Exploring Thailand and Schools Where We Might Teach

On October 1, we flew on Air Asia from Chiang Mai in the Northern section of Thailand (see map below) to Ubon Ratchathani in the southeast corner of the Northeast section.  Ubon is a fairly good-size city in Isaan.  We had arranged a driver, Lauthong, to pick us up and take us to visit a school in a village in Si Sa Ket Province, which was about an hour-and-a-half drive WSW from Ubon.  The school has about 2,200 students with as many as 40 students in some classes.  We were greeted very warmly, introduced to many of the staff, and taken to lunch.  They indicated we could have a bedroom in the Director's house on campus for as long as we stayed, and they showed us some of the classrooms.  We had a lovely experience visiting in Si Sa Ket.


We spent the night in a nice hotel in Ubon and had a great dinner at the Sabsoi Kok Restaurant, a few blocks away.  It was terrific – al fresco dining on great food in a rustic setting with fountains splashing and some very pretty live Thai music. 

The next morning, Lauthong picked us up and drove us about 2 hours NE to the Baan Nong Phue School near Khemmarat. 

We were enchanted by the teachers and students at the school.  Our hostess Wachinee was delightful and had us laughing through most of the visit.  They took us to most of the classrooms to say hello to the students, and the students were excited to see us (if a bit shy).  We had lunch al fresco in the cantina and the children came over to look at and talk with us.  We met many of the teachers.  The school has 527 students ranging from 6 to 15.  Most of the classes have 20 students.  We were offered a "homestay" by Win, a teacher at the school, and her husband, also a teacher.  Their home is right off the school campus, but we felt that a year is a long time to be a guest in someone's home.

Wachinee  drove us around the town.  It’s pretty small and would have few rental opportunities.  She then drove us the 22 kms to Khemmarat, where she lives.  Khemmarat is on the Mekong River, which forms the border between Thailand and Laos at this point.  We talked about renting there and she said there is bus service to the school but she would take us to school with her each day.  She drove us around town, and we found a lot more going on there and more rental opportunities. 

We then went to a resort/conference center on the Mekong River that is owned by Win’s sister.  They served us fruit and water.  It was lovely.  Here's a picture (from left: Win, Wachinee, George, Mary, Toom).  Mary and I can see ourselves at this school. 

We made our last school visit on Thursday and Friday, October 4-5, to Nan province, which is directly east of Chiang Mai by a 5-1/2 hour bus trip. The drive there was through the mountains of Northern Thailand and very beautiful. If we didn't look too closely at the trees along the way, we could imagine ourselves in the Appalachians. The roads were 2-lane and pretty windy and made for some exciting experiences passing buses, cars, and farmers carts and tractors along the way!

The welcome in Nan province was very gracious, including flower corsages for our wrists!  The children at the school stood outside with a welcome sign!  The school only has 23 students, many of whom are in nursery school.  The officials there say they need good English teachers because English is so important for the children to get ahead in life.  Dinner was at a restaurant on the Nan River and we watched boats practicing for the upcoming boat races with as many as 60 rowers per boat.  On Friday, we were taken back to Nan and shown around a magnificant temple there, Wat Phratart Chaehang, and the Nan Historical Museum.  It was a wonderful visit!

 

Mary and I were just delighted that we had the chance to travel around Thailand and see the schools where we might volunteer.  It was a learning experience, gave us the information we needed to make an informed decision, and exposed us to so many delightful people.  Our heartfelt thanks to everyone who made us feel so welcome during our visits and who helped us appreciate even more the culture and beauty of Thailand!

But then we had to make a decision and that would be difficult ... but we had time.  And we wouldn't be reporting for duty until after a month-long course in Teaching English as a Foreign Language.