Move To Block 'Tea Money' For Elite Schools In Thailand

[webfact]

Move to block 'tea money'

KESINEE TANGKHIEO

THE NATION

BANGKOK: -- Amnuay Sunthornchote, president of the Building Thailand Club, yesterday filed a petition at the Central Administrative Court to stop Education Minister Suchart Tadathamrongvej from legalising "tea money" for elite schools.

Amnuay asked the court to order Suchart and Chinnapat Bhumirat, secretary-general of the Basic Education Commission, to revoke the donations-for-places policy as well as certain parts of the ministerial regulation on student admissions for 2012.

Under the regulation, children of teachers and school staff as well as students under the patronage of a school's benefactors, have the right to enrol without taking entrance exams.

Amnuay also wanted the court to issue a temporary injunction against policy implementation.

Allowing rich children to buy seats was unfair to the poor, while giving teachers' children the automatic right to enrol was discrimination, he said. Allowing the children of a school's benefactors to get in was within the framework of "tea money" and could lead to politicians, who allocate budgets to schools, to get a large quota of student seats.

As for Suchart's comment that the policy would have nothing to do with school seat trading, Amnuay said it remained unclear what would happen when the policy was implemented.

He also said that he would sue all schools that adopted the donation-for-school-seat policy on case-by-case basis.

-- The Nation 2012-02-22

[exeter]

Tea money just does not apply here, seems pretty widespread to me. Funny thing is no one seems to drink tea so where the money goes is a mystery, local charity perhaps?

[AZBill]

So let me get this straight. It's still ok for the cops and politicians to take bribes and payoffs right? We wouldn't want to see the entire balance of Thai society go over the edge now would we.

[Reasonableman]

Under the regulation, children of teachers and school staff as well as students under the patronage of a school's benefactors, have the right to enrol without taking entrance exams. Roll on Brave New World.

[englishinsiam]

My wife had a similar issue in her school in Chachoengsao. The rich kids got the best education there and the poor kids had to work so much harder because they got what was left.

She said it herself a 2 Tier education system. Luckily she worked hard enough to get herself through even though she was in the 2nd tier (that was also during Thaksins reign).

This just smacks that PTP want to keep the poor ignorant and appease the rich so that they stay in power.

Enough is enough !!!

[kriswillems]

Same happened to us in Assumption Sriracha.

During the entrance test of our son the teachers told us he could get 10% for every 10000B we donated. The score of the child would only count for 50% the other 50% was the "score for the parents" - which was directly related to how much tea money/donation you wanted to give. Until the day of the test nobody ever talked about donating money nor were we given any document talking a bout this. The test look less than 10 minutes and looked pretty meaningless.

We choose to "donate" (can you call it "donate" when people extort money from you?) only 10000B and our son din't pass. I asked the parents of several children that passed how much they donated and I personally know the owners of several nurseries over here. I was not able to find anyone that passed with donating less than 30000B (year 2010).

No matter how you look at it, it's pure corruption and the fact that a Catholic school uses these practices (in the catholic religion you're supposed to help the weakest and poorest first) shows that the intention of many catholic institutes in Thailand is making money and the Catholic values are of much less importance.

[Pib]

Tea Money-R-Thailand....it's just part of the culture.

[Unkomoncents]

Many of Thailand's richest and most powerful don't attend Thai schools at all; these policies affect the most provincial Thai students (among the wealthy) and they consume significant portions of the family budgets of middle and lower-class Thais. The most 'elite', cosmopolitan (obsessed) Thai students learn at anyone of Thailand's over-priced international schools or abroad (think Abhisit). In conversation with a family with two children enrolled at the International Community School, it became clear that there is the perception among some upper-class Thais that the elite Thai schools (Satit Chula and Satit Kaset, to name a couple) focus too heavily on math and promote middling students (making supposedly elite classrooms not-so-elite). These perceptions are especially pronounced among those Thais who come Thai-Chinese merchant/business families, as opposed to those from the military/civil service side (who are generally more frequently ethnically pure Thai). The length of the last name indicates ethnicity, as the short names will generally be pure Thai and the much longer, more convoluted names will be Thai-Chinese. This was because it was a requirement long ago that Chinese immigrants select unique family names; with the scale of Chinese immigration over the centuries, that meant a TON of unique names had to be fabricated.

[somo]

It's the same all over the world. One way or another the rich kids get the best education.

[redroo]

the wistle is blown , slowly but shorely

as the truth reaches the surface slowly but shorely

[sparebox2]

For the benefit of stopping possible abuse, ALL donations to school of any kind should be banned.

