Sweet Home Thailand

I have not spoken much about this beyond my first few posts in this blog, mainly because I have discussed many of these issues in my other blog that discusses daily life in Thailand, but I should discuss what you need to know if you are interested in spending time teaching in Thailand, much like I am this semester.  First, some disclaimers.  I am teaching at the ABAC campus (Hua Mak) in the city of Bangkok, which is a very large metropolitan city of over 8 million people.  Some of the experiences and advice that I have to share might only be appropriate for teaching at this campus.  The two other campuses that I have been working with are ABAC’s undergraduate campus (Bang Na) which is just outside the city of Bangkok and the primarily undergraduate campus of MFLU, which is in the far north of Thailand.

There are several implications that only teaching graduate students in the city of Bangkok has.  First, the graduate students at ABAC are on a trimester schedule that runs all year long; Semester 1: Beginning of May – End of August, Semester 2: Beginning of September – End of December, Semester 3: Beginning of January – End of April.  The other campuses which cater to undergraduate students are under a typical two-semester + summer session schedule; Semester 1: Beginning of June – End of September, Semester 2: End of October – Beginning of March, Summer Session: End of March – Beginning of May.  This information is important because the graduate student schedule is well-suited to JSU’s academic schedule as “Semester 1″ takes place during summer sessions.  Though teaching undergraduate students is something that interests me as well, their schedule (“Semester 1″) runs almost a month into the fall semester at JSU.  I imagine that there are some arrangements both at the Thailand universities and JSU that could be made to accommodate this issue, however, such as utilizing distance learning to facilitate teaching while residing in another country or adjusting the class schedules in Thailand and at JSU.  Although I have not done this or even favor the idea, it is quite common for faculty in Thailand to cancel classes and reschedule them on different days of the week.  In fact, ABAC has a section on their Website that is dedicated to posting such schedule changes that also notifies students via e-mail and/or SMS.  Other possibilities would be condensing the course schedule from a 16 week calender down to a 15 or 14 week calendar.

Another implication of me only teaching graduate students is that, as you would suspect, they are much “better” students than undergraduates, meaning that they likely have a better command of English, are required to have at least 3 years of industry experience, and are likely much more focused or dedicated students.  Both ABAC and MFLU are ‘international’ universities in that all courses are taught exclusively in English.  I will try to get a better sense of how good of a command of the English language that the undergraduate students have at both universities before I leave by visiting those campuses and speaking with those students.

And finally, since I do reside in the city of Bangkok while I am teaching, I have easy access to whatever I could possibly want or need.  If I want food, there are literally dozens of different street vendors on every street.  If I want to shop, there are several large shopping malls that are only a short taxi drive away (20-30 minutes costing $3 – $5).  In addition, there are several night bazaars around that sell all sorts of wares and items that make perfect gifts to bring back home.  If I crave the ’social’ scene (which I don’t) there are many options available.  With respect to the undergraduate ABAC campus (Bang Na), it is really an isolated community that is a taxi drive to anywhere you want to go.  The Bang Na campus does have its own restaurants and its own shopping mall, but it hardly compares what is available at the ABAC graduate campus (Hua Mak).  One important thing to note, however, is that ABAC runs several coach buses daily to and from both campuses(about a 45 minute drive) that are free to faculty or “adjarn” as we are called in Thailand.  With respect to MFLU, though I have not spent much time there, the campus is a ‘regional’ facility that has been developed, much like the ABAC Bang Na campus, in a location all by itself.  Just like the Bang Na campus, at MFLU, there are places to eat on campus such as at the cafeteria or their restaurant.  It is only a short drive (less than 5 minutes) to get to the city of Chiang Rai (population over 60,000) from MFLU where there are many places to eat, however, and at the main highway that intersects with the entrance to the university, there are several street vendors and restaurants.  Something that I do not know much about is the availability of transportation around the MFLU campus and elsewhere.  I don’t know if many (if any) taxi’s service the university and the main mode of transportation is by motorbike for nearly all students to and from the campus.  There are no large shopping malls as the largest city nearby is Chiang Mai (population over 150,000) which is roughly a two-hour drive away.  An advantage to MFLU is that beyond the night bazaar there, it is a relatively short drive (45 minutes) to the Thai-Myanmar (Burma) border which can be best described as a ’super’ bazaar because of the variety of items for sale and how cheap they are.  Both the ABAC Bang Na and MFLU campuses are less than 10 years old and being segregated from the ‘big city’ may be attractive to some.

