Achievement & Equality Team
Information on Thailand and the Thai language
The Thai people are peace-loving
But they are no cowards at war
They shall allow no one to rob them of their independence
Nor shall they suffer tyranny
National Anthem of Thailand
THAILAND AT A GLANCE
Location – South –east Asia
Neighbours – Burma, Laos, Cambodia
Size – 198,117 square miles
Population- 63,038,247 (20th)
Capital city – Bangkok
Potted History
The basis of modern Thailand began in 1351 with the unified kingdom of Siam. It became the only south-east Asian country not to be occupied by a European power. A 1932 bloodless revolution created a constitutional monarchy, and Siam became Thailand in 1939. Eighteen military coups since reflect political instability. The last in 2006 deposed the then prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra.
Political pressure points
Society is highly divided between the Thaksin-supporting rural poor and a wealthy Bankok elite. Thaksin’s successors won power when the army stepped aside, but constitutional courts sacked two premiers before the army-backed prime minister Abhisit Vejjajiva engineered a ruling coalition headed by his minority Democrat party. Thaksin supporters remain furious.
Population mix
Thai, including Lao, 75%, Chinese 14%, other minorities including Malay, Cambodian, hill peoples(Meo, Lahu, Yao, Lisu, Lawa, Lolo, and Karen) 1%
Religious makeup
Buddhist 94% Muslim 5%
Main languages
Thai (official), Chinese, Malay and indigenous languages.
National icons
Seni Saowaphong (author), Chart Korbjitti (author), Apichatpong Weerrasethakul (film director), Somjit Jongjohor (boxer).
The Nottinghamshire Context
Most new arrivals from this country come to Nottinghamshire for economic reasons. They are often involved in the health industry and NHS, working in hospitals and private care homes. Often they are in skilled jobs such as nursing, especially as there have been restrictions for unskilled migrants from outside the EU.
Some pupils may have arrived with a parent who is a Thai bride who has married a UK citizen. Therefore they may be adjusting to a new family situation as well the other challenges they may face such as new language, culture and school system.
Education in Thailand
- Education in Thailand is provided mainly by the government through the Thai Ministry of Education. Education is divided into two major levels with 6 years of elementary/primary school (Prathomsuksa) and 6 years of high/secondary school (Mattayomsuksa).
- All children have access to free, compulsory education from the age of six to twelve years of age. Almost ninety percent of primary school children attend either public schools or those run by Buddhist monasteries. In 1995-96, there were about six million students enrolled in primary schools. After the primary years, the attendance rates drop to just over fifty percent for secondary education, during the same school year listed above, only 3.8 million children attended lower- or upper-elementary schools.
- The Thai government is talking about raising the required six years of education to nine years, although Thailand's literacy rate is one of the highest in Southeast Asia, at almost 95%.
- There are many universities to choose from and and over 600,000 students did enroll and attend institutions of higher learning during the early 90s. The largest universities in Thailand are located in Bangkok (Chulalongkorn University, established in 1917) and in the north (Chiang Mai University, established in 1964).
Information about the Thai Language
Thai is spoken by over 85 percent of the population of Thailand, or about 50 million people. It is a member of the Sino – Tibetan family of languages, which means that it is distantly related to Chinese. It is closer, however, to Lao, spoken in Laos, and to the Shan language of northern Burma. Like Chinese, Thai is a tonal language, meaning that different tones, or intonations, distinguish words that would otherwise be homonyms.
The origin of the Thai alphabet is obscure, but it is believed to have had its origin in southern India. It consists of forty-four consonants and thirty-two vowels, the latter consisting not of an individual letter, but of a mark written above, below, before, or after the consonant with which it is pronounced. Of the five tones, four are indicated by signs over the consonants, the absence of a sign indicating that the fifth tone is to be used. Words are not separated from each other and the letters generally flow uninterruptedly until the idea changes.
Consonants are written horizontally from left to right, with vowels arranged above, below, to the left or to the right of the corresponding consonant.
Thai letters are neither minuscule nor majuscule. Texts are usually written with no space between words, but reading is facilitated by the fact that most Thai words have only one syllable. There is no distinction between upper and lower case in Thai.
Sample text in Thai
Words, Phrases and Numbers
English / Easy Pronunciation of ThaiHello (male speaker) / sawatdee krup
Hello (female speaker) / sawatdee kaa
How are you? / sabai dee reu
Fine thanks / sabai dee kopkoon
Thank you / kop koon
Thank you very much / kob-khun-mark
You're welcome / mai pen rai
Never mind / mai pen rai
I can't speak Thai / phoot Thai mai dai
I don't understand / mai kao chai
Do you understand? / kao chai mai
Please speak slowly / Kra-ru-na photo cha-cha
What is this? / nee arai
Good-bye / la gon
See you again / laew phob gan mai
Sorry/excuse me / kor thoad
Yes / chai
No / mai-chai/mai-oua
Please / kra-ru-na
Excuse me / kor-tose/kor-a-nu-yart
Are you well? How are you? / Sabaai Dee Mai?
