Looking forward to your comments!

Posted: Wed Aug 06, 2008 11:34 pm    Post subject:

You are the reason why I hardly ever post on this board. You are always here posting damn lies. What about the post office? What about my students? I was on the phone with my Thai colleagues just the other day reminiscing about old times. I heard that if you call your old friends in England, the police will trace the calls. It must be hard not talking to old friends, right?You have this psychotic obsession with me, anyone who doubts that should check out the site he started with the money

TEFL International is paying him. He has devoted a whole website just to attacking me. Sounds a little unstable to me.What did I do to deserve this? I removed him as a mod and outted him for the message that he sent to me saying how he wanted to rape my sons. Anyone reading your email sees that you really are a sick man with too much interest in little boys.

Now that I’ve had a chance to look at his new site, I have to wonder where all of my comments were deleted from the TI threads.  Why were all of Bruce’s comments deleted?  

Are these the actions of a person that is wanting to provide teachers the best possible information or is only interested in giving information that is inline with his own beliefs?

Check out the TI posts on TEFL School Reviews.  It shows what a lying sack of shit that the admin there is…and always has been.

TEFLGuardian (http://teflguardian.com) (TG)

TEFL School Review (http://www.teflschoolreviews.com) (TSR)

TEFL EFL Watch (http://thaieflwatch.rahost.org) (TEW)

Since one of the admins chose to use this interview to attack me, I thought I’d add my comments to his responses.  My responses will be in red.  Please feel free to comment about my comments as well! 

Remember, your comments and feedback will be appreciated by the admins.  They NEED your comments and feedback to refine each other their sites!

1.  With three competing sites, what do you think makes your site the best site for teachers to exchange information about schools?

·         (TG) My site is set up on a completely different format than the past.  It is designed to be as fair and accurate as possible while providing a real level of interpretation.  The rating system developed will, in my opinion, give each teacher an accurate overview of each potential employer.

·         (TSR) Why do you even care?  You’ve done your level best to destroy any freedom teachers have on reporting bad schools. Now, you’re acting like you are the savior of TEFL sites? Give me a break. You’re a loser. The question should be,. what makes you think anyone trusts you? (the interview isn’t about me.. and now there are 3 sites, it seems my efforts have given teachers more choices, therefore more freedom)

What makes TEFL School Reviews the best? We don’t have a complicated sign up procedure. Just visit an existing review and give a rating. If you’ve got a bit more time, leave a comment. The bar is low for entry so that everyone makes their voice heard, not the loud hecklers who crave so much attention that they start up blogs like TruthinTEFL. (or blogs like yours?)

Oh yeah, and we don’t have a lackey like you selling out teacher personal information for a price. (yawn…you do it for free)

·          (TEW) Firstly … Freedom of speech.  Most of the teachers come from countries where this is a God given right .. Why shouldn’t you have those same rights on the net? We have no power mad mods who get off banning people at the drop of a hat. Of course it goes without saying that the same restrictions that apply in those said countries also apply at Thai EFL Watch .. namely .. no defamation or disclosure of personal information of private individuals.
Secondly .. We are attempting to have a more balanced view. We want to encourage the praising of good schools as well as the inevitable moaning and groaning about bad schools. Also .. if someone complains about a school, I will do my best to email that school and invite them to respond. Let’s see both sides of the coin.

2.  What is your personal motivation for starting your site?  Please give us your “philosophy” concerning your motivations.

·        (TG) I wanted information on schools located in one place. When I was looking for a job and tried to find some info on a school, it took hours of internet searching. Most of the information was old or not helpful, hence the formation of TEFLGUARDIAN.

·         (TSR) Philosophy? What kind of interview is this anyways? That’s too big of a word for an old bumpkin like myself. Teachers deserve a place to state their opinions without having some guy on the take selling out the teachers. You know, someone like… YOU! (yawn…same old claims, makes you wonder if the guy is living in the past or looking to the future.)

