Ajarn Adam on himself and 'My Mate Nate'

Writer Apipar Norapoompipat gets the reaction of well-known Thai-speaking foreigners to the controversy over videos by Nathan Bartling, aka 'My Mate Nate'. Let's see what Ajarn Adam Bradshaw has to say.

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In Today's Life section of the Bangkok Post, writer Apipar Norapoompipat gets the reaction of three well-known Thai-speaking foreigners (Andrew Biggs, Todd Lavelle and Adam Bradshaw) to the controversy over videos by Nathan Bartling, aka 'My Mate Nate'. Let's see what Ajarn Adam had to say.

From 'We ain't Nate, mate' by Apipar Norapoompipat

Adam Bradshaw aka Ajarn Adam

The go-to English teacher for teens and young adults, thanks to his extensive knowledge and understanding of Thai local slang, American Adam Bradshaw is known for his enthusiastic demeanour, sense of humour and easy-to-follow education shows.

He first came to Thailand in 2006 as a missionary (the same programme as Bartling's), and then later on an internship with King Prajadhipok's Institute.

After graduating from the University of Utah, he taught at Maejo University in Chiang Mai and decided to go rogue.

Using social media like YouTube, Facebook and Twitter to teach English, he was quickly picked up by local Thai TV programmes for educational shows. Bradshaw now hosts countless educational TV shows and owns his own English language institute -- Hollywood Learning Center.

How did you get Thais to accept you and your work?

I think they see my determination, my sincerity and they see that I work hard and that I'm doing a good thing for Thai people. They see that I'm not trying to make clips to make waves. I'm just trying to help Thai people with their English and over the years as I've done that I just picked up more and more followers and viewers and I just keep going.

What are the pros and cons of being famous?

It's a pro that people admire my work and that I can be a good example to Thai people in language learning -- the fact that it's possible to get to a fluent level in your second language. When you really put your full effort towards it, it's very possible to get fluent and almost near native if you really put your mind to it.

Con, I guess sometimes you want to go out and not be recognised [laughs]. I don't see a whole lot of cons. I think it's a good thing as long as you're using your fame in a good way.

What are the disadvantages for people like you after incidents like My Mate Nate? Does it affect you?

Yeah, it does, because there are some people that will stereotype all foreigners in the same mould, basically. They see a white guy and they think, 'Oh, all farangs are like this'. There's definitely that overgeneralisation that happens in not just Thai society, but in all societies. I don't want to overgeneralise myself. It's hypocritical. But there are some people that do over generalise and that's definitely sad for foreigners in Thailand, because we're compared to people like Nate.

You're one of the few people who came out and joked about the whole situation. What do you feel about what he's doing in Thailand?

I think he's made some pretty good clips about tourism in Thailand. He does a great job with his editing and his drone footage – you gotta give it to him there. But his social experiments, some of them have gone overboard and have been disrespectful of Thai culture.

My nieces and nephews who are in elementary school are the ones that watch him. They idolise him. I think he should be a better example to his fan club and understand that he's got a big influence among young Thais.

Do you think social media makes it too easy for people like him to become get famous?

I like social media because it helped me. And it still helps me to this day to run my business. I don't know if I would have ever become who I am today without social media because I started out on YouTube as well and got TV shows from that. But I think we should use social media wisely [laughs].

I understand that I'm a visitor in the country and I'm going to be respectful of the laws and what's going on here. I can make comments but I don't want to piss people off [laughs]. I want to live in harmony with Thai people. I found that having lived in harmony with Thai people for 11 years, it's been great.

I've been very happy, I have a great family, and I have a great set-up here in Thailand. I'm grateful for my opportunity to be a teacher and to be kind of a public figure. I don't want to take it for granted. It comes down to the fact that I really love it here and I don't want to mess that up.

You can see the full story here: http://www.bangkokpost.com/lifestyle/social-and-lifestyle/1291203/we-aint-nate-mate

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