JestersShoes

I've just moved to this side of town and trying to locate a small shop that sells basic supplies for my fish tank.

Nothing fancy, just a few plants, pumps and maybe some food and so on.

I'd really like to not have to go all the way to Chatuchak and if anyone knows of aywhere, I'd be grateful.

Has anyone had any experience actually cancelling?

I've got a set-top box and a dish and moving out of my condo in a month or so. I tried calling them this morning but the lady at the call centre was baffled as to what to do (she said it was her first day) so I've emailed them instead.

It seems like it's going to be one of those frustrating experiences again...

These education reforms are being instigated by a (former) military general. Should a teacher run the army? Would you ask a hairdresser to mend your car?

I did this recently and it was a bit of a hassle, it depends on what you need it for as well.

I managed to do it online through an umbrella company and got a Basic Disclosure certificate, also known as a 'Discovery Scotland' (it's valid for all UK citizens). This is pretty easy to do and requires three bits of ID, such as passport, driving license and something official, recent with an address on. This took about 10 days to arrive in BKK.

I also went to the central Thai police station in BKK and got the Thai certificate - you can find what you need online, but you will also need a letter from your employer requesting this check. I completed the forms and fingerprints then got told to wait. When I asked 'how long?', the officer thought a while and replied 'two weeks!'. He was good to his word.

I believe that if you are in the UK you can go to your local police station and ask them to do a check. I know it's a lot easier if you're in the UK. If you are going to be working as a teacher you can also request the ICPC which I'm no expert on, but I think is straightforward to get.

In the end my new employer (a school) also had something set-up where I filled in an almost identical online form to the Discovery Scotland, the difference being it was requested by them, and I got an Enhanced Disclosure certificate (soft copy, still waiting for hard copy to UK address).

I think if you're in the UK you should go your local police station asap and ask them. I would request the ICPC if I was back as well as anything else I could get.

I'm in a similar boat, but I'm not going to try and transfer the permit over as I imagine that would be really difficult and would take at least four parties to know exactly what they are doing.

My new school seem to be good in getting all the documentation together, my old school have been difficult about cancelling people's work permits in the past. Although they have ended up doing providing a letter, they have done so awkwardly - telling old teachers to collect their letter on a certain day and then not having it ready, generally just being difficult.

I found this link...

http://wp.doe.go.th/wp/images/form/wp_cancellation.pdf

which seems to suggest that a teacher can go to immigration of their own accord and cancel their WP, without a letter from the school.

I'd prefer to do this to avoid any shenanigans with my old school. After that I plan to leave the country and get a new non-B.

Has anyone cancelled their own WP in this manner? Does it work, or would I need to get a letter from my old (difficult) school?

This is working if it doesn't come on TV. Anthems now.

http://www.firstrowsports.eu/watch/63329/1/watch-boxing-:-showtime-ppv-pacquiao-vs-mosley-.html

I have just been on the phone with the lovely people at True Visions. Even in HD, the commentary will be in Thai. There will be no choice. It is possible on the terrestrial channels, 1-5, that there might, just might be commentary in English.

As a long time listener of BBC 5 Live online, what normally happens is that less than premium events (such as England Vs Bangladesh in cricket) are broadcast internationally. When a premium event takes place, e.g. big football, rugby, cricket match, they do not broadcast internationally. To illustrate this point - I recently listened to every round of the 20/20 World Cup up to and including the semi-final. However, the final was not broadcast.

Last world cup, many bars had the South African or Indian feed which had English commentary although I think this is pricey to install at home.

We can't do anything else than put up with the monopoly power of True Visions. If there was any other choice, I'd change like a flash!

As he made his way gingerly through the chaos of the morning traffic on the Bangkok sidewalk something unusual captured his attention.

Through the cacophony of idle chatter, bugling horns, angry engines and sea of Thai faces there could be no doubt, an unmistakable solitary white face was approaching.

Panic ! Utter, complete and pure panic overcame him and he attempted to swallow but his mouth was suddenly dry and desolate .. this couldn't be happening, this was his place, his place only.

His eyes bulged in terror as they locked onto the rapidly approaching ivory demon whose face seemed to be glowing like a beacon of the gods.

His world stood still like a scene from 'the Matrix' and his senses distorted as though under the influence of some strong mind bending mushrooms.

He fruitlessly attempted to alter his potential collision course but his limbs would not respond and he could feel he had now developed a loping, ambling gait as though he were a dog with distemper.

Loathing, abhorrence and disgust overwhelmed him as an unnatural repulsion pushed him away from the other farang and right to the very edge of the sidewalk and then suddenly the outlander was almost upon him.

