Conflict in the Office!

Introduction: Cultural Context

In Thailand conflict is looked down upon and losing your cool is looked down upon. All problems are solved through subtlety and going through other people. It's because a lot is based around the idea of losing face. When there is an office problem, you can't negotiate directly because that would be confronting the problem, and confronting the problem is conflict. In conflict someone has to lose face. Things are much better off and everyone will feel better in the end if they trust that social moors and the social system can fix things over time with patience and indirect communication. And a lot of gossip.

The Conflict

So there is something called English Camp. It is basically three days and two nights that are in a retreat area for the whole English Program grades 1-6, teachers included. We are responsible for students from sun up to sun down and for planning everything to a fine detail. In reality it isn't that bad, partially since we are promised a bonus (of an undetermined amount). Two years ago the bonus was 4000 baht ($133, or an extra 13% of our monthly salary). One year ago the bonus was 1500 baht ($50, or an extra 5% of our monthly salary). This year we have finished the English Camp and the rumor is that we will get no bonus for it this year.

This is generally considered a good school, but I have been hearing a lot of bitching. Me and Sarah are BY FAR the most inexperienced teachers here. The average number of years of experience teaching English here is about 6 or 7. People have been saying that though this place was a "10" in terms of how they treat the foreigners in past years, this year has been a "6." This is very interesting stuff.

The Facts:

The main problem that occurs at any Thai government school is a large amount of monetary skimming that occurs. The lowest teachers make around 8000 baht a month (A little more than $250). But the white foreign teachers often start around 30,000. Higher people on the administration ladder have unknown salaries, so they probably go pretty high. Foreign teachers, especially more experienced and loyal teachers, have been asking for a raise (for all of us). And consistently there is no answer or the answer is a comparison answer. For example, "But in SiSaket they pay 25000 baht/month." In reality in SiSaket they consistently run the same ads over and over again and never get someone at that pay rate.

Earlier this year the department planned a trip to Chiang Mai (a trip we all WANTED to go on). They canceled the trip, saying that they would use they money for a trip to Vietnam next year. Some people think that this is another skimming thing.

This semester we have had very little teaching time due to so many trips and events that foreign teachers have to participate in (in addition to their other duties). Some people say this is another skimming thing. (The idea is that you allot X amount of money for an excursion or event, pay less than the amount you allotted, and then pocket the remainder. The more excursions and events, the more chances to skim.)

The school year was lengthened by another week or two without much notice.

Some time we were told there was going to be no school (about 10 calender days) was canceled and we held school.

In the same week that exams are due (a very frustrating process) they added a lot of new duties that we had to do for the week.

Commentary and Analysis

There are other things, but this is the list. It's very interesting both as a study of Thai culture but also as a study of when two cultures collide. Some people say we should not stand for a lot of this because if we let it go then other schools in the city will pull some of this too (they say this for good reason). I personally am not all that mad over everything. It's a job, I get paid on time. Sure it's unfair, but I get away with a lot too, and I am expected to. The employee and the employer in Thailand have different rights and powers that are separate from each other and balance each other out more or less. The employer says to do this that and the other; the employee drags his or her feet or calls in sick or say "I didn't know" when they didn't do something they needed to do. And all employees--Thai and foreign do this. But because we are foreigners we have a hard time expressing what we want and need, but they also let us get away with a lot of things that bother them. Some foreigners just don't like playing the game, or don't recognize that it's there.

Anyway interesting stuff. I thought I would let you know.