Putting down roots across the globe

Duncan Kaiser was a well known Shropshire face for many years. The Broseley-raised adventurer played cricket for his village team, and performed regularly on the local amateur dramatics circuit.

But he’s acting out a totally different new kind of role these days, teaching English in the Thai capital of Bangkok.

Brought up in Broseley, Duncan went to Dark Lane primary and William Brookes secondary in Much Wenlock.

He recalls: “It was a great place to grow up with loads of sport and outdoor stuff to do. I played cricket for Broseley since I was about 11 years old and a lot of football, and used to love bike-riding with my mates all over the town and out into the countryside.

“I also did a lot of acting with Broads, the local Amateur Dramatics Society, appearing in numerous pantomimes and other plays into my 30s.”

Duncan transferred to Abraham Darby Sixth Form in Madeley — where his dad was a teacher — to do his A-levels. After university in Lancashire, he worked briefly back in Shropshire.

But overseas trips to the USA for the 1994 football World Cup, a “big year away” in Asia, and time in Australia and New Zealand fuelled what Duncan described as an “unshakeable wanderlust and a disenchantment with English life in general”.

In 2001 he sat his Tesol (Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages) exam to allow him to combine work with living abroad, and in 2003 landed a teaching job in Bangkok — from which he hasn’t looked back.

He says: “There’s always something odd or interesting going on as you walk about, the weather is fantastic and guaranteed sunny, the people are happy, it’s cheap, the food’s great, and western comforts are easily at hand.”

He adds: “I do miss the green hills, tranquility, and sheer beauty of Shropshire, plus my family and friends of course — that is probably the worst thing about being so far away, actually.

“But it’s a good life here and I’m enjoying myself too much to come back just yet. I am even hoping to start playing cricket again later this year as Bangkok has a fairly decent expat scene so that would be the icing on the cake.

“On top of all this, I recently got engaged to my Thai girlfriend Ae, so the longer I stay, the more roots I seem to be putting down. Scary.”

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