With nearly all the English Teaching Assistants (ETAs) arriving on mass yesterday afternoon, this very small and quiet quarter of Bangkok became host to a pocket sized UK. As Mr Marcus Winsley, Director of UK Trade and Investment, reminded us it has been 400 years this year since the first East India trading company ship sailed into Siam and discovered the wonders of Thailand and here we were again to explore for ourselves the charm of everyday life here often missed by passing tourists.
It's exciting to be playing a very small role in the soft-diplomacy of the British Council . We heard from Mrs Tipsuda Sumethsenee, Inspector-General, Ministry of Education, Thailand who spoke kindly of the importance of British Council's work and from Mr Marcus Winsley, who was keen to illustrate the British appreciation of the growth of the ASEAN economies.
The TET programme initiative was set up to meet the demands of both Thai and UK students. The common language and business language for the ASEAN community (including, Thailand...) is English and the Thai Ministry of Education are keen to ensure that their citizen can "reap the benefits" for themselves. In turn the demand for graduates to prove that they are prepared for an evermore international market makes the TET programme particularly popular for young British students and graduates.
Not that it's difficult to encourage people to take part; Thailand is an incredibly popular tourist destination with 900,000 UK tourists and 50,000 UK residents. It houses the second largest British Embassy in the world and as the Head of Consular Assitance Operations from the British Embassy reminded us soberingly he's never short of work.
The day is summarised by Dr. Teerakiat Jarensettasin, Vice Minister at the Thai Ministry of Education who raises his metaphorical hat to the men in the room considering the 2:1 ratio of girl to boy ETAs, whilst Andrew Glass, Director of the British Council, Thailand, reminds us that had the teaching world been as biased in his day he would never had started his career with the British Council during his humble beginnings teaching in Germany.
Thai-teachers and English ETAs sit together for our last meal attempting to establish our first few phrases of Thai.
My teaching mentor, Om, is 27 and studying for her Masters degree in Education. Our friendship immediately confirmed through Facebook and a mandatory selfie. I set off to Chumphon with her at 9 tomorrow!
Leaving the other ETAs after 48 hours, or less, of friendship is a bizarre thing. Facebook and my new Thai-sim are suddenly very previous possessions as we hurriedly swap numbers and try to confirm intangible plans.
Getting by with pigeon-Thai phrases we muddle to Khoa San Road on our last night, arriving on what could be any other road in any major European Tourist City. Brimming with souvenirs, and bars overlapping each other and fighting for attention on either side of the street. The glare of the lights is dimmed in the generally hazy balmy evening air, and tourist and locals alike meander in a drunken state of wonder between the street-vendors. The cliches of tourists in Thailand play-out in front of our eyes a far cry away from the classic cultural performances from the morning. But it seems a fitting close to our stay in Bangkok: all mildly disorientated, snippets of a Thailand we've been taught to expect are easier to translate before we scatter out to begin our lives as ETAs.
It's exciting to be playing a very small role in the soft-diplomacy of the British Council . We heard from Mrs Tipsuda Sumethsenee, Inspector-General, Ministry of Education, Thailand who spoke kindly of the importance of British Council's work and from Mr Marcus Winsley, who was keen to illustrate the British appreciation of the growth of the ASEAN economies.
The TET programme initiative was set up to meet the demands of both Thai and UK students. The common language and business language for the ASEAN community (including, Thailand...) is English and the Thai Ministry of Education are keen to ensure that their citizen can "reap the benefits" for themselves. In turn the demand for graduates to prove that they are prepared for an evermore international market makes the TET programme particularly popular for young British students and graduates.
Not that it's difficult to encourage people to take part; Thailand is an incredibly popular tourist destination with 900,000 UK tourists and 50,000 UK residents. It houses the second largest British Embassy in the world and as the Head of Consular Assitance Operations from the British Embassy reminded us soberingly he's never short of work.
The day is summarised by Dr. Teerakiat Jarensettasin, Vice Minister at the Thai Ministry of Education who raises his metaphorical hat to the men in the room considering the 2:1 ratio of girl to boy ETAs, whilst Andrew Glass, Director of the British Council, Thailand, reminds us that had the teaching world been as biased in his day he would never had started his career with the British Council during his humble beginnings teaching in Germany.
Thai-teachers and English ETAs sit together for our last meal attempting to establish our first few phrases of Thai.
My teaching mentor, Om, is 27 and studying for her Masters degree in Education. Our friendship immediately confirmed through Facebook and a mandatory selfie. I set off to Chumphon with her at 9 tomorrow!
Leaving the other ETAs after 48 hours, or less, of friendship is a bizarre thing. Facebook and my new Thai-sim are suddenly very previous possessions as we hurriedly swap numbers and try to confirm intangible plans.
Getting by with pigeon-Thai phrases we muddle to Khoa San Road on our last night, arriving on what could be any other road in any major European Tourist City. Brimming with souvenirs, and bars overlapping each other and fighting for attention on either side of the street. The glare of the lights is dimmed in the generally hazy balmy evening air, and tourist and locals alike meander in a drunken state of wonder between the street-vendors. The cliches of tourists in Thailand play-out in front of our eyes a far cry away from the classic cultural performances from the morning. But it seems a fitting close to our stay in Bangkok: all mildly disorientated, snippets of a Thailand we've been taught to expect are easier to translate before we scatter out to begin our lives as ETAs.