Expat generosity is filling gaps in Thailand
I have been reading the Nation Letters column since 2010, when I first arrived in Thailand, and I have noticed that regular correspondent Vint Chavala likes igniting fires against expats and foreign retirees here.
Perhaps a clue to his habit lies in Vint’s testimony that he once lived in the UK, where he might have suffered xenophobia.
However, I would like to thank Khun Vint for his letters, which I often use in class to teach my students English (which they don’t learn properly in secondary school) and also critical thinking – to question, debate and form their own conclusions.
I would also like to thank Khun Vint for the motivation he has unwittingly given me to help set up Hopehouse, a foundation helping to educate underprivileged kids in rural Isaan (www.hopehouse.ch). The expats and foreign retirees he mentions will soon have donated more than Bt3 million to enable one of our students to study abroad and eventually become a medical doctor. She has a dream. It is we who are offering her that dream, not you.
Gilles Bernard
