spiderleghead

Its been raining non stop in samui today , and heavy rain as well , many mountain roads turned into rivers !

i remember it was like that 4 (maybe 5) christmases ago

honda fino? thought they made scoopy...

Does any of the media have a concise map of where has been and where else is likely to be inundated? I know that the situation can change by the hour, but presumably the BMA has some reports somewhere that can give an hour by hour picture.

now that would be logical

The writer makes some good points. Overcrowding, antiquated teaching methods and poorly trained teachers are some of the big problems in the schools. The "no-fail" policy is another, but is inextricably linked to the culture of "losing face" on both the part of the school and the student, and the overcrowding problem.

However, I think the writer ignores one of the biggest problems with big budget education reform programs: corruption, which is rampant among the educational administrators in Thailand. Spending more money doesn't do any good, if it just lines the pockets of administrators.

With respect to the English as a second language declaration, while it is true that the proposal to recruit retired teachers from America got a poor reception from current TEFLers in Thailand, let's face the facts: why would any U.S. retired teacher travel 8,000-10,000 miles to work in overcrowded, under-resourced, poorly managed schools, for under $1,000 per month? It's just not going to happen.

thank you - a voice of reason.

where was the place you stayed? going there and 600 baht sounds reasonable

Got the ferry from the largest pier in Sriratcha.

We paid 600b for a nice bungalow, and rented a honda wave for about 200 a day. Nice for a 2 day break.

so...

30,000 baht? try 8,000 baht - that is the starting salary of a junior teacher, even those in profitable private schools get no more than 10,000 - some assigned to some Mattayom classes.

When I was teaching 8 years ago the highest salary in the private school was 15,000 baht, yet the mercs would roll up in the morning to drop off their kids, says it all really.

You and your co-workers were being scammed. The rate of pay in a government school for Thai teachers is about 17,000 baht.

it really isn't. minimum is 8000, a guy in my office is only getting 9000 baht. where did you get your information about salary from? when the teacher has been a government teacher for many years their salary can creap up to thi level sure, but at the start the get as little as 8k

Thai schools in no ways can afford native English speaker or qualified teacher.

Just take a look at Eng language institute on BKK CBD area.

25000 B for 20 hrs chit chat with foreigners who speak eng.

It's 50000+ B/semester for a good international school where your children can learn/speak eng whereas 300 B(or free) gov school.

..... you can expect the result.

Out here in the sticks they pay Filipinos (with teaching degree) who speak decent English 300 baht per hour. English nationals 450 per hour. They have 40 kids per class P 1 - P 6. The teachers work between 20 and 30 hours a week. Most government schools seem to be able to afford one native speaker Englishman or two Filipinos. The Filipinos who can't speak English at all seem to work at the private schools.

No Thai assistant teachers. That's for inexperienced teachers who don't speak Thai.

Thanks for info.

1 per 40 mean each student has 15 min a day to actually speak English.

That's not gonna help much.

Yea I have been thru that before !

my school charges the students 8000 baht per semester for the benefit of native speakers, this equates to 12 million baht per year, out salary mounts up to 1.4 million baht per year. do the math

As a lot of sineage and product information is also in English it would make sense to make it the 2nd language, however, before declaration English teaching needs to be re-thought. I find a lot of children can speak a little although not with confidence,but when it comes to the words meaning "can you show me.......?" they have not a clue. My only conclusion is that the method teaching is not what it should be,

The proposed 2nd language regulations would have no impact on the teaching of younger children, as they would continue to be taught by Thai speakers, albeit there is a requirement that they hold a degree in English (a lot of difference that would make, considering the poor level of English skills amongst grads of Thai university English programs). The 2nd language regs focus on upper mathayom students (M4-6) mandating that they be taught by NES.

The problem they have run into is that the TCT has queered up the certification process for foreign teachers. They could have an adequate pool of good teachers for the 2nd language program, but the TCT is determined to extract money from the foreigner teachers (and enriching certain programs connected with Burapha U. which is well-represented in the TCT). Hence, they have created a licensing exam that is nearly impossible to pass, and bears no resemblance to the skills needed for TESL teachers, with the only alternative being to pay for 15 units of university work towards an education degree (and, hence, the enrichment of Burapha and the programs it certifies).

The TCT has indicated in its deliberations that it doesn't care if good foreign teachers are chased out of the country because they can't afford to meet the educational requirements, as there is a steady stream of backpackers who will be granted waivers to teach for a year in Thailand. Hence, as I indicated in the other thread on this topic, the TCT is at cross-purposes with the MOE on this issue. The TCT has no interest in actually increasing the quality of foreign teachers, it is only interested in lining the pockets of its members and connected organizations. TIT!

