Assignment 1: Introduction

Hi Everyone, my name is Cavin Lamb,I’m from Cape Town, South Africa. I graduated with an BA in social service and health science, community based work has always been a big passion of mine. I have been lucky enough to work with several NGO’s focusing on giving kids from disadvantaged backgrounds a chance in life , I have a big passion surfing and will defiantly try and squeeze some waves in while in Thailand.

I am moving to Thailand because I have always wanted to travel South East Asia , and being able to work with the community while doing it, is a win-win situation for me.

The biggest challenges for me personally other than missing family and cat will be the humidity in Thailand , I am not the smallest of people so I cam imagine I will be using a lot more deodorants than usual. Along with the language barrier ,I hope to overcome this by entrenching myself in local culture and taking Thai lessons.

I hope to make an impact in anyway I can even if small and make some life-connections along the way!

Hi everyone 😊,
My name is Rebekah and I am from the UK ! I recently graduated at the beginning of this year completing my Psychology Msc. I had previously wanted to travel and explore and not been able to do so during 2020 so undertook my Msc instead. Once I’d finished, I decided I would look at travel options again and found this course. I’m super excited to have the opportunity to come to Thailand to immerse myself in a new culture and learning to teach English. I picked Thailand as I thought it would be a wonderful place to see and explore as well as being within a completely different culture to here in the UK. I expect the cultural change to be challenging, yet also exciting to experience. I hope to overcome this by giving myself time to adjust and being open to always learning and knowing that adapting takes time and willingness to overcome. I personally hope to learn more about a culture I’ve never experienced, for this to open my eyes to new ways of living. Helping Thai children learn English and watch them learn and grow as well as myself learning and growing alongside them would be something new to take away from this experience for myself. I look forward to making new friends, hopefully making an impact on young lives, embracing the unknown and what I can take on board within my own life from this.

Hello, My name is Jan-Laubscher, I am 29, born and raised in South Africa in the Western Cape province. I grew up in a the rural Winelands area and studied for six years at Stellenbosch University, getting my BA degree in Language and Culture and then extending my degree to study Drama Technical there as well. Since I finished studying I have been a fabricator for a production company where I made set pieces for film and television, I have done freelance sculpting work for a wine museum in my hometown and I have been a workshop supervisor for a small company that makes micro-factories. At the moment I am working as a freelance carpenter till I go to Thailand. Through all of this I have been a writer of fiction, long format and short, and to improve on my ability to write engaging narratives I feel that I must travel abroad and immerse myself in cultures outside of my own, I can’t write about adventures if I never go on one of my own, meeting new people and immersing myself in a new culture and history beyond that which I am familiar with .
I expect there to be a both a language and culture shock when travelling to and working in Thailand, but I know that at least I won’t be going through it alone. As for the teaching English aspect I am both exited and slightly apprehensive to challenge myself in new ways, but I have learned over the years that I learn the most through doing. that said I have volunteered as an assistant Sunday school teacher at my local church this past year leading up to my departure for Thailand to at least have a frame of reference.
So in summary of what I hope to gain from this experience is learning new skills, building on existing ones and going on an adventure beyond the horizons that I am used to.

Hi Jo,

I totally understand your reasoning for coming out to Thailand. Like you, I am a bit older and I came out here at a time that felt right. I’ve not been here even 2wks but I’m loving it. I’m still acclimatising to the heat but the people here are all so friendly and I’m loving the chilled vibe. I hope you too have an amazing time and I hope to meet you soon, x

From a fellow Jo 😁 🇬🇧

Hello Jan-Laubscher! It is so great to see another creative going on this adventure. I am so excited to be a part of this adventure with you. I know you will have lots of new stories and inspiration to write! Best wishes.

Hello,

I look forward to meeting everyone in person!

My name is Taylor Hower. I am from the United States of America and was born and raised in Scottsdale, Arizona where I attended and graduated from Arizona State University at the Fulton Schools of Engineering and WP Carey. I also lived in Boston Massachusetts where I attended Berklee College Of Music as Music Business Major.

I’m 32 years old and I have traveled all over the world and to 18 different states in the USA. I have seen 15 different countries so far and have been to over 24 different cities in Thailand also, and have also been to Thailand 3 times.

I decided to move to Thailand after my second time visiting there, and went back a third time to compete in Muay Thai Kickboxing as a professional against a champion from China after an easy victory for my pro debut in Bangkok coming from an MMA background and record in the US. I’m glad to be out of the fight world at this point and pursuing a professional career in something more stable over in Thailand, so I can eventually obtain my Thai citizenship and have a more stable income.

There are many reasons why I want to move to Thailand, not only is this my favorite country in the world, but when I planned my world tour this year, Thailand was the only country I visited that I wanted to stay and never leave, even when I had flights to Europe and the Middle East booked. I also have my fiancé over here in Bangkok, Thailand and she took care of me during some very difficult and challenging moments. I long to be back with her again and she also missed me when I went back to America to recover from my next surgery after my fight.