As he fell away from the sidewalk he could hear the sickening crunching noise of his body against the stationary motorcycle he had fallen into and the shocked exclamations from the locals nearby.

The black tarmac of the road rushed up to greet him in a macabre, lurid embrace, the boa and the piglet.

Through his confused vision and hypnotized state from the ground he now lay upon he caught no clear view of the strangers face and then as quickly as he had come he had also gone, just a swathe of thick blond hair on the back of a head atop a pair of broad shoulders receding into the distance, a curtain of bodies closing behind him.

Helping Thai hands reached down to usher him up from his foundering position and he slowly ascended like a phoenix from the ashes.

Although battered and bruised, a barely perceptible sly smile crept across his face with the victorious and triumphant realization of his lack of acknowledgment of the now long gone white faced stranger, parity had been restored and he was lord of his manor once more.

As calmness came over him, his shoulders suddenly slumped in disdain as he now realized he had soiled his underwear !

A warm feeling came over the Bangkok 'old timer' as he exhaled deeply and finally vented his spleen in a dark, safe recess of the forum.

He came here seeking acceptance, he came here seeking approval, he came here seeking recognition from his fellow cyber brothers and sisters that was patently lacking from within the nouveau forum generation and also the Bangkok streets in the real world around him.

They slowly came one by one, post by post, members of the 'old skool', the ones he had known since the beginning of his time within the Thai cyberscene ... they would understand him, they would support and nurture him, they would expunge his insecurities and give him the cyberlove he so badly needed.

The chatter of agreement grew like the noise from a growing pack of hyenas around a carcass, and as the momentum of the group increased, he wrapped his arms around himself and slowly swayed to and fro on the edge of his sofa, a soft sucking, clucking sound came from his mouth, like the sound you would hear from someone who has just taken their first gulp from an ice cold, refreshing glass of 'weizen beer' on a hot, humid, steamy day.

His confidence increased with the corresponding approval and now nodding, he quietly spoke to himself, "new ones you will listen, new ones you will learn, new ones you will conform".

He had consciously omitted to use the word 'newbie' as it sounded crass and vulgar, and after all, he was a man of class, he was a man who deserved recognition.

His kettle shrieked in the kitchen like a wild banshee, smarting him from his fantasy, and he smiled broadly as he strode purposely towards his pack of noodles he was about to prepare.

This was now going to be a delicious meal indeed !

The euphoria and adrenaline from just those few short days before had been replaced by a feeling of impending dread as the noose tightened around his proverbial neck.

Where there was noise and excitement, rush and thrill was now silence and solitude with only the monotonous drip from from the cracked shower head that chimed in beat with his thumping heart.

Visions of cruel, contorted, leering, sneering, evil, feral like faces clouded his mind as he desperately closed his weary eyelids ... marching through the burning streets he would be paraded, reviled, humiliated and spat at before the executioner would wield his final fanfare.

Hung, drawn and quartered to the crescendo of the baying crowd, and even as the remnants of his twitching body lay in ruin amongst his steaming crimson blood, his head would be impaled and positioned above the gates for all to see.

A message of gravity and solemnity !

The forum hath bespoke ... amen !

Always pay your electricity bills on time

Ive got a needle, some cotton, potassium permanganate and a condom ... Im prepared for the worst !

Frustrated by his impotence and lack of voice and influence within Thai society the farang turns to his only known outlet ... the forum.

Here, he can stand on his very own cyber soapbox and offload his steaming, pentup opinions with venom and vitriole amongst his fellow farang ... verbally lashing out from behind the safety of his double bolted bedsit doors, the only casualties here are his computer screen, from his ejaculated fetid spittle, and his keyboard as his pidgeon pecking stubby fingers dance angrily across the tabs !

Years of silence and deaf ears are unleashed and 'Bob the builder' is now Thailands Guru within his very own cyber community ... he is the leading light, the path to righteousness, he is the way, he is 'da man' ... !

Delusions of grandeur rise within his world as quickly as the the water in a sinking ship and soon he is pontificating and obfuscating to all and sundry .. the collateral damage is high amongst the other members of the forum as they are exposed to his tirade ... his inner demons are released and as he rises to the point of a virtual cyber orgasm, his screen goes blank and his room dark.

"WE CANNOT WORK THIS WAY !" he screams in fury ... "I AM A FARANG !"

But silence is all that answers him ... he has forgotten to pay his electricity bill again and standing in his off white baggy underwear, amid a growing pool of his own sweat, he looks across at his shadow upon the opposite wall .. a stooped bent stick like figure with rotund belly greets him and his head then drops as he whispers quietly this time ... "but I am a farang ...!"