Children of Thai Farang unions

[Perota]

What is better for a kid? To live in a middle class nice house in Thailand in a relatively violence-free environment or in a trailer park in the US or some nasty suburb in Europe ?

Are they your only options? Are they anybody's only options? There are plenty of nice houses in relatively violence free environments in Europe, just as there are plenty of nasty suburbs in Thailand.

Agree, that's my point. You took my post out of context, it was an answer to a very negative view of Thailand.

I believe the main point is parents want a "special relation" with their kids and share with them what they shared with their own parents as kids. If the kids are raised in a different culture, it's going to be difficult. But it's the same problem that a Greek faces raising a family in New York, a French in Hong Kong or a Chinese in London.

[Perota]

Actually most of the posters here sound like Pakistani in England who want to send their daughters back home before they get influenced by the decadent english civilization.

[Stinky]

Actually most of the posters here sound like Pakistani in England who want to send their daughters back home before they get influenced by the decadent english civilization.

What a ridiculous comparison to make. Thailand indoctrinates children from
day one with values and atitudes that for many people are wholey unacceptable, this combined with the poor level of tuition, poor funding and extreamly
poor facility's makes Thai schools a very bad prospect for many expats.
My son is not yet at school but I wouldn't dream of sending him to a Thai state school, I want better for him.

[paranha]

Can I ask what occupation you guys have to be able to pick and choose where you live?

Oil field rat here.

Working as a first mate on an offshore vessel. At the moment working with the Nord stream project (new gas pipeline between russia and germany)

[Perota]

Actually most of the posters here sound like Pakistani in England who want to send their daughters back home before they get influenced by the decadent english civilization.

What a ridiculous comparison to make. Thailand indoctrinates children from
day one with values and atitudes that for many people are wholey unacceptable,

Just replace Thailand with England and it's definitively a point a Pakistani will agree with

[jojo333]

I am just thankful that I can provide my kids with the opportunities that unfortunately many Euro-Asian kids don’t have because the father has absconded back to the West.

[jandajoy]

My son is not yet at school but I wouldn't dream of sending him to a Thai state school,

We've just put a young lad, 8 11/12s into our local village school.

Joy and I have spoken on various occasions with the Principal and the class teacher and I must say that it's OK for this age level.

The curriculum is a bit basic but adequate, numeracy is covered well, literacy seems alright.

The social welfare is good.

Reasonable class room management, and the teacher seems to be proactive and caring.

Homework gets marked, always a good sign, and, when we said that we needed to increase it, she obliged.

Sure, it's not perfect but there's a very good atmosphere and the social interaction of the kids is fine. Very caring.

I guess it's different in a rural set up.

Point to note, we read together every night, at least 30 minutes.

English one night, Thai the next.

I firmly believe that parents/guardians share the responsibility for a primary kids education.

[Stinky]

Actually most of the posters here sound like Pakistani in England who want to send their daughters back home before they get influenced by the decadent english civilization.

What a ridiculous comparison to make. Thailand indoctrinates children from
day one with values and attitudes that for many people are wholly unacceptable,

Just replace Thailand with England and it's definitively a point a Pakistani will agree with

Pakis like many muslims send there daughters home to be married off to some stranger so as not to contaminate the bloodline.
That has nothing to do with the reasons I've mentioned, good sound educational reasons and whats best for the child not whats best the parent.

[jandajoy]

good sound educational reasons and whats best for the child not whats best the parent.

Well said.

[Stinky]

My son is not yet at school but I wouldn't dream of sending him to a Thai state school,

We've just put a young lad, 8 11/12s into our local village school.

Joy and I have spoken on various occasions with the Principal and the class teacher and I must say that it's OK for this age level.

The curriculum is a bit basic but adequate, numeracy is covered well, literacy seems alright.

The social welfare is good.

Reasonable class room management, and the teacher seems to be proactive and caring.

Homework gets marked, always a good sign, and, when we said that we needed to increase it, she obliged.

Sure, it's not perfect but there's a very good atmosphere and the social interaction of the kids is fine. Very caring.

I guess it's different in a rural set up.

Point to note, we read together every night, at least 30 minutes.

English one night, Thai the next.

I firmly believe that parents/guardians share the responsibility for a primary kids education.

You are bang on with your home learning for the lad, it always starts at home and most of a kids education comes from their parents, be it good constructive education from responsible parents or vile parenting from lowlife thieves, it's where they learn the most.

