khunsanuk Posted April 26, 2004 Report Share Posted April 26, 2004 Hi, "I met his teachers when we were in BKK for our marriage and they said he is a good student and is in the top three in his class all the time." Hate to break it to you, but this may mean jack shit Education upcountry is atrocious. My wife's son is going to enter High School, and he has trouble reading a 3rd grade text (I could read it more fluently although I did not know the meaning of all the words). His sister is going to 4th grade next year, she could not read a 1st grade text, and not only did she finish every year, she finished 4th!!! in her class last year. From what I understand the teachers don't give a fuck Sanuk! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Torneyboy Posted April 27, 2004 Author Report Share Posted April 27, 2004 That is scary..i know from what Zaad has told me teaching levels can vary from school/teachers all across thailand. He will be old enough to attend high school next year as long as his exam results are ok he should move on. They may hold him back however. If everything falls apart i guess best thing is to send him back to an international school in BKK. That will break my wifes heart ...but best in the long term. Something that has popped up in the last half hour ..is the Army. She does not want him to be drafted. Maybe that is why she wanted him out here as well as education. I told her not to worry as he will be an OZ by then. I visited his school ,looked fine and the teachers were all very nice,they asked me if i would like to help with English...i hope the system does not rely on visitors to fill the funds gap ? One thing that is on my mind is ""our"" tendency to poke fun at people that are different....don''t mean race..just different. The school is across the road from our home and i see many chinese and other nationalities going in...not sure about Thais as yet. This could become a factor if his study/grades are not up to scratch. He wants his mom to go with him(and stay) as well, i will have the day off and see what happens. he wants to go and learn but he is worried about how he will fit in. A nail biting wait ahead. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BelgianBoy Posted April 27, 2004 Report Share Posted April 27, 2004 TB, Dont worry, kids are fine at that age...... I arrived in Belgium age 10 from the US, I spoke French at home and school, English on the streets and at little league I was dropped in my class, all 100 % Dutch-Flemish, with only 1 other kid who spoke French and a teacher who was patient enough to teach me 1 hour after class for a few months..... I finished in top-5 that year, so all ok. Thing is that the total vocabulary is still quite restricted and your learning capacity is at maximum speed, at that age you absorb info like a sponge. BB Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
radioman Posted April 27, 2004 Report Share Posted April 27, 2004 torneyboy said: Something that has popped up in the last half hour ..is the Army. She does not want him to be drafted. Hmm, you may want to do some more research on this. I'm only going on some hearsay but the source has been historically impeccable. Seems there are not too many wealthy(ish) families that have their sons get drafted if they don't want. Whilst the fees for this service are likely way beyond the 'average' family income you would most likely think it ridiculous. Of course we are talking about some years hence, by which time of course all forms of this malarkey will have been eradicated. M. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Torneyboy Posted April 27, 2004 Author Report Share Posted April 27, 2004 Hi Yes i am sure he will be fine. Went to the school today to hand in the paperwork ...they said they have Thirty Nationalities at the school. Meet again with translator and school teacher wednesday to plot a course for him. He is excited so that is a good thing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lembeh Posted April 27, 2004 Report Share Posted April 27, 2004 >Seems there are not too many wealthy(ish) families that have their sons get drafted if they don't want. Whilst the fees for this service are likely way beyond the 'average' family income you would most likely think it ridiculous. Not really sure that it works that way. From what I am aware, especially nowadays, relatively few people are drafted. The army is seen as quite a useful place to plonk yourself (especially if you are a poor upcountry kid), so most years the number of enlistee's (voluntary) out number the number of people needed. Hence there is no drafting ballot. The recent paradon saga is a case in point. He had been deferring turning up for his draft, (saying he was a PE teacher and so exempt). However, he was supposed to do so many hours per week teaching (which clearly he was not!). he therefore turned up for some where where the ballot was not needed as the numbers of volunteers was sufficient. IIRC, you are only obliged to *turn up* for the ballot. If your number is not picked (or no numbers are picked), then your commitment to national service is ended. -j- Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted April 27, 2004 Report Share Posted April 27, 2004 Hi torneyboy, You are just now figuring out it's a "package deal"? :: (just kidding). Good for you to want to deal with it. You are obviously commited to your wife, and as they say...'sickness as in health'. You are a good guy, and will work through it. Yea....you are going to lose some freedoms. But if you wanted to be totaly free, you would not be committed as you are, to the woman you obviously love. Just my input here, but be more worried about dealing with this situation with your wife, than her/your son. Make sure you two (wife/you) are on the same page, before ever thinking on how to deal with kid. Once you two have a common ground/understanding, only then can you tackle the problems that may lay ahead, concerning the child. If you don't have a unified front, might be very hard to deal with. Get together with your lover/wife/friend...and insure that you both know where you're going to go with this. If you can manage that, the rest is easy. HT Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mentors Posted April 29, 2004 Report Share Posted April 29, 2004 I read your lines and i can understand very well about bringing thai kids to farangland and what it will happen after a short while. I did this also years ago (2 kids ) - and this was the first step to my later divorce...sad but true :: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Torneyboy Posted April 29, 2004 Author Report Share Posted April 29, 2004 Hi Sorry to hear of this. We work very hard at our relationship and will work together with my wife to ensure the boy enjoys all we can offer him. Family relationships are a two way street and we are committed to happiness for all of us. Again sorry you ended in divorce ...have been there twice so third time lucky fo me. Hope you find a new thai lady as good as mine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mentors Posted April 30, 2004 Report Share Posted April 30, 2004 torneyboy said: Hi Sorry to hear of this. We work very hard at our relationship and will work together with my wife to ensure the boy enjoys all we can offer him. Family relationships are a two way street and we are committed to happiness for all of us. Again sorry you ended in divorce ...have been there twice so third time lucky fo me. Hope you find a new thai lady as good as mine. I'm happy that i found already a new good thai lady (without kids). I wish you good luck with your family. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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