Thailand volunteer - Teach English on a Muslim island in Thailand

cemented path ways that link together to form a loose net work of “roads” wide enough for two motor bikes travelling in opposite directions. As a result there are no cars, no accidents, no traffic jams and little in the way of noise or air pollution. There is a real sense of community in Koh Klang as most of the inhabitants are linked through marriage or biologically, as the quite identifiable only farang of the island news of arrival spread like wild fire.

Within days I would have people saying “hello Tom” as I passed even though I had absolutely no idea who they actually were, this is a good example of how exceptionally friendly the people of Koh Klang are but I still found the experience a little strange. Being a (or rather the) farang on Koh Klang is verging on celebrity status, which is in sharp contrast to the tourist resorts of Krabi where I felt like an unwanted necessity of life. Rather than being ignored the children will always run up to you and say hello before they then scamper away giggling and screaming.
One thing you must realise is that Koh Klang is exceptionally isolated; people will make the effort to talk to you but do not expect conversations outside of the obvious employment/family formalities to be about much more than how much it has rained today, the likelihood of it raining tomorrow and if it will still be raining next week. (Surprise-surprise during the rainy season it rains, a lot!). If you wish you can travel to the mainland by boat but if you intend to stay much later than 9 then you will have to stay the night in a guest house.
Activities outside of work are a bit limited to playing volleyball, football or drinking vast amounts of sweet and milky coffee. Apart from at the school there is no internet so contact with the outside world is limited. Further more, living conditions can be a bit Spartan so no glass windows (resulting in numerous mosquitoes) or running water (so you get the full rain water bucket shower experience). The price you pay for a living a very simple and traditional Thai life style is for going the comforts of a modern western life. How ever, I found that it’s the psychological drain of isolation that takes the greatest toll.

Even though there was the language barrier with the majority of my host family they were exceptionally friendly and welcoming. The mother, though not speaking a word of English, took me as one of her own. She would constantly ask me if I was hungry and ply me with food at the slightest inkling of hunger. Over one of the weekends I manage to cut my foot on coral whilst diving, every morning “mother” would grab my foot without asking and cluck away like a worried mother hen whilst applying a new bandage. The son would frequently take me out with his friends to go to caf้s to drink coffee as they tried to chat up the waitresses.
Whilst I did feel like a bit of a tag along to the group (as I didn’t speak much Thai) I think the fact that I was a bit of a novelty meant the girls were much more inclined to stop and talk to the guys. During the middle of my stay there was a huge meal to mark 100days since the death of mother’s mother, thought I was worried my presence might be a bit of an intrusion the family was quite insistent that I take part and even found me the appropriate Muslim clothing. There was any pressure to take part in the praying but just to be there during the meal which was much more of a community activity rather than a religious one.
Schooling in Thailand is taught with an authoritarian style, the students are so drilled in a set pattern of learning that though the students are very compliant and will duplicate everything you do or say. Many students will repeat what you say with little knowledge of what you are actually saying, for example “please be quiet”.

It is well worth learning some basic class room commands in Thai. The students sadly will also copy everything you write on the board or look for something similar in there text books and copy that. It is very hard to get them to think “out of the box” or do any creative work. For drawing work that required students to do an individual piece of work students will often mimic the example given by the teacher with slight alterations, as in Thailand its best to be as similar to the teacher as possible.
The best way to have fun and for the children to learn in a primary school is by teaching verbs and ideas through play acting. Whilst you can have a lot of fun with the students it is essential to not become overly familiar as if the children stop identifying you as a teacher it may become difficult to maintain complete control of the classroom. In my third week I had to take a few quite authorative steps to reassert my role as teacher to the more troublesome students. Since then I’ve been able to keep things fun and active but not had the students being disruptive.
Koh Klang is an Island paradise where you can live a very simple and care free existence where almost everything is innocent and untainted by westernisation (unlike most of the rest of Krabi). As 99% of the population are Muslim it also offers the opportunity to see how Islam can blend with Thai culture, something very unique as the only other areas where Islam is such predominant part of life is in the Deep South, where many people consider themselves more Malay than Thai. I really enjoyed teaching and living on Koh Klang but if I return I will be sure to bring a friend.

