Thread: What if THIS was your ideal Bangkok Phil?..Or is it?

Philip Williams-Accrington is from Birmingham, in the west Midlands of Great Britain. His surname is taken from the football club of the same name, and he attended The Wells Grammar school, then moving on to Oxbridge University where he majored in English literature, excelling in grammatical excellence with a record 99% pass.

Philip's further dissertation was to be the blueprint of what is now known as the TESL (Teaching English as a Second Language) certificate, (the basic qualification required worldwide to teach basic limited aspects of British English to non-native speakers, ie. wogs) course and examining board, which oversee quality control of organisations running that course on a commercial basis.

Philip then attended the SOFES, (School Of Far Eastern Studies) in London, and graduated in Thai literature and history, gaining a still unbeaten score of 98%. He then used this knowledge learned to organise a field trip to a part of Thailand known as Krung thep maha Nakorn.

His initial intention was to import quality silk and durians, but the trip proved to be quite a challenge, with Philip himself remaining 'in the field' seven weeks longer than originally scheduled.

Finally in 1988 Williams patented his durian scented perfume for the disabled market, which was a rather unexpected success. Philip was well known for donating the proceeds to further studies and field trips. He appeared as a philanthropist for a while, giving motivational speeches to mainly wheelchair bound cheering audiences.

Eventually Philip also made a fortune with his next project, patenting a baldness reversal medicine made from a mixture of durian nectar, buffalo faeces and anti-freeze. The days of the Arthur Scargill "four strands combed over the bald patch" syndrome was history for thousands of Canadians. The product was never launched in the UK for some reason.

Wiliiams-Accrington finally took up residence at The British Club Bangkok, which was founded in 1910 in Silom soi 18. Initially intending to stay a few days, he remained there for six months, penning several memoirs in the process.

Philip's real break came when he was pitted against Andrew Briggs to re-write the 1986 film "Top Gun" into an understandable, humourous Thai script. Tom Cruise was a worldwide icon due to the film, which was all about drug running in Laos in the 1970s. (also starring Mel Gibson).
Williams' translation had the Royal Family in hysterics at the official unveiling, and in 1989, BangkokPhil was officially born.

Briggs was accused of sour grapes after he refused to accept the runner up prize of a night out at the Witches Tavern, Bangkok's newset British pub clone at the time.
Briggs to this day resents Williams for his success while making ends meet running a TEFL-ing sweatshop in Rajadamri, employing Filipino teachers to teach from dog-eared second rate coursebooks.

Williams opened the rival PES, The Pleasant English School, or 'peasant' as many disgruntled ex-employees would call it. It was highly promoted in Williams' weekly column in "learning times", a weekly teaching supplement included with the national english language newspaper, "The English Post".

Philip went cyber in the mid 1990s with teachers.com, a teaching site that covered all aspects of teaching and getting by in Thailand, it was also rumoured that Philip himself spent several years undercover reviewing the apartments, hotels and eateries personally as mentioned on the site, to add that 'authentic' feel to the reviews.

In 1999 Williams travelled to Pattaya on behalf of the TAT, (The TESL-ing Authority of Thailand) and branded the city resort a "dump" and an "affront to human decency, even Sodom and Gomorrah would be embarrased to be seen along Jomtiem Beach"

Subsequent tourism plummeted and Thailand then turned to Russia to promote a huge tourism drive, the results of which are currently apparent in 2007.

Philip Williams-Accrington currently resides at his purpose built 4 storey mansion with his spouse, 6 rottweilers and a cat, oh, and 6 maids. An eight foot electric fence has been erected to keep Thaila....erm..intruders out.

Satisfied now?

Originally Posted by DJ Pat

Who? me?

I'm not but I'd thought that setting the record straight was important to some.

The issue is boring me now. Phil claimed to have a degree but now seems unable to answer. His "university years" never seem to be mentioned in his regular "look at all that I have achieved" posts. The consensus amongst his associates that I have asked is that he doesn't have a degree. A simple yes or no answer could settle all this; but the mighty Phil doesn't deign to answer legitimate questions.

Does it really matter whether he has a degree or not?
Some of the most successful people I know have never been near a university and probably couldn't even spell it.
Is BP successful ? ( yeah, I know, define successful). I wouldn't know but judging by the attitude of some here my GUESS is that he's more successful than some people with degrees who think that because he doesn't have a degree he doesn't deserve success if they can't achieve it.
Just an observation of what could be at the possible root of all this.
I mean really, who gives a fuck if some OTHER person doesn't have a degree? What could this all be about?

Originally Posted by ChiangMai noon

Originally Posted by Accidental Ajarn

Why are there still a few Teakdoor posters who are not interested in Bangkok Phil?

Different demographic.
very few teachers here.

Actually, there seems to be quite a few.
Only found out a couple of days ago that one of my favourite posters was a teacher (he has a goatee).

I guess it's because they don't advertise it and they don't rise to DD's baiting.