·         (TEW) I need this site just as much as any other teacher. I’m here in Thailand “on the ground” working as a teacher. I’m not sitting in a “comfy” armchair in front of the fireplace thousands of miles away .. I’m right here in the hot spot with my finger on the pulse. As soon as the post concerning the closure of TEFL Watch was posted on Ajarn.com .. and as soon as I read the wishes of a few people that “someone” has got to “resurrect” it .. I declared my intention to do so and I did!.  I’m not in it for the money .. I enjoy it. I’ll leave the money generating to “Thai Visa Incorporated” .. I think they are even delivering pizzas now according to the latest newsletter (read “sales brochure”) One of the subjects I teach is I.T .. which of course involves website creation .. to me it’s a “love” .. a “hobby”.

3.  What does each of you think is the biggest problem a school reporting site might have?

·         (TG) Honesty and fairness in providing real information that a teacher could use.

·         (TSR) Dealing with jerks like you. Dealing with people like you who sell out their fellow teachers for cash. Dealing with people like you or Richard who seem to have severe mental problems. From my understanding, the old site went swimmingly well until you came along and played your little games.  (goes to show your understanding, doesn’t it?)

·         (TEW) The credibility of the posts. It’s hard to know if the “moaning and groaning” is legit or not. Until you have several posts about a school saying basically the same thing .. then you should take all negative (and positive) posts with a large grain of salt.

4.  As each of you know, trolls are a major problem.  What moderation policies do you have to limit the effectiveness of trolls?

·         (TG) Not being set up on a “forum” format was my first step. Step 2 is my warning level with suspension for a limited time. Step 3 is a complete ban from the web site. I will not say how I will do this, but things are closely monitored on my site.

·         (TSR) Simple, I won’t approve comments made by you or your lackey. 100% of the problems then go away.  (So much for freedom of speech! I guess you can only post on TSR if you agree with the admin and moderators.)

·         (TEW) Just ignore them. I don’t think trolls are really all that much of a problem. I hate forums where everyone is so paranoid about trolls. The “knee jerk” responses from certain members at certain forums to label somone a troll is more annoying to me. Like the saying goes “Don’t feed the trolls” Trolls are inevitable in forums .. the same as dog crap in a Soi .. just don’t step in it! .. no big deal. Sometimes a trolls posts can be funny! .. in that light .. they can actually have some value .. to the horror of the troll of course.

5. The former admin of the defunct TEFLWatch made the following statement in his Hot Seat interview on Ajarn.com  (http://ajarn.com/Hot%20seat/hotseatgreg.htm):

“Anyways, I think any other site would see scant long term success without having an admin on the take.”

How would each of you respond to that comment?  What are your long term success plans?

·         (TG) That is one persons thinking about the current situation. It would not benefit anyone from trying to “buy” me, as I cannot change the school rates on my site. It is impossible for me to manipulate the rating system. My long term plans will be to have an honest and legitimate school rating site that people will know and trust.

·         (TSR) Well, judging from your use of Thai EFL Watch, I think it’s safe to presume that you have a hand in that site. How much are you getting paid for your involvement there? How much are schools paying you to get on your Hall of Fame? My long term success plans revolve around not letting you or Richard ruin the site. Simple, right?  (Nope, no hand or any other part of me is involved with ANY forum, other than as a simple poster. No pay involved either.  Open to bids though from the admins! J)

·         (TEW) It depends on the admin of the site. If he/she is in it for the money they will try their best to make it succeed. But basically I think that statement is total crap! There are God knows how many non profit sites on the net that have been going for years! With a statement like that .. it’s not hard to see what his motivation was for creating “TEFL Watch”

6.  What is the biggest problem facing teachers in Thailand today?

·         (TG) That is a tough question and one I can only answer from my own experience.