So with the above disclaimer, here are some important things to know about teaching in Thailand.

What to Wear

I always try to anticipate any and everything I need for any trip I take, no matter how long, and bring a few extra things.  So what are the key items then?  It is a long flight to get to Thailand (Bangkok) that will take roughly 20-26 hours depending on the number of connections and length of layovers.  Add another hour or so of flight time if you want to fly to Chiang Rai (MFLU) out of Bangkok.  A short-sleeved shirt and pants are always what I wear on airplanes as you can never tell how cold it will get.  You can also have a spare change of clothes with you in your carry-on if you would like to take a shower and refresh yourself at a layover in Korea (Seoul), Japan (Narita-Tokyo), or China (Hong Kong).  I have never done this, but Jet has and really enjoys this after 14-16 hours of flight time.  As for your checked in luggage, all that you really need are perhaps 2 or 3 days worth of clothes – as if you were packing for a weekend trip.  I say this because it is very inexpensive to purchase a brand new wardrobe of clothes to wear in Thailand (and who doesn’t want a brand new wardrobe?).  There are several street vendors and small shops that sell most leisure clothes (shorts, t-shirts, shoes, etc.) and more formal attire is available to buy on the cheap at large shopping malls.  For example, at most large shopping malls/areas in Bangkok or Chiang Rai (speaking from a man’s perspective) you can buy a custom-tailored suit made for you in just a few hours for less than $100.  If you are a good negotiator (which is a must in Thailand as all places to buy souvenirs and clothes expect to negotiate price) you can get a shirt and tie thrown in for free.  One of the things I did in my first days here in Thailand was visit a department store at a shopping mall, which happened to be having a sale.  I ended up buying three pairs of formal pants, four formal button-down shirts, two ties, and couple of packages of underwear – all for just under $100.  I haven’t needed to do any more shopping for clothes since.  The only issue with clothes that I have had was with shoes.  Though there are dozens of places to buy very nice shoes on the cheap, I wear a size 13 shoe (size 47-48 in UK) while every store that I have visited only carry up to size 11.5 (45 in UK).  With that in mind, I am glad that I did bring a pair of formal shoes, a pair of tennis shoes, and a pair of sandals to wear.  That is all I have needed for all of the walking, jogging, recreation, and teaching that I have done.

Just a few details that might be useful, the temperatures range from the low to mid 90’s this time of year in Thailand and is pretty humid.  It is also the rainy season, so picking up an umbrella (around $2 in Thailand) is useful to have handy at all times because it does rain each day, usually for only 20-30 minutes the entire day.  With this in mind, the weather has not been much of a factor for me as I do spend most of my time in buildings getting work done or travel from place to place, all that are indoors or covered with air conditioning and/or fans to keep you cool.  Any of your other essentials that you might need, for example, the name brands of the toothbrush, toothpaste, soap, shampoo, deoderant, etc. that you use in America mostly available at superstores like the “Big C” or “Tesco – Lotus” (both are chains like a Super Wal-Mart) for prices that are likely cheaper than in America.  One other detail, the time difference is exactly 12 hours ahead of Alabama time, which makes it easy to figure out what time it is overseas if I want to call someone.

Electronics

There is one key thing that you need to know regarding electronic devices that you might want to bring with you on your visit to Thailand.  Check to see on the adapter/cord/plug if it has a “100-240 VAC” statement on it.  If it does, feel free to bring it along with you as you can plug it into any outlet I have encountered here in Thailand.  Though the voltage in the US is 110-volt electricity and in Thailand is 220-volts, devices with that label are OK to work in both locations.  The #1 device that I forgot to bring with me (I am still kicking myself over this) is my laptop computer.  I just didn’t think to bring it with me.  What a fool.  There is wireless access throughout both campuses at ABAC with plugs for high-speed Internet access in my hotel room.  I don’t know what the Internet situation is like at MFLU, however.  What you will need to do once you arrive at the Thai university is visit their IT department so that they can give your computer a new Thai IP address so that you can connect to their network.  I have been living these past few months with a borrowed laptop from my wife’s cousin.  It is a must to have a laptop (at least for me) because I like to continuously check my e-mail and the latest news from around the world, but also so that I can watch TV shows and listen to radio stations from back home that are available online, which does bring a bit of Alabama and Milwaukee to me in Bangkok.

