In June 2500, an outbreak of the "Asiatic Flu" forced the Ministry of Education to close the schools throughout the Kingdom. At Assumption Sriracha where I was stationed, over half of the boarders had been stricken by the virus and were bedridden. We were relieved to see them go home. As we were on forced vacations for an unknown period of time, Bro. Montfort, the superior, suggested we had better go on a trip for a few days, Korat-Nakornsawan-Bangkok was our choice. The night before we slept at AC. As we were leaving the school, we met Fr. Bray, the Pastor at Korat, who was on his way to take the train back home. He told us he would be very happy to welcome us… In fact, he couldn't believe his eyes when he saw us waiting for him at Korat Station that afternoon. At that time, the Friendship Highway had been completed up to Si Kiew and was not open to the public. As we reached Saraburi, we made as if to take the new road but were stopped by the guards. As we were turning around to take the old way, one Police officer recognized Bro. Montfort and came to greet him… A few minutes later we had a pass allowing us to use the highway. At noon we were in Korat and warmly received by the people at the church who gave us accommodation at the building along the road that had been used as a hotel under the name of "Rong Raem Phra Jesu". Fr. Bray took good care of us. One day. He took us to a derelict place outside the city along the Lam Tha Kong river and told us of his dream of having a hospital and also a school run by the Brothers of St. Gabriel in that area. Looking at the place, in the middle of nowhere, I inwardly pitied the guy who could have to pioneer the project. Little did I suspect that ten years later, obedience would ask me to start a new Assumption school there…
It was on March 2, 2510 that I landed in Nakhonratchasima. Fr. Bray who was still the Pastor and had achieved half of his long cherished projects came to pick me up. As there was no school, no residence yet, the Father generously offered me hospitality at the rectory. The Bishop, H.E. Alain Van Gaver and all the priests gave me a hearty welcome. They were all French MEP missionaries. Soon I was appointed as member of committees in the Diocese. I was also granted the privilege, something totally new following Vatican II, to distribute the Holy Eucharist at the church when no priest was available. But I had to put a surplice over my habit and say some prayers. It was a great honor.
As far as contact with officialdom was concerned it was a different story. Four years before when I had pioneered Assumption Rayong, I was greeted as godsent. The Governor had arranged all the paper-work, transfer of ownership of the land (reserved forest), authorization to open a school, etc… Most officials were eager to have their sons registered. When I reached Rayong by the middle of April, the class-building was nearly finished and I could welcome the parents at the Brothers' residence… In Nakhonratchasima, I was unknown and did not think it was expedient to contact the authorities at least initially.
When I went to see the premises the day after my arrival, to say I was discombobulated would be an understatement. I couldn't believe my eyes. The school building had not yet reached the first floor, the Brothers' residence was on paper only and I was supposed to open a new school on May 17! I was alone and had to solve lots of problems. The construction was under the labor contract which means I had to take care of all the rest, buying cement, iron-bars… As I was penniless, I had to rely on the generosity of Bro. Greg, the Provincial Bursar, who was very kind and comprehensive. To help me with the building, I had to rely on a Chinese old man by the name of Mr. Aroon. Fortunately I also knew the Thao-Kae as I had had opportunity to employ him before. As it was the month of March, I put everything in Joseph's lap and beseeched him to take care of everything.
However, the nitty-gritty was mine. To open a school requires students, teachers, personnel but also furniture, tables, chairs, books, time-table… Who would come to school that existed only in name? On March 20, I started receiving students. Fr. Bray who had made a lot of advertising at his own school lent me a room at St. Mary's. at the end of that day, seventy-eight kids had registered. It took about a month to have all the classes full from Prathom One to Mathayom Suksa One. As there was officially no such school as Assumption Nakhonratchasima, I could not issue receipts for school fees. It would haunt for over three months as a number of parents were government employees, army or air-force officers, civil servants who were anxious to get their money back. Some parents who had paid a visit to our site humorously questioned whether I was registering their son for May 2510 or May 2511.
At the same time, I had to staff the school and kept wondering how to handle it as I could not possibly announce anything. Then on March 22, as I was receiving parents, Mr. Edwin-Sukhamit unexpectedly turned up from Sriracha. Ten years before we had supervised together the Narumol Building. Mr. Edwin wanted to settle in Nakhonratchasima, acquire some property near the school, build a student-hostel and teach at ACN. I knew he was a very good teacher with over ten years of experience. Besides this, he had degrees that allowed him to be headmaster. His visit was a blessing indeed and we soon came to an agreement. His coming turned to be as if a spigot had been opened; a stream of applicants soon came along, former ACS students, Mr. Praphan, Mr. Darun, Mr. Sophon…, and teachers from Isan who had seen our poster in front of the school. At the beginning of May, things started easing off. On May 5, Mr. Edwin was at work. It was a relief and I could turn my attention to other urgent problems. My first priority was to get the authorization to run a school. For the past few weeks, I had tried my best to befriend the local educational officer-suksa amphoe. He was quite obliging and understanding but could do nothing as the school-building was but a forest of wooden piles and scaffolding. In fact, on May 17, the day the school should have opened, I discovered that the blueprint of the building had never been submitted for approval. Putting trust in St. Joseph, I proceeded with my plan though even if contretemps and upheavals came to knock at my door very now and then. On May 18, I had finished preparing the time-tables and programs when I was notified two teachers would not come, the day after another announced he could not make it. So I had to find new people and adjust things to their ability and qualifications. On May 21, Bro. Nookan (Sirinant) reached Nakhonratchima, a genuine Isan son from Nong Khoo and eager to contribute his utmost. The day after, we had the first teachers' meeting ever held at ACN. It lasted nearly two hours. I remember asking the ladies in the group whether they would like to wear a uniform. They declined the offer to reverse their decision three months later.