1.      Low wages

2.      Poor communication

3.      Constantly changing rules

·         (TSR) Dealing with lackeys like you who sell them out when they need help. Other than that? Who cares. Why should I care about other “issues” affecting teachers, all I am doing is providing teachers a safe venue to give ratings and comments about schools, good or evil.

(seems to me an intrinsic part of working for a school is all the other “issues” that revolve around working at a particular school or in a particular country)

·         (TEW) Obviously the ridiculous amounts of paperwork and multiple government departments you have to deal with. Come on!  This is 2008 for God’s sake! Get it together! When you compare Thailand with Cambodia for example , the differences are huge. You pay $25 odd dollars for a business visa .. no work permit rubbish .. the business visa covers that .. 3 months later .. you hand over a few more dollars for a 1 year business visa .. all done! Now I know why there is never any paper in public toilets in Thailand .. the government uses too much of the stuff and there is a shortage! Of course the other problem is the one all these “EFL Watch” type sites are trying to address. Of course the other problem is the one all these “EFL Watch” type sites are trying to address. Dishonest employers and schools. It doesn’t matter if you have a “contract”, a work permit and a Non B Visa .. when the crap hits the fan with an employer or school .. you usually don’t have a leg to stand on.

7.  There have been several comments about advertising on teacher’s websites.  What are your views about advertising on your site?

·         (TG) It will never happen. In the beginning I had Google ads, but removed them.

·         (TSR) What kind of BS question is this? Be up front what you are asking. Am I gonna take an advert from a school just to give them a clean break? No way, I am not like the interviewer. How much did you take from that school? And this a good point to bring up Faith Christian Academy. You were promoting it on the Siam Pinoy forum. You made several statements about the schools, but you have been unwilling to back it up. You said this:
Faith Christian Academy of Bangkok.   It is run by two very experienced management/teachers and have experienced staff, all Filipino.  They ran a school in the Philippines and have since moved to Thailand to help with the many Filipino children here needing an education the students can understand.  They are acreditted by several worldwide organizations and have been teaching in Thailand for over 4 years.
Its near ABAC Ramkhamhaeng so its easy to get to from most parts of the city.
If you would like, PM me and I’ll send you the phone number of the manager/director.
You have several outstanding questions about that school:
a) How can a school have 100% Filipino staff in Thailand?
b) What worldwide organizations are they accredited by?
c) Why are they not listed with the MOE as a registered school?
d) What is the exact address of the school?
e) Why are YOU promoting an illegal school?

I know you won’t answer these questions, they’ve been dogging you for months. I’ve even heard information that you are an owner of this school. So why should anyone trust you about truth in tefl when you are advertising an illegal school that you have a part interest in? (Wow, so interested in me!  I’d post the answers to your questions on TSR, but I’m not welcome there…too bad. But if anyone else is actually interested, let me know!   (hint..hint!)

·         (TEW) At the moment my site is on a “free host”. No advertising needed. But as soon as the Bank of Ayutthaya gets my debit card together .. I’ll be changing the site to a regular “dot com” or dot org” or whatever. That costs money. I already have a few Google Ads in place .. and from past experience from another site I have it generates just enough to pay for the sites expenses. Of course if anyone is REALLY annoyed at the ads .. they are welcome to donate the $100 odd dollars a year it takes to host the site and I will remove all the ads.

8.  In another quote from the Ajarn Hot Seat interview, the former admin of TEFLWatch, he said the following:

“I think the schools that have been actively trying to get information off of TEFLWatch will consider this a victory, but for the majority of schools, they will not care one iota either way. And why should they?”

What are you going to do to get the school administrators interested commenting on your site?  What methods are you going to use to help them understand that it’s beneficial to show that it helps their school if the teachers are happy?

·         (TG) This is something that will take time and a lot of work. It may be that most school administrators don’t care. Hopefully, the teachers will start spreading the word and that’s all it will take to get the ball rolling.

