OPINION

Teachers won't come

So, Education Minister Nathapol Teepsuwan has decided that he wants more English teachers here in Thailand. Oh, and apparently accent doesn't matter!

Well, you are totally wrong. A good strong native English accent is exactly what the students need here in Thailand, because no one can understand you outside of your own country. Only natives can explain and practically demonstrate in clear and precise English how to bite or point the tongue in order to create a proper "th" and "t" sound so that it doesn't sound like a blunt and thick-tongued "d". And don't get me started on showing ones teeth and how this makes a "v" sound normal rather than like a "w".

Still, if this country is happy with severely declining standards of English and places the passing of exams and grammatical knowledge above spoken conversational English, then, yes, accent is not at all important and you should open your doors to the myriad of excellent teachers from the rest of the world. Just don't expect them to stay long, because you have an archaic and inefficient immigration and work permit regime.

I have worked extensively as a teacher and head teacher in the UK, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia and here in Bangkok, and I can tell you that the red-tape pertaining to immigration and work permits here in the Land of Apparent Smiles is significantly worse than the other locations mentioned above. I cannot face another day-trip to Chaeng Watthana; watching paint dry seems positively enjoyable compared to your farang-stress-inducing factory.

The 90-day reporting system for overseas teachers here in Thailand is completely inefficient and time-wasting for productivity, and this is augmented by the xenophobic TM30 form which somehow assumes all your teachers are potential criminals and require some sort of Orwellian tracking.

You need to seriously reform your immigration and red-tape system to ensure all of your wonderful and new international schools are able to acquire and retain expert native English speakers.

Insured against expats

Now might be a good time for Thailand to encourage visitors, including longer-term stays. The Western baby boomers are now retiring in droves and are looking to spend their money. What better place than beautiful Thailand? The government is concerned that older visitors could become a burden on the state. Applicants for long-term visas are required to take out health insurance. It makes sense. However, what doesn't make sense is the lack of choice of providers. Why can't an applicant use their current insurer back in their home country? Many would be reluctant to cancel their home country insurance and would instead prefer to widen the terms of their current insurance.

In my case, I would not be prepared to cancel my Australian insurance and would need to take out additional Thai insurance, under the current arrangements. This would double my costs to over 100,000 baht per year. I would rather spend my money in the Thai community than on Swiss insurance companies.