May 24 was a red-letter day, the opening of the new Assumption school. Many parents accompanied their kids so proud to show their brand new AC apparel. I took the opportunity to say a few words and thank them for their support. The students were told to move to their respective class-rooms, meet their class-teachers and come back on May 29. As the staircase was not yet finished, M.S.1 students were temporarily accommodated in the open hall on the ground floor. It was not until June 23 that all the scaffoldings were removed and the building finally appeared. Now for all practical purposes, ACN was yet an illegal institution. Sometime after we had started teaching, the Provincial Education Officer (Suksa Changwat) came to visit the school and warned the headmaster about our institution. Prathom 4 and 7 kids would not be allowed to sit for the government exams at the end of the year as they would not have completed the required one hundred and eighty days of schooling… Yet, the same officer came to see me on June 27 singing a totally different tune. He had signed the papers and forwarded them to Bangkok and was expecting a prompt answer. What had happened in between, I had no idea. On August 2, Bro. Philip Amnuay, the Provincial Superior, came bringing along the precious documents we had been waiting for so long. Assumption College Nakhonratchasima was allowed to operate as of May 17, 2510 Prathom 4 and 7 students would be able to take their exams and receipts could be released to anxious parents.
Throughout all this, Bro Sirinant and me had to put up at the Rectory. Our quarters were coming up slowly, we needed a cook and a housekeeper. Every morning, we had to make our way to school on our "little hondas", the only means of transportation we had been allowed to acquire, and in the evening, after a long day's work, come back to our temporary nest. It was not until July 15 that I could sleep in a brand new house. Bro. Sirinant had gone on errands to the capital and would bring the cook back, a former Ursuline sister that had been cook at ACC when I was the acting director the year before. He came empty-handed, the lady was sick and would not be available until the end of the month… We had quite a few experiences in our sweet little home. One Sunday morning, as we had gone to church, thieves forced their way in the cook's room by breaking the window. Not much was stolen, not even money and we promptly remedied the problem with an iron frame. They were back one night, it was April 13, and they had guns. We were comfortably locked up in our house when I was awakened by the shouts of the cook who had taken refuge in the toilet. Unharmed and unable to fight started blowing my whistle as strong as I could to frighten the burglars. It worked, thinking that the police was on their heels, they bolted out and disappeared in the night. They Police advised me to be armed though. Henceforth I slept with a gun ready at hand on my night-table, in case… Then one night as I was going to bed, individuals started petting the house with stones. I seized my gun and my flashlight and started shooting. I saw shadows running as fast as they could in different directions, and that was the end of it, they dared not come to attack us yet they found something else. On October 10, 2511, I was at Assumption Sriracha for the burial of Bro. Hilaire. I came back by train from Bangkok and reached the school in the wee hours of October 11 to discover there was no water to take a bath. Thieves had stricken again and removed the motors of our pumps while the guard was sleeping blissfully a few yards away. I kept wondering whether he was in cahoot with them. Later, one morning we had no light. Cables had been removed from the transformer through half way to our house, they were copper cables, the other half were ordinary cables. Who would know about it but those who had installed the system? In both cases, we reported to the Police, apparently they couldn't care less.
Sad events were also out lot. A few months only after we had started, one of our best teachers, Mr. Niphon, started complaining about severe pain at the back which he tried to kill by taking aspirin tablets. To no avail, soon the mal grow worth. He had to be hospitalized and operated of cancer at Chulalongkorn Hospital. The last time I went to see him he want worn to a shadow, yet talking about coming back for the next academic year. He died a few weeks after.
To open a new school, put up a building, enroll students, register teachers, etc… was relatively easy. To create a vision, a mission, a culture and spread it around proved far more difficult. I was soon confronted with two major problems, teachers absenteeism and lack of discipline among the students. It was mostly the same who did turn up in the morning and sometimes disappeared two or three days at a stretch without any previous notice. I had very little room for maneuver though, except stern warning and wait till the end of the year to weed them out. As far as discipline was concerned, I had but one solution if I were to enforce silence, to make sure home-works were given, done, and checked, to teach kids good manners. I must add that I received strong support and much needed help for Bro. Sirinant, Mr. Edwin, most of the teachers especially those who were ACS former students. Alone, I would not have succeeded. After a few months the school was running at its own tempo, everything started falling in place and CAN ended its first year without any further ado. The second academic year started with a number of new faces among the teachers and obviously a number of new students. On June 20, 2511, we were delighted to welcome Bro. Loechai who had just completed his bachelor degree in India. Jovial, enthusiastic he enhanced our daily life by bringing new ideas and suggesting new approaches. To the marvel of many, within one year he could pass the Po Mo test with flying colors. He and Bro. Sirinant made a very effective and efficient team and we could communicate in perfect harmony as both had been my students at Assumption Sriracha. The second semester had started in earnest and I was planning for the next year and even further when in late November I received a letter from Bro. Robert, the acting Provincial Superior. I had been selected along with Bro. Somphong Jirananda to further my studies abroad in view to getting a degree in Business Administration and become part of a new university college that would open in June 2512. Life begins at 40! I was nearly 40 then and offered a complete change of orientation, a pioneering job again. It was a new challenge. Sure enough I couldn't help feeling a little pinch in my heart. The little fledging I had fondly nurtured was growing wings and soon would be ready to fly. Others would take care of it. I convinced myself they would do a good job at it and it is with peace and serenity that at the end of March 2512, I parted from CAN for a new adventure that is still going on.