[Reasonableman]

Many of Thailand's richest and most powerful don't attend Thai schools at all; these policies affect the most provincial Thai students (among the wealthy) and they consume significant portions of the family budgets of middle and lower-class Thais. The most 'elite', cosmopolitan (obsessed) Thai students learn at anyone of Thailand's over-priced international schools or abroad (think Abhisit). In conversation with a family with two children enrolled at the International Community School, it became clear that there is the perception among some upper-class Thais that the elite Thai schools (Satit Chula and Satit Kaset, to name a couple) focus too heavily on math and promote middling students (making supposedly elite classrooms not-so-elite). These perceptions are especially pronounced among those Thais who come Thai-Chinese merchant/business families, as opposed to those from the military/civil service side (who are generally more frequently ethnically pure Thai). The length of the last name indicates ethnicity, as the short names will generally be pure Thai and the much longer, more convoluted names will be Thai-Chinese. This was because it was a requirement long ago that Chinese immigrants select unique family names; with the scale of Chinese immigration over the centuries, that meant a TON of unique names had to be fabricated.

OK, but what's the punchline?

[Reasonableman]

For the benefit of stopping possible abuse, ALL donations to school of any kind should be banned.

Thanks for that contribution. You're really on a roll today.

[Unkomoncents]

Many of Thailand's richest and most powerful don't attend Thai schools at all; these policies affect the most provincial Thai students (among the wealthy) and they consume significant portions of the family budgets of middle and lower-class Thais. The most 'elite', cosmopolitan (obsessed) Thai students learn at anyone of Thailand's over-priced international schools or abroad (think Abhisit). In conversation with a family with two children enrolled at the International Community School, it became clear that there is the perception among some upper-class Thais that the elite Thai schools (Satit Chula and Satit Kaset, to name a couple) focus too heavily on math and promote middling students (making supposedly elite classrooms not-so-elite). These perceptions are especially pronounced among those Thais who come Thai-Chinese merchant/business families, as opposed to those from the military/civil service side (who are generally more frequently ethnically pure Thai). The length of the last name indicates ethnicity, as the short names will generally be pure Thai and the much longer, more convoluted names will be Thai-Chinese. This was because it was a requirement long ago that Chinese immigrants select unique family names; with the scale of Chinese immigration over the centuries, that meant a TON of unique names had to be fabricated.

OK, but what's the punchline?

I should have been more clear: most of the wealthiest Thais don't benefit from these policies either. Many avoid Thai schools altogether because of this very problem. Often families don't want their children in class with students who got there simply by paying more money; it doesn't actually build face and there is a lot skepticism among families I've worked with regarding Thailand's so-called "elite" schools. I don't think this kind of corruption helps wealthy Thais at all. I have enough anecdotal evidence to suggest that the families that are drawn into "tea money" dynamics are most often middle and lower-income families. This is obviously extremely common in Thailand: if you have enough wealth, the sky is the limit. Just as wealthy expatriates are able to pay their way out of immigration obligations, so most Thai elites completely bypass the system that these articles suppose is the end-all-be-all system.

The bit about Thai-Chinese versus pure Thai is that I've found that most of the business families in Thailand hail from mixed or ethnically Chinese backgrounds. That's no surprise; it fits with the historical record of Southeast Asia being populated by Chinese merchants. It's just interesting because there is a pretty well-defined line between the types of wealth in Thailand. Chinese: business; Thai: politics. I apologize for my verbal diarrhea. It happens sometimes.

[benbear]

This tea money is a complete joke. Maybe the punchline is '' Don't say the C word that sounds like eruption "

Edited February 22, 2012 by benbear

[Reasonableman]

Many of Thailand's richest and most powerful don't attend Thai schools at all; these policies affect the most provincial Thai students (among the wealthy) and they consume significant portions of the family budgets of middle and lower-class Thais. The most 'elite', cosmopolitan (obsessed) Thai students learn at anyone of Thailand's over-priced international schools or abroad (think Abhisit). In conversation with a family with two children enrolled at the International Community School, it became clear that there is the perception among some upper-class Thais that the elite Thai schools (Satit Chula and Satit Kaset, to name a couple) focus too heavily on math and promote middling students (making supposedly elite classrooms not-so-elite). These perceptions are especially pronounced among those Thais who come Thai-Chinese merchant/business families, as opposed to those from the military/civil service side (who are generally more frequently ethnically pure Thai). The length of the last name indicates ethnicity, as the short names will generally be pure Thai and the much longer, more convoluted names will be Thai-Chinese. This was because it was a requirement long ago that Chinese immigrants select unique family names; with the scale of Chinese immigration over the centuries, that meant a TON of unique names had to be fabricated.

OK, but what's the punchline?