I am fine / Sabaai Dee
What is your name? / Khun Cheu Arai
My name is ... / PhomCheu...(m)
Dii-chan cheu ... (f)
Pleased to meet you. / Yin dee tee dai roo jak
Where do you come from? / Khun Maa jaak thii nai?
I am a/an... / phom/dii-chan pen khon...
Not feeling well / Mai sabaay
School / Rong rian
Teacher / Khunkroo
Class / Hong rean
read / Ahn
write / kean
Listen / Fung
books / Nung sue
pen / Pak ka
pencil / Din sor
diary / Samut bantug
Thank you / Kop khun kha/khrap
Where are you going? / Pai nai
Be careful / Ra-wang
day / One
Today / One-nee
Tomorrow / One-prung-nee
Yesterday / Muar-waan-nee
Monday / One-jan
Tuesday / One-ang-karn
Wednesday / One-put
Thursday / One-pa-ru-haat
Friday / One-sook
Saturday / One-sao
Sunday / One-ar-tit
Month / Duean
this month / Duean-nee
next month / Duean-nah
last month / Duean-tee-laew
I / Chan
you / Koon
He, she, they / Kao
Why / Tum-nai
Who / kri
Where / Tee nai
When / mur-rai
How / Yang rai
What / Ar rai
near / Kriy
far / Klay
large / Yay
small / Lek
go / pay
come / ma
slow / caa
one / neung
two / song
three / saam
four / see
five / hah
six / hok
seven / jet
eight / bhaet
nine / kow
ten / sip
Useful guidance is available from:
New Arrivals Excellence Programme Guidance
(2007) Ref 00650 – 2007BKT- EN
This resource is for primary and secondary schools and contains guidance on admission and developing classroom practice.
A language in common: assessing English as an additional language
QCA (2000) (QCA/00/584).
This document sets out steps used in assessment of EAL, linked to English National Curriculum levels. It provides guidance and exemplifications.
Aiming High: guidance on supporting the education of asylum seeking and refugee children (DfES 0287 – 2004)
This guidance helps explain the value of an inclusive ethos and curriculum to all pupils.
Aiming High: meeting the needs of newly arrived learners of EAL
(DfES 1381 -2005)
Information on working with newly arrived isolated EAL pupils in settings that have little or no access to EAL support.
Excellence and enjoyment: learning and teaching for bilingual children in the primary years (DfES 0013 – 2006PCK- EN)
Key Stage 3 National Strategy: Access and engagement in English:teaching pupils for whom English is an additional language (DfES 0609 – 2002)
Publications/Catalogues are available from:
MUNDI Tel: 0115 8546418
Mundi
Global Education Centre
Foxhall Lodge
Foxhall Road
Nottingham
NG7 6LH
(under construction/Aug 2010)
Mundi loan resources to schools in Nottinghamshire free for up to half a term
e-mail:
GRANT AND CUTLERTel: 0207734 2012
55-57 Great Marlborough Street,
London'
England
W1F 7AY
Web:
A one-stop shop for foreign language resources including language-learning material, reference books, technical dictionaries, literature, history, politics etc.
MILET PUBLISHING Tel: 0207603 5477
6 North End Parade
London W14 0SJ
England
Web:
Milet publishers a wide range of bilingual picture dictionaries, including board books for use in early years settings.
TRENTHAM BOOKS LTD Tel: 01782 745567
Westview House,734 London Road,
Stoke on Trent,
UKST4 5NP Web:
Trentham publishes 'a wide range of titles plus seven professional journals, mainly in the field of education and social policy.
MANTRA LINGUA Tel: 0208 44 55 123
Global House
303 Ballards Lane
London
N12 8NP
UK
Web:
Mantra Lingua creative learning resources Audio CDs, Big Books, e-books, fun tales, folk tales, friezes, games, language learning, packs posters, story props, toys videos and so on.
Classroom Resources are available from:
Interactive video clips showing children teaching their home languages
The following website translates words, phrases and short paragraphs from English to Czech available at;
DLTK's Crafts for Kids features a variety images that can be used for creating pupils own subject-specific dictionaries.
Activities for ESL Students can be adapted for EAL pupils in primary and secondary schools. Has bilingual quizzes in large number of languages, available at;
Omniglot writing systems and languages of the world available at
EMA Online resource base for teachers has been developed by Birmingham, Leeds and Manchester LAs with funding from the DfES, available at
Racist bullying, Advice designed for schools to dip in and out as appropriate for them and offers discussion topics and activities to stimulate debate and spark activity involving everyone in the school community, available at;
Teachernet states that a successful home–school relationship can be a key element in making a school stronger and more effective. In particular, it can make a real difference to groups of underachieving pupils and their families, available at;
Nottinghamshire Achievement & Equality Team