Somtawin School

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Willow
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Somtawin School

Post by Willow »

To Guess:
thanx for the chuckle about having your daughter working in a bar. Very funny. :cheers:
My daughter, 11, is already smarter than me and i was planning on sending to her Somtawin when she arrives next week. Maybe I should re-think. Ha Ha.
My friend's daughter, age 9, attends Somtawin and seems to enjoy it very much.
So, as Suzanne says, we will see soon enough.
Willow
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suzannejames
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To Natty re: Somtawin

Post by suzannejames »

Hello, Natty. Sorry for the delay in responding.

Yes, I'm using internet cafes for now, although I have internet service promised to me in a week. I'm thinking maybe in two weeks I'll be set to go. That's maybe a reflection of relaxed living, which is fine by me. And that's my perception. Doesn't make it so.

My son made reference to a farang in a 7/11 this morning, saying he hates American loudness and how Americans seem always to be in a hurry. Of course, we don't know at all that the hurried farang was American. I don't think he meant to slam Americans so much as to breath a sigh of relief, appreciating one of the many differences of the LOS's approach to getting things done and to life in general. Thus far, we embrace the cultural difference.

But I'm four weeks into living in and enjoying Hua Hin, so I'm in the early stage of romance with my new home. I know that. And culture shock hasn't set in yet. And my Thai language skills are non-existent, which I'll work on as I'm settled a bit more.

Ok. Somtawin. My son likes it a lot. I like it that my son likes it. He hasn't had homework since he started two weeks ago, except for one time. I don't like that. He was accepted right away; his class was welcoming to him his very first day. He said it was as though he'd been there from the beginning of the school year. I think that's tremendous. He likes his teachers. There is a very high level of respect, overall. That's new to me having taught for so long in the U.S. of A. That gets an A+.

Academically, some things are familiar from his previous schooling, but other things are new. I could be more specific in another post if there's interest. I am far more pleased than not. The international setting is an education in itself. How do you assess the value of that?

I was bowled over when I accepted an invitation and attended his school honoring both the Queen's Birthday and Mother's Day. There were few dry eyes amongst us: moms, aunties and grandma-mas. There's more to say about that, but I'm trying to keep this post short.

BTW, the 7th grade class for some reason is a bit troublesome as a group. It shouldn't be a problem at all for a girl. (sexism) I have found that even in a very large school, every so often a paticular grade level will pop up and be different. One way or the other. Difficult, exceptional.. makes no sense why, it just is. This 7th grade class is a bit rowdy and disrespectful, it is said by some.

I don't know a lot, but I'll do what I can to lend my perspective to questions.

I am pleased, and my son is happy. It's a good start.

Suzanne
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Post by ajarnfrank »

The last post on this interesting thread was by suzannejames on August 24. Does anybody have an update?
troopie
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If anyone thinks Somtawin is bad . . .

Post by troopie »

I would also like to get more info about Somtawin, as my boy will one day be of the age when such information becomes important.

In the meantime, if anyone feels like criticising Somtawin, take a look at one of the other local schools -- namely, Hua Hin School.
Here, we have:
* A place where over 100,000 baht disappeared from the school coffers, & nothing was done about it;
* A place where the official boss (only in title) talks about putting TVs in the classrooms but many classes don't even have working lights;
* A place where there are no textbooks except illegal photocopies;
* And where students are told that foreign teachers aren't really teachers, & so should not be treated with the same attitude (respect?) as Thais.

I have been told that the Palace takes an interest in that school. If so, I hope their interest leads to some radical changes in personnel & policy, for the present set-up is cheating the kids, the parents & the town!

(If you don't believe any of this, ask any farang who's worked there!)
The Hua Hin Residents' Club,
for everyone who calls Hua Hin home.
(yahoo.com/group/huahinresidents/)
long-in-thailand
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Re: Somtawin.

Post by long-in-thailand »

I know that if I lost my job in Bangkok tomorrow I could move down to Hua Hin and probably walk into a job at Somtawin! But the salary is a laugh! I barely scrape by on the salary I get and that is considerably more than Somtawin pays its teachers. I drive the same car that I bought (new) back in 1992 and can not afford to replace this. I can only go 'home' when it is work related. Back in Blighty the other month for the first time in six years! The general impression in Thailand is that Farang will work for peanuts because we love living here. Sadly there are too many who are preapred to accept this!

You get what you pay for. Quite simply, the good teachers that were/are at Somtawin move on when they realise they can make more elsewhere. This has always been the problem with the private education system in Thailand where profit for the controlling (usually Chinese) family comes before the education of the children. And where there is a monopoly (as with Somtawin in Hua Hin) then it becomes doubly worse. But then there is always somebody new who is prepared to move to Hua Hin and work for the peanuts - a vicious circle.
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da
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Post by da »

All the schools in town have been catching some bad press on this forum. Is there no such thing as excellence in education?
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Kraka's Dad
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Post by Kraka's Dad »

Draw your own conclusions.

:cheers:
The greatest trick the Devil ever pulled was convincing the world he didn't exist.
stephen blackett
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Post by stephen blackett »

Stephen,

I have referred your post to Admin for consideration.

If you wish to advertise your services on HHAD, you need consider this http://www.huahinafterdark.com/mediakit/index.htm, and if interested, contact Admin.
Nille
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Re: Somtawin School

Post by Nille »

I just want to say that Somtawins homepage may contain a virus. My Avast antivirus protection has flagged for that, and I don't get many flags so it should be taken seriously.
STW_Ryan
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Re: Somtawin School

Post by STW_Ryan »

Nille wrote:I just want to say that Somtawins homepage may contain a virus. My Avast antivirus protection has flagged for that, and I don't get many flags so it should be taken seriously.
Hi Nille,
I'm the developer of the site (one of the teachers, formerly IT and presently primary homeroom). I've had a look around the site and can't find any nasties, and keep a very tight rein on security on the site for obvious reasons (so development is done on a linux box [so no windows viruses there]) and checked thoroughly before upload, so there are very few attack vectors for any virus to get in.
I've run the site through various online scanners just to double-check and they've returned nothing, so perhaps you can send me more details (btw please when you find viruses on sites email the site concerned, it helps developers because we don't always read unrelated forums ;)).

Useful info would include:
- The URL where you saw the alert (link deleted by mod until the technical people can look into it further)
- The message that pops up from your virus scanner (does it name a virus, that would help me narrow it down)

Finally, remember that antivirus software does sometimes find false positives. I'll continue to check everything to ensure all is well, if there's anything nasty I'll have it off the moment I find it, but there should be nothing that endangers any user (no auto-downloads and no pop-ups to unsafe locations so it should be safe as houses).

PM me on here and I'll respond as quickly as possible.
lomuamart
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Re: Somtawin School

Post by lomuamart »

Until admin can decide on both the supposed virus and other matters, this thread is locked.
The link, for the safety of other members is deleted for now.
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Lev
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Re: Somtawin School

Post by Lev »

This thread can now be unlocked - please keep it on topic and post any computer or website related issues in the appropriate section: http://www.huahinafterdark.com/forum/vi ... =15&t=3099
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