Learning Curve

I began my ethnography project as a way to teach university students basic research skills while practicing English. In Thailand, it is common for students to copy material without guilt, and essays are usually cut-and-paste directly off the Internet.  Therefore, I decided to have them research something that they wouldn’t plagiarize – their own family backgrounds and village life. Based on ethnographic principles, I requested that my students interview Thai elders (using my own list of questions) and write reports on the results. I edited this material later to create inexpensive mini-textbooks to use in other English classes.

In this first installment, I had students interview elders about their family origins. Where did they come from? When did they move to the Ayutthaya province? What was life like in their village decades ago? I wrote two ethnography reports of my own for this section, which I used in class to model how the research needed to be done.  

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 In the third installment of my ethnography project, I had students interview elders in their Thai village about the local environment. How has it changed over the years? What was life like for their grandparents during previous decades? What animals existed then, and how has the city grown? The best 15 reports are included here (as paraphrased and summarized by me).

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This article takes a raw and honest looks at fake university degrees in Thailand, which have existed in Thailand as far back as the 1970s. This article was originally considered too controversial for the Education section of the Bangkok Post; however, a different version did make it to print in a special catalog for international schools.

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This article tracks down the surprisingly short but chaotic history of international schools in Thailand. Even though there are over 100 international schools surviving in Thailand today, the early times were filled with restrictive politics relating to the employment of foreign teachers, western-oriented curriculum, and the promotion of English in Thai classrooms. This article was considered too controversial for the Education section of the Bangkok Post. Instead, a draft was printed in a special catalog for international schools.

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This interview is with an aging American-born woman who learned to become an elephant mahout. She explores the politics of being a foreign woman in a trade dominated by Thai males, her deep love for elephants, and the idea that she will have to leave this line-of-work one day. (more…)

This article is inspired by a spontaneous culinary experiment with Thai “jungle” food — fresh cobra, crocodile entrails, jelly fish, wild boar, and a variety of bugs. The dinner was mixed with an aperitif of warm snake blood congealed with whiskey and the raw bile sack. (more…)

This chapter takes place in Thailand, where I had created a sense of stability for awhile. It makes cross-cultural comparisons with how different cultures respond to poverty. However, the primary focus is placed on the politics of being an American living abroad shortly after the 9-11 crisis. As a seasonal flood begins to destroy my home, I pull out my father’s flag and ask what it still means to me. (more…)

With six novels showcased in Thai bookstores, expatriate author David Young celebrates over a decade of penmanship in the Land of Smiles (more…)

This chapter outlines the origins of tourism, and how it has evolved over the years. (more…)

This chapter looks at the changing definitions of home. Even though more and more expatriates are finding a comfortable life abroad, their ethnics roots will always haunt them. What is the balance between the country where you were born and the place where you currently live? (more…)

This article explores how the motivate teacher nationally. Thai teachers and native-English speaking teachers can easily fall into a routine, thus halting their development and progression as an educator. How can they be inspired to keep learning and improving in the classroom? This article explores Thailand’s National Education Plan and what it has in store for the country’s teachers. (more…)

Dragging my students into Buddhist Hell can lead to an interesting educational experience. In this article, I take them to Wat Muang, an amazing temple in Anthong. The goal is to coax them into using English by explaining the meanings behind all the surrealistic statues and images. (more…)