Avoiding Extra Work and the Mechanics of a Good Excuse in Thailand.

In many Thai schools there is a heavy emphasis on quantity over quality and what I mean by this is that ones physical presence at work is preferred, or at least exchanged for competency and efficiency. Now, before it is indignantly pointed out to me what a gross generalization I’m making I would like to invite anyone to tell me what else working six days a week could possibly be.

However, this isn’t an inspection of the Thai work ethic and its effect on society. This is about how to properly shirk your additional duties.

The most potent weapon in your arsenal is to always have a valid excuse ready. Most Thai’s, including the ones that don’t work in a school, often work 6 days a week. Having two days off isn’t Thai style so when your friendly Thai administrator approaches you out of the blue and asks if you might want to teach a few hours on Saturday mornings for some extra money you need to be ready. The first thing you need to know is that the ‘extra money,’ is going to be low, so low that it likely isn’t worth rolling out of bed Saturday morning, or for that matter any morning.

If your administrator is like mine, you’ve been caught completely off guard. A conversation regarding your opinion on the importance of reading comprehension has violently changed course and your typical hung-over Saturday mornings watching Korean dramas are now in jeopardy.

Enter the excuse, something involving family is great because Thai’s value family obligation, but if you’re a disreputable person like myself, and have openly bragged about how long it has been since you have spoken to your father you’ll need to think of something else. You don’t want to get caught in a lie, so be creative and make sure your obligation is outside of town. If you can’t do that, throw one of your colleagues under the bus. Here are some examples:

“Oh no, I’d love the extra money but I’m taking a class on Thai language in Bangkok for the next 4 Saturdays.”

Or,

“Sorry, I play tennis Saturday mornings, maybe you could ask Ajarn Franco, I think he is free.”