Education

Pupils' hunger strike exposes corruption in Thai school admissions

Originally published at Siam Voices on May 31, 2012 SEE UPDATE AND CORRECTION BELOW!

A hunger strike by schoolchildren who have been barred from advancing to the upper secondary level at their Bangkok school has highlighted the ever-existing problem of corruption when it comes to parents finding a place to learn for their children in Thailand.

Last year we looked at then education minister Woravat Auapinyakul's remarks concerning the long-existing practice of tea money for school admissions. But instead of combatting this customary bribing for a better education, Woravut has suggested to make these more 'transparent' - while still enabling children from richer social backgrounds to have a more competitive edge over others.

Now, under the new education minister Suchart Thada-Thamrongvech, the victims of this common 'tradition' had enough and staged a hunger strike:

Four students of Bodindecha (Sing Singhaseni) School continued their protest at Government House for a second day yesterday, calling on school management to admit all Matthayom 3 [Grade 9] students into Matthayom 4 [Grade 10] to further their studies at the school.

[Education Minister Suchart Thada-Thamrongvech] said he believed the students were being used as a political tool by a certain group of people. He instructed the Office of Basic Education Commission to lodge a police complaint against the people he believes are behind the protest. The minister refused to name the people he suspected.

The protesting students said they finished Matthayom 3 at Bodindecha school with a GPA of over 2.0, but were not selected to continue their studies because the management had allocated some seats for new students.

"‘Politics’ behind hunger strike", Bangkok Post, May 21, 2012

Suchart's suspicions of some political conspiracy are typical of the tendency to try to solve a problem at the end, rather than at its roots. What groups does he think could be utilizing teenagers for a hunger strike? Or is he trying to deflect the attention from the bribes problem?

Nevertheless, the education ministry actually intervened:

The Education Ministry has told Bodindecha (Sing Singhaseni) School to accept 57 students it earlier rejected and ordered a probe against the director for bribery.

The move ended the hunger strike of four students outside Government House which started on Friday in an attempt to pressure the authorities.

The ministry's order came after a meeting between Pornpichit Sukannan, adviser to Education Minister Suchart Thada-Thamrongvech, and parents who suspected irregularities in the school's admission system after their children were denied seats.

"School bribe inquiry ordered", Bangkok Post, May 22, 2012

Whether or not the investigation will result in anything remains to be seen, as the Anti-Money Laundering Office has received a petition investigate another 20 school heads for bribery. At least this intervention gave the students and their parents some peace of mind to plan the next few years in school until a day later...

Office of the Basic Education Commission (Obec) secretary-general Chinnapat Bhumirat said Bodindecha (Sing Singhaseni) School has admission regulations and education management standards to uphold and cannot accept as many students as it had agreed.

The move reversed an agreement between Pornpichit Sukannan, an adviser to Education Minister Suchart Thada-Thamrongvech, and parents on Monday that the school would enrol all 57. Obec's decision follows a meeting yesterday between parents, Obec representatives and the education minister.

The decision sparked uproar from parents. One left a note in the meeting room accusing the Education Ministry of leaving the children scarred. (...) Mr Chinnapat said the agency will try its best to find places for students who miss out and called on parents to try to understand.

"School about-turn angers parents", Bangkok Post, May 23 , 2012

So, the education ministry has prematurely stormed forward with a too-simple solution that is now crumbled by an apparently very strict system.

For the families and their children the past weeks have been one single up-and-down experience, as they have been simply lucked out for betting on school grades alone to advance to upper secondary level instead of paying a bit extra. In a last-ditch move, a group of parents and schoolchildren, after having submitting a petition to prime minister Yingluck Shinatwatra, have now approached General Prem Tinsulanonda, the president of the privy council, for help.

However, even if the teenagers will get a place at Bodindecha or some other school, this still doesn't solve the problem of paying bribes for a school admission. Even worse, there have been already reports of bullying against the protesting students, who eventually got to continue attending at that school.

UPDATE: In a bizarre development on Thursday, education minister Suchart is going to sue the student protesters and their parents for "providing wrong information to the press and even burning an effigy" of him. He also stated that the whole conflict was sparked from a "misunderstanding, that their children are not allowed admission because of 'tea money'."