·         (TSR) Experience has shown that the only teachers who talk about positive experiences about specific schools in a forum environment are ones that are pushed to do it. The same applies for those talking about negative experiences. They are pushed by situations to leave their experiences.
For example, the old TW forum only had two positive reports. One was from someone working as a recruiter for their university and the other was you! And we both know that you are on the take from at least one school. If someone is talking on a forum how great there school is, I wonder how much they are getting paid.  (yawn….)
TEFL School Reviews does something different. The forum is there an archive of the past. The main site is still under heavy development, but it’s simple. Rate schools and leave comments if you want. If you find it useful, great, if not, then good luck

·         (TEW) Like I said above. I’ll try to find their email address and invite them to come online and put their two cents worth in. As for trying to make them understand the “logic” of keeping their teachers happy .. well that’s a tough one. Thai “officialdom”,employers,schools and “logic” mixed together is an oxymoron.

9.  In the past, I’ve been a member of several forums where teachers complained about a particular incident or school for literally years.  What is each of you going to do to limit this kind of poster?

·         (TG) See answer # 4.

·         (TSR) You believe that someone shouldn’t have the right to talk about a school for too long? How long is too long? Do you honestly think that people should have their speech curtailed when they talk bad a school? What about the school admins, and I know one in particular, that continually posts about how great their school is. Should they be allowed to as well? (you seem to think curtailing freedom of speech is perfectly acceptable…refer to your answer to question 4.)
By the way, you say several forums. Can you name the several forums?

(Namtok/Yanqui/RetiredStillTeaching on AjarnForum and TEFLWatch.  How’s that?)

·         (TEW) I could create a special member group called “Chronic Whingers” and place them into it. Their member group would be viewable to all beneath their nick. Then all other members and guests can view their posts with another large grain of salt.

10.  What do each of you think that the future holds for the teachers in Thailand and how do you think your site will help teachers in this uncertain future?

·         (TG) Difficult to say what will happen here in the future. It is on a constant rollercoaster ride now and not sure when it will stop.

My site will only help teachers in their decision to work at a school or not. It is up to them to read any information and make an informed decision.

·         (TSR) Markets change. Who really cares about Thailand? The only people who care about Thailand are those with a family there or those who can’t live without vice in their lives. The world doesn’t revolve around Thailand. Believe it or not, most TEFL teachers are not teaching in Thailand.
I’ve got better things to do with my life than play little games with a little man who thinks he is something because he trolled for several months and made a good man take down a useful site. Was the payoff worth it?   (yawn)

·         (TEW) I think things will just continue as they always have. We can’t move the mountain .. so we just have to find the best way to get around it. I hope my site can provide a place for suggestions on the best way to do so.

Gentlemen/Admin of TSR

Thanks for your time.  I’m sure many teachers are looking forward to reading your comments!

Topper

Gentlemen,

I’m inviting each of you, the administrators of: 

TEFLGuardian (http://teflguardian.com)

TEFL School Reviews (http://www.teflschoolreviews.com)

TEFL EFL Watch (http://thaieflwatch.rahost.org) 

to comment on the following questions.  Please respond by email.   I’ll be publishing the responses on May 1, 2008 on my blog (www.truthintefl.wordpress.com).  I’ll be happy to post a link to this interview on each of your sites.  I’ll also post a link on AjarnForum.com and other TEFL sites as well.   

1.  With three competing sites, what do you think makes your site the best site for teachers to exchange information about schools? 

2.  What is your personal motivation for starting your site?  Please give us your “philosophy” concerning your motivations. 

3.  What does each of you think is the biggest problem a school reporting site might have? 

4.  As each of you know, trolls are a major problem.  What moderation policies do you have to limit the effectiveness of trolls? 

5. The former admin of the defunct TEFLWatch made the following statement in his Hot Seat interview on Ajarn.com  (http://ajarn.com/Hot%20seat/hotseatgreg.htm):

“Anyways, I think any other site would see scant long term success without having an admin on the take.” 