I should have been more clear: most of the wealthiest Thais don't benefit from these policies either. Many avoid Thai schools altogether because of this very problem. Often families don't want their children in class with students who got there simply by paying more money; it doesn't actually build face and there is a lot skepticism among families I've worked with regarding Thailand's so-called "elite" schools. I don't think this kind of corruption helps wealthy Thais at all. I have enough anecdotal evidence to suggest that the families that are drawn into "tea money" dynamics are most often middle and lower-income families. This is obviously extremely common in Thailand: if you have enough wealth, the sky is the limit. Just as wealthy expatriates are able to pay their way out of immigration obligations, so most Thai elites completely bypass the system that these articles suppose is the end-all-be-all system.

The bit about Thai-Chinese versus pure Thai is that I've found that most of the business families in Thailand hail from mixed or ethnically Chinese backgrounds. That's no surprise; it fits with the historical record of Southeast Asia being populated by Chinese merchants. It's just interesting because there is a pretty well-defined line between the types of wealth in Thailand. Chinese: business; Thai: politics. I apologize for my verbal diarrhea. It happens sometimes.

No apology necessary.

I think you make a very good point here, about the low and lower-middle income levels being most disadvantaged. The same principle still applies, but the competitors come from a narrower societal band, so to speak. Within this band, there are those who could find a 100k "donation" relatively easily, and there are those who could not. It still comes back to the same issue, buying a place for average Freddie, or admission for Frederika based on merit (academic ability, not "class", not family, not Chinese or Thai or Westerner ethnicity, and not good connections). Reserving places for the "more wealthy than others" is highly discriminatory, corrupt, and immoral, and is not in the best interests of the country. I find it appalling that an Education Minister could even think these things, let alone make the thoughts public.

[sparebox2]

Many of Thailand's richest and most powerful don't attend Thai schools at all; these policies affect the most provincial Thai students (among the wealthy) and they consume significant portions of the family budgets of middle and lower-class Thais. The most 'elite', cosmopolitan (obsessed) Thai students learn at anyone of Thailand's over-priced international schools or abroad (think Abhisit). In conversation with a family with two children enrolled at the International Community School, it became clear that there is the perception among some upper-class Thais that the elite Thai schools (Satit Chula and Satit Kaset, to name a couple) focus too heavily on math and promote middling students (making supposedly elite classrooms not-so-elite). These perceptions are especially pronounced among those Thais who come Thai-Chinese merchant/business families, as opposed to those from the military/civil service side (who are generally more frequently ethnically pure Thai). The length of the last name indicates ethnicity, as the short names will generally be pure Thai and the much longer, more convoluted names will be Thai-Chinese. This was because it was a requirement long ago that Chinese immigrants select unique family names; with the scale of Chinese immigration over the centuries, that meant a TON of unique names had to be fabricated.

OK, but what's the punchline?

I should have been more clear: most of the wealthiest Thais don't benefit from these policies either. Many avoid Thai schools altogether because of this very problem. Often families don't want their children in class with students who got there simply by paying more money; it doesn't actually build face and there is a lot skepticism among families I've worked with regarding Thailand's so-called "elite" schools. I don't think this kind of corruption helps wealthy Thais at all. I have enough anecdotal evidence to suggest that the families that are drawn into "tea money" dynamics are most often middle and lower-income families. This is obviously extremely common in Thailand: if you have enough wealth, the sky is the limit. Just as wealthy expatriates are able to pay their way out of immigration obligations, so most Thai elites completely bypass the system that these articles suppose is the end-all-be-all system.

The bit about Thai-Chinese versus pure Thai is that I've found that most of the business families in Thailand hail from mixed or ethnically Chinese backgrounds. That's no surprise; it fits with the historical record of Southeast Asia being populated by Chinese merchants. It's just interesting because there is a pretty well-defined line between the types of wealth in Thailand. Chinese: business; Thai: politics. I apologize for my verbal diarrhea. It happens sometimes.

I don't think there are many pure Thai left.

BTW Are the pure Thai migrated from Southern China a few hundred years ago?

[Unkomoncents]

Many of Thailand's richest and most powerful don't attend Thai schools at all; these policies affect the most provincial Thai students (among the wealthy) and they consume significant portions of the family budgets of middle and lower-class Thais. The most 'elite', cosmopolitan (obsessed) Thai students learn at anyone of Thailand's over-priced international schools or abroad (think Abhisit). In conversation with a family with two children enrolled at the International Community School, it became clear that there is the perception among some upper-class Thais that the elite Thai schools (Satit Chula and Satit Kaset, to name a couple) focus too heavily on math and promote middling students (making supposedly elite classrooms not-so-elite). These perceptions are especially pronounced among those Thais who come Thai-Chinese merchant/business families, as opposed to those from the military/civil service side (who are generally more frequently ethnically pure Thai). The length of the last name indicates ethnicity, as the short names will generally be pure Thai and the much longer, more convoluted names will be Thai-Chinese. This was because it was a requirement long ago that Chinese immigrants select unique family names; with the scale of Chinese immigration over the centuries, that meant a TON of unique names had to be fabricated.