CORRECTION: Contrary to what is reported in the news snippets, a number of the striking children are apparently well below the required score to technically advance to upper secondary level. The corresponding sentence in the post has been struck through. Apologies to our readers!

Saksith Saiyasombut is a Thai blogger and journalist currently based in Hamburg, Germany. He can be followed on Twitter @Saksith and on Facebook here.

Thailand: 2 years after the May 19 crackdown - some personal (and very short) thoughts

Originally published at Siam Voices on May 21, 2012 On Saturday, thousands of red shirts gathered at Ratchaprasong Intersection in Bangkok to commemorate the second anniversary of the violent crackdown against the anti-government protests on May 19, 2010 by the military. Ninety-one people have lost their lives and thousands were wounded in the clashes - protesters, soldiers, civilians and journalists (notably Fabio Polenghi) are among the casualties. In the past two years there has been hardly any justice and impunity still prevails.

There seems to be a growing discontent among some red shirts over the people they initially supported. Key issues such as lèse majesté have still seen no action from the government of Yingluck Shinawatra. Many see this as a promise from the government in exchange for a shaky détente with the military that allows it to stay in power. Yingluck's brother, the exiled former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra, made his regular phone-in to his supporters on Saturday, asking the crowd to put aside calls for solving social inequalities and injustice for the sake (yet again) for national reconciliation - potentially alienating the progressive, pro-democracy wing of the red shirt movement.

In contrast to 2010 and 2011, I have decided not to write a long column on the state of the nation. However, I tweeted a few concise thoughts on Saturday that have gained some response and I thought they would be worth sharing here:

Saksith Saiyasombut is a Thai blogger and journalist currently based in Hamburg, Germany. He can be followed on Twitter @Saksith and on Facebook here.

Did Thai report really say Facebook 'causes teen pregnancy'?

Originally published at Siam Voices on March 5, 2012 Last week, we have reported on a report by the National Economic and Social Development Board (NESDB) that suggests that "Facebook partly causes teen pregnancies". While this assertion is still totally laughable, I grew somehow skeptical about the English language article the previous post was based on.

Upon further study of the original report titled "Social Situation and Outlook 2011" (original title: "ภาวะสังคมไทยไตรมาสสี่ และภาพรวมปี 2554", PDF here) - there were a few discrepancies that might suggest that some lazy journalism was at work here and the NESDB might not sound completely ridiculous.

For example there was that last sentence here...

The public health survey in 2010 indicated that out of 760,000 babies born, 411,000 had died. The NESDB said that the figure shows that a number of mothers decided to have abortion.

NESDB: Facebook partly cause of teen pregnancies“, National News Bureau of Thailand , February 28, 2012

Over a half of the babies born have died within that year? Not really - according to UNICEF, Thailand just has an infant mortality rate of 1,1 per cent. Also, a look into the report reveals on page 15 that of the precisely 766,370 babies that were born that year, 105,487 of these pregnancies were carried out by mothers aged 20 years (13.76 per cent) - higher than the Asian average.

So, where does this monumental screw-up come from? Well, the same page indicates that  411,311 people of ALL ages have died in 2010. Simply put, that 'reporter' - deliberately or not - has taken the total grand mortality figure and wrote this as the infant mortality rate!

But does the NESDB report differs from the negative press coverage on the notion whether or not Facebook is partly to be blamed for teen pregnancies? Let's take a look - in the chapter "The number of revealing, inappropriate pictures in the online community is increasing, including children and youths" ("การเผยแพร่ภาพไม่่เหมาะสมในสังคมออนไลน์มี จํานวนเพ่ิมขึ้นและเป็นกรณีเด็กและเยาวชน มากขึ้น") it says:

ทั้งนี้ ในภาวะที่มีการขยายตัวของเครือข่ายทาง สังคมในโลกออนไลน์เช่น Facebook (...) มีผู้ใช้ เพ่ิมข้ึนอย่างรวดเร็ว โดยในปี 2554 เพิ่มข้ึนจากปี 2553 ถึงร้อยละ 96.3 โดย กลุ่มเยาวชนช่วงอายุ 18-24 ปีเป็นกลุ่มผู้ใช้ Facebook ท่ีใหญ่ที่สุดคิดเป็นสัดส่วนเกือบร้อยละ40ของผู้ใช้ท้ังหมด

And thus, with the presence of expanding online communities like Facebook (...) which has user base is rapidly growing at a rate of 96.3 per cent between 2010 and 2011. The biggest group of Facebook users are the youths between 18-24 years of age, which counts for 40 per cent of all users.