My second reason for wanting to live in Thailand would be economic, financial and political. As the American dream is no longer possible in the way that it used to be. Even factoring in average wages in Thailand, Thailand has a far better cost of living right now than the United States. Take into account that the average cost of food is only 249 usd per month, and the average cost of groceries in Arizona in 2024 is now 279 usd per week on groceries where I grew up, so that means the average person spends about 1116 usd per month on groceries, meaning that people here spend about 36 percent of their monthly income on groceries, in Thailand average income being 751 USD, Thais only spend about 33 percent of their income on groceries.

Then I think about the money I have saved so far after traveling the world, though it’s not much at all over in the United States, 21,000 usd is about 4 years of rent money in Thailand, and maybe more in some cities. And yes, the Feds are lowering interest rates, but that also means that consumer spending will not slow down as much either because the prices will continue increasing as they have continued to increase after the pandemic after government bailouts and stimulus checks and American tax dollars continue going to wars in Europe, Israel and even our illegal migrants who did not go through the immigration process that all of us had to go through to work in Thailand, and our system incentivized to continue to give our corportions cheap labor and slave labor that American working class families cannot compete with, so no end in sight to corporate greed and runaway inflation anytime soon. So it’s not going to be so good for anyone trying to get started right now in the US, be it a job or a business, since wages so far have not caught up with inflation, and the cost of living continues to rise with no end in sight to this. It’s a similar situation to slavery in the United States before the civil war where workers and businesses cannot compete with free forced labor. I’ve talked to many in the homeless community working as a lyft/uber driver and many were furious about this under our current administration. After the recession when everything is cheaper maybe the economics will improve, but looking at it historically, it’s a similar situation to slavery in the United States before the civil war where workers and businesses cannot compete with free labor. I’ve talked to many in the homeless community working as a lyft/uber driver and many of them are furious about this under the current administration. So after studying the history of my country and the world, this high tech AI, high cost of living and low pay way is here to stay! I could go on for two more paragraphs about this.

My third reason for moving to Thailand would be this job. I believe the way kids in Thailand are taught makes a lot more sense than America currently. The youth are the future, and the youth of the future must be focused on mastering English, science, mathematics, the arts and physical education. Leftist concepts such as Queer theory, Critical Race theory, feminist gender theory and the blank slate should not replace their cultural identity and theology, Buddha and Buddhism help to hold their society together and keep them harmonious.

The challenges I expect to face would be cultural and language barriers. Although I have a fiancé who is a Thailand national who helps me with my Thai, and I help her with English, I’m sure there are nuisances I do not know yet, or understand about Thailand I will soon learn about. I expect to overcome these challenges by adapting to the culture. Like the old saying goes, when in Rome, do as the Romans. Always stay calm and objective. When you get angry, you’ve lost control.

The other challenge I see myself facing would be my income being less here than in the United States. As a result of Thailand being so affordable, my wages will not be as high in America. I plan to overcome this challenge through enjoying a better quality of life, a life with a strong nuclear family, the gender war being non-existent, and politics not dividing the nuclear family or the family unit. As well as a nation that prioritizes law and order, and a culture which is safer than the United States where I grew up. This is what inspired me to become an MMA fighter, Mauy Thai kickboxer and to carry and train with firearms and bring them to work with me each day to feel safe from assailants, as mass shootings were a daily occurrence in the United Corporations of America.

What I hope to gain from this experience is a fulfilling life where I can eventually earn my citizenship, buy a home, eat my favorite cuisines each day, form a great family, provide for my family, travel as well as acquire territory as a man. This orientation cannot come fast enough!

Hi
My name is Amar, and I am from Durban, South Africa. I have a Bachelor of Science Honours degree in Marine Biology from the University of KwaZulu-Natal. During my studies, I decided to minor in educational strategies and techniques to aid in my career. This allowed me to teach students of all ages about the wonders of the natural world and how the youth of today can make a difference for tomorrow. I volunteered to be a university counselor and tutor for three years during my studies as well as a lecturing assistant at my faculty.
I have visited Thailand on vacation a few years ago and have thoroughly enjoyed my experience, as I spent some time visiting temples and schools in different cities and meeting the children there. I was taken aback by how friendly, disciplined and courteous the local population are and thus decided this is where I would like to one day teach. The scenery in Thailand is also exquisite, with so much of scuba diving and natural beauty to see. These are the reasons why I have chosen Thailand as my destination.
I expect that the language barrier and cultural differences will be my biggest challenge however this will be overcome through determination, patience and respect. I expect to slowly learn how to communicate appropriately and appreciate the cultural differences so that it becomes part of my daily life. The key takeaway from this experience will be learning how people of other cultures live and immerse themselves in their daily lives. I wish to learn how my culture and that of the local community are similar and different to each other as I feel it will be a once in a lifetime experience and a path of enlightenment.