costas

www.weather.com

97 degrees in Udon today anyone know the temp in Loie?

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weather in Loei

35C with 39% humidity and an east wind of 5 km/h

sorry i dont do imperial

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Thats 95 so two degrees cooler

Do you have any idea what the winter lows are?

Thanks that help to understand a little better what cooler in Loei is.

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you'll find that the lows have to do with early morning / late night temps rather than whats happening during the day

allegedly on the nearby mountains they have recorded the lowest ever for Thailand

maybe 1C if i remember.

In town though during january we had repeatedly about or slightly below 10-15 (when i was awake)

put it this way, from my experience you need (for about a couple of hours evry night) a douvet similar on weight/strength (TOGs i think they are called) to what i was using in england in November

i have put a link in my website monitoring the weather and i am pretty sure you can find similar things with a sort of archive of highs/;lows etc

hope it helps

costas

edit:

current: 35C, 41%, 3 km/h feelsl like 38.

check my site when the sun goes well down and you'll probably get a feel

97 degrees in Udon today anyone know the temp in Loie?

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weather in Loei

35C with 39% humidity and an east wind of 5 km/h

sorry i dont do imperial

Costas,

understand your cravings. From time to time you can find some in the Emporium.

Last time I saw it, I bought up their whole stock. 

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i am eternally in your debt Sir

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I'll remind you about that when we fight over the available stock

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Sir,

in debt i might be but am also desperate! i'll fight you for it, win, and then be in debt again

tried the stuff from one foodland and was NOT edible, not from Soi 5 though....

Thank you gentlemen, this promises to be the best trip to Bkk ever

(and the icebox the biggest i can carry!)

cheers

costas

Costas,

understand your cravings. From time to time you can find some in the Emporium.

Last time I saw it, I bought up their whole stock. 

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i am eternally in your debt Sir

hello,

the cheese withdrawal symptoms are just getting to me, so i am of to bkk to do some shopping...

Big question is,

has anyone, anywhere, in Bkk seen feta cheese for sale?

And please i dont mean the Thai or the Danish stuff

any help will help save a life, just tell me where you saw it, and i'll handle the rest!

cheers in anticipation

costas

I have to admit it. I have worked with some western teachers, who truly enjoyed PO the Thai offenders.. So they stuck it to them and left. straight up... Satisfaction. unprofessionalism..  And the  ACT of being right.   No one likes to pick up the slack after all this.

Contacts.. Do have to agree guideline.. the English version, does not reflect the Thai version, a clause is left out, like medical insurance.. it is all part of it.

  SO.. Find the acceptance solution do. and leave in peace.

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I appreciate what you say,

surely though when i have agreed to a given set of conditions and that set changes I am entitled to change my decision of joining, stating why I do so, am I not?

True enough, fighting will do nothing for the situation

and i would like to think that we parted in peace [with myself thinking "do contracts mean anything in this f@cking school" and them thinking "why does he want holidays if he's paid so much more than us the greedy bastard"]

be well

costas

Re Loei

Do you get the high humidity in the Loei  area as most of Thailand does?

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i live in the town, and the situation , as Gary says, is much more tolerable than any other places i have visited/been. definetely less humidity and more cool weather, however the temps are supposed to soar to higher-than-rest-of-Thailand levels during April....hasn't started yet though :-)

How long is a piece of string? It all depends on what makes you happy. I live in the boonies in Loei province and love it here. A friend of mine lives in Korat and loves it there. Another lives in Bangkok and a number of them in Jomtien Beach and Pattaya. If you want a good mix of everything I would say Udon Thani is the place for you. Farang shopping centers, nightlife and a lot of other farangs. Nong Kai would rate fairly high also.

I'm a country boy and never got used to the cities. I don't need farang food or shopping centers. In fact Loei city has discouraged companies like Tesco Lotus and Macro from even coming in. They don't want to harm the smaller businesses. I would like to see a big chain come in but I can do just fine without it too. Udon is not that far away and makes for a day trip if I am in desperate need of something I can't get right here. 

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i hate to spoil the fun but a massive monstrosity is being built, allegedly to become a Tesco Lotus (as i was reliably informed by the owners' son, one of my superlative students....)

on the plus side, we might get some cheese

Loei is not a bad place to be, especially living slightly out

So how long did it take you to do the work? Would you like more work at that rate or do you feel it wasn't worth your time? You didn't say whether you were running an on-line spell checker for the guy or reading handwritten manuscripts or typewritten hardcopy.