ปัญหาการใช้เทคโนโลยีไปในทางที่ผิดนั้นมีผลกระทบต่อเน่ืองตามมาต่อ (...) ชีวิตเด็กและเยาวชนมากมาย เช่น ก่อให้เกิด อาชญากรรม การล่อลวง ละเมิดทางเพศ การแสวงหาผลประโยชน์ทางเพศจากเด็กและเยาวชน และการต้ังครรภ์ก่อนวัยอันควร นำไปสู่ปัญหาการทำแท้ง (...) ซึึ่่งปััจจุุบัันมีีมากขึ้นต่อเน่ืองและกลุ่มเด็กวัยรุ่นรวมถึงเยาวชนมักเกิดพฤติกรรมเลียนแบบและซึมซับในสิ่งท่่ีเห็นซ้ําๆ

The problem of  the wrong usage of such technology has several consequences on the (...) life of children and youths, which could cause crime, fraud, sexual abuse, sexual exploitation of children and youth, and unwanted underage pregnancies, which lead to abortion (...) a problem that has increased in the present. Groups from teenagers to youths might imitate what they have seen over and over again.

"ภาวะสังคมไทยไตรมาสสี่ และภาพรวมปี 2554", NESDB, pp. 13-14 - translation by me

So, essentially they say Facebook might be a cause among many for teen pregnancies - if used improperly. While the authors of the report do not put the blame entirely on the social media network, they are concerned about the rapid speed where young people can share stuff online with each other and also that youths are easily enticed to do what their peers are doing or whatever the mass media is broadcasting.

However, the tone of the report is not as dogmatic as I initially thought - it even offers some  sensible advice (and by that I do not mean "playing football")

วัยรุ่นไทยมีเพศสัมพันธ์เร็วขึ้น สาเหตุมาจากเด็ก ได้รับสิ่งยั่วยุ ไม่ว่าจะเป็นการแต่งตัว การเลียนแบบ การใช้สื่ออินเทอร์เน็ต เกมออนไลน์ ภาพยนตร์ นิตยสารท่ีย่ัวยุทางเพศทําให้เกิดแรง กระตุ้นอยากมีเพศสัมพันธ์ ซ่ึงจะนําไปสู่การตั้งครรภ์ โดยไม่พึงประสงค์และการทําแท้ง

Thai youths have increasingly more sexual intercourse, because of enticement. Whether it's by fashion, imitation, the internet, online games, movies, glossy magazines that causes sexual tension [or arousal?], fueling the urge to have sexual intercourse, which may result in unwanted teen pregnancies and abortions.

แนวทางการป้องกัน - Guidelines

วัยรุ่นควรได้รับการอบรมและฝึกให้มีทักษะในการปฏิเสธในสถานการณ์ต่างๆ (...) การศึกษาพบว่าสถานที่ ที่นักเรียนระดับมัธยม ศึกษาปีท่ี2 มีเพศสัมพันธ์ครั้งแรก อันดับแรกร้อยละ 71.1 คือบ้านเพื่อน/บ้านตนเอง (สํานักระบาดวิทยา 2552) เทศกาลต่างๆ โดยเฉพาะเทศกาลวันแห่งความรัก เป็นจุดเริ่มต้นสําคัญอันดับหนึ่งท่ีทําให้วัยรุ่นมีพฤติกรรมชิงสุกก่อนห่าม ร้อยละ 47 (รู้ใจวัย รุ่นไทย: สื่อรักวาเลนไทน์ 2554)

Teenagers should taught to able to say 'no' in various situations. (...) Studies have found out that the most preferred place for Matayom 2 students [about 13-14 years old] to have sex for the first time is the friend's or his/her own home with 71.1 per cent (Source: สํานักระบาดวิทยา 2552) and special occasions, especially on Valentine's Day are an important day for 47 per cent of the teenagers to have 'premature behavior' [?] (Source: รู้ใจวัย รุ่นไทย: สื่อรักวาเลนไทน์ 2554)