OK, but what's the punchline?

I should have been more clear: most of the wealthiest Thais don't benefit from these policies either. Many avoid Thai schools altogether because of this very problem. Often families don't want their children in class with students who got there simply by paying more money; it doesn't actually build face and there is a lot skepticism among families I've worked with regarding Thailand's so-called "elite" schools. I don't think this kind of corruption helps wealthy Thais at all. I have enough anecdotal evidence to suggest that the families that are drawn into "tea money" dynamics are most often middle and lower-income families. This is obviously extremely common in Thailand: if you have enough wealth, the sky is the limit. Just as wealthy expatriates are able to pay their way out of immigration obligations, so most Thai elites completely bypass the system that these articles suppose is the end-all-be-all system.

The bit about Thai-Chinese versus pure Thai is that I've found that most of the business families in Thailand hail from mixed or ethnically Chinese backgrounds. That's no surprise; it fits with the historical record of Southeast Asia being populated by Chinese merchants. It's just interesting because there is a pretty well-defined line between the types of wealth in Thailand. Chinese: business; Thai: politics. I apologize for my verbal diarrhea. It happens sometimes.

I don't think there are many pure Thai left.

BTW Are the pure Thai migrated from Southern China a few hundred years ago?

Because of the intermixing of many, many ethnic groups, I think one would have to define the beginning of Thai history as the establishment of the first Thai state. You could go with the Sukhothai period or the Ayuthaya period. I'm not sure which I'd go with but that puts you back at least 600 years. Chinese immigration was especially heavy in the last 3-400 years, as far as I've read. This is getting pretty heavy for me though (on the subject of Thai history, I'm no expert).

Edited February 22, 2012 by Unkomoncents

[BigJohnnyBKK]

I don't think there are many pure Thai left.

BTW Are the pure Thai migrated from Southern China a few hundred years ago?

"Thai" is not a race, and in fact there is no scientific basis for such a concept anyway, it's all cultural programming and subjective perception anyway.

However 99.9% of the wealthy Thais I've come across are what I would label "ethnically Chinese", and they are proud to call themselves such - just as they are proud of their whiter-than-the-other-ethnic-groups skin. They teach the Chinese language to their kids as a second language usually concurrently with English, have elements of Chinese religion and philosophy mixed in with their "Thai Buddhism" etc.

Most of them are less than four or five generations away from the original immigrant ancestors, some as little as one or two.

My seat-of-the-pants estimate is that this group owns 80% of Thailand's means of production, not counting farmland - but they probably own say half of that as well, or are holding the paper on loans upcountry.

Reserving places for the "more wealthy than others" is highly discriminatory, corrupt, and immoral, and is not in the best interests of the country. I find it appalling that an Education Minister could even think these things, let alone make the thoughts public.

Well, since the government doesn't want to (or isn't able to depending on your POV) actually fund the public school system to the point where the common people could get a decent education, he sees this as a way for some schools to get some extra income.

I think very few in the top say 20% of Thai society who run the show give a hoot about the dirt poor that make up the rest - other than as a source of cheap labor - much less imagine than such low creatures have any "right" to a decent opportunity. They would see the social mobility of a truly open and competitive society based on earned merit as a disaster, total destruction of the Thai way of life, which is based on everyone knowing their place and kowtowing to their betters.

Most of the bottom 80% would probably go along with such ideas, as they've been brainwashed to do for hundreds of years, not least by the educational system.

Good luck making any headway meddling with our hosts' attitude with your bizarre foreign concepts.

And I hope there aren't any Americans feeling superior, from a relative equality POV we aren't much better. There are very few places in the (even well-developed) world where poor kids get just as good a chance at education as the rich - the Scandinavians set a great example, particularly Finland, where it is illegal for any school to charge any tuition fees at all, including at tertiary level.

Now **that** would be an effective policy to propose here or in the US, talk about a sea change 8-)

[rotary]

A short stay in the Bkk Hilton surrounded by pretty Mars bar creek of 3 months during the summer holidays for teachers wanting tea money should cure that urge I would think. Criminal in my opinion.

[alanferdi]

So let me get this straight. It's still ok for the cops and politicians to take bribes and payoffs right? We wouldn't want to see the entire balance of Thai society go over the edge now would we.

Bribes.....NO ... Tea Money. 30% would be a preferential figure. Thai society will not go over the edge... beggers will be beggars and Rice famers will be farmers.