Forced contributions to farewell party of future director

[thequietman]

Much like yourself, my school has gone to sh#te as well. We have a new head of department that can't string a full sentence together in English. She won't buy stationery, markers for the white board, ink or anything else that you would associate with teaching daily.

They asked for money for the aircon and now that the foreigners wont pay it, they won't turn on the aircon. We all sit in the stifling heat and suffer. The fridge broke and she won't replace it.

They insist we coach the kids after school hours for competitions to which we refused. I have an average 4 hours a day when I am free to help but that isn't the time they want us to do it. When they do ask us to do in our free time, we then enquire as to when the competition is. The reply, "in two days." They have known about it but don't tell us until the last minute and expect results. If the students are successful, they take the credit and we are not mentioned. If the students lose then the foreigners are blamed.

Students come to class 15,20,25 minutes late to class. When I once didn't allow them to come in as they were disrupting my class, the students complained! Head of department told me to let them in no matter the time missed. Amazing.

After this years contract ends, I am leaving. I have been here 4 years and it's enough.

The staff room is essentially a kitchen. Last week one teacher was frying pigs skin and the room stank from top to bottom. They will gladly cook chillies and drive you from the room. They just laugh and think its funny. They will gladly pop open a durian and think nothing of it.

All the teachers are female, so basically when they come in in the morning to when they leave, they never shut the f@@k up. Constantly cackling about food and nonsense and there is never a quiet moment to study or relax. When I found an alternative quiet room, I was told to return to the English staffroom as the teachers there were losing face as I didn't want to sit with them. Unbelievable......yet true.

I could go on and on but whats the point. It will never change. I hope to find a real school for next year and if I can't find one that actually is a school then I will stop for a year and organise my thoughts and make a decision then. What a crock of sh#te these schools really are. .

[swbcare]

Much like yourself, my school has gone to sh#te as well. We have a new head of department that can't string a full sentence together in English. She won't buy stationery, markers for the white board, ink or anything else that you would associate with teaching daily.

They asked for money for the aircon and now that the foreigners wont pay it, they won't turn on the aircon. We all sit in the stifling heat and suffer. The fridge broke and she won't replace it.

They insist we coach the kids after school hours for competitions to which we refused. I have an average 4 hours a day when I am free to help but that isn't the time they want us to do it. When they do ask us to do in our free time, we then enquire as to when the competition is. The reply, "in two days." They have known about it but don't tell us until the last minute and expect results. If the students are successful, they take the credit and we are not mentioned. If the students lose then the foreigners are blamed.

Students come to class 15,20,25 minutes late to class. When I once didn't allow them to come in as they were disrupting my class, the students complained! Head of department told me to let them in no matter the time missed. Amazing.

After this years contract ends, I am leaving. I have been here 4 years and it's enough.

The staff room is essentially a kitchen. Last week one teacher was frying pigs skin and the room stank from top to bottom. They will gladly cook chillies and drive you from the room. They just laugh and think its funny. They will gladly pop open a durian and think nothing of it.

All the teachers are female, so basically when they come in in the morning to when they leave, they never shut the f@@k up. Constantly cackling about food and nonsense and there is never a quiet moment to study or relax. When I found an alternative quiet room, I was told to return to the English staffroom as the teachers there were losing face as I didn't want to sit with them. Unbelievable......yet true.

I could go on and on but whats the point. It will never change. I hope to find a real school for next year and if I can't find one that actually is a school then I will stop for a year and organise my thoughts and make a decision then. What a crock of sh#te these schools really are. .

I almost think you work by us. Same at my school. If you ask for something the standard answer is no budget. No planning, no cooperation. Without exception the farangs are the blame of all. Although the school is one of the biggest school chains in Thailand the management below any standard and live still in the 1920. From kindergarten till high school the most important subject is ......marching.

[puchooay]

They did however take 50 out each time a teacher had a baby, and 100 out each time a member of a teacher's immediate family passed away.

The school would also ask each teacher to pay ฿100 during sports week, as a contribution towards their colour's materials for making signs/costumes etc.

What did really get a lot of both Thai and Farang teachers annoyed though, was when my school had it's 50 year anniversary. The school decided that every teacher should make a ฿1000 compulsory donation directly from their salary.

These are not only not acceptable, I would have demanded the money back. The school birthday parties are sold by the table. Sports week items are in the school budget. Having children and death are part of life and should be an individual choice as to making a financial donation. Once a year, the retirement party, okay. Nothing more.

A school where I taught a few years ago had the birth and death contributions.

Whilst I was there my wife and I had our first child. I received 6000 baht from the contributions.

In all that was about twice as much as I paid during my 5 years there.

Not all doom and gloom.

[meand]

They did however take 50 out each time a teacher had a baby, and 100 out each time a member of a teacher's immediate family passed away.

The school would also ask each teacher to pay ฿100 during sports week, as a contribution towards their colour's materials for making signs/costumes etc.

What did really get a lot of both Thai and Farang teachers annoyed though, was when my school had it's 50 year anniversary. The school decided that every teacher should make a ฿1000 compulsory donation directly from their salary.

These are not only not acceptable, I would have demanded the money back. The school birthday parties are sold by the table. Sports week items are in the school budget. Having children and death are part of life and should be an individual choice as to making a financial donation. Once a year, the retirement party, okay. Nothing more.

A school where I taught a few years ago had the birth and death contributions.

Whilst I was there my wife and I had our first child. I received 6000 baht from the contributions.

In all that was about twice as much as I paid during my 5 years there.

Not all doom and gloom.

Well u are the exception, believe me. These schools normally don't do this for the foreign staff. Even if and when they do, I still think it's wrong. These are just modern day shakedowns.

[BangkokHank]

You can live in your little ill-informed bubble and think this is ok all you want. I assure you, it is not ok, far from it. I can't think of too many worse things than using a man's family and earning potential against him to extort money actually.

Once again, you are off on a tangent. I said it was once a year, and 200baht, and for the retirement party. These parties are very important to the Thai staff. They in fact live for them, the highlight of their year. Why spoil it with your naive complaints? I would not accept any more than once a year, I made that clear. It is not extortion, it is participating in Thai culture. Get your context in order mate. It's a big deal these parties, to Thai people. They have no other life like some farang teachers.

The fact is that these are expenses that are the responsibility of the school to finance - NOT the teachers. It's really that simple. Or, if the parties are such a big deal to the Thai teachers, let them pay for them - and let the foreign teachers attend for free. Or does the concept of hospitality not exist in Thailand?

[meand]

In the end, people get what they deserve. If you don't mind people asking you for money, and don't mind encouraging this behavior, then go ahead. The problem is you are not only making things worse for yourself, but for those around you too. The more you give, the more they'll ask. There should not be any middle ground, people should put their foot down on issues like this. It's like if you don't want your daughter to have sex, you don't tell her one time a year is ok. If you do that you potentially open the floodgates.

Edited November 24, 2014 by meand