Gordon is the head teacher, the “face” of The English Centre, Hua Hin, an English language school which aims to develop competence in written and spoken English as well as the confidence to use English to successfully communicate in a wide variety of settings, both educational and in daily life. Gordon knows that mastery of English language has the capacity to improve the lives of his students, whether they are child or adult learners, and The English Centre caters to their diverse needs.

Gordon is the first to admit that as a business man, he makes a great teacher! You can attend a group hour-long class for as little as 100 baht, which is a fraction of the price charged by other English schools in Thailand and indeed in Hua Hin. For Gordon, taking a leading role in English language education is not a mere job.  It is his vocation, his calling, and although in less than a decade he would be expected to retire, this isn’t likely to happen, because The English Centre is at the very core of how he sees himself, and he certainly is more teacher than business-savvy, so he had better keep buying those lottery tickets if he wants to stop working! Luckily some people chose private lessons for themselves or their children, so that Gordon is able to ensure the bills are paid. The term for what Gordon Shepherd does is altruism; he places the needs of others above his personal needs, and certainly above any mere wants he might have.

Denying that he has a bucket-list, Gordon, a real chatterbox for someone who claims to be quite private and a functional introvert, went on to explain that he would “like to travel more”, with Sri Lanka and India high on the list and not-so-many hours away from Thailand, but these aspirations are not a priority.  A lottery win would see Gordon purchasing all the things on the wish-list of items for the school rather than spending money on himself.  Indeed, at one point Gordon converted a small room at one school where he worked and actually lived on-site.  That is either a mark of total dedication or foolhardiness: the reader may decide.

The possibility that he would live and educate in Thailand would never have crossed the mind of the young Gordon Shepherd, who was born and raised in Blairgowrie, Scotland, a small town with a current population of roughly 10,000 people. Gordon’s mother was a nurse, and his father, now sadly deceased, was a lorry driver.  Gordon lived with his parents and younger sister on a berry farm outside town until he was 13 years old and now knows they were quite poor, though as a child this wasn’t immediately apparent to him.  One of Gordon’s favourite childhood recollections is of the Christmas he and his sister received matching hobby-horses as gifts and had a magical time playing together with them, galloping as far and as fast as their imaginations could carry them.  It was only many years later that Gordon appreciated that his mother had cobbled these together from broom handles and pieces of offcut timber she could source at low cost, because money for store-bought gifts was not available.  Gordon smiled recounting she must have worked well into the evenings after the children’s bedtime to lovingly craft what were precious gifts, the most precious being her time and effort so the children didn’t go without.

It is no mere flight-of-fancy then to attribute Gordon’s dedication to his students and staff as having been modelled to him by his mother, still living in Scotland at the age of 85. Gordon does wish he had both the time and the money to visit his family and friends in the UK more often.  It is a long time, 5 years now, since he had more than a Facebook video chat with his mother, a fact he does regret. But The English Centre struggled with Covid like other businesses, though the education sector was arguable hit even harder and longer than most.  Meeting his responsibility to his staff and utility company hungrily ate into Gordon’s travel savings.

In fact, Gordon’s path to becoming a teacher was neither short, nor direct. Although his personal mantra is “Never Give Up”, Gordon had no alternative but to abandon his plan to attend art college after school when it became apparent many other applicants were more talented than he was, and more deserving of the limited number of places.  He had a brief flirtation with the motor sales industry, as he is a car enthusiast, but soon realised this was not the best career path for him, so returned to study to become a primary school teacher. Although he is now adept in adult education as well, teaching children will always be Gordon’s most fulfilling work, since children have such an engaging directness, lacking the filter of societal expectation and indeed politeness at times.

So, Gordon arrived in Thailand, via Tokyo, in 2009 and made his way first to live in Prachuapkhirikhan township first, where he was involved in an English school for 6 years, building up the business before moving to Hua Hin in 2015, mainly for the added convenience that its thriving expat community, and attendant businesses, could provide. Gordon is hoping to see further development in Hua Hin, particularly in the range of activities and services geared to the needs of young people.  Hua Hin is portrayed as a really “family-friendly” place, yet apart from a skate-park and the water-park, facilities to keep kids gainfully entertained are sorely lacking. 

For The English Centre to achieve its deserved recognition for the great job it does as a cost-effective and dynamic educational institution is Gordon’s greatest hope for the future.  He remains in lifelong pursuit of learning himself.  However, it is not always easy to maintain a positive outlook for the future when it seems that our world “could be going to hell in a handbasket”, a justifiable fear held by a growing number of people in countries all around the world. One factor that Gordon believes is having a negative impact on society is the over-reliance of some on all the myriad forms of social media. Indeed, although Gordon uses Facebook for business and communication purposes, and prefers Youtube and Rumble for entertainment over traditional broadcast media, he eschews X (formerly Twitter) and TikTok.

Gordon acknowledges he is perhaps too much of a giver, a “people-pleaser”, as he finds himself reluctant, or even incapable of saying a firm “No” in many situations, which has resulted in some people taking advantage of his good nature.  Gordon is a very amiable, easy-going friend and companion, though his lack of uncommitted time means his circle of friends is small and his best friend complains of him being too distant.

A self-confessed workaholic, where others might wind down with a drink with some mates, for Gordon, this is a solitary pursuit, accompanied by a family sized bottle of Pepsi Max, a bar of dark chocolate, and his guilty pleasure – a bag of salt and vinegar crisps. As a proud Scotsman, a regular bottle of Heinz malt vinegar is a splurge, to accompany his fish and chips. Nothing else is acceptable. Gordon is also enormously fond of steak and onions, with mashed potato and turnips, which are particularly difficult to source in Hua Hin, and outrageously expensive compared to Scotland.