Written by Thaweesilp L.
Friday, 31 August 2007
Thailand volunteer - Teach English on a Muslim island in Thailand By Tom Richardson, 19 For anyone looking to escape the constant noise and stress of an urban western life style then Koh Klang may in fact be heaven. The island is broken down into three separate areas, which in total have around 5,000 inhabitants. Koh klang has no roads in the conventional sense, there are paved and cemented path ways that link together to form a loose net work of “roads” wide enough for two motor bikes travelling in opposite directions. As a result there are no cars, no accidents, no traffic jams and little in the way of noise or air pollution. There is a real sense of community in Koh Klang as most of the inhabitants are linked through marriage or biologically, as the quite identifiable only farang of the island news of arrival spread like wild fire. Within days I would have people saying “hello Tom” as I passed even though I had absolutely no idea who they actually were, this is a good example of how exceptionally friendly the people of Koh Klang are but I still found the experience a little strange. Being a (or rather the) farang on Koh Klang is verging on celebrity status, which is in sharp contrast to the tourist resorts of Krabi where I felt like an unwanted necessity of life. Rather than being ignored the children will always run up to you and say hello before they then scamper away giggling and screaming. One thing you must realise is that Koh Klang is exceptionally isolated; people will make the effort to talk to you but do not expect conversations outside of the obvious employment/family formalities to be about much more than how much it has rained today, the likelihood of it raining tomorrow and if it will still be raining next week. (Surprise-surprise during the rainy season it rains, a lot!). If you wish you can travel to the mainland by boat but if you intend to stay much later than 9 then you will have to stay the night in a guest house. Activities outside of work are a bit limited to playing volleyball, football or drinking vast amounts of sweet and milky coffee. Apart from at the school there is no internet so contact with the outside world is limited. Further more, living conditions can be a bit Spartan so no glass windows (resulting in numerous mosquitoes) or running water (so you get the full rain water bucket shower experience). The price you pay for a living a very simple and traditional Thai life style is for going the comforts of a modern western life. How ever, I found that it’s the psychological drain of isolation that takes the greatest toll. Even though there was the language barrier with the majority of my host family they were exceptionally friendly and welcoming. The mother, though not speaking a word of English, took me as one of her own. She would constantly ask me if I was hungry and ply me with food at the slightest inkling of hunger. Over one of the weekends I manage to cut my foot on coral whilst diving, every morning “mother” would grab my foot without asking and cluck away like a worried mother hen whilst applying a new bandage. The son would frequently take me out with his friends to go to caf้s to drink coffee as they tried to chat up the waitresses. Whilst I did feel like a bit of a tag along to the group (as I didn’t speak much Thai) I think the fact that I was a bit of a novelty meant the girls were much more inclined to stop and talk to the guys. During the middle of my stay there was a huge meal to mark 100days since the death of mother’s mother, thought I was worried my presence might be a bit of an intrusion the family was quite insistent that I take part and even found me the appropriate Muslim clothing. There was any pressure to take part in the praying but just to be there during the meal which was much more of a community activity rather than a religious one. Schooling in Thailand is taught with an authoritarian style, the students are so drilled in a set pattern of learning that though the students are very compliant and will duplicate everything you do or say. Many students will repeat what you say with little knowledge of what you are actually saying, for example “please be quiet”. It is well worth learning some basic class room commands in Thai. The students sadly will also copy everything you write on the board or look for something similar in there text books and copy that. It is very hard to get them to think “out of the box” or do any creative work. For drawing work that required students to do an individual piece of work students will often mimic the example given by the teacher with slight alterations, as in Thailand its best to be as similar to the teacher as possible. The best way to have fun and for the children to learn in a primary school is by teaching verbs and ideas through play acting. Whilst you can have a lot of fun with the students it is essential to not become overly familiar as if the children stop identifying you as a teacher it may become difficult to maintain complete control of the classroom. In my third week I had to take a few quite authorative steps to reassert my role as teacher to the more troublesome students. Since then I’ve been able to keep things fun and active but not had the students being disruptive. Koh Klang is an Island paradise where you can live a very simple and care free existence where almost everything is innocent and untainted by westernisation (unlike most of the rest of Krabi). As 99% of the population are Muslim it also offers the opportunity to see how Islam can blend with Thai culture, something very unique as the only other areas where Islam is such predominant part of life is in the Deep South, where many people consider themselves more Malay than Thai. I really enjoyed teaching and living on Koh Klang but if I return I will be sure to bring a friend. Set as favorite Bookmark Email This Hits: 81 Trackback(0) TrackBack URI for this entry 0 Comments Show/Hide comments Write comment Show/Hide comment form You must be logged in to a comment. Please register if you do not have an account yet.
Last Updated ( Tuesday, 25 March 2008 )