Foreign Teachers for the Southern Provinces

[Somtamnication]

This has got me thinking. I am getting bored teaching the usual... let's see:

Nouns can be bomb, fuse, police, military, terrorist, 7 11

Adjectives can be dangerous, bloody .....

Verbs, bleeding, running (all three tenses must be taught!) bled, ran,

Vocab, oh sh1t, crap, <deleted>, OMG, OMB, OMM, where de door, why run you fast

I am ready for Pattani, y'all!

[cup-O-coffee]

From ATM up North, to Ransom and/or clay pigeon down in the South. As Doc Holiday would say, "You're a daisy if you do!", but a fool into the bargain.

Moreover, this could be a way for the Thais to find an out to their problems. Lure foreigners into this mess and have them involved in kidnappings, murders by beheading, etc. and perhaps the soldiers from those murdered foreigner's countries will intervene and bail out the nutless Thai cowards who lure fools into harms way.

Anyone who falls for this is asking for it, and no RIP in advance.

[dighambara]

Without the right to carry weapons, armed escorts, some command authority with Police & Thai Army, multples of extra pay (4x,8x, etc.) won't draw many.

[Scott]

The Thai gov't has had a policy of trying to not keep the situation in the south out of the international spotlight. They have been largely successful. The insurgents have tried to get the situation into the international spotlight. Having farang teachers from western countries will be the death knell to that policy.

The Thai gov't is known for being pretty heavy handed and they do have quasi-sanctioned militia groups that do a lot of the dirty work. I am not defending anything about the insurgents, but the gov't will take the heat if things start happening.

Best to send the kids further north to school.

I've actually interviewed quite a number of students for our English program who came from the deep south and were trying to relocate to BKK or the surrounding English. Most of them had excellent English, but it was too small of a sample to say much about the overall standard of teaching in the area.

[GOLDBUGGY]

Yes, great location to teach. I guess rates of pay would have to be double.

As I understand it, a school friend of my wife is in the army and he went South. His reason was that he will get double pay for going there and he needed the money. So it realistic to think a teacher would also be paid double. Or at least insist on it.

But when you look at the whole picture I doubt many teachers came here for the money as many would probably make much more back home, if they could find a job. I believe many came here for the adventure and experience. I am not sure what the job demand is for teachers in Thailand, as I am not one, but I guess that if you are willing to move anywhere the I am sure it is high.

Perhaps if you are just starting out, not highly qualified, and need the experience, you might first consider going there. For sure you will get some experience and a lot of adventure. But consider this. I am not sure if teachers are a target their, but it would not surprise me if they were. You catch more World Headlines by shooting a foreign teacher then you would a Thai Army Officer. If they don't know that now, they will soon learn this.

In Algeria, quite a few years back in the 70's and early 80's, a Terrorist Group their tried to cripple the government financially, so they come not pay their huge army, and thus overthrow them by force. To do that they had to cripple there Oil & Gas Industry as the government derived most of its income from that. But being over guarded they had no chance to attack these places.

So instead they shifted their target to all expats. They felt that if they used expats as their prime target this would cripple the Oil & Gas Industry, as without their expertise they could not survive. It would also scare away other Expats from going there, which would have the same effect. They did kill quite a few Expats during this time but their plan did not work. It just made all the wages for Expats go up. Way up! This plan is still in effect as of today.

So as a teacher their, it dose not matter if you are doing a vital service to the community,. You very well could be a target, and being unarmed and unprotected, a very easy target indeed. I would not go unless security was provided to your satisfaction for no love or money. , .

[onlycw]

Packing heat? Teachers get a gun, don't they?

[EvilDrSomkid]

Packing heat? Teachers get a gun, don't they?

Nope. And teachers are targeted. Besides, I don't think a gun will help against a road side bomb.

[EvilDrSomkid]

The Thai gov't has had a policy of trying to not keep the situation in the south out of the international spotlight. They have been largely successful. The insurgents have tried to get the situation into the international spotlight. Having farang teachers from western countries will be the death knell to that policy.

