HEADLINES [click on headline to view story]:

Don’t tarnish all with the same brush

Give teachers credit where credit’s due

Professionals or Pretenders?

Seeking relief for a vendor in distress

This cup of coffee didn’t runneth over

Of drinking water and alarm systems

Don’t tarnish all with the same brush

Dear Sir,

I was appalled to read the letter entitled “International Schools” in your paper last week, in which an angry parent suggested that all schools were run poorly and that teachers on 2-4 year contracts would not go out of their way for the sake of the children.

I am sorry that the parent in question has had a bad experience of the International School system, but I was surprised that such a one sided view point was allowed to be published. The parent in question is clearly upset at their school and I feel incensed that they dare to put all schools in this category. It is true that teachers are on 2-4 year contracts, this however gives the school much more flexibility of getting rid of the weaker teachers in their school. The same thing cannot be said of the British system, where getting rid of poor teachers is very difficult indeed.

This parent also questioned how the parents know if the teachers are suitably qualified and I would like to inform your paper that all teachers employed in Thailand cannot receive a Thai teaching license, and therefore a work permit, without their original university documents and official qualifications. Perhaps the parent in question should put their problems into perspective, and stop tarnishing all International School with the same brush

Yours faithfully
A fully qualified, dedicated and angry International teacher

Give teachers credit where credit’s due

Dear Editor,

I agree with ‘Another parent’ to always keep an eye on your children’s progress at school (Mailbag September 23rd). However, I take issue with the comment regarding teachers not going out of their way for the children. This may be true in some cases, but by no means all – as implied.

My partner has just moved to Thailand, to work at an International School on a teaching contract. So far I have seen little of her. She is usually at school at least an hour before the first parents arrive with their offspring. She leaves some 12 hours after she arrives, not to go home and relax but to plan and prepare, often beyond midnight. She also spends some time during the weekends at school, making sure that her classroom is somewhere that children will enjoy learning.

This is all done because she wants to give the best she can to the children she teaches, not because of contractual obligation, or for overtime payments (there aren’t any). She is utterly dedicated to the well being and development of the children in her class. Those children are receiving an education that would be considered excellent anywhere in the world.

So please do not place all teachers, or schools, into the same category.

Parents won’t easily see the work that goes on behind the scenes, but look carefully and you will see the signs, better still get involved in the PTA and make a positive contribution. Be appreciative if your child’s teacher is making efforts beyond those, which should be reasonably expected. Some parents can be quick to see fault, before doing so consider the huge workload that many teachers face endeavouring to educate their charges to a high standard.

A final thought, before placing your child at any school, speak with parents of existing pupils and see what they feel about the school.
Patrick

Professionals or Pretenders?

Dear Editor,

After several months of searching I have now finally purchased a property here in Pattaya without the use of a Realtor. What I must say in this letter is the standard of realtor’s in this town is terrible, whilst on my search I would enter many of the offices in Pattaya to be greeted by what I found were very under-experienced Thai staff with very few communication skills, they would sit me down show me pictures of properties if I was lucky, if I had picked a display out of the window most of the time it was either sold or had a price change, I would explain my requirements and be shown completely not what I had asked for and then when I made appointments to view the realtors would either be extremely late with me calling them several times to chase them up and make sure they haven’t forgotten me, other times I would enter the offices for an appointment to be told that they would like to postpone the viewings that we had planned, basically I think they just didn’t bother making any appointments at all.

Whilst I was left to deal with the lesser experienced staff, the foreigners in that office who I presume to be the owners or managers of the business were staying well in the background, would this be because they had no paperwork from the authorities to be there in the first place? i.e. no work permit!

What I am asking is, with the abundance of real estate agents in town has the trend moved on from foreigners buying bars/restaurants to opening estate agencies or calling themselves developers? It appears that it has to me.

Also if you do deal with a real estate agent with no work permit and you have a problem with that particular person either with them not keeping to their side of the deal or even worse them running off with your money which I understand has happened in the past, legally what can you do?

