Tarragona

^ Sob....poor us huh???

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Traffic's great though, isn't it?

I'm in a private university that was closed Saturday and we worked on Monday.

I'm sure my spouse would expect a dowry, but then I'm equally sure she would give it back to the happy couple (which is what I would insist on in any case).

If I come here, raise a family, pay taxes, and buy a house/car/whatever, then this is my HOME and I have every right to have my voice heard in MY new country.

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I still don't see what you've done/are doing that is so productive and having an impact. If you're talking about trying to bring up a family and build a home based on decent values, fair enough, but I don't think that makes you different from many others here.

And I don't get how hobnobbing with the hi-so and movie stars is relevant to that.

I can see a lot of sense in the OP, but then when you try and apply it to your own experience you seem to lose your way

Many of us (including myself) come from poor backgrounds and we probably never really got a fair shake in our home countries. We certainly didn't have much of a shot at making an impact on a national or HISTORICAL level.

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So, you're "hanging out" with MPs and "tutoring" movie actresses - but what is the national or historical impact you think you're having?

How ofton are the new 'Definition' files posted for these free AntiVirus utilities?

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AVG updates almost every day.

Man, I think you are worrying too much.

Agreed.

Your daughter is doing fine with what she's getting. For her, English is one of her first languages - it's not being acquired as a second language. Rather than trying to organize classes by abilities, what she might benefit from is playing and being with other kids who have English as a first language - though if they have a Thai parent the kids themselves might choose Thai. You can get together with other parents to work that out.

it's a common knowledge that it is the best to learn languages starting from the early ages.

That's not necessarily true. A little bit later than nursery age is regarded as better for second/foreign languages, especially if there's limited exposure to the language.

I dont think robins would survive the heat over there, they are really winter birds.  It may be a sparrowy thing.

I never seen robins in Thailand but I'm sure they survive the heat not the coldness.

Robins are pretty common in Thailand. They're black and white here though. http://thailandbirding.com/gallery-jorge/m...agpie-robin.htm

if you have a work permit and show them this or your tax card you will get into the national parks for the same price as Thais.

Going into a park in Chantaburi a while back they weren't interested in the work permit but the tax card did the trick.

Thanks Pat, I'm with BB and didn't know about that.

I would like to change to Nationwide but have found it impossible to open an account with ANY bank in UK without a personal visit.

Any one here managed it ?

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Not yet.

I emailed Nationwide and they told me it would be possible. I went through the process, sent them the documents and then they asked me to go in person with some more documents.

Pat, does the Barclays thing affect Barclaycard Visa or just the Connect cards related to an account?

Avoid Samut Prakan hospital.

Try Samrong Hospital.

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Agree about SP hospital.

Samrong is private.

Drove past today - Prakan Cable, towards the Paknam end of Srinakarin, pretty well opposite Baan Chaliang.

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Is the service only for that area of Bangkok?

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I think so. I'd guess they're just a local operator.

Drove past today - Prakan Cable, towards the Paknam end of Srinakarin, pretty well opposite Baan Chaliang.

So Brit, you have never noticed the racist attitude of some light skinned Thais towards their darker skinned Issan brothers and sisters?

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In the film, it was Issan people teasing other Issan people. The whole film was done in Issan dialect and had Thai subtitles. While the topic of Thais and racism is an interesting one, the film in question does not provide any basis for the discussion.

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Perhaps your method of evaluating the racism in the film is flawed. First...it is possible for someone to have negative racist attitudes towards their own race...it manifests as an inferiority complex. Many black Americans actually believed that they were inferior and actually persecuted other blacks who tried to assert their equality. This happens because whites controlled all media and education so some blacks were brought up in an environment where everything they saw proved that they were inferior. And second....there were television shows in the US in the 50's that contained only black characters speaking in 'black dialect' and teasing each other about racial characteristics and making jokes that validated false prejudices....and these shows were produced by all white entities....entities populated by white racists who were (perhaps unconsciously) promoting their agenda.....and this helped to convince blacks that they were inferior as described in my first point.

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See the film.

But in the example they didnt have negative racist attitudes to their own race, they singled out one person because she was darker. Thats not racism, they could have equally singled her out for being fat, or spotty, giving her a nickname of fatty or spotty.

Eggsackerly.

So Brit, you have never noticed the racist attitude of some light skinned Thais towards their darker skinned Issan brothers and sisters?

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In the film, it was Issan people teasing other Issan people. The whole film was done in Issan dialect and had Thai subtitles. While the topic of Thais and racism is an interesting one, the film in question does not provide any basis for the discussion.

In the film the OP is referring to, isn't it Thais commenting on the dark-skinned and unattractive nature of other Thais? I'm not sure that's worth a thread on racism.

