Defamation

Hi  Campers,

If ever you post a negative review of a camp you need to be aware that the company in question might retaliate with a threat of court action for defamation, particularly in Thailand. Indeed, many campers say they experienced this during the 2017 Invasion saga. This can be really scary if you're unprepared. So here are some hints on how to handle it.

The most important point to remember is that if what you say is factually accurate, it's going to be very difficult for any company to win a defamation case. Apart from anything, once in court it will become immediately apparent that you are the victim, such that the court is much more likely to sympathise with you. In addition to that, the last place any company that has short-changed their customers wants to be is in court, because any misdeeds are quickly going to come out in the washing. Think carefully, how can a company take you to court, having ripped you off, and then demand that you pay them more because you told the world the truth! What kind of justice would that be?

Also important is that, in the modern world, reviews on social media (e.g. this blog) are standard and common place. It's something every company has to accept. The point is that any review or comment needs to be objective and any opinions based on facts. And, of course, the facts themselves must be accurate. It is also important to keep the tone civil and not to degenerate into abuse.  Reviews and feedback play a huge role in our lives, so be confident that you are providing the world a service by making your opinion heard.

Fortunately, Philip Crabb no longer works with Invasion. However, in days past, he was always the most notorious individual for threatening people with defamation. Basically, he'd do something rotten to you (like take your money for nothing) and then threaten you with defamation if you squealed. He'd also be very quick to tell you that in Thailand defamation laws are very strict, and that the onus would be on you, the defendant, to prove your innocence. This would be terrifying for a 19 year old travelling for the first time in Asia. Images of being locked up in a Thai prison would flash into their minds and Philip would do everything to nurture that image. So usually Philip's threats worked. People backed off. However, eventually enough comments appeared on social media, and clearly they stuck, particularly the ones linked to Island TEFL, Philip's former company. And clearly it was a wide range of people posting. I'm pleased to say, Philip has never yet succeeded in getting anyone into court.

So don't be worried, because even in Thailand the basic principles as described above still hold true. I was actually in Thailand when they introduced the laws. It was in 2006 during the military coup. The laws were mainly brought in to protect the King, because there were sections of society that wanted to do away with the monarchy altogether. I'm sure everyone knows about the battles between the Red Shirts and the Yellow Shirts. The prime purpose of the laws wasn't really concerned with everyday cases like yours, but those with political implications.

However, if you're back in the UK, those complications certainly don't apply. Just be confident about your right to free speech and your duty to inform the world at large of any wrong doing. I've put a couple of links below to websites that give good information about defamation. Don't let the bullies win!

Happy Camping!
EFL Greg

https://www.nolo.com/legal-encyclopedia/defamation-law-made-simple-29718.html
https://solicitors.guru/articles/27-law-defamation-explained/

Invasion Ltd

Hi Campers!

I have now received several reports about the appalling way Invasion treated the August/September intake last year that I can only conclude that as a company Invasion fall a long way short of what they claim to be and how they advertise themselves (click here). I had given them the benefit of the doubt up till now, but no longer so. In addition to the organisational failures, I'm also getting lots of reports about drunken behaviour by some of the reps at some of the camps, as well as drug taking. There was also, of course, the infamous "gun" incident back in 2016.

I'm sure that when Lee McAteer and Nick Steiert started out they were genuine in their wish to create something properly meaningful for youngsters in the form of the Camp experience. Great idea! However, money and power do corrupt, and they seem now only to be concerned with their profits. Any true concern about their customers and students seems to have gone completely out of the window. Basically, they're just ignoring everyone. Rather than being "of the people", they now seem to be adopting a high and mighty stance. The sheer number of testimonials to this is now overwhelming. Rather than list them all one by one, I'm putting a couple of links here so that people can read the complaints against Invasion themselves. Also read my posts, "Invasion and Camp Thailand" and "Invasion and Ethics", both in October last year. The comments there are particularly revealing, as also are the ones back in 2016. In fact, please read the whole of this blog if you have time.

First, there is a Facebook page, "Camp Thailand and Invasion travel fiasco support". you may need to join the group to get full access. For some reason it's down at the moment, but they say it will be up again shortly. In addition to this is the Rip-off Report (click here), which is quite detailed and goes pretty deeply into what happened. However, the second half of it needs to be read with a pinch of salt because it is obviously written by Philip Crabb himself, who was undoubtedly one of the main culprits in the whole saga/fiasco. He mentions "OUR company, English For Fun" and the inevitable "internationally accredited" reference to his own TEFL course, etc. So you may need to read between the lines there.  Nevertheless, the overall report is pretty damning for Invasion. It's all in strong contrast to the massaged write-ups on the GoAbroad review site.