I did bring some hard-copies of course materials with me (textbook, chapter notes, etc.), but I did store all of my materials for my classes and the research I am conducting in several locations … just in case.  I ended up putting all of my documents onto a flash memory stick (called a “thumb” drive here in Thailand … since it’s about the size of your thumb), onto the JSU server that I could access via FTP from Thailand, and into an online class ‘wiki’ (a free Website) where my students could also access all necessary course materials as well.  I also e-mailed myself some of the most important documents (e.g., scanned copies of my passport, first week PowerPoint slides, etc.) so that there was a back-up to all of the back-ups.  If I had brought my computer, I could have also had my files backed-up there as well.

Another key electronic device is a cell phone.  I brought my cell phone with me because all I had to do was request an ‘unlock’ code from my cell phone company (T-mobile) so that it could work overseas with a different SIM card and stop by any cell phone dealer in Thailand (there are plenty to choose from, just like in the US) to get a new SIM card so that you can still use your phone (though with a Thai phone number) without having to pay international roaming charges.  It’s useful having a cell phone, though I do talk to my wife several times a day, many of the administrators and faculty that I meet at the Thai universities ask for my cell phone (“mobile”) number.  Also useful is picking up an international calling card so that you can make overseas long-distance calls cheaply.  I picked up a 300 Baht or about $8 calling card at a gas station when I first arrived in Thailand and though it is almost used up, I have been using it for over 2 months making about two dozen calls that average about 15-20 minutes.  As for other electrical devices, it’s whatever you need. We brought along our digital camera and camcorder (with extra recordable DVD disks for the camcorder).  When our SD card has almost filled up on our camera, we brought it to a camera store and they made a CD copy of all of our pictures so that we could erase all pictures and start back over.  Each CD copy cost about $2-$3 for them to make.  We have had 4 CDs made so far, or about 1500 pictures.  The only other electrical devices that I have with me are my iTunes shuffle, which has saved me as I take a 5 hour bus rides to visit my wife and family every weekend and is also good for my morning jogs, and my electric shaver.

Language Barrier

Being in a new country that does not speak English can be intimidating, but it is actually not a problem.  Most signs everywhere you go around the country are written in both Thai and in English and the relationships that I am working on establishing with universities that only teach in English.  I have actually been quite surprised with how little Thai I have used and have learned since I have been here.  There are only a couple of key phrases that you should know, however.  The most important is “Sa wa dee” followed by a “cup” if you are male or “ka” if you are a female.  You also say this while putting your hands in a ‘prayer’ position to the tip of your nose.  This is the formal way to say “hello” and “good-bye” to people in Thailand.  This is especially important to do this for any administrator or to show someone a sign of respect.  The only time when it is usually not appropriate to do this greeting is to greet a child this way, however, if a child makes this greeting to you first, it is fine to respond in kind.  Other key phrases are “hong nam”, which is “bathroom; “nam pow”, which is “drinking water”, and “my ow”, which is “no thanks”.  With those few phrases, you can survive in Thailand.  There are instances when being able to speak more Thai would be useful, such as if I want to take a Taxi somewhere, but in those instances, I have just had my wife or a student write where I need to go on a sheet of paper so that I could show the Taxi driver.  I have several CD’s that teach ‘how to speak Thai’ which I will be glad to share with anyone at JSU that has taught me a bit more to say, but to get by in Thailand, only the phrases I listed above are the most essential.

