In response to David ('You are so confused' Postbox August 3rd) Your attack on Raphealla, while having the moral high ground, just shows how little falangs like you really know about the reality of life in Thailand. Why do you think the schools in Isaan bend the rules to employ teachers? Have you ever thought of going up there to offer your obviously guru-esque services? If you have, you are in a minority, but I expect you are swanning around Bangkok in your tie like a true professoinal. The reality is that there is a severe shortage of teachers up there and schools, in a state of almost desperation, will bend the rules to hire teachers. That's the reality of life in poor areas.

I agree, that everyone should be qualified for their job and pay their taxes, but attacking symptoms of the system only makes you look pernickety and petty. Raphealla is not the cause of the corruption, he / she is merely taking advantage of a situation that has multiple causes and is a matter for Thai Education Ministry to sort out, not for falangs like you and I. If you want to attack the root of the problem, why not send an e-mail to the recruiting agencies or the Ministry itelf?

You say that Raphealla and others working illegally taking a stipend, as you put it, are making it hard for those legally qualified to find work. Again, whose job is he / she taking? The number of qualified teachers willing to work in Isaan falls far short of the number required. He / she is taking an empty vacancy. It is the reality of supply and demand. The supply of teachers, qualified or unqualified, is low in Isaan and so it is a suppliers market.

As for you and your sort bleating on about qualfications, I was once a DOS in Bangkok, and I found so many teachers with degrees and these Mickey Mouse TEFL certificates from Thailand lacked a lot of basic knowledge about the language and teaching metholodolgy. A degree does not mean you are competent. It is well known in business and other fields, eg police, army, engineering, that those with the theory are useless when put in the field and have to start to learn their job properly when they leave university.

Bob The Black Poet