I have written to Invasion to ask them for their side of the story, but sadly they have not replied. It now seems to be their standard policy not to respond to any enquiries related to August/September of 2017. Looking back, the writing was already on the wall by the way they covered up the "gun" incident in 2016 (see my posts of June 2017 and October 2016). Just the fact that they were willingly working with a man as notorious as Philip Crabb already gave some indication of their level of ethicality. They cannot simply blame everything on him, they need to take responsibility themselves. It's important that everyone at every stage of the Camp experience has the highest degree of integrity and is fully vetted beforehand.

Of course, I personally wish people would read my blog before signing up for these camps. Sadly, most people only read it after the event. Anyway, if anyone is reading this prior to going somewhere under Invasion's steam I strongly recommend them to rethink. In fact, I would recommend everyone to boycott Invasion completely.

Good luck for the future!
EFL Greg

Accreditation and Pricing

Hi Campers,

I was just looking at Americamp's Camp Thailand website and noticed that they've put up a whole load of blurb about TEFL certificates in relation to accreditation. I think it's been up a while actually. Click on TEFL  They're no longer claiming that their certificate is "internationally accredited", which is a major step forward. I congratulate them on their honesty. However, what they've put up instead is a pretty vague piece that really tells us nothing at all, just a series of generalities with nothing specific. Basically, it's a load of hogwash designed to pull the wool over your eyes, cloaked in that kind of formal language that makes it sound oh so credible.  "School and authorities"? Yes, the schools they give free lessons at.  "The Ministry of Education"? Take it from me, there's no way the ministry gets involved in farang run TEFL schools. Their concern is state schools and private schools running the proper national curriculum. EFL courses are not part of their domain. The point is that Camp Thailand's courses are completely unaccredited and it's pot luck how good any one course will be. Worst case scenario is if Philip Crabb himself gives the course.

While here, I'd like to remind all you potential campers that you'll be spending over £700 for only three weeks of "training" and activities. So are you really getting your money's worth? Remember that, while accommodation is included in the price, it is bunk beds in a dorm, and even then you have to pay extra if you want air-con. You can stay in a 3 star hotel in central Bangkok for just £20 a night.  So surely they could afford to give you something better than 5 in a room with no air-con for your £700? The TEFL course isn't worth more than £100 and the same goes for the excursions. Camp Thailand's expenses are simply the rent for the  premises and some low salaries for their workers.  Even the trainer won't get more than a $1,000 a month. So you can see just how much money is going directly into the pockets of Philip Crabb and Americamp. They're cutting costs any which way they can to maximise their own profit. Philip Crabb is interested in one thing only, and that's your money. You're being well and truly fleeced.  You really need to open your eyes to that.

So once again, we recommend that you avoid this kind of overpriced summer camp and set out independently. Do an online TEFL course, preferably not English For Fun's, and go direct to a Thai placement agency for a free placement and orientation course. Do the excursions at your own leisure during your year in Thailand. It's such a wonderful country. Just take that bold step to be independent. Thailand is a very safe country if you stick to common sense precautions. You should have a wail of a time.

Good luck, campers!

EFL Greg

Camp Thailand Review (2)

Hi Everyone, EFL Greg here!

Due to the mysterious deletion of our original Camp Thailand Review post in the UK, we've re-posted here in its entirety for the benefit of our UK readers:

"We've had quite a few reviews of Camp Thailand now, with a mixed bag of reports. Everyone seems pretty agreed that the activity part of the camp, i.e. the excursions and elephant trips, as well as even the live teaching in the schools, is pretty well set up, and has been a positive experience for most campers. Most of this is directly under the control of Americamp, who seem to be providing a reasonably genuine service.

However, it's the TEFL side of Camp Thailand that is seriously suspect. This is run by Philip Crabb together with his Thai wife, and we've had several reports of unacceptable course standards and severe bias in the treatment of students. See the comments on the Camp Thailand post. In addition, it has now been conclusively proved that the TEFL certificate issued by EFF (English For Fun, formerly Island TEFL) is wholly unaccredited, and is basically a junk qualification.  