Food

When it comes to eating, I can simply point to what I want to eat and it will be prepared and served to me.  If you know the name of a Thai dish, for example, “Pud Thai”, “Pud See Ew”, or “Mussaman” curry, you can simply say this and also get the food you want.  Jet (my wife) teaches Thai cooking classes at JSU’s continuing education program, which is quite popular, and can give you a ‘heads-up’ on what to expect when it comes to the food available in Thailand.  There is ‘American’ food available to buy as well (McDonalds, KFC, Pizza Hut, Dunkin Donuts, etc.), but that food costs about the same as you would pay for the same meals in the US, which is relatively expensive compared to eating local Thai food.  For example, for the price of a pizza ($10-$12) you could take a group of people out to dinner.  For my meals, I usually only spend $1 on a full plate of food that the same plate in the US would typically cost about $8-$10.

Courses

The strategy I chose was a simple one.  I was offered to either teach two sections of the same course or two sections of different courses.  I didn’t want to have to do twice the prep work, so I simply chose teaching two sections of the same course.  This has worked out well as it has allowed me to spend more time to work on my research and make connections to establish partnerships between ABAC and MFLU with JSU.  I also used this opportunity to ‘try new things’ with these students that if they went well, I could integrate back into the classes I teach at JSU.  For example, I am using a wiki quite extensively in both classes, mainly out of a necessity as there is no Blackboard or Blackboard equivalent at ABAC.  In addition, I am using much more video followed by class discussion, case studies, multiple new homework assignments, and personal examples of IT projects that I have worked on all to ‘mix-it-up’ so that the class would not be dedicated to a lecture format.  I thought that this approach would work best as it would allow non-native English speakers and particularly students of an Asian culture (which typically do not like to confront authority) to become more active in class.  Though every teacher has their own teaching style, what I have done seems to be working and I have gotten good feedback from my students.  In fact, my teaching style has become so popular that I am getting new requests from students each week to simply ’sit-in’ my class so that I now have over 40 students that attend my MBA class.  These students that want to ’sit-in’ my class are in their final semesters at ABAC, just before they have to take the comprehensive exam, and would like a ‘review’ of material that will be covered.  I even have one student that is taking the same class with another professor, who was not one of the many who switched to my section in the second and third weeks of class, who simply wants to ‘learn more’ about the topic I am teaching.

So how are the students?  As I mentioned at the start of this post, I likely only have a limited view to base my opinions on since I am only teaching graduate students.  But as I stated before, I have been pleasantly surprised at how well these students have adjusted to my teaching style and are participating in class.  If there is one thing that I would love to change about the students, however, is to be more prompt when it comes to time.  A class that starts at 6:30pm will start at 6:45pm because the majority of the class arrives late.  This is likely due in part to the heavy rush hour traffic and limited parking available on campus here at the ABAC Hua Mak campus.  But there is also a “care free” attitude as well that plays a role because students are accepting of returning 20 and 25 minutes after I call for a “15 minute” break.  This is just a cultural difference that I had to adjust to and it likely would have had a very negative impact on me if I forced the students to change to accommodate me.  Such concessions are essential and should be expected as I am not teaching in America, I am teaching in Thailand.  Though I do want to ensure a good amount of rigor for my classes and losing 20-25 minutes of class time can put me in quite a bind, you have to remember that this is not America, this is Thailand.  Even though I have been ‘forgiving’ in staring late, I still have a reputation as someone that strictly ‘watches the clock’.  I suspect there are unintentional cues that I am giving that suggest how uncomfortable I am with losing time.  As for my students understanding me, that is, me speaking too fast for them to understand, the first few weeks of class I reminded the students to feel free to let me know if I am speaking too fast (which did happen on one occasion) or if they needed further clarification.  I suspect either that students have adjusted to the pace that I now teach or that they have given up and only tune in when they can.  The students fared well on the midterm exam that they took last week, so I am hoping it is the former and not the latter.