As for the country schools my experiences differ vastly from your own JJ.
Although I am no teacher I have been invited to several schools to chat with the kids and give them some idea of how a native English speaker talks, correct their workings where I was able and generally act as a teachers assistant for a day.
I was on every occasion very disappointed with the quality of the teaching and the class discipline, one thing in particular disturbed me was that the boys seemed to do what ever the hell they wanted with little intervention from the teachers while the girls did get on with their studies, it was as if the teacher were afraid to teach the boys.

I found this to be the case in all five schools that I was asked invited to and to this day I do not understand it, all of these schools were in the north east.
My other concerns are there indoctrination into the Elvis cult and I also have a big problem with Buddhism.
In my opinion Thai state schools in many ways do not promote an open and inquisitive mind.

[superman]

I asked family/friends in the UK regarding returning for the sake of my kids education, and their replies were for me not to. They claim the country is a bollox and most of the kids, in school, don't have English as their first language. On that advice, I'll do my best for them here.

[jandajoy]

My other concerns are there indoctrination into the Elvis cult and I also have a big problem with Buddhism. In my opinion Thai state schools in many ways do not promote an open and inquisitive mind.

At age and 8 and 11/12s as he is, I wouldn't ever think of getting into that snake pit, or worrying about it.

The big thing for the lad is being included, liked and cared for. I don't think he really gives a toss about the political indoctrination they may or may not try to infuse.

All primary schools do much the same in one way or another. Depends on the presiding Minister and Government.

All pretty superficial for the kids.


The English taught at our school is absolutely basic and really mere tokenism.

Doesn't bother me at his age.

Literacy ( Thai), Numeracy and social awareness will do for now, and that's done reasonably well.

[superman]

In my opinion Thai state schools in many ways do not promote an open and inquisitive mind

I think that boils down to you being a farang and them being Thai. I think all children are inquisitive, but when Thais can't figure how it works, they'll break it.

[JoGeAr]

We brought <<<< (he on the left) to Aus in 2006 when he was 3 years old, mainly to get his English up to speed before starting school. He will turn 7 next month and is in Grade 1 at a government primary school. He loves going to the school which is quite small, has a good reputation and the teachers so far have been very good.
It is amazing what they learn in Grade 1 these days. He is already doing additions and subtractions and can read more than 50 words.
We speak Thai to him at home but otherwise he uses English and is totally fluent. He regularly acts as interpreter for my wife whose English is developing at a much slower rate.

[Stinky]

My other concerns are there indoctrination into the Elvis cult and I also have a big problem with Buddhism. In my opinion Thai state schools in many ways do not promote an open and inquisitive mind.

At age and 8 and 11/12s as he is, I wouldn't ever think of getting into that snake pit, or worrying about it.

The big thing for the lad is being included, liked and cared for. I don't think he really gives a toss about the political indoctrination they may or may not try to infuse.

All primary schools do much the same in one way or another. Depends on the presiding Minister and Government.

All pretty superficial for the kids.


The English taught at our school is absolutely basic and really mere tokenism.

Doesn't bother me at his age.

Literacy ( Thai), Numeracy and social awareness will do for now, and that's done reasonably well.

I think it was Davis Hamilton that mentioned in anther thread that he has to battle every day to deprogram his kids from the religious BS that is pumped into them at school, no mean feat if the kids piers are all willing participants and the other parents backing this system.
No matter what I did or said to the child at home I still would worry that some of this indoctrination would stick and turn the kid into the sort of person that I don't want him to be, as we all know this type of indoctrination starts at an early age and is a powerful force in a kids mind if it is allowed to establish a foothold.

[Stinky]

In my opinion Thai state schools in many ways do not promote an open and inquisitive mind

I think that boils down to you being a farang and them being Thai. I think all children are inquisitive, but when Thais can't figure how it works, they'll break it.

That's a worrying thought

[superman]

^^I was indoctrinated, as a child, into being a Christian but never became one. So don't worry about something that may never happen.

[Stinky]

^^I was indoctrinated, as a child, into being a Christian but never became one. So don't worry about something that may never happen.

Indoctrination dose work very well on kids, you need only look around the world at all the religious nutters to see the evidence of it.

[BobR]

Thanks for posting this, one of the most interesting posts I've read. Sorry I have nothing more to add.

[BobR]

My 11-year old daughter wants to go back to the states. The wife and I do not. Right now we have our fingers in a lot of pies and could not afford to move back to the states. However, in a few years my daughter will attend an American university.

