Defiance

I haven’t been able to really figure out the Principal (Paw Aw) at my school. For starters, he doesn’t fall into a lot of the stereotypes that have come to mar his position. For instance, based on what I am told by other volunteers, its not uncommon for a Paw Aw to make appearances at school only a few times a semester. Often they are away at “meetings” or “conferences”, and leave the running of the school to the teachers. With this kind of unchecked power, its not surprising that Paw Aw’s around the country have faced charges of embezzlement, corruption, etc.

The Paw Aw at my school is different. For instance, he’s at school almost every day and its not uncommon to see his car parked there during the weekend as he likes to water the plants and clean the campus a little on his own. He has taken a huge interest in my being there,seems excited about future projects, and for the most part hasn’t tried to parade me around as an example of his schools “elite” status (something foreign teachers are no stranger to in Asia). Overall, I would say my Paw Aw is a good guy.

I haven’t been able to figure out exactly where he falls in terms of Thailand’s recent political strife. It’s safe to say that a satellite image of Thailand’s southern region would show it heavywith black shirted, yellow bandana’d, protestors waving Thai flags in support of the countries Yellow Party (currently busy “shutting down” Bangkok). A southerner not supporting them is not only unlikely, its dangerous. I mentioned in an earlier blog post about how the protestors showed up at my school last month demanding the resignation of a teacher they believed support the current government. So I assume that, like everyone else down here, my Paw Aw supports the Yellow Party. He has never said anything to the contrary. However, it would seem that there are limits to what he will concede, and he makes it clear that his turf is his turf.

Schools in the south have been closing left and right. I received a text over the weekend saying my school would be closed on Monday and Tuesday, and within a few days I began hearing of more schools closing…however all the other schools were closing for the full week, some without a definite date to reopen. I expected to get a text last night saying we would be closed too, but no text ever came. This morning I pulled into school and life was business as usual (though a significant portion of the student body is not present). My counterpart teacher told me she was questioned in the market this morning about why our school, out of all the other schools in the area, is still open. When I asked my Paw Aw why so many students were absent he just responded with one word, “lazy”.

I sit in school today, having taught my smallest class yet (9 students) and I have to wonder, are my Paw Aw’s actions meant to be an act of defiance? Is it possible he doesn’t grasp the gravity of the situation (I doubt it, he’s a pretty sharp guy), or is being told by increasingly radical protesters that he needs to close his school simply where he draws the line. I don’t know, and chances are I never will, but as of right now we are open for the foreseeable future, and every horn and whistle brings my eyes to the front gate where I expect protesters to roll in, wearing black and yellow, waving their flags.