Kat is my nickname. My real name is Busba. In Thailand people often call me "Cru Kat" which means "Teacher Kat".
I grew up in a small, lovely town called Lampang in the northern part of Thailand, which is in a river valley surrounded by mountains. I graduated from Lampang Kallayanee high School at the top of my class.
After that I pursued my education at Chiang Mai University in Chiang Mai, a neighboring city. I obtained my Bachelor's Degree in English, faculty of Humanities in 1983.
I moved down south to Bangkok to start my career. I worked in sales and marketing in the tour and hotel business for many years. I met and worked with people from many nationalities and learned their different traditions and cultures before I ended up as an educational tour leader. I started my own company, and I had a great time teaching Thai students to explore the world in Singapore, New Zealand and Australia.
In 1998 I needed to go back north to take care of my dear mom. I started a new career as a teacher. I even scrubbed, painted, filled up holes on the roof of my mom's hundred-year-old house to make it a school. I taught English at Bahn Cru School, Lampang for over six years. I gained a lot of close experience with Thai kids, not only as their teacher but as someone "outside the system" to whom they came when they needed to talk. It was a memorable time of my life, and I am very proud of what we accomplished. Not only did I teach at the school, but I also continued doing student travel and helped create a fun website (
www.tookaa.com) with my head teacher Christopher. We stayed far away from rote teaching and taught our own way, always experimenting with new ways to get inside the heads of our students.
In August, 2004 I moved with my family to live in the Seattle area (Shoreline), where my kids are going to school. Here I am, starting a new life again! This is a chance for me to learn more as well as teach. I can expand on what I have done in my previous careers. I enjoy teaching people who love to learn the Thai language, and they can come with me to visit my hometown some day.