I did a little of this while in grad school (for free!) for friends who were international students and I can attest to the 'end up rewriting it' statement. It took more work than I figured and they were less happy when we were done than they should have been (due to discovering that they weren't clear in their thinking let alone their writing)

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si,

it took two and a half hours,

no editing, just checking for typos etc...What i worked with was a hard copy, and although i think it was reasonable money for what i have done (i live in poverty stricken Loei afterall, having lost my 'well paid job'....) i mentioned that any further work along those lines would have to be @ 100bht / page, while if i actually have to start:

- contributing word options or

- even to the slightest altering,

it'll jump to 300...

the only ones i will do for free are abstracts for my wife's publications....

as for whether they were happy, well time - and future offers- will tell......

cheers

costas

That's why I said NORMAL English with no specialized topic for 100B/page... if you have to know how to talk (correctly) about the stress/strain relationships in building foundations, obviously you should be charging more.

Sheesh.

"Steven"

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excellent, i went the undercharging way then........

40 pages of a phd thesis doing just the spellcheck and no editing (not my field)

for 2000 baht....

i should have waited really should n't I?

thanks all,

i have made one Thai candidate doctor a very happy man indeed....

costas

hi all,

can someone please tell me where this has been discussed before?

i remember seeing it but my searches show nothing...

or any info on ranges of rates for such a task would be appreciated...

cheers

costas

hi all,

i have a 3 month contract ending march 30th, and the school asked for renewal.

i enquired whether everything would be ask discussed and agreed upon in december when i initially got the job i.e. salary, how many holidays and when etc

only to be told that they will offer me a 12 month contract but only 11 months pay!

the alternative i was offered when i told them (politely) to stuff it and stick with the agreement, was to: work during my holidays and get paid by the hour instead of my monthly salary....

my reaction was pretty much the same, stick with the deal or you loose a teacher...

to this they replied that another meeting amongst themselves must be held, and they will let me know...

so yesterday they did, saying that we will not work together next term....

and i was not alone...!! over the same dispute/negotiation they have managed to loose all 3 of the foreigners they had   

.....but i do wonder...

is this f@cking normal practice or was i just unlucky dealing with a batch of incompetant idiots considering that i do not even need the contract to stay in the country as i am married?

any comments welcomed

costas

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Pretty sad when an English teacher doesn't know the difference between the words lose and loose. It's obviously not a typo either.

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Well done Mr f@cking Sherlock ,

luckily this incompetence of mine that you highlighted, as if it was the important part of my message begging for a comment, did not stop me from getting a BSc, an MSc and a PhD from English Univerisities .

Also, mr arrogant poster with too much time on your hands, may i enquire where from did you deduce in your infinite wisdom that i am an English teacher? Alas, I am not, I am a mathematics teacher, and since English is not my first language but my third (how is you third language btw?) GET A LIFE .

costas

If you had a three month contract that expired on 30 March, that's that.  If they won't give you another contract, then you're unemployed as of 30 March, I guess.

Yes, some Thai schools are run by incompetent. lazy, ignorant idiots.  By the way, some simply don't negotiate (as in your case, apparently).  They make one (absurd) offer, and that's all, take it or leave it.  Or in your case, two offers that sounded absurd.

You could have taken 11 months pay for 11 months work, but you choose not to.  Fine; I don't blame you.

Find work elsewhere.  Find a school that promises you a 12-month contract.  Ask, "When the f##k will I receive a counter-signed copy of this contract?"  I say that because I never got 2 out of the 3 contracts.

I think this is more or less common with incompetent, etc. idiots.  Go elsewhere.  It takes 2 to 5 bad experiences before you finally find a school that might appreciate you and treat you more kindly than they treat illegal Burmese immigrants.

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cheers blondie,

indeed i could have taken it, had i not been promised face to face all the little details (holidays, pay during non teaching months, etc)

i suppose it did not go down well , when i told them that if they dont honour their word then i dont want to work for liars.....but its true!

let us see what the future holds, i am just amazed that they would rather lose ALL their foreigners over something so obviously wrong on their part.....

costas

If your contract is legalized (by the presence of a work permit, teacher's license and work permit extension- see the Red Tape thread for more details), then it is a legal agreement which can be enforced.

Most contracts with Thai schools don't make it this far.  Until that point, it has no legal value and is worth no more than the paper it's printed on- (or less, you could re-use paper if it were blank).

It is pretty normal procedure to screw around with employees even when the contract is spelled out and legal, so with no legal protection you're pretty much down the creek without a paddle.  Your choices are to take it or leave it.

Next time insist on proper paperwork and WP before you begin work- it'll take longer to get a job, but it'll be a real job when you get it.