ระดับครอบครัว/ชุมชน พ่อ-แม่ ต้องมีมุมมองเชิงบวกในเร่ืองเพศ เปิดใจรับฟังปัญหา ให้ความเอาใจใส่ ดูแลและให้ความร้กความอบอุ่น แนะนําและสอนให้รู้ถึงข้อดี/ข้อเสียของการมีเพศสัมพันธ์ก่อนวัยอันควร ร่วมกันมีส่วนร่วมในการพัฒนาและบ่มเพาะวุฒิภาวะให้กับเด็กและเยาวชน

Families, communities, parents have to have a positive perspective regards to gender, be open to listen to their problems, give support, warmth and reassurance, inform about the pros and cons of sex, in order to [help] develop and advance the children and youths.

"ภาวะสังคมไทยไตรมาสสี่ และภาพรวมปี 2554", NESDB, p. 15 - translation by me

However, I see a few problems here. First off, as it has been previously often mentioned here on Siam Voices, Thailand has a fundamental problem with sexual education and a fundamental lack to acknowledge sexuality as normal. With that in mind, it is doubtful whether or not on a grander (the society, the community) or on a smaller (the family, the parents) scale anyone could give sensible advice to a young person during the terribly exciting and excitingly terrible life period of puberty.

And second, one of the pieces of advice above suggests kids should stand up for themselves and say 'no' sometimes. Again, given the sorry state of our education system (see Kaewmala's brilliant series of posts on this here, here and here), how can you be taught to take care of yourself and to be a critically-thinking individual, when everything in else in school you are being taught is to follow suit?

Saksith Saiyasombut is a Thai blogger and journalist currently based in Hamburg, Germany. He can be followed on Twitter @Saksith and also on his public Facebook page here.

Arbitrary Thai survey blames Facebook for teen pregnancies

Originally published at Siam Voices on February 28, 2012 We recently had Valentine's Day and like every year, the Thai Moral Taliban Police has been patrolling the streets to crack down on young lovebirds who might commit the crime of love (making) - since some survey suggests that many teenagers are hell-bent to loose their virginity on February 14.

Well, apparently some other arbitrary survey has found another root of evil for the unintended consequences of the sexual urges of young people:

According to the National Economic and Social Development Board (NESDB), the famous social networking site, Facebook, has partly contributed to the cause of unwanted teen pregnancies.

The NESDB has revealed that people in the age group of 18-24 are the biggest group of Facebook users, accounting for 40% of all users.

The Board said that the social media growth is partly to blame for the teen pregnancy problems as some youngsters post seducing messages or video clips online.

According to the NESDB, Thai mothers under 20 years old accounted for 14% of all mothers who delivered babies in 2009 and 2010. From this percentage, the UNICEF has placed Thailand on top of the list of teen pregnancy in Asia.

The public health survey in 2010 indicated that out of 760,000 babies born, 411,000 had died. The NESDB said that the figure shows that a number of mothers decided to have abortion.

"NESDB: Facebook partly cause of teen pregnancies", National News Bureau of Thailand , February 28, 2012

Of course the largest social network is to be blamed for the all the steamy content that drive teenagers to have unprotected sex. Or it could be the much more simple explanation  - Thailand has a severe problem with sexual education.

The annual public ridicule that the stupid nature of the O-NET exam questions get, in particular the questions from the health education section (which includes the infamous suggestion for kids to play football when having a sexual urge), are just the tip of the iceberg. If the moral outrage could be put to one side, the powers that be might be able to see that the only reasonable solution to avoid teen pregnancies is to have proper sexual education and face the naked truth about the existence of sexuality instead of tucking it away.

But then again, for them it's probably easier to ban Facebook altogether...!

Saksith Saiyasombut is a Thai blogger and journalist currently based in Hamburg, Germany. He can be followed on Twitter @Saksith and also on his public Facebook page here.