How would each of you respond to that comment?  What are your long term success plans? 

6.  What is the biggest problem facing teachers in Thailand today? 

7.  There have been several comments about advertising on teachers websites.  What are your views about advertising on your site?

8.  In another quote from the Hot Seat interview on Ajarn.com , the former admin of TEFLWatch, he said the following:

“I think the schools that have been actively trying to get information off of TEFLWatch will consider this a victory, but for the majority of schools, they will not care one iota either way. And why should they?” 

What are you going to do to get the school administrators interested commenting on your site?  What methods are you going to use to help them understand that it’s beneficial to show that it helps their school if the teachers are happy? 

9.  In the past, I’ve been a member of several forums where teachers complained about a particular incident or school for literally years.  What are each of you going to do to limit this kind of poster? 

10.  What do each of you think that the future holds for the teachers in Thailand and how do you think your site will help teachers in this uncertain future?  

Gentlemen, 

Thanks for your time and I look forward to posting your responses! 

Topper

Hope you enjoy! 

“1) The user formerly known as Topper was removed as a moderator for his bad actions. I have made it very clear what he did. He disagrees with it and has went all over the internet to proclaim that I am wrong. He made allegations. I refuted those allegations and he likewise admitted that I did refute all of his allegations. I have posted proof of my allegations and he has been unable to refute a single allegation.”

http://www.teflwatch.org/forum/index.php/topic,1935.0/all.html 

Wow….that last part was really clear.  Oh, and could anyone out there post a link to where the admin of TW has provided proof of anything he’s stated?  Or is it one of those “truths” that can’t be proven, but can only be believed? “

I am banned on TeakDoor because I refuse to post there. ” – Wow, I bet many forums follow that guideline.  

Funny, I thought it was because the admin of TW couldn’t provide proof of claims he’s making about the admin of TeakDoor.  The admin of TeakDoor asked for proof and the admin of TEFLWatch is sadly lacking in proof.  Thus the ban. 

“Unfortunately, I talked things over with my wife and frankly neither of us want to negativity that you bring to things. The truth is simple, Bob, one of us is going to quit posting on this forum in the next 24 hours, either it is going to be you or it is going to be me. “ 

Sounds like a whining child to me.  And it’s unfortunate that you talked to your wife? 

Both quotes are from: http://eltworld.net/forums/viewtopic.php?t=893 

“No one over their except for CSFFan has been banned. He was banned here for dicking over some teachers. Everyone else is just saying they can’t post here because they know that they won’t be in the majority and will actually have to deal with hard questions.”

 http://www.teflwatch.org/forum/index.php/topic,1959.msg12775/topicseen.html#msg12775 

Funny, no teacher has ever stepped forward to back up this claim.  In over 2 months the only person to make this claim has been the admin of TW.  It’s been noted that the admin of TEFLWatch has NOT been able to supply any kind of proof ….other than his own delusions. 

Please leave your favorite quotes in the comments! 

Coming next:  Famous accusations – Everything from Prostitution to Illegal Schools

My question is why?  Isn’t TEFLWatch committed to expose all of these schools that hurt teachers?  Isn’t that the very reason of the existance of the forum?  Isn’t the reason the network of supporting TEFL related websites trust each other to follow through on their stated claims?

TEFLWatch…Where’s the BEEF!  Put up or retract your claims.   Where are the 5 schools you claimed are worthy of your Hall of Shame?  Don’t you think its vital to keep your promises to help teachers avoid less than reputable schools?  Isn’t that one of the very foundation blocks of TEFLWatch itself?  Why haven’t you kept to your committment to help teachers? 

Lastly, as a site that is dedicated to helping teachers, why is the current blog post about American politics?  Does this help teachers fight against corrupt schools?  Does this help expose less than honorable practices by schools that teachers should be aware of?

 Or has TEFLWatch just become a mouthpiece for the admin’s personal views?  Does he really still care about teachers? 

