"Your learning FLASH?"

This past week I had a chance to interview for a school in Chiang Rai, a town near the northern border of Thailand. In the interview process, I was required to “demo teach” a class of students ranging from 12 to 14 years old. The kids were great, and I was impressed with their English speaking skills.

I also toured the English speaking section of the school that consists of over 3000 students. These Thai students are required to take several classes taught entirely in English. Courses consist of science, social studies, health, English, and computer class.

I was especially impressed that these young students were learning computer programs including Excel and Flash. By the time the kids are 14 years old, they will learn how to write script in Flash, the same website design program I spent time learning while attending journalism school at the University of South Florida.

Thailand, being a developing country, looks towards its younger generations to help the country progress in the age of escalating Asian economies. Judging from the skills these kids are acquiring, Thailand should have a bright future. That is, if the country can solve its ongoing governmental saga that, according to global business reports, hinders economic stability and growth.

Monk Chat

This is an partial excerpt from a handout I picked up at Wat Suan Dok Temple in Chiang Mai. Every Monday, Wednesday and Friday afternoons there is a free “Monk Chat” that gives the monks a chance to practice their English, and give the western visitors a chance to visit with a Monk and receive a lesson in Buddhism if they so wish.

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Dear fellow westerner,

If you come here motivated by your personal and sincere quest for what could answer your existential questions and the desire to find a gratifying spiritual nourishment or simply because driven by the intellectual curiosity on a philosophy and a view of life about which you want to know more, you are most welcome.

Thailand is a Buddhist country, and in Buddhism thrives its culture and civilization. It is because of this Buddhist culture, tolerant, non-aggressive nor violent, that Thailand and its people are as they are, which is the reason for which we like them. This culture must be preserved and respected. Keep in mind, therefore, that you are in a Buddhist Country, in a Buddhist Temple, and in a Buddhist Academy. Coming here with the intention to convert shows at least a lack of tact and of respect and it shows ignorance.

A “Christian” Thailand is not conceivable without causing the destruction of its culture. History has widely proven that dogmas and the frightful claim to hold the only “truth” generate exclusiveness and intolerance, which in turn lead to violence. Exclusiveness and intolerance have violently and without mercy destroyed the ancient peaceful and tolerant pagan world of the Greeks and Romans and that of the pre-Columbian civilizations of Central and South America. Exclusiveness and intolerance have led to violent clashes and slaughters among Christian sects and among monotheistic religions.

Furthermore, such evangelization has the ultimate and undeniable intent of undermining and destroying a culture, a social structure and traditions, replacing them with a narrow-minded religious absolutism, which is foreign to the cultural background of peoples of this part of the world. This is unacceptable and condemnable also by the intellectual integrity of any westerner.

Carlo Faillace
(Prof. of History and of Romantic Languages and Literature)