From the reviews we've received, Philip Crabb, formerly Philip Dunne, seems to be running the place like a dictator, ruling by fear. Anyone who causes him any kind of problem quickly gets removed from the Camp, whether it be a a student or an employee. There are no refunds incidentally. The most disturbing incident, however, occurred just recently when he or his wife actually had some of the Thai workers pull out a gun on some of the girl students just because they weren't using the camp's own taxi and were liaising with a former teacher and employee banned by Philip. We cannot verify this independently. However, we've heard about this incident from two separate sources. So it needs to be taken seriously.  It's possible Camp Thailand is even paying off the police. The incident was apparently quickly hushed up by both Americamp and Camp Thailand.

So because of the atmosphere of fear that Philip Crabb specialises in creating and the sub-standard courses he is fraudulently offering, we're recommending that prospective campers vote with their feet and boycott Camp Thailand until such time as Americamp have dealt properly with the situation and brought Philip Crabb to heel. Anyone who knows anything more about any of the above should come forward and post.

It's always important to remember that in developing countries like Thailand, and even more so Cambodia, law enforcement is weak. In fact, corruption is rampant, particularly within the police force. So don't expect that you will automatically get justice in the event of any criminal or illegal action inflicted upon you.  

Always be careful when committing yourself and putting yourself in the hands of people you don't know, particularly when travelling alone to a developing country.

Good luck with whatever camp you finally decide on."

Deleted Post - by Americamp !!

Hi Campers !!

We've just had a stunning experience on our blog! Our Camp Thailand Review post of October 2016 has been deleted in the UK. Also some comments on the Camp Thailand post of January 2016 have vanished. The stated reason on the blog post is that it is the result of a "legal request", presumably from Americamp. It seems this only applies to the UK, because elsewhere, including here in Thailand, the post is up and running as normal.

I can only assume that the reason is the mention of the incident in which a Thai worker at Camp Thailand is alleged to have pulled out a gun on some girl trainees for not using Philip Crabb's taxi. I would guess the legal reason would be that the incident is unproven. However, we clearly stated in the original post that we could not verify the incident independently. All journalists and news channels do this kind of thing. Just watch CNN, they're always saying that they are unable independently to confirm something when they rely on external sources. So I am genuinely surprised that a UK court of law has passed this order.

What's really surprising about this is that we've had absolutely no direct communication from anyone. You would have thought Google would have sent us an email explaining what had happened.  Or perhaps something from the lawyer involved. And hopefully something from Americamp themselves. But, no, absolutely nothing!

I'm particularly surprised that Americamp have at no stage tried to contact us directly. If you have a problem with someone, surely the first course of action is to speak candidly with that person and try and find a solution. Only if that doesn't work would you embark on the expensive and laborious task of legal action. The fact that Americamp have chosen such a roundabout route indicates to me just how morally bankrupt they are. They are clearly unsure of their position and so are clutching at legal straws to eradicate an inconvenient review. I think they would do much better to deal with the root of the problem, which is clearly the set up at Camp Thailand.

I hope my readers will read all the posts on my blog, which are actually pretty complimentary towards Americamp. It's primarily the TEFL side of the Camp Thailand that we consider suspect, because of its unsatisfactory course standards and trainer behaviour. We feel it is essential that in a democratic society that recognises free speech our comments and opinions be allowed unfettered.

Happy camping!

EFL Greg

Go Abroad

Hi Campers!

We've noticed that a lot of very good reviews for Camp Thailand have been posted on GoAbroad. That's good news and I'm sure most of them are completely genuine. However, there are a couple of things you need to be aware of.  A company can often get customers to review positively by offering an incentive. In this case it could be something like a discount or a good grade or a placement. The reason we think this might be the case here is because suddenly a whole bunch of reviews went up at the beginning of January. That plus Philip Crabb's reputation for threatening people he think might say something negative.

So let's quickly review the main positives and negatives of Camp Thailand.

Positives:
Terrific group experience and camp atmosphere.  Easy to make friends.
Interesting expeditions and activities, e.g. elephant sanctuary, etc.
Meaningful experience teaching to Thai children.
Helpful and creative Americamp reps, e.g. Dean.

