Schools Shut in Thailand After Violent Clashes
Posted by Erin MacKenzie - 14:13 on 18 May 2010
Violent clashes in Bangkok have resulted in high numbers of British tourists leaving the city as the FCO advises against all but essential travel to the Thai capital. TEFL teachers in the area have been out of work during the crisis with schools cancelled until the violence subsides.
Political unrest has been developing for several years now after the ‘Yellow Shirts’ – those opposed to the former Thai leader Thaksin Shinawatra – cost the country millions in tourist revenue by shutting down airports in the capital for weeks. Now the ‘Red Shirts’ – supporters of Thaksin – are violently protesting on the streets of Bangkok, demanding that parliament be dissolved.
TEFL teachers working in schools in the capital have been told to stay at home for the time being as schools are shut for a further week. Lynette Cooper, a TEFL Scotland graduate, who has been in Bangkok since the beginning of the year, has had the week off: “School has closed for the rest of the week so most of the teachers remain at the beach!” However, Lynette, who lives near the centre of the capital, is very concerned about what is going on despite being largely unaffected herself: “I am just very sorry for the unnecessary deaths, violence and damage these problems have and continue to cause this country.”
Lynette advises: “As far as travelling to the country goes, obviously it would be wise to avoid the centre of Bangkok, but certainly I would have no qualms about going anywhere else in the country as it seems to be business as usual.”
The political situation in Thailand may have resulted in tourists flocking home but TEFL teachers are still expressing a desire to travel out to the country to teach. TEFL England co-founder, Joe Hallwood, says: “We’re still getting calls from people wanting to work out there – not from anyone looking to work in Bangkok but in other areas of Thailand”.
For TEFL teachers, there will always the possibility of experiencing problems abroad. Currently, serious political issues are affecting those who have travelled abroad to Thailand and Greece and the now infamous Eyjafjallajökull volcano in Iceland is continuing to disrupt flights. Travel comes with its risks – may it be a natural disaster a political uprising – but, for the most part, TEFL teachers only tend to encounter relatively minor problems such as losing wallets and encountering disruptive students!
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