Thank you for a voice of reason. My school is expanding the foreign language department at the moment. But it is more concerned with the money it generates rather then the impact it has on the students. My only fear is that, as with my school, the extra money granted by the government will only serve to line the pockets of the owners of the schools, and not go to pay the teachers who are actually working their asses off and fighting the losing battle that is educating the students in the schools.

it is very strange, a spectacle, but really isn't it up to them if they want to do it? it is their belief system let them maim or kill themselves if they want to.

When I picked up a copy of the PG at my local mart yesterday, the owner turned the paper over and told me he couldn't bear to look at the image of the guy with these multi knife piercings. He said 'for what? at least 3 or 4 people die at this festival every year and he'd told his son eating vegetarian was a good thing, but not this'.

I've heard many Thais say the same thing, and that the festival participants self inflicted injuries get worse every year.

Maybe it's got to the point where tourists are made aware of the life time scarring/deaths gathering apace every year and stop them from going to this spectacle. Much as they stopped attending bear baiting/dog/cock fighting 'events' in the past.

around 1.30 this morning very F****ing loud explosion in area of rama 6 road, Dusit, just the bang then no following noise of emergency vehicles or anything

For those wishing to help the school, this is on NorthEastern University's Campus Outreach website:

You can pray for the NEU team and ministry by choosing the "Prayer Requests" link on the navigation menu.

http://thailand.camp...university-neu-

There are a lot of Christian fundamentalist farang staff there at the university, such as:

Marc and Sherry Lewis are Georgia (USA) natives who love Jesus and the great commission. Marc's campus focus is on the Northeastern University campus in Khon Kaen. The staff team at NEU spend the majority of their time building friendships with students in order to share the gospel with them, lead them to Christ, establish them in their faith and train them to be multiplying disciples. God has begun a good work at NEU that is only the beginning and foundation of what is to come.

<deleted>??? this is crazy, muslims in the south, christians in the north, here i am stuck in the middle with jews

George Orwell 1984?

very well put

I find it odd, that the "bomb" has been described so quickly and a cute little illustration has even been provided. The Thai police must certainly have some cutting edge technology and great expertise since they have delivered a decisive conclusion in a shorter time period than other more experienced agencies do. Yes, the damage may be consistent with a bomb. However, a complete reliable conclusion takes weeks even where there is a lot of evidence. Samples have to be taken and analyzed and that takes time. It doesn't matter who it is, the determining factor is time.

This is quite an impressive feat. looks like Thailand is now the only country in the world that can analyze data from an incident like this in near real time. Quite an accomplishment.

yes i am very impressed that they have managed to re-create (better than CSI) the events immediately before the "bomb" exploded. i want to know who their phorensic officer is and buy him/her a sandwich

By all means, let's drive out the cheap hotels and guesthouses so that customers are forced into the more expensive places. Why let rooms be rented for 500 baht per night when 2,000 should be possible? This will certainly increase the profits of the few, thereby benefiting tourism in Thailand, and indeed, throughout SE Asia over the long run.

are you being sarcastic?

without the cheaper rooms the money that is payed just lines the pockets of the already ample rich people of this country. at least with the cheaper less nice venues, some local people actually make some cash. and it is up to the tourist who wants to stay to look at the place and decide for themselves.

this is amazing, only mentally impared will qualify for the liscence

bit late now

Perhaps now the owner of the building will take the trouble to track who is actually renting rooms in his properties. The original report says he didn't know who was renting it! Well, he doesn't want to admit that he knows at least.

it's clear that someone is responsible. said someone somewhere, blah blah blah.

monks can be married before teh go into the temple. yes it does seem odd, but then TIT.

Since when did Monks have Wives, or is this a case of Some Pigs are more equal than others.I'm Shocked.?.

do you not realise that this country has come so far so fast, but now is actually falling backwards. i think taksin is a greedy self fulfilling cock, but at least he got things done.

this current game is something i would see whilst teaching - small children fighting over the last sala pow or something.

THIS IS THAILAND. Don't like, then go home.

average income of a civil servant is what? civil servants include teachers right? and the salary of a goverment teacher starts at aroung 9,000 baht. so who the f*** is getting the superhigh salaries to make the average so high?

oh yes, sorry i forgot, corruption = high salary for low labour quality and a nice suit.

<deleted>? hope they are ok.

blah blah blah, yes i am important and have something to say, listen to me, blah blah blah, assassination is new word for me, don't know myself, violence blah blah, fish sauce bombs, blah blah, not problems with my car, blah blah.

Deputy Prime Minister for Security Affairs Suthep Thaugsuban admits receiving there are reports of possible assassination to be attempted on important figures but no report of anticipating violence in the upcoming opposition rallies during the upcoming red-shirt rallies on 19 September.

Can someone translate this into English for me?

if you no give me somtan i make big boom in flying ship

Does anyone know what the message said?

Great question. They seem to holding this back.

norwegian man in nordic residence. this is scripted?