With indecipherable squiggles on the whiteboard, July Premprecha, a Burmese language teacher, wrote a few simple greetings to her class. Although it is only halfway into the first term with Burmese in the curriculum, the Thai students of Pichairattanakarn School in Ranong province can already respond to simple questions with ease.
Above and beyond symbolic gestures such as putting up the Asean countries’ flags or national flowers on bulletin boards, the school has recently added the Burmese language to its curriculum, in part to prepare for the Asean Economic Community, but also to accommodate the social reality of this small province, which sits on the Andaman coast, overlooking Myanmar.
In Ranong, as in other town such as Tak and Samut Sakhon, an increasing Burmese population had led to the springing up of communities of the country’s people. The Burmese were mostly migrant workers in the past, but since Myanmar opened its borders, more and more business investors have made their way into Thailand. Last week, a striking piece of news emerged concerning Yasa, the 12-year-old son of Myanmar migrant labourers who outperformed his Thai peers to win a Thai language handwriting competition. But the traffic of linguistic skills seems to be one-way — despite the Asean buzz, Burmese language classes in Thai schools are rare.
Pichairattanakarn School’s vice-principal Dr Sureerat Phuttanatien said she has heard of a few schools that teach the language, but Pichairattanakarn is one of the first to officially add the subject to its curriculum.
“This has become a necessity,” Sureerat, who supervises the school’s academic affairs, said. “Myanmar has opened itself up to the world and they are getting a lot of interest from the international community. Ten years ago in Ranong, Burmese people were only labourers, but now they are business owners and investors. They can speak Thai and understand us, yet we don’t understand and cannot respond in their language at all. This is really a disadvantage.”
The project is part of the Ministry of Education’s plan for schools across the country to teach students a third language, in addition to Thai and English. Krasaesin Plongmanee, an official of the Ministry of Education’s Bureau of Academic Affairs and Educational Standards, said Burmese classes are still uncommon in school curriculums nationwide.
Pichairattanakarn School’s vice-principal Dr Sureerat Phuttanatien.
“In most cases, schools near borders — those in Chiang Mai, Chiang Rai, Tak, Kanchanaburi — teach regional languages, such as Mon, Hmong and Karen. They are in the curriculum primarily to help students who speak these languages learn and better understand the Thai language.”
For Pichairattanakarn School, it is not a simple matter of finding qualified teachers and fitting the class into students’ schedules. It took almost a decade for Burmese to find its way into the curriculum. It was introduced nine years ago to students as an elective, but later cancelled due to reasons more concerning attitudes toward it than the language itself.
“Some parents were very much against the idea at the time,” Sureerat said. “They thought of Burmese people as just labourers. Some view them as people who are lower than themselves, so they wondered why their kids had to learn the language. But it’s not like that anymore.”
There are a few learning centres for Burmese people in Ranong province. After visiting one of them, Sureerat was stunned by how committed and eager its staff was to educate and improve their students.
“The centre is huge and better than Thai Prathom-level schools in many aspects. Burmese kids are learning English and Thai along with their own language. They are very serious about educating the children from an early age. Their Thai handwriting is even more beautiful than that of Thai kids,” she said.
All Pichairattanakarn students in Matthayom 2 now study Burmese twice a week. It is mandatory for Mattayom 5 students majoring in languages. Sureerat said the study content for both levels of the course is very basic, focusing on introducing the language, easy greetings and routine conversations used in daily life — it’s more of an opportunity for students to get to know the language. If they are interested, they can further pursue it on their own.
“If we don’t start now it’s going to be too late,” Sureerat said. “We are not ready for the Asean community next year. What Thai students have been learning about other countries is surface level — the flags, the flowers, the animals — while students in other countries have gone deeper than that.”
Matthayom 5 student Bussara Sakunuadomphong said that even though Burmese was an elective class rather than compulsory, she believes it will prove beneficial in the future.
“If I own a business or something and have Burmese employees, I will understand what they are saying. Or if I go shopping, I can bargain over prices. They won’t be able to take advantage of me,” she said.
The class has proven successful so far, but attitudes are not something that can be changed overnight. The idea that the Burmese people are inferior still persists — something July, who has been teaching for two months, finds very tough to deal with.
“I know a Burmese teacher who taught here nine years ago and had to quit,” she said. “The students insulted both the language and the teacher. I wonder if that attitude has improved yet. If not, I don’t think I can stay here for long, either.”
July said parenting is an important element in cultivating these attitudes. Those whose parents treat Burmese workers or maids well are always nice and sensitive toward her. This totally differs from students who grew up with the belief that the Burmese are not equal.
“This can be changed with cooperation from the parents, the school and myself,” July said. “We have to instil the right attitudes in our students. There are some who really pay attention in class, as their parents really have to use Burmese for business. But there are also those, about 50%, who take it for granted. They neither care for me nor for the language. This really gets me down sometimes.”
Sureerat admitted that such negative attitudes toward the Burmese remain, but are much improved compared with those nine years ago.
“I don’t think anyone is against teaching the language now, as they all realise the importance of it,” she said. “There are Burmese people wherever we go. They have become part of us, economically and culturally.”
In the long run, she said Thailand might consider a high school class plan for Burmese like those already in place for the Chinese and Japanese languages. There also might be a project in which teachers will begin to learn the language.
“I believe language is a start, a door which will enable kids to better understand people of different cultures,” Sureerat said.
Burmese language teacher July Premprecha with Matthayom 5 students.
