I’ve got to admit, Paul’s made me curious: Is there a stereotype that people who teach English abroad are “undesirables” in their homeland?
If so, I’m going to have to tell my wife’s cousin (who is currently teaching English in Bombay) that she is now the black sheep of the family 
[QUOTE=Siam Sam]
But the story says they could not force him to board the flight to London when he first arrived from Vietnam because Thai Airways did not have the proper paperwork showing him to be a deported person, especially once he started yelling about his rights there in our airport and demanding to see the British ambassador. So when he flew to Hong Kong, the Thai authorities notified their counterparts there, who promptly deported him back here. THEN the Thai authorities had the proper paperwork showing Glitter to be a deported person, from Hong Kong, and so could force him onto his eventual flight to London.
Seems like a lot of intricate little legal details; I would have just knocked the bastard over the head and tossed him onto the plane.
[/QUOTE]
Lovely, I forget a bloody stamp on my passport and they kick me out with a DEPORTED notice* faster than you can say “WTF?” while with a convicted underage girl buggerer they have to scramble around like headless chicken for days to do the same. :mad:
*They forgot to notice me about it though.
[QUOTE=Monty]
Paul,
You do know that some posters teach English overseas, right?
[/QUOTE]
As does/did Paul, if I recall correctly. He was referring to this thread, I think.
Not that thread specifically. It is a stereotype, and one a kernel of truth. Trust me on this.
[QUOTE=Diceman]
I’ve got to admit, Paul’s made me curious: Is there a stereotype that people who teach English abroad are “undesirables” in their homeland?
If so, I’m going to have to tell my wife’s cousin (who is currently teaching English in Bombay) that she is now the black sheep of the family 
[/QUOTE]
If your wife’s cousin is a she, then she’s safe. The stereotype involves only male teachers, or at least it does in Thailand. Male English teacher = shameless whore monger, female English teacher = sensitive person trying to expand her horizons. This is due largely to the low pay English teachers generally receive in Thailand. Many locals can’t believe anyone would work here for peanuts if they were able to make a nice life for themselves elsewhere. It doesn’t help either that the really fly-by-night places will troll the backpacker areas recruiting “teachers.”
Then there’s the Western tendency to prefer dark-skinned girls as opposed to the local beauty ideal of white-as-snow skin. Most farang-oriented prostitutes are dark-skinned girls from the Northeast, while venues catering to the Thais will feature light-skinned girls from the North. This penchant for darker skin is usually taken as “evidence” of farangs’ perverse nature to begin with.
Andrew Drummond, a long-time Bangkok-based journalist, has published some interesting behind-the-scenes background info on the Gary Glitter saga earlier this year:
Gary Glitter – Where They Went Wrong
and
Tracking Down Gary Glitter – & Others
Also interesting is Fighting for Justice.