTEVE

[SICHONSTEVE]

Many many thanks to "senior member" and "newbie" for your forthright, no holds barred comments I appreciate them very much. Fortunately I am not a person who considers myself a superior being either as a result of the colour of my skin or in my capacity as a english teacher. I have learnt to be humble, learnt to go the extra mile in making the different makeup of thai society feel comfortable in my presence, this has paid huge dividends...... I have in fact been criticised by other foreign teachers, for the simple act of standing at the school gate at my present school and welcoming the thai Mum and Dads as they arrive with their children for the days schooling activities, and involving myself in the different thai celebrations that take place at the school.

Yes Yala is poverty stricken, but considering the issues in the town, the peoples spirit is wonderful, they are kind, and welcoming (a little stand off-ish at the start which is to be expected).

In my visits on holiday to Yala over the years I have learnt (in fact it comes naturally) to maintain a low key, friendly outlook and persona to everyone I come in contact with.

Thankyou again for your comments......I will reply to the PM

My wife and I are private kindergarten school owners in Southern Thailand (in NST) so not in the 3 affected provinces.

What I want to comment on is your involvement in the Thai celebrations and doing such things such as greeting the parents in the morning. You are clearly doing the right thing here as Thai parents appreciate this kind of thing (we do exactly the same as it costs nothing but brings rich rewards) and our parents respond with smiles at this small welcoming gesture.

Another thing we do is to have a Western style Christmas celebration whereby every child has ice cream, they have a kind of tombola so that every child gets a present and we play games, We meet the children at the front gate on christmas morning with one of the staff dressed as Santa Clause handing out sweets (he also waves at passing motorists which goes down well as they wave back and bib us) and they have a wonderful time NB: I am not a Christian myself but feel it is good for the children to experience another religion's celebration of this important day in their calendar - they may simply see it as ice cream, sweets, presents, games and having a fun day, which is fine by us and the parents want nothing more than their children to be happy!!!

Ignore the other teachers and carry on doing it "your way". They are probably too lazy to do these kind of things and are probably envious of the fact that you are prepared to go out of your way to show your warmth and friendliness to the parents whereas they can't be bothered!!

[vont]

I'm not an expert on this matter but if you look at the number of teachers (and monks) that have been murdered despite some having police escorts to and from school (outside the temple during receiving alms in the case of monks, in certain areas) then it puts it into perspective relating to the dangers you may have to face.

I gather that teachers are targetted (not sure about foreign teachers) because they (the Islamists) are intent on turning the 3 Southern states into Muslim states and are worried that if their children receive education - which is sadly lacking - then that would change their children's thinking against said desires they hold on bringing this into being.

The call is yours obviously but I would carry out some searches on the internet and have a serious look into what dangers might lay in wait for you before committing yourself!!

....I gather that teachers are targetted (not sure about foreign teachers) because they (the Islamists) are intent on turning the 3 Southern states into Muslim states....

do you know this as a fact....?

that the muslim are trying to annex the southern 3 or 4, or 5 or 6 provinces to be called their own....?

most assuredly i would venture to say that.... you are just picking up what you hear, here and there and everywhere.... that

muslim are doing everything they can to annex....

i do believe most farang do maintain some level of intelligence here and there in their anatomies.... to be able to listen and reason and separate facts from heresy....

stop and think for a second.... and may i beg you not to say anything that you are not personally knowledgeable about.... such as making statement like what you did and that i quoted, pls?

do you know how many chinese are still living in those southern 6 provinces and are also holding ultimate power behind the scene....?

the raw and economic power are all vested in other nationalities.... many of whom are all for equality of life, liberty and justice for all including the long neglected muslim brothers and sisters who work their heads off for barely subsistence of 200 thb per day....?

having been living and been familiarized with the southern provinces somewhat, i would venture to say that at least 85% of muslim are pro democracy and peace.... just my own observation ok....?

the poster's contributions will.... hopefully.... make some marks and many significant contributions to the life and welfare of all the southern brothers and sisters....

and more importantly, will set a sterling example for all those other educators.... to follow.... to further educate the southern citizens.... is my hope and prayer....

Edited June 26, 2011 by vont

[Scott]

Let's keep the topic civil and on-topic. Without arguing the politics. Government officials--including teachers, have been targeted in the past by insurgents.

Whether this would include foreign teachers, I don't know. Whether this only applies to gov't schools, I don't know.

It might be good to know how safe the cities are and if most of these attacks take place in remote/rural areas.

[bkkboy06]

Let's keep the topic civil and on-topic. Without arguing the politics. Government officials--including teachers, have been targeted in the past by insurgents.

Whether this would include foreign teachers, I don't know. Whether this only applies to gov't schools, I don't know.

It might be good to know how safe the cities are and if most of these attacks take place in remote/rural areas.

The response here is based on my own perception and experience, thus the validity may be very limited.

Normally, government school teachers get SHOT. Private (i.e. religious) school teachers DISAPPEAR.

Reports of foreigners being attacked in the Deep South are very rare, and most of the foreign victims seemed to be Malaysians who came to Betong or other border towns for holidays.

With regard to the locations, there is a report here by the Violence-Related Injury Surveillance System (VIS, accessed at http://www.deepsouthvis.org/), hosted by the Epidemiology Unit at Prince of Songkla University, Hat Yai, for the month of April 2011.

http://medipe2.psu.ac.th/~vis/report/VIS_Report_Apr11.pdf

From time to time, the "hot spot" for the violence would shift from one province to another. Right now it seems like Pattani's hot. Nong Chik, a district in which the Hat Yai - Pattani highway passes through, seems to have the highest number of incidents.

A three-year report can be found here (for 2007-2009), but the map is a bit messy.

http://medipe2.psu.ac.th/~vis/report/VIS_Report_Jan07_Dec09.pdf

Too bad that the reports are all in Thai, though. Hope the posters here who are not proficient in Thai can find some help in cracking the table and map headings.

Hope this helps.

[vont]

Let's keep the topic civil and on-topic. Without arguing the politics. Government officials--including teachers, have been targeted in the past by insurgents.

Whether this would include foreign teachers, I don't know. Whether this only applies to gov't schools, I don't know.

It might be good to know how safe the cities are and if most of these attacks take place in remote/rural areas.

The response here is based on my own perception and experience, thus the validity may be very limited.

Normally, government school teachers get SHOT. Private (i.e. religious) school teachers DISAPPEAR.

Reports of foreigners being attacked in the Deep South are very rare, and most of the foreign victims seemed to be Malaysians who came to Betong or other border towns for holidays.

With regard to the locations, there is a report here by the Violence-Related Injury Surveillance System (VIS, accessed at http://www.deepsouthvis.org/), hosted by the Epidemiology Unit at Prince of Songkla University, Hat Yai, for the month of April 2011.

http://medipe2.psu.a...eport_Apr11.pdf

From time to time, the "hot spot" for the violence would shift from one province to another. Right now it seems like Pattani's hot. Nong Chik, a district in which the Hat Yai - Pattani highway passes through, seems to have the highest number of incidents.

A three-year report can be found here (for 2007-2009), but the map is a bit messy.

http://medipe2.psu.a...Jan07_Dec09.pdf

Too bad that the reports are all in Thai, though. Hope the posters here who are not proficient in Thai can find some help in cracking the table and map headings.

Hope this helps.

if anyone is interested in any specificity, be glad to translate from thai into english for you.

just post or clip and paste the thai clip and paste version on thaivisa here, ok?