Negatives:
Unaccredited TEFL certificate.  Basically a junk qualification. Placements should be free too.
Over-priced.  Most activities can be done independently at fraction of cost.
Rigid structure and subordination to the tyrannical Philip Crabb (formerly Philip Dunne of Island TEFL).

Also, remember that, although you may be working as a volunteer when you teach in the Thai schools, Americamp and Camp Thailand are making a mint out of the whole thing.  Just do the maths, work out how much you pay and how many campers there are.  You'll quickly get an idea of the kind of money involved.

Good luck.  Hope you make the choice that's right for you!

EFL Greg

Companies

Hi EFL World!

Following my last post when I recommended independent travel as something more meaningful than the "camp" experience, I just thought I'd build on that by pointing out some of the salient features of the companies that offer the camp packages.

It's easy for youngsters and gap year students to be deluded into thinking that these companies are some kind of extension of the education system they're coming from, and that they're full of altruists and people concerned only about their welfare. Don't get me wrong, there are undoubtedly people like that within the companies, particularly at ground level. However, that is not their raison d'etre. Don't be naive, this is the real world.  They're businesses designed to make as much money out of you as they can by exploiting a niche in the market. This is almost certainly the motivation of those at the top running the company, the CEO, Managing Director or whatever.

That's why, when you look at doing one of these camps, you need to consider the possibility that you might be putting money into some fat cat's pocket (no personal reference) for something you could easily be doing for free.  Take the Elephant Sanctuary. Try contacting them directly. And "island hopping" - you don't need to join a camp to do that.  And any TEFL "orientation course" for a teaching job in a Thai school should be completely free.  All the placement agencies do that because they take a direct cut from the school. If you do the maths and tot everything up, you'll see you're being well and truly ripped off.

That said, the camp experience can be great fun if you like being in groups or don't have the confidence to travel alone.

But think first, make sure that going to Thailand, or Cambodia for that matter, really does turn out to be the wonderful experience it should be.

Good luck,
EFL Greg

Accreditation

EFL Greg again!

So your TEFL certificate's going to be "internationally accredited", is it? It's easy for any course provider to make a claim like that, but is it really true? First of all, it's unlikely that a course that advertises itself as half fun on the beach and half study is likely to meet international standards. Also, if it has almost zero training with real Thai students, again it's coming up short by international standards. Most importantly, though, any truly accredited course will have an external assessment by that accrediting body at the end of the course. For example, your last teaching session should be observed by someone external to the school you're paying fees to. Everyone knows this is the case with the CELTA and Trinity qualifications. If a school makes it look easy, they're almost certainly duping you.  They're making a false claim as a means to acquiring your hard earned money.

A great example of this is English For Fun's (formerly Island TEFL) claim to be accredited by the University of San Diego. Our review committee recently contacted USD directly, and they confirmed that they do not accredit Island TEFL. Nevertheless, the claim is still clearly there on the Island TEFL website and the English For Fun log-in page. And, remember, these are the same people who will be running Camp Thailand.

So we advise all prospective EFL trainee students to research the academic credentials of the school.  The best way is simply to contact the accrediting organisation directly.

Good luck with your hunt.

EFL Greg

Camps in Thailand

Hi EFL World!

A new trend has been developing recently in the EFL world, and that is the summer camp as a way of combining EFL training, practice and adventure activities all in one package. It's certainly a great idea and very attractive to youngsters today, particularly gap year students. So, as there are quite a few of them, we thought it might be a good idea to have a site committed specifically to reviewing these camps. Often testimonials on the websites themselves are massaged up and don't give a properly objective overview. Hopefully, through this site prospective students or trainees can get a clearer idea of what to expect, and will be better informed when making a decision or choice. 

Please submit reviews to our email address (below) and we will post it if it meets our criteria, which are as follows:

1. Please be specific with regard to the name of the camp, as many of them have similar sounding names, many of them almost generic in nature.
2. State clearly when and where you attended.
3. Who ran the course?
4. Did you feel it represented good value for money?
5. Did you actually receive everything that was advertised?  If not, what?
6. What was the customer service like?  Did they help you overcome difficulties?
7. Describe the main features, positive and/or negative.
8. Please be objective.  Make sure you can support any negative comments, and please don't degenerate into using abusive language.

I hope we can get a good mix of comments about a variety of camps.

Look forward to your responses.

Greg Watson
Secretary,
Camps in Thailand Review Committee
gregeflwatson@gmail.com