How to raise your Thai child culturally correct

Originally published at Siam Voices on September 22, 2011 A recent survey has found that the Thai youth is increasingly abusing drugs, cigarettes and alcohol as early as about 15 (although one Thai news outlet has horrendously 'misinterpreted' the numbers). The pollsters have cited "studying difficulties, family issues and financial problems" as causes for young people to turn to narcotics and other stimulants.

A certain group of people in this country though would name different causes for this: moral decay by neglecting true Thai cultural values. Yes, in order to combat the ever-reaching foreign influences, the Thai cultural heralds advise the return to true Thai values and the Ministry of Culture has recently published an article how Thai parents should raise their Thai children in order that the new generation that appreciates the traditional Thai values - and it's quite exhaustive...

ผู้เขียนจึงประสงค์ที่จะให้คุณพ่อคุณแม่ยุคใหม่ได้รู้จักการปลูกฝังให้ลูกมีผลลัพธ์ที่ได้มาจากการให้ลูกๆ มีวัฒนธรรม หรือเรียกอีกนัยหนึ่งว่า การพัฒนาการทางวัฒนธรรมให้กับลูกๆ ของเราซึ่งเป็นเด็กไทย เขาจะต้องเติบโตไปเป็นผู้ใหญ่ในวันข้างหน้า จะต้องเป็นผู้ที่สืบทอดวัฒนธรรมให้คงอยู่สืบต่อไป แม้จะมีพัฒนาการให้แปลกใหม่หรือทันสมัย ก็ให้เป็นไปตามกาลเวลาหรือให้เป็นไปในแบบของความร่วมสมัย (Contemporary Culture)

Thus, I see the need to introduce the parents of a new age to the disciplines of raising a child with culture in mind or as it can be also called: "Cultural development for our children," which are our Thai children, who will become adults in the future. They will continue passing on the culture heritage. Although there will be new, strange or contemporary developments, it has to be uphold in its era. (Contemporary Culture)

วิธีการง่ายๆ โดยเริ่มต้นตั้งแต่ลูกอยู่ในวัย ๓-๔ ขวบ ให้หัดร้องรำทำเพลงแบบไทยๆ เช่น สอนให้รำวง ให้ดูสมุดภาพนาฏศิลป์ไทย ให้ฟังเพลงไทย ใส่เสื้อผ้าลายดอกคอกลม ให้ดูการแสดงที่เกี่ยวกับศิลปะไทยบ่อยๆ หรือเป็นภาพการแสดงดนตรีพื้นบ้านทั้ง ๔ ภูมิภาคของไทย ซึ่งปัจจุบันมีขายตามแผงอยู่กลาดเกลื่อน (แต่ต้องเลือกที่เหมาะสมกับวัยของเขา)

Easy steps start when the child is 3-4 years old: practicing singing and dancing to Thai songs like teaching Thai dancing, looking at Thai picture books depicting dancing art, listening to Thai music, wearing a flower pattern shirt with round neck, watching Thai art performances often or watching instrumental folk music performances from all four Thai regions, which nowadays are widely available for purchase (but [parents] have to choose the ones which are age-appropriate)

พออายุได้ ๖-๗ ขวบ ให้เขามีโอกาสเล่นดนตรีไทยอย่างน้อยก็เป่าขลุ่ยได้ ตีระนาดได้ ตีขิมได้ พาไปฟังเพลงและไปดูการแสดงดนตรีไทย นำแผ่นวีซีดีการแสดงดนตรีไทยมาให้ดูบ่อยๆ จนชินทำนองเพลง และคอยให้กำลังใจพาไปสมัครเรียน ให้ครูมาสอน ส่งเสริมให้รักดนตรีไทยในวันหยุดพาไปทำบุญที่วัด หรือวันสำคัญทางศาสนาพาลูกไปวัดนำข้าวปลาอาหารไปถวายพระ หัดให้เด็กพับดอกบัว หัดให้เด็กกำดอกไม้ให้เป็น สอนให้รู้ว่า ธูป เทียน เอาไว้ใช้ทำอะไรสอนให้ลูกถวายของพระ (ประเคน) สอนให้ลูกกราบพระเป็น [...] สอนให้ลูกรู้จักไหว้พ่อแม่ ปู่ย่า ตายาย ครู อาจารย์ พาลูกไปงานประเพณี ไปให้เคารพบรรพบุรุษแบบของทางจีน ที่เรียกว่า เช็งเม้ง ของไทยก็ไปทำบุญกระดูก บังสุกุลกระดูกในวันตรุษสงกรานต์

