Good Places To Find Interpreting Help In Korat?

[martian]

Hi all,

I will be traveling to Korat (Patong Chai) in a week or so to follow up with some of my research on the Thai textile industry. I have some interviews lined up there for a few days, but it would be really helpful to have some Thai students help me interpret during the interview. Does anyone know where I begin to contact reliable assistants with a good grasp of English? I understand that the universities are now on break. Will this make it easier or more difficult to get student to help me there? I do have a small budget from my Uni and can pay between 500 - 1000bt a day for their time, so I imagine this will help me to find somebody.

Any ideas or suggestion will be much appreciated.

Thanks very much in advance....

[issanrebel]

The silk factories in Pak Thong Chai are used to foreign visitors (tourists and businessmen). Probably you won't need a translator. I for example was guided around Jim Thompson's by one of their Thai employees speaking excellent english.

Rajabhat and Suranaree Universities both have good English Departments. Even during semester break they're not that quiet. The ajarns there have close relationships with their students and can recommend to you or contact who is best for the job, maybe even a local from Pak Thong Chai with a deeper insight himself. The salary you can offer is definitely generous.

[KoratCat]

From the topical viewpoint: a good place to start looking might be Rajabhat University. There they also teach students in touristics. Their students develop skills as tourist guides, travel agents etc. at the local tourist attractions like the silk factories in Pak Thong Chai, the potteries in Dan Kwian, the excavation sites of ancient settlements like Ban Prasat and the Khmer ruins like Phi Mai sanctuary.

From the geographic viewpoint: Suranaree University is on the way to Pak Thong Chai from downtown Korat. I'm not informed about their facilities and programs. I only know that numerous former ajarns of Rajabhat went to teach there when it was opened about 12 years ago.