Recreation

Since I spend every weekend traveling to Phitsanulok (5 hour bus drive from Bangkok) to visit my wife and family, I don’t have much of a need or desire to ‘explore’ Bangkok.  I do get some sightseeing done, and believe me, there is a lot of it to do all around the country, but I do this with my wife who is Thai, so I can’t really comment on this experience so much as I depend on her or her family to take us to different places to see and visit.  In other words, it is not from a purely American or foreigner point-of-view that would be of much use to someone from JSU interested in teaching in Thailand.  I could provide some suggestions of things to do and see (e.g., mountains, temples, rafting, etc.), but I suspect each person has their own tastes and my recommendations would only help those that have similar tastes as mine.  I can say that if I do have some free time, I do like to take long walks (1 – 2 hours) just to explore the nearby area and see things, stop at new shops, and try new foods.  There are lots of things to see around at the ABAC Hua Mak campus, but I suspect much fewer at the ABAC Bang Na and MFLU campuses.  However, if you are into nature, MFLU is certainly the place to be.  Lots of beautiful gardens and scenery everywhere you go.  That, in combination with it’s bazaar and proximity to Mai Sai makes it a very hot tourist destination.  Walking around the bazaar in Chiang Mai Jet mentioned to me, “It’s like walking around in Atlanta” because mostly everyone there were tourists or “farang” (“white” tourists).  I also like to exercise, so I do like to go for a jog in the morning (5:00am – 6:00am) when there is not much traffic and there is not much heat.  There is a soccer stadium very close by the ABAC Hua Mak campus where a few dozen people go jogging every morning.  Another form of recreation is playing pick-up basketball with the students (though I suspect many don’t know that I am not a student) in the evenings on campus from around 6:00pm to 8:00pm.  These have been great workouts for me as the humidity in Thailand allows you to work up a good sweat very quickly.  I am now at around 175 pounds (from around 185 before leaving) and in likely the best shape I have been in for years.

Driving

After having spent about 3 months collectively in my 3 visits to Thailand, last weekend was the first time that I had ever driven here.  It is awkward to drive on the ‘wrong’ side of the road and to be driving in the ‘passenger’ seat, but most of the road signs are in both Thai and in English and those that were not (e.g., a Stop sign or a “No Passing Zone” sign) were in the same shapes as those in America so it was easy to follow.  The painting of the road lines are also the same as in America (white vs. yellow, dashed vs. continuous) so that was also not a problem adjusting to.  The biggest trouble driving in Thailand is driving on the same road as other motorists.  There is a hierarchy that exists not unlike a class system.  Cars reign supreme, particularly those like Jet’s Mom’s Mercedes Benz.  Next follow buses, well, some buses.  There are the double-decker coach buses that I take to and from Bangkok which drive at speeds that exceed most cars – those are the ones to watch out for.  All other buses, pick-up trucks carrying goods (e.g., pineapples, lettuce, other goods), and larger trucks all stay off to the side and most make attempts to get out of your way as you drive past (they drift over to as far to the side of the road as possible and/or put on their left-turn signal to indicate it is safe to pass them).  Then there are motorcycles that are just everywhere – and not the Harley-Davidson variety, more of the motorbike kind.  At every stoplight they fill in all of the voids next to cars and can shoot in and out of most every direction in the road.  Motorcycles far outnumber every other type of vehicle, but they are also the most careless.  Motorcycles typically drive on the median of the road as they are much smaller and slower than other traffic, but sometimes they make turns without looking or shoot across lanes of traffic seemingly without much care for their own lives.  It is mandatory in Bangkok for the driver of the motorbike to wear a helmet, but as you move further and further north, it becomes an increasingly rare sight to see someone with a helmet on.  Crazy.  And then you have humans.  They are the lowest of the low on the food chain.  All across Thailand if you are a pedestrian, you must always keep your guard up as no vehicle will slow down for you.  None.  Even in pedestrian marked walkways you have to keep a quick eye and an even quicker step.  The last bit of complexity when it comes to driving is the “U-turn”.  An economic way of developing the road systems in Thailand was instead of building ‘off ramps’ or bridges where you are able to go from one direction to another, in Thailand there are simply breaks in middle of the road at periodic locations where you can make a u-turn – a “U-Turn Lane”.  This is the toughest part of driving in Thailand as all vehicles can dart out across lanes of traffic, sometimes without much notice, to complete the u-turn.  That is why the horn and brights on the car become an essential tool.  Either flickering on and off the brights or repeatedly beating on the horn (as Jet’s Mom does so very well) as you approach a u-turn intersection lets anyone either waiting at the intersection or approaching the intersection to make a u-turn know that they better stop as you are coming through regardless of what happens.

What Else?

Surely there must be something else you want to know about my experience teaching and living in Thailand.  Let me know what that is and I will extend this post to include that.  Further, if there are additional items that come to mind, I will post them here as well.