When they have reached ages 6-7 they should play Thai instruments, at least the khlui, ranat and khim, accompany them to performances of Thai instrumental music, show them VCDs of such performances very often until they are familiar with the sound, and encourage to sign up for classes [and/or] hire a teacher. Stimulate their love for Thai instrumental music, accompany them to make merit at the temple on holidays or on important religious days, bring them to a temple, offering food to monks, practice folding a lotus, bundling flowers, learn to to use an incense stick and candle, learn how make offerings to the monk, to worship the monk [...], teach them how to greet the parents, grandparents and teachers, let them pay respect the ancestors in the Chinese ritual of Qingming or the Thai equivalent is the worship of the ancestors' remains during Songkran. (!!!)

พออายุได้ ๘-๑๐ ขวบ พาไปวัดสำคัญๆ ในตัวจังหวัด ในตัวอำเภอ หรือในเมืองใหญ่ๆ ให้รู้จักโบราณสถาน เช่น รู้จักพระอุโบสถ รู้จักใบเสมารอบๆ พระอุโบสถ รู้จักช่อฟ้า ใบระกา หางหงส์ คันทวย รู้จักเจดีย์ พระบรมธาตุเจดีย์ พระบรมสารีริกธาตุเจดีย์ พาไปดูยักษ์วัดโพธิ์ ยักษ์วัดแจ้ง พาไปดูฤๅษีดัดตนวัดโพธิ์ให้เป็นสมาชิกชมรมภาษาไทยในโรงเรียน ชมรมดนตรีไทย ชมรมนาฏศิลป์ไทย

During ages 8-10, show them the most important temples in the province, in the district or in the big cities, historical sites, get to know the ordination hall (Phra Ubosot), its border stones (Bai sema), the chofah, the bai raka and the hang hongse and the kan tauy, the chedi, the [chedis with the relics of Buddha or famous Buddhist monks], the giant figures of Wat Pho and Wat Arun (...), sign them up for  Thai language club in school, Thai music club and Thai dancing club.

พออายุได้ ๑๑-๑๕ ขวบ พาลูกๆ ไปดูภายในพระอุโบสถ ให้เห็นภาพจิตรกรรมฝาผนัง คุยให้ลูกเข้าใจภาพพุทธประวัติ พระประธาน พระอุโบสถ ภาพแกะสลักบานประตู ภาพประดับมุก (...) พาลูกไปดูหนังไทยเกี่ยวกับประวัติศาสตร์ ดนตรี นาฏศิลป์ ส่งเสริมให้ลูกใช้เวทีแสดงดนตรีไทย นาฏศิลป์ ประกวดแข่งขันดนตรี นาฏศิลป์ หรือแม้แต่การใช้เวทีประกวดมารยาทไทย หาโอกาสให้ลูกได้เป็นตัวแทนวันแม่ วันพ่อแห่งชาติ หรือเป็นตัวแทนไหว้ครู (...) ส่งเสริมให้ลูกได้บรรพชาเป็นสามเณร ลูกสาวให้ปฏิบัติธรรม นั่งสมาธิ หรือบางครั้งให้ไปเรียนทำอาหาร หรือช่วยพ่อแม่ทำกับข้าว ทอดไข่ หุงข้าว (หม้อไฟฟ้า) ทำขนม จัดโต๊ะอาหาร ตำน้ำพริก ไปจ่ายกับข้าวกับคุณพ่อคุณแม่ (...) รู้จักการหั่นผัก ปอกเปลือกผลไม้ สอนให้รู้จักพืชสมุนไพร ล้างจานข้าว เก็บกวาดบ้าน ถูบ้าน ซักเสื้อผ้าของตนเอง หัดรีดผ้า สอนให้ลูกพูดจาให้ไพเราะ (...) ใช้ภาษาให้ถูก (...) พูดให้มีหางเสียงการคุยโทรศัพท์กับเพื่อนหรือบุคคลอื่นๆ (...)