I thk you meant to write "The Thai gov't has had a policy of trying to not keep the situation in the south out of the international spotlight."

However, the situation is in the deep south is covered outside Thailand, maybe not as extensively as here, but still.

I see more reports about the south and the protests in Dutch news lately.

[Scott]

Yes, you are right. Typing faster than I am thinking and that results in an incorrect and poorly worded sentence.

Thanks for the correction.

[Somtamnication]

Road side bombs do not concern me. What does is an insurgent attack at a school while I am in class. Protecting my students ***and I*** is paramount.

The dang contract must stipulate a Glock 22 with mercury tips. Accept no substitute!!!

[jdinasia]

For those people that don't really know much about the South other than to ramble on about it. Here are the numbers for the past 10 years. http://thailand.prd.go.th/view_news.php?id=7078&a=2

I am sure the numbers will shock some people.

[Somtamnication]

Love to read the site, but it comes up with alarm bells from my antivirus...

[jdinasia]

Here is the text of that PRD website

Violent Incidents in the Southern Border Provinces during the Past 10 Years (09/01/2014) Share

A total of 8,540 violent incidents took place in the southern border provinces during the past 10 years, resulting in a great loss of life and property and damaging the local economy.

The Spokesman of the Internal Security Operations Command, Region 4, Forward, Colonel Pramote Phrom-in, revealed statistics concerning the southern situation during the past 10 years, from 4 January 2004 to 3 January 2014.

Out of the 8,540 violent incidents, 601 took place in 2004, 1,006 in 2005, 1,249 in 2006, 1,669 in 2007, 769 in 2008, 757 in 2009, 625 in 2010, 680 in 2011, 542 in 2012, and 615 in 2013.

During the 10-year period, 5,352 people died and 9,965 were injured. They were soldiers, policemen, defense volunteers, education personnel, administrative officials, religious leaders, and the general public. Among the dead, 6,108 were Muslim and 2,259 were Buddhist, and among the injured, 6,326 were Buddhist and 3,146 were Muslim.

This reveals that the majority of the fatalities were Muslims and, in contrast, the Buddhist civilians constitute most of the injured. As for the 495 perpetrators, 399 died and 96 were injured.

Based on the statistics, the number of violent incidents was the highest in 2007. Since then, the decreasing level of violence is noteworthy. The Spokesman attributed the decrease to the translation of southern policies into more efficient action and other proactive measures in terms of law enforcement and safety provided for weak target areas.

He also cited efficient joint operations between security officers, civilians, and local people as another reason for the decreasing level of violence. They have worked in an integrated manner to tackle southern problems. More unified operations were seen in both security matters and development work. In addition, he said, officials were able to create better understanding among local people.

In 2014, the Internal Security Operations Command, Region 4, Forward, still emphasizes the “politics-leading-military” approach in dealing with the southern situation. It also focuses on working closely with various agencies involved in tackling southern problems. These agencies include the Southern Border Provinces Administrative Center and 17 ministries.

Colonel Pramote said that other mechanisms would be used to help ease the problems, as well For instance, district operations centers will encourage the “subdistrict peace councils” and village committees to work in response to the needs of local residents.

He urged all sectors of society, especially the civic sector, to play a greater role in stopping unrest in the deep South, where a high number of officials and innocent people, both Buddhists and Muslims, have been killed and injured in the past 10 years.

[simon43]

...Among the dead, 6,108 were Muslim and 2,259 were Buddhist,

Going off-topic, but that ratio is surprising news to me - worthy of a thread on its own.

Simon

[simple1]

...Among the dead, 6,108 were Muslim and 2,259 were Buddhist,

Going off-topic, but that ratio is surprising news to me - worthy of a thread on its own.

Simon

Been known for a long time majority murdered are local Muslims, but the numbers are wrong as the article states total 5,352 people died at the time of the report. From memory it's 3k+ Muslims and 2k+ Buddhist deaths attributed to the conflict

Edited February 19, 2014 by simple1