The daughter attends a decent international school. She speaks American like me, and Thai like her Mom. She writes English like a native speaker but her written Thai is so-so. Thus the additional lessons.

Our big problem involves money. Here in Thailand we are able to buy our daughter just about everything she wants. She has not grown up like me or her mother where we had to wait several months for a toy. Blame this on me.

Speaking on money brings on the issue of the maid. Growing up without a maid I had to learn to cook, clean and sew. To get my daughter to do any of these chores is a royal battle that we have weekly!

Today for lunch my wife made a sandwich for the daughter. *** said she did not want to eat that kind of sandwich, and then proceded to make her own sandwich. I went nuts and threw everything on the floor and said "You either eat what is on the table or you do not eat at all". We will see how hungry she is at dinner time...

Is it safer in Thailand than our home countries? Yes and no. In the states my daughter walked to school. Not here in Bangkok. But then her gang of 5 will often spend a Saturday afternoon in the mall. Would I allow that in the states. No way.

Finally, do not even get me started on the subject on how we HAVE to respect certain people in Thailand. These are always interesting family discussions...

Just curious, do you think if she was a boy she would be more happy here? It seems as if Thailand is a happier place for males and the USA is better for females?

Good luck to you, my daughter became a nightmare about 11 even without the dual cultures. She started getting into that "Gothic" thing, dressing in black and listening to a rock band named after serial killers.

[mr Fred]

My daughter will be starting school in a couple of years. No way would I inflict a UK school on her.
I'm in Indonesia and there are problem out here but nothing like UK schools.
The latter may be better funded and have a lot of advantages in many ways but I know many teachers in the old country and none of them are happy in their work.
Very experienced teachers are leaving because they can't stand it any more.
Indonesian schools do teach things I'm unhappy about but the good outweighs the bad.
Between that and there is a fair chance she will live out here, it's the right move.

[ossierob]

Do the expats in this forum with children, move back to the West to school their children ? or would this separate them from their maternal culture.

Blower, you only have to answer one question.... do you want the child to be Thai or of your own origin? There is nothing wrong (or right) with either decision.

For me and the wife, we will be very happy to let our little girl grow up and be educated in Thailand at a best level we can afford.

The golden rule with education is always to let the child develop within the community and socio economic environment you create for yourself.

Living in a shit hole or on a budget that causes too much sacrifice for the sake of affording the kid to aquire an "old school tie"; or them spending there developing years on public transport commuting to school and away from social interaction with the neighbourhood kids is, in my opinion, the worst thing you can do for a child and the family.

Yes I agree with the top phrase.....it would depend on whether you want your child to live and work within Thai or Farang values. Either is sufficient bearing in mind that right through the formative years the most important values are learnt at home

[paranha]

Until we took a vacation to Malaysia three or four months ago, she thought that Thailand was the paradise on earth. It took less than three days in Penang to convince her (and I said nothing about the matters) that Thailand is a total shithole. When we came back, she was quite saddened and said these words: "I don't want to live here anymore".

I know what you're saying. The Midget lived in Norway for a couple of years in her early 20s and would love to go back to Europe. I would rather stay around here, and would prefer Malaysia to Thailand now that we are a family. The Midget doesn't want to go to Malaysia, but she probably thinks it's the same as Thailand. I'll take her to Malaysia or Singapore one day to see what she thinks.

Malaysia is quite nice. If I have to stay around in Asia over time, it's very sure that I'll end up there myself.

We did take some taxis around town a couple of times. I Started to talk to the drivers and got them to explain me about living in the malay society out of curiousness. That's when my GF dropped her jaw so far that it touched her chest in pure surprise about what the drivers told us (positively ment).

You should have seen the looks on her when I got the taxi drivers to explain how the sharia laws and regular civil laws applied depending if you were a muslim or not. Seldom I have seen people so surprised.

Norway is quite nice to live in even though it's a little over controlled from the government's side.

[sccrhound]

In my opinion Thai state schools in many ways do not promote an open and inquisitive mind

I think that boils down to you being a farang and them being Thai. I think all children are inquisitive, but when Thais can't figure how it works, they'll break it.

break it or say let it be

[bobo746]

Took My Daughter Back To Australia From Philippines Shes Now 24 Just Finished Uni Great Future In Front Of Her Speaks Both Tagalog And English Thinks Philippines Is A Shit Hole Looks Like She Turned Out Alright