When 11-15 years old, show them the ordination hall, the religious paintings inside, explain them the history of Buddhism, the positions of the Buddha, the ordination, the door carvings, the marquetry (...) bring them to showings of movies about Thai history, traditional music and dance, encourage them to perform Thai traditional music and dance on stage and in competition or even just in Thai etiquette competition. Find a way for your child to be a representative on Mother's Day [the Queen's birthday], Father's Day [the King's birthday], Teacher's Day (...) encourage your son to be a novice monk, your daughter to take up meditation or sometimes cooking classes or help the parents with cooking, fry eggs and cook rice (with an electric rice cooker), bake sweets, make the tables, make chili paste, buying groceries with the parents, knowing to cut vegetables, peel fruits, mix herbs, cleaning the plates and the home, wash and iron your own clothes, teach them to speak politely and correctly, always "khrap" or "kha" [polite particles at the end of sentences] during phone calls (...)

พออายุได้ ๑๖-๑๘ สอนลูกชายให้เป็นสุภาพบุรุษสอนลูกสาวให้เป็นสุภาพสตรี สอนให้รู้จักการแต่งกายแบบไทย สอนให้รู้จักการเลือกแบบสีเสื้อผ้า ให้ใช้ผ้าลายไทยในหลายๆ โอกาส พาลูกไปงานของญาติพี่น้อง ให้รู้จักพี่ป้า น้า อา สอนให้รู้จักการรักนวลสงวนตัวสำหรับลูกสาวสอนให้ลูกชายรู้จักให้เกียรติสตรี สอนให้รู้จักเลือกคบเพื่อน สอนให้ลูกเป็นคนมีจิตสาธารณะ รู้จักให้ มีความเอื้ออาทรต่อผู้อื่น รู้จักความมีเมตตา สุภาพต่อบุคคลอื่น และแม้แต่สัตว์เลี้ยงต่างๆ

When they have reached the ages 16-18, teach your children to behave politely, how to dress in a Thai way, how to choose style and color, to use Thai patterns and motives often, bring them to festivities of relatives, to get to know the aunts and uncles, teach your daughter to "value their body" [=not to randomly let boys come close], teach your son to respect towards girls, how to choose their friends, to behave socially, be compassionate and other living animals.

หากคุณพ่อคุณแม่ สามารถทำอย่างที่ผู้เขียนอ้างถึงไว้ว่า เลี้ยงลูกอย่างไรให้มีวัฒนธรรม บทความนี้เป็นเพียงส่วนหนึ่งเท่านั้น ซึ่งหากจะพรรณนาให้ครบถ้วนกระบวนความคงเขียนสาธยายได้มากมายจนอ่านไม่รู้จักจบสิ้น จึงฝากเป็นอนุสติให้ได้คิดเท่านั้นว่า“วัฒนธรรมไทย ถ้าหากคนไทยไม่ปฏิบัติ ไม่สืบทอดแล้วใครจะทำให้วัฒนธรรมไทยอยู่คู่กับชาติไทยได้ถ้าไม่ใช่คุณ”

This is just one of many guidelines parents should follow to raise a child with culture in mind. In order to write the full version, it would find no end. With this in mind, I want the readers to think about Thai culture, if no one spares a single thought on it, who will keep a Thai culture that fits this country, if not you!

"เลี้ยงลูกอย่างไรให้มีวัฒนธรรม", Thai Ministry of Culture, August 11, 2011, translation by me

Now, where do we begin? First off, this is quite a meticulous list of things to teach a child and I'm not sure if the parents know all of it. Second, the suggestions of what to do at what age are somewhat strange: why teaching them about good behavior when they are already almost 15, for example? Third, there's a heavy emphasis on Buddhist traditions - what about those Thais of different belief?

The fundamental problem of these Thai cultural heralds is the understanding of culture(s) and their approach about teaching these. As seen in the topless Songkran dancer brouhaha earlier this year or the 'crackdown' on planking, the knee-jerk reactions to everything that does not fit a concept of 'Thai history' and 'Thai culture' that has been constructed just within the last century show the failure to accept the co-existence of several cultures and sub-cultures, no matter how alien and weird they are. At the very least, they may be tolerated as long as the prime 'culture' taught in school and promoted by institutions like the ministry of culture reigns over those. In the very end though, culture can be taught - but not directed!

