# Education in Thailand - a grim and gloomy outlook



## Gary 1111

According to a recent article in the newspaper “Bangkok Post”, Finnish experts identified that the main problem is the “inequity” of educational opportunities available for children in urban and rural areas. 

“If you have a lot of inequalities in your education system, it makes it that much more complicated to increase the quality of education.” (statement of Mr Pasi Sahlberg, education expert)

“Only applicants who score highly in their exams and have a positive attitude toward teaching will be selected for the teacher training programme each year. All applicants must hold at least a master’s degree in education.” (statement of Ms Tiina Malste, expert in pedagogical resources)

To this very date, these are the biggest problems in Thai education system. It seems that the government and Thai society are unwilling to make any changes at all.

I myself made a disastrous experience with the Thai education system. I was committed and dedicated to learn self defence and combat fighting at the hand-to-hand combat school in Chiang Mai. However, the owner and the teachers are not serious about transferring the knowledge and clearly failed to provide a proper training and a minimum service level as mentioned underneath: 

-	to teach the concepts (systems), not just isolated moves 
-	to limit the number of students to maximum 15 per class 
-	to distinguish minimum three levels, i.e. beginners, intermediate and advanced 
-	to monitor and observe the student’s progress (i.e. EXCEL sheet)
-	students must make reals tests, not mock tests (both in theory and practice) 
-	instructors need to undergo a professional training


Only a radical change in the mind and behaviour of the government, educational bodies and the Thai society may significantly improve the education in Thailand, else it remains grim and gloomy!


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## Martinsyam

Why should the owner do it your way ? I teach in my club , i don't get paid , i enjoy and pass on what i have learned , most clubs are the same , you always get givers and takers , try giving more and less of the me me me , maybe that's why the teachers did not teach ! . You are in Thailand relax and enjoy and embrace the Thai way of life , is that not why you are here.


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## 4gazza

*education*

The Bangkok Post is spot on about the "alleged" education system in Thailand.
It does not resemble anything other than a "rote" system. Just remember the correct answers; don't ask why it is the correct answer. In the village where I live in the North, I am currently receiving visits from senior students whom are assigned to ask me some general questions (eg. What is your name? Where do you come from?) This "interview" they record to present back to their teacher. This is classed as a serious lesson in speaking English.
I am sure that those in power really don't want the kids asking questions.
This is a 'do as you are told' society.
Thailand is still a great place to live, however.
P.s. the students come to me as I am the only "farang" in the area.


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## neilr

4gazza said:


> I am sure that those in power really don't want the kids asking questions. This is a 'do as you are told' society.


100% true. I am forever wanting to put questions to the local government about electricity supply, especially when they cut power to the whole village to do more unannounced maintenance work.

Same applies for 3BB internet service providers

However the wife is not willing to put the pertinent questions to those that could provide any kind of answer and just accepts it as a way of life. She tells me this stems from her school days where they were not only not encouraged to ask questions but actually discouraged from doing so :crazy:


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## Xynoplas2

Gary, may I ask what your level of training is?


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## nanglong218

When my Thai wife joined me in Australia (2007) her children then 16 and 18 were given leaving school certificates. They were graded on their being good Thai citizens, ie docile. In Oz I showed them a world map, I pointed at a place and asked them to name it. No idea, clueless. It's Africa I said. Happily, after Australian school and training they have good jobs and earning power.
Thailand holds its people down to everyone's loss.


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## grahamjw21

I have never been to Thailand, but living in Taiwan I see some of "do as you are told" attitude. One upside is that broadly speaking people in Asian tend to be more polite, but the downside is a tendency to be less self-motivated. Thankfully, Taiwan seems to see the problem and is working to make it better. Hopefully, Thailand can grow as well.


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## BKK_James

When I was an English teacher [many years ago] we tested well over 100 Thai English teachers from a number of schools. [One of them was pretty well known in Bangkok]. The standard of English was horrific; a significant percentage of the teachers could barely speak English. [Really!] In my opinion this is the root of Thailand's education problems; people teaching who have no business doing so. How can you teach that which you can't do?!


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## ThailanderIsHere

It will continue like this for a while because the cost of good education is increasing every day and it's not at the same rate as living cost and salary. Nowadays, students in Thailand have to take so many extra courses in order to stay competitive. Rich people would be able to send their children to study aboard. but poor people can not do that.


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## BKK_James

ThailanderIsHere said:


> It will continue like this for a while because the cost of good education is increasing every day and it's not at the same rate as living cost and salary. Nowadays, students in Thailand have to take so many extra courses in order to stay competitive. Rich people would be able to send their children to study aboard. but poor people can not do that.


Quite. Literally all the top business people [and most successful politicians] were educated overseas. It's rare to find a Thai 'at the top of the food chain' who wasn't educated overseas. [For at least some of their education].


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## Thai Bigfoot

As a country's population becomes more educated, a major problem surfaces.
An educated populace wants a say in the operation of a country. This means being represented in all levels of the government.
It started almost 1000 years ago with England's Magna Carta which established basic rules and restrictions on the King. And, look what happened. A really well establish system of government and a highly educated populace. It took 700 years, but, it was was followed by the U.S.A. and France.
Governments that used oppressive, often military, methods to retain power don't see an educated populace as beneficial. They know what will eventually occur.

It will probably take another few hundred years for democracies to dominate the world. When that happens, there will be an end to international wars and conflicts.


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## Mardle

Isn't there private schools for rich children IN Thailand like in Cambodia ? But again, it is still for rich people...


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## modeeper

I was a card-carrying K-12 teacher in California. I went to Thailand and worked at Rajabhat (a teacher's university) for 7 years.

I know little about off-center enrolment norms. At my school you pay your tuition and attend.

What I do know about the system is that it's poor, very poor. I mentioned my gig was a university dedicated to graduating Thai teachers. 

In my academic life I believe about 80% of what I studied was related to psychology, sociology, cultural awareness and the like. I got to know many Thai students. They dig right into psychology and sociology deep ... four hours of class time in their 5 years as students. Hard to believe!

What the system doesn't do is to instill deductive reasoning. And as adults it's easy to see very few folks have a clue. 

No fail policy. An A is as good as an F. This applies to primary and secondary education as well.

The Muslims and female students were the best. Thai boys are pampered, short attention spans, poor attendance. Some are creative, especially in the arts.

I'll end my rant with a tale of a high school science class I did as a sub.

Deductive reasoning was what I wanted to address. I bought two turtles, one was an ugly Thai mud turtle. The other was one of those green Japanese boys you see in pet stores.

So as we observed I asked, which turtle is male and which is female? "The green one is a girl, she's prettier". Which is tougher .. who'd win in a fight? "The black one." Why? "Because he's Thai."


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## modeeper

nanglong218 said:


> When my Thai wife joined me in Australia (2007) her children then 16 and 18 were given leaving school certificates. They were graded on their being good Thai citizens, ie docile. In Oz I showed them a world map, I pointed at a place and asked them to name it. No idea, clueless. It's *Africa I said*. Happily, after Australian school and training they have good jobs and earning power.
> *Thailand holds its people down to everyone's loss.*


There's a country on my bucket list. 
So true. And when you work for them they own your arse, so do the Koreans and Chinese.

Ya gota remember it's not a country, it's a kingdom. Now that Elvis is gone I'm guessing Thailand will adapt to a more military world view, correction .. even more. One thing for sure, the average, nonconnected, non political hard working folk hasn't much to hope for apart from the bennies of turning out his daughters to BKK.

Yours Truly .. The Sick Buffalo


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