 You look and you decide.  Let me know what you think!

Thus, everyone who posts on a forum has a stake in the forum.  Everyone who puts out a little of themselves puts a trust in the forum to respect that effort.   A great forum admin allows this growth and enjoys to see people openly sharing their experiences due to the trust the posters feel in the forum.

Its from this trust that a sense of ownership is born.  We all want the forums we post on to prosper and are willing to share with others with the same sense of belonging to the forum community.  That sharing of belonging starts at the admin and filters down to those that share the same sense of belonging.

Look at what you feel is right and then post…BUT!!! look at what the forum stands for and decide if you stand for the same set of ideals.  

There have also been statements in the forum of TEFLWatch as well as on the front page that have accused me (I’m the person known as Topper in his posts within the forum and front page) concerning my “relationship” with PAIS on the frontpage of TEFLWatch within the forum.

The admin has also made several statements about the owner of one forum (TeakDoor) being able to circumvent the security of another forum (AjarnForum) to access personal information on AjarnForum.

It should be noted that no proof has been offered by the admin of TEFLWatch to either of these allegations.

Lets chat about the PAIS/Confab/Topper corruption charges first.  Take a look at this post made my an employee of PAIS demonstrating his joy that his employer has been inducted into the Hall of Shame:

Here is the post where the current employee praises TEFLWatch (TW) for the induction of his employer:

http://www.teflwatch.org/forum/index.php?topic=1299.msg12529;topicseen#msg12529 

Here is a partial quote: “The school is where it deserves to be as is its sister set up The Confab, comfortably ensconced in the H.O.S.”  Please read the entire post.

Later, this employee of PAIS comments that I’m a “paid servant” and that PAIS and the Confab agency are the same organization.

Here is a quote:

“Wonderful bit of groundwork indeed,it certainly proves that “Topper” was and indeed still is a paid servant of ”Pan Asia and The Confab”. Such proof also confirms that the two entities are actually one entity.  The blog is fresh on the block and it seems as if other bit of dirty work may be afoot to blacken the name of this teachers proactive site by Pan Asia/The Confab.

It indeed demonstrates just how deceitful our Pan Asia /The Confab management team really are”

http://www.teflwatch.org/forum/index.php?topic=1299.msg12515;topicseen#msg12515

My question is where is the proof?  Where has the admin shown any kind of evidence that PAIS and the Confab Agency are the same business entities  Where has he shown any evidence, proof or anything that might even be considered something to justify these claims?  And not just claims of proof…but actually showing the proof. 

The reason…..he can’t.  He’s distorted the truth (read LIED). 

The next topic refers to security issues about Ajarn.com that Greg raised on his front page.  Here’s a quote:

“The more insidious type of hosting is the hosting that Ajarn Forum uses. They are hosted by the owner of TeakDoor. It is very simple for the owner of TeakDoor, a user by the name of Dirty Dog, to access all of your hidden information on Ajarn Forum. He can read your personal messages, he can read your IP address and other uniquely identifiable information. For those who know about TeakDoor, this is a worrying situation indeed.”

http://www.teflwatch.org/privacy-and-teflwatch-2008346.html

So in one fell swoop of the machete Greg has accused one website owner of being low enough to peer into private messages on one forum and claimed there is a security issue on the other forum. 

Now, these are two of the most respected forums in Thailand.  You would think that such an accusation that affects more than 17,000 members between the two forums would be backed up with some very credible evidence.

Both Dirty Dog (the admin of TeakDoor) and LDMA (the admin of AjarnForum) have both stated that this is not true and explained the hosting situation on their respective websites.   Why hasn’t the admin of TW come forward to show proof of these serious claims?

The reason…..he can’t.  He’s distorted the truth (read LIED). 

But you look at the links provided and read the comments made by all concerned.  Decide for yourself whether the admin of TW has distorted the truth.

Look forward to your comments!  Thanks!