Saksith Saiyasombut is a Thai blogger and journalist currently based in Bangkok, Thailand. He can be followed on Twitter @Saksith and now also on his public Facebook page here.

Tongue-Thai’ed! Part VIII - Tea Money left to learn: Minister touts transparent bribes for schools

Originally published at Siam Voices on September 13, 2011 “Tongue-Thai’ed!” encapsulates the most baffling, amusing, confusing, outrageous and appalling quotes from Thai politicians and other public figures – in short: everything we hear that makes us go “Huh?!”. Check out all past entries here.

Education is one of the many problems hindering Thailand from being competitive compared to its regional neighbors, often due to anachronistic attitudes towards teaching (for example foreign languages). While Prime minister Yingluck Shinawatra said in a press conference in July that the Thai education system has to change in order to support "life-long learning", the new government has not made any far-reaching proposals yet other than handing out free tablet PCs to school children (more on that in a future blog post).

One of the issues plaguing Thai parents is to get their children into better schools. And normally, when there are no good schools in the district they're living, they of course would try for one somewhere else more prestigious - in many cases parents are willing to pay bribes in order to send their children there.

The new education minister Woravat Auapinyakul wants to tackle this problem head-on, but not in the way many would have thought...

นายวรวัจน์ เอื้ออภิญญกุล รมว.ศึกษาธิการ เปิดเผยกรณีมีแนวคิดเปิดช่องคนรวยจ่ายแป๊ะเจี๊ยะเข้าโรงเรียนดัง ว่า (...) ต้องยอมรับว่ามีการจ่ายแป๊ะเจี๊ยะกันอยู่ ตนอยากจะเอาสิ่งที่อยู่ใต้ดินมาอยู่บนดิน (...) ต้องไม่กระทบสิทธิคนอื่น

Woravat Auapinyakul, Minister of Education, has hinted at the idea to pave the way for rich people to pay 'additional fees' for the attendance to prestigious schools, saying (...) that "we have to accept that there are some 'hidden payments' being made. Thus, I want to bring out what's hidden below to the surface (...) It must not affect the rights of others"

(...) สิ่งที่ทำแบบหลบๆซ่อนๆ มีการฝากกันเพื่อให้เข้าเรียนในโรงเรียน แต่ไปเข้ากระเป๋าคนบางคน ต่อไปต้องรายงานและชี้ให้ศธ.รู้ใครอยากจะรับก็รับได้แต่ต้องบอก (...) ตนไม่อยากให้มองว่าเป็นเรื่องการแลกที่นั่งเรียนอย่างเดียว

"Money paid for a school entry has been done in secret [in the past], but that [money] sometimes goes into someone's pockets. From now on, they have to report [such payments] to the Ministry of Education - whoever wants to receive can do that, but they have to report. (...) I don't want the people to think that this is just [an issue of] exchanging money for a school seat!"

"รมว.ศึกษาดัน“แป๊ะเจี๊ยะ”ขึ้นบนโต๊ะ", Daily News, September 12, 2011, translation by me

Woravat suggests that this money should be used to in order to improve the school and this initiative should provide more transparency where actually that money goes into. While never directly uttered by the minister, the use of the word "แป๊ะเจี๊ยะ" in that article is noticeable, which actually means "tea money" (as in bribe). So, in an effort to prevent the payment of bribes in order for parents to send their children to prestigious school, Woravat basically endorses the payment of bribes (as long as it is 'transparent') and thus also supports the idea of competitiveness among schools and parents instead of trying to raise the quality standards of all schools onto the same level.

But hey, if there's enough money left to burn, then there's enough money left to learn - except for those who don't!

h/t to a reader for the link

Just because we have a new government, it doesn't mean they all suddenly stop saying stupid things. If you come across any verbosities that you think might fit in here send us an email at siamvoices [at] gmail.com or tweet us @siamvoices.

Saksith Saiyasombut is a Thai blogger and journalist currently based in Bangkok, Thailand. He can be followed on Twitter @Saksith and now also on his public Facebook page here.