Originally Posted by Louis Minson

Ajarn.com is open to receive criticisms

In response to criticism about the Ajarn.com forum published over the past few days, I would like to make the following observations.

Rachel Hadley complains in Postbag of March 3 that we are "amateurs" who give "erroneous advice" to new teachers, and that "educators would be better off consulting their colleagues". If only it were that simple.

How many countless times do we hear of the lone Westerner in a staff room full of English teachers who he/she can barely communicate with and, when it comes to complex issues like obtaining the correct visa or work permit, the average new teacher comes away as confused as if he/she had not bothered asking. By all means, try and ask your colleagues first, but if that fails, come to us and you'll get good, honest, practical, free advice from people who deal with these issues for a living.

The dubiously named "Hugh Jarze" (Postbag, March 5), bemoans the falling standards of discourse on the forum, citing specifically an article copied and pasted from an Eastern Europe-based TEFL black humour website.

I agree that this article was in poor taste, however I feel it was not a sad reflection of the state of the TEFL scene in Thailand in particular, but that of the global TEFL scene, although it must be said that the less qualified will always end up in the countries that pay too little for the so-called serious teachers to consider. And if all the so-called backpacker teachers went home tomorrow, as "Hugh" desires, the demand for their services would not go away. In fact, very few regulars to our forum could be considered "backpackers" as many have been living in Thailand for many years and have families here.

The accusations of falling standards on the forum always makes me chuckle, as in the three years that I have been reading, posting and moderating on Ajarn Forum, the standard of discourse has never exactly been that highbrow, and we're not meant to be. The tone is irreverent, and we wouldn't have it any other way.

When these readers complain that our users disrespect all things Thai, they presumably refer to the popular theme in which posters reflect on their experiences and frustrations with Thai people and Thai culture. This is usually tongue in cheek and where we have grossly insulting stereotypes, we remove them, and of course the moderators respect and uphold all Thai legal codes regarding what can and cannot be discussed and/or criticised. We cannot be everywhere at once, and sometimes comments slip below our radar, in which case we urge users to notify us.

We, of course, welcome all feedback on the content people find on the forum, and I would personally invite the two readers whose letters were published in the Bangkok Post to come on the forum and point out some specifics to us with regards to where they think we are going wrong. I look forward to hearing from them on the forum.

LOUIS MINSON
Ajarn forum administrator