The Thailand TESOL conference has just taken place in conjunction with Asia TEFL where speakers and participants have taken part in a frenzy of English language teaching and learning experiences. My main observation of the conference was that we seem to have lost the distinctive Thai flavour that used to be present at an event such as this. Concentrating on being international sometimes detracts from the very core of what we are about.

One of the main reasons I have always liked attending the ThaiTESOL conference was that it gave me the opportunity to listen to Thai teachers of English present their questions, problems and solutions concerning their craft.

A Thai perspective has always interested me as a Thai teacher of English has had to go through all the problems of learning English before they come to teach it. It is that experience that native speakers of English have to try to imagine when they are teaching English in Thailand.

During the recent conference, I noticed that there seemed to be less of a choice of Thai presenters to go and see which for me is truly disappointing. A conference in Thailand should be a showcase of what Thai teachers of English can do, sharing their presentations and workshops with everyone from around the world.

Don’t get me wrong, of course I want to see presenters from other countries; however, I believe that we should be promoting our Thai teachers more. The majority of who would not be able to travel overseas to present their work.

I would like to take this opportunity to ask the organisers of the next conference to try to do something for the vast majority of the schools in Thailand that are not striving for academic excellence; more like academic survival.

In my opinion, I think we need to concentrate more on English teaching and learning problems experienced in the majority of schools in Thailand. The larger and more famous academic institutions will still be represented; however, there would be the opportunity for Thai teachers from mainstream schools and universities to share their experiences.

You only have to look at PALT in the Philippines and CamTESOL in Cambodia to see how their educational institutes are represented. We shouldn’t lose focus on what the real problems are in Thailand and we need to try to offer ways out of the predicaments we are facing on a daily basis.

To this end, I would like to put forward some suggestions. In line with the theme of the conference which was collaboration and creativity, may I ask whether there are any of you out there that would be interested in setting up local networking areas and teams of collaborators? This way, teachers of English, native and non-native could share their experiences at regular periods and help, mentor and support each other.

What about setting up regional conferences concentrating on local difficulties and ways to overcome them? Just a couple of ideas; however, it would be a start in the right direction to address some of the problems that don’t receive the attention they deserve in larger international conferences at present.

Let me know what you think.

Jutarat Vibulphol and Denchai Prabjandee explain about the use of English camps with pre-service teachers. Most participants are drawn to the big rooms at conferences, forgetting about the excellent presentations taking place tucked away in far away corners.
(Unedited article published in the Bangkok Post 25th August 2009)