Write on!

Letter of the week

SCHOOL DAZE

My name is Aina Ardae. I am studying at Saiburi Islam Wittaya, which is in Pattani province. My school is big and it has many students. Because my school is such a big school, there are many problems. For example, my school often makes announcements over the loudspeakers while we are in class studying.

My friends and I don�t like it because it's very annoying. We have to stop what we are doing and listen until the announcements are over.

Secondly, the school bus belches out too much smoke. It makes it hard for students to breathe.

Another odd thing is that my school has only five toilets that work. I don't understand why. We have to queue up in order to relieve ourselves.

Lastly, my school doesn't have too many trees and it can get rather hot. The janitors like to cut the old trees down, because they tell me the trees hide the school.

These are just some of the problems my school has. I don't know about other schools. I think my school should solve the problems quickly.

Aina Ardae, Pattani

Aina, it sounds like your school isn't too much fun, which is a shame when you spend most of your day there. Do you have any teachers you can talk to about your complaints? You can't always rely on other people to take action. As to your school bus belching out smoke, I can really sympathise having been stuck behind a bus on a motorcycle in busy Bangkok � it seems like pollution control isn't really a high priority in Thailand, so again perhaps you should join a local action group to try to change things.

 � Editor

HAPPY BIRTHDAY

Celebrating a birthday is a hectic, but fun occasion. A birthday is a special day so everything must be ready and just perfect for the birthday boy or girl.

People like to invite their friends to their party. They bring gifts and they sing the traditional "Happy Birthday" song. When holding a party, you have to take many things into consideration when planning it. A birthday party can be a costly event.

Trisant Chanprecha, Pathum Thani

Here's the secret to an inexpensive birthday. Invite as many people as you like but ask them to bring money not gifts. Give them no food and no party and keep the money. By doing so, you'll lose all your friends, but you won't lose all your money. Which is more important? � Editor

BOOK WORM

I am a Matayom 5 student and I like to read. The book I especially like to read is Harry Potter because it's funny, exciting and there is a lot of imagination by the author. There are now five Harry Potter books that have been published and each have been sold out. Reading books is a great pastime and it helps us spend to spend our leisure time profitably.

Thiti Cherdkiatikul, Samut Prakan

Reading books is great and a good way to develop your imagination and vocabulary, although I must confess I haven't read any of the Potter books � I only saw the movies. They're great and even better for the author J.K. Rowling who is said to be now richer than the Queen of England simply because of her books. Just think � all that money and all she has to do is write a book every couple of years. Sounds like easy work to me. � Editor

MY BEST FRIEND

Do you have a best friend? I think I�m the luckiest person in the world because I have had this best friend since I was born. She's my mother. I'd like to take this opportunity to write about her.

My mother has two children: my sister and I. Although our house is small, we live together very peacefully. We are a warm and loving family.

When I was young, I didn�t understand why she was often fussy. She'd always complain about everything like coming home late or watching too much TV.

It was always annoying but I understand her feelings now. I was also puzzled by how she could do everything for the family and not become exhausted? My mother is hard-working. She doesn�t do it for herself, but for everyone. I know she wants me to be a good girl and to become successful. This is why I think my mother is the best friend in the world.

Sudawan Uppakhan, Bangkok

Sudawan, I hope your mother reads this letter and understands how you feel. � Editor

NEWS CONFUSION

Hello there. I love to read Student Weekly but sometimes I get confused. Some of your stories are from the Bangkok Post newspaper, but some of your news stories have the letters AP or something after them. Also, some of your news is not recent. Why is your news not up to date when I read it?

Confused, Chon Buri

Hello "Confused." To answer your points in order, Student Weekly is published by the same company that publishes the Bangkok Post. That's why all our email addresses are at bangkokpost.co.th. We use some of the stories from the newspaper for our news as well as some other articles for our education sections. The letters you see after some news stories come from other news services such as Associated Press (AP), the French Agence France-Presse (AFP) and others. As to stories not being up to date, we make as much effort as we can to include recent stories, but it takes about a week in between finishing the magazine and you reading it. I hope this answers your questions. � Editor

VOCABULARY

annoying (adj): making somebody feel slightly angry
belch (v): to send out large amounts of smoke, flames, etc.
queue (v): to wait in a line of people, vehicles, etc.
janitor (n): caretaker; someone who cleans a public building or office
priority  (n): something that you think is more important than other things and should be dealt with first
hectic (adj): very busy; full of activity
fussy (adj): too concerned or worried about details or standards, especially unimportant ones