I understand this may be a touchy subject as your publication is supported by a plethora of ‘estate agencies’ but am very interested in hearing views on points raised?

Many thanks,
M. Greillier

Seeking relief for a vendor in distress

Dear editor,

I always go buy the rice soup most mornings from the stand beside the market opposite Wat Chaimongkol (soi 18). But one morning I went to the stand and there was no rice soup stand. Day after day I went pass her stand, she never show up. Week has gone by no news of her.

One day I saw she open her store back up, she look tried not like herself who used to have a lot of energy. I ask her ‘where you have been?’ She replies the hot soup has accidentally poured on her and she has been hospitalised all the time that she has been missing. She can’t effort to rest until the burn got heal because there will be no income going in and her whole family will get starve.

From what I have been gathering form people talk to her, this is what happened. A kid playing around her rice soup stand, lost control of him or herself and knocked down one pot. But the way she has her store set up is a bunch of pot sit next to one another and she will be in the middle on the lower end of the sidewalk where she have her stand.

When one pot fall it knocks down the other pot including the boiling hot soup which hold many gallons. The hot soup pours right on to her. I don’t know the extent of the burn but from looking the way she stands, it seems quite serious.

The way she serves rice soup now she has to sit on her stand with one leg up and the other straight in order to balance herself. When she stands up she can’t stand with both feet on the floor. One foot always stays on the tiptoe position. I don’t know how much pain she has to endure each day, but from looking at her trying to work and balancing herself is too much for me to just sit back and doing nothing.

So, that’s why I write you this letter pleading you or any one to help this poor lady. Just to get through her tough time. I don’t think she would agree with me to write this letter to you if I ask her. So I write this letter without her knowledge nor have I asked for her permission first.
Praniwat

This cup of coffee didn’t runneth over

The other day while I was visiting the new Tukcom electronics center in South Pattaya I decided to treat myself to some coffee at a ‘brand name’ coffee house at the store, which is located on the first floor. After I had given the clerk the 70 baht for the coffee I noticed that the man behind the counter had filled my cup up less then halfway from the coffee machine and then proceeded to top the mug off with hot water from a hot water dispenser. At first I thought maybe they may have misunderstood me and were serving me something else; “I just wanted normal coffee, what is this?”

He said, “This is normal coffee, just like you buy everywhere.” which of course begs the question why am I paying 70 baht for it-it’s supposed to be gourmet brewed coffee, not cheap instant coffee which is dissolved in hot water. Anyways I asked him why he had only given me half coffee and then diluted it with hot water, he insisted this is normal-which is a nonsense. I have never been served coffee like that. I went to the table and took a few sips… it tasted weak. I went back to the counter and asked him if he would at least re-fill my cup after I finished it since it was diluted and he said he would not, I set the almost full cup of coffee in front of him and walked out and drove my bike over to Au Bon Pain-where they don’t cheat people, having lost my 70 baht. Please advise your readers to avoid the ‘brand name’ coffee house fraud. There are plenty of small shops owned by Thais and Europeans where you can get brewed coffee and where they don’t rip you off.

Sam
South Pattaya

Of drinking water and alarm systems

I read the letter from Peter Haslock and Gary T. Bruton in the 23 OCT paper.

1. Water taken from a roof is ok to wash in and for the toilet provided it has been chlorinated before use, but with all of the birds and gecko’s and other critters that spend time on the roof, I don’t think that drinking the water is advisable unless well filtered or run thru an RO unit.

2. There is an infrared alarm that is used in the various stores to announce the arrival of a customer, which also has a very loud alarm setting that could be set up every night and if some entered the protected area would let the house occupant plus the neighbors know some one is in the house who doesn’t belong there. Since it would detect an intrusion when they intruder first gets into the house, he/she would know that they were expected. Probably they would depart. I purchased mine at Tesco Lotus about three years ago, and it is not expensive, runs on AA cells.

W. D. Tuttle, Jr.

Letters published in the Mailbag of Pattaya Mail
are also on our website.