"Steven"

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hi IJWT,

thanks for your reply,

yes i was thoroughly legal, all the trimmings, signature of the governor of the province, work permit, extension of stay based on that etc

But this contract finishes end of the month and we had to talk about extending it for another year, to which they offered what i described above...

indeed as you said, it was 'a take it or leave it' offer "sign for 12 get paid 11", as it proved out, but with all the legals still on!

anyway, i think its time to be unemployed for a while till a proper employer appears (kind of difficult in Loei...)

cheers

costas

hi all,

i have a 3 month contract ending march 30th, and the school asked for renewal.

i enquired whether everything would be ask discussed and agreed upon in december when i initially got the job i.e. salary, how many holidays and when etc

only to be told that they will offer me a 12 month contract but only 11 months pay!

the alternative i was offered when i told them (politely) to stuff it and stick with the agreement, was to: work during my holidays and get paid by the hour instead of my monthly salary....

my reaction was pretty much the same, stick with the deal or you loose a teacher...

to this they replied that another meeting amongst themselves must be held, and they will let me know...

so yesterday they did, saying that we will not work together next term....

and i was not alone...!! over the same dispute/negotiation they have managed to loose all 3 of the foreigners they had

.....but i do wonder...

is this f@cking normal practice or was i just unlucky dealing with a batch of incompetant idiots considering that i do not even need the contract to stay in the country as i am married?

any comments welcomed

costas

Good idea.  But now you have to keep the wife happy.

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oh aye...

considering that i'll have to live on her income if i have to drop the school!

thankfully, my plans are met with 100% support

thanks again

costas

thank you Mr lop

i'll probably be having employment as well as the money,

its just that my school just used the visa extension issue to blackmail two other ajarns (not married) into working during the holidays paid by the hour instead of the salary they were contracted with ,

so i'd like to be able to leave the school at a drop of a hat.

To my knowledge, if i just leave them, they'd cancell the work permit, thus cancelling the underlying visa, so i am opting for the extension of stay based on marriage....more paperwork but peace of mind at the end of it i think....any valuable comments on this?

cheers costas

Hi all,

a quick question, to which i could not find a definite answer in my searches.

I am extending my non-O, and although the first time i did based on employment, now i will do based on marriage.

I understand i must produce evidence of 400k in the bank in my name, and a letter from the bank to this effect, along of course with a series of other douments.

Question is: where does this money need to come from?

Wife an I have saved enough not to need to bring the whole amount from abroad. Say i have 200k in the bank already. Do i need to bring the whole amount in or can i just 'top -it' and include money earned in LOS?

any answers appreciated

cheers

costas

Thank you all

i appreciate a lot all the input!

havent bought the car yet, still the toyotas to look at...

as i said, being totally ignorant of cars, i thought that second hand would not be an option worth investigating, i'd be ripped of in a heartbeat

as for small cars definetely in the run, but unfortunately my size would not allow them to be too small ... so, the money goes up....

PS. is it true that the Ford i am eyeing drinks double than the equivalent isuzu / totyota/ chevy? thats what my maths suggest but i'd love an informed opinion...

cheers

costas

Thanks ,

i know it sounds silly but since

a. i'll only doing 20 km a day on a flat straight line

b.i'll only be going locally for WE trips, i.e not major journeys involved

c. i could not care less about how better a model i dont really need is

and most importantly

d. i'll be paying as a Thai,

i.e itsnot a visit to the shop with cash in pocket (as i dont have any)

but over 4 years, it would appear that for 650k (ish) i'll probably be getting something that will do my job.

i know that most will laugh at the notion of trying to get something 100-150k cheaper but i just dont have it at the moment.....

as long of course as the car is not an established mankiller that has a history of breaking down every 20 minutes or something

thanks again and keep the opinions coming, i wont be buying till the weekend

costas

well, here it is,

i know nothing about cars, and i need one.

from those i've seen (all pick-ups) i can understand on no major differences, or at least none that would affect the intended uses of the car (commuting to and from work, occasional weekend trip)

The most convenient , financially, servicewise, etc seems to be the Ford HiRider

2.5, auto, with all the trimmings

but is it worth it?

anyone with first hand experience or valuable opinions to throw at me please?

cheers

costas

Thank you all,

i feel i have a better idea now of how to handle things

cheers

costas

Hi Costas,

Regarding the fees you can charge, I normally charge 200 baht per student/hour. Seeing that you have 4-5 students thet will give you 800 to 1000 baht an hour. This rate is what I charge in Bangkok. You can reduce the price to what you think the Students can afford.

Good Luck.

Tas.

Hi Tas,

this is very useful information,

thank you very much

costas

...and the rate you charge, silly me!

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Thanks for that,

what i would like though i not to ask for something silly in terms of their capability to pay me.

i might want 1000/head/hour but i think that would be unrealistic....

thats why i ask for other peoples 'range' of charging etc...

cheers

costas