Thai weekend school starts in Dubai

[Mid]

Thai weekend school starts in Dubai
Janice Ponce de Leon Staff Reporter
May 11 2013

Dubai: The first Thai weekend school in Dubai started at the Thai Consulate-General on Saturday to teach young Thais how to read, write, and speak Thai and hopefully lay the groundwork for a proper Thai school in the future.

The free weekend school, which teaches 10 Thai children aged 7 to 12, was the brainchild of the Thai Ladies Club (TLC) Dubai and the northern emirates. The group first opened an informal class in March this year, teaching children from one of the members’ houses. The Thai Consulate-General recently offered to sponsor the classes so they can be held inside the consulate’s compound.

“If the kids improve and the attendance grows, we’re hoping that maybe in the future we can have our own Thai school in Dubai just like how Koreans have their own school here,” Chitlada Tapradith, former TLC president, told Gulf News.

The class is held every Saturday from 10.30am-12.30pm and can accommodate up to 15 students at a time. Tapradith said that many of the Thai children who are raised in Dubai don’t know how to speak, read and write Thai, which poses a problem when they’re back home.

“When we go to the market [in Thailand], the vendors talk to my kids in Thai. And my kids can’t speak let alone understand Thai. So it’s such a shame that their parents are both Thai but they can’t speak, read or write the language,” Tapradith said. Holding the class at the consulate, which is accessible to the community, also helps.

“This weekend school is very helpful for our kids. Now that they’ve started it at the consulate, it would be easier for us and more members of the community could join,” Anong Tangla, mother of two, told Gulf News.
Married to a Scottish national, Somlak Clement said her two kids used to know how to speak Thai. But since relocating to Dubai, they have forgotten it already. Clement said knowing how to read, write, and speak Thai is “important for business and day-to-day life should we decide to move back to Thailand.”

Currently, there are about 10,800 Thais who live and work in the UAE. Of this, around 3,700 are based in Dubai and the northern emirates.

zawya.com

[harrybarracuda]

How many of those could afford Dubai school fees?

[soupsoup]

The free weekend school,

do read. i know of it, good effort as thais are part of the service industry there. good tax free.