Andrew Biggs shot to fame nearly 10 years ago when he was on the Microbus videos(why did they ever stop playing those videos?), teaching English with a funny Australian guy who called himself  "Captain Pat."

He's now on tv doing a talk show called "Talk of the town".

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Didn't they put him on the Microbus because he was already a familiar face?

Anyone heard Kate Bush's new  album?

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Not yet.

Arctic Monkeys are worth a listen. A lot of their stuff can be downloaded at

http://www.savefile.com/projects.php?pid=970279

I'm in Samut Prakan and we have a 950 baht / year version giving 30 channels. The wife got it for better reception on some of the regular Thai channels.

We get a lot of Thai channels and a lot of crap. ABC Asia Pacific has some good stuff though and a decent film comes up occasionally on Movies Gold (then it comes up again and again and again).

The best thing is that on Saturdays and Sundays one of the channels mysteriously switches to live Premiership football coverage from Malaysian TV, with the original Sky commentary. That is worth 950 baht/year.

I don't know the name of the service provider and the Mrs can't remember either, but she says they have a 300 baht/month service too. She thinks it's nearly been a year so she'll make a note of the name when they come round for the subscription.

Comparing results to other countries such as the US and UK is meaningless and does not accomplish anything.

- particularly when the statistics are compiled by completely different bodies in different countries presumably using their own methods etc. etc.

I believe there is good reason for the worries about the Thai education system, particularly over the implementation of much-needed reforms, but it's certainly true to say that there are worries over basic levels of education in the UK too:

Teaching of 3 Rs in 'crisis', says CBI

Press Association

Thursday November 3, 2005

The number of pupils leaving school without mastering the three Rs has reached "crisis" proportions, the CBI warned today.

Sir Digby Jones, CBI director-general, called for schools to be better funded so children could be taught in smaller classes.

In an interview with Teachers' TV News, Sir Digby said: "We've got something like a fifth of the adult population in this country who can't read, write or count.

"We've got half the kids who do a GCSE in the summer not getting grade C or above in English and maths.

"This is a crisis. We're the fourth biggest economy on Earth, we're one of the greatest trading nations on the planet and we haven't even got half the school leavers equipped to deal with the world.

"So it's of crisis proportion," he said.

"Business has the right surely to turn round to a school and say: 'What are you doing to deliver kids who can read, write and count?' "I don't think teachers can run away from that."

Sir Digby also called for education to be 'better funded than it is', to provide more teachers and smaller class sizes.

He welcomed more government investment in education but said there was "another long way to go".

Sir Digby said more attention should be given to teaching foreign languages such as Spanish and Mandarin.

"We're lucky. We speak the global language of business and someone who doesn't learn any other language can get by in the world because of English," he said.

"But if you were going to equip a child today to get on in the 21st century and you were anywhere in the world you'd teach them three languages - you'd teach them English first, you'd teach them Spanish second and you'd teach them Mandarin third."

A spokesman for the Department for Education said ministers had made "record investment" in education.

"We have the best ever results in English and maths - 85,000 more pupils are now leaving primary schools with the expected level of English and 95,000 in maths.

"This year's GCSE results not only showed a record number achieving five good GCSEs but also the biggest rise in maths pass rate for five years and further increases the number achieving English GCSE.

"We agree that languages for business are vital and we're glad to see ever increasing numbers of pupils opting for languages such as Mandarin Chinese."

Veruca Salt (what a name!)

Know your Charlie and the Chocolate Factory characters

Thin ice or not, i also would be interested in being pointed in the right direction to find out more complete information about this, just out of personal interest. If anyone could point the way....?

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http://www.14tula.com/

http://www.2519me.com/

http://www.thaioctober.com/

http://www.geocities.com/thaifreeman/14october/14oct.html

http://www.geocities.com/thaifreeman/6october/6oct.html

http://www.geocities.com/thaifreeman/17may/may.html

I have a couple of books that are firsthand accounts of life in the jungles after the writers fled Bangkok but they're not with me here, so I'll post details on another occasion.

Nongsau genie,

You are I assume a teacher,

Tywais

You a university research scientist.

Just a thought.

Maybe teachers/academics are being treated more favourably

That could be the case.

I'm employed by a (private) university and this year was easier than ever. Someone else takes care of assembling all the paperwork (important point, of course) and goes with us to Immigration. This year everything was done as a one-stop service - paperwork received, checked and visa stamped - on the ground floor within 20 minutes. No going upstairs to another office. As a physical presence is not required for the work permit extension, our 'organizer' does that part on her own and returns everything, stamped and up-to-date, within the day.

It's bloody marvellous compared to the running around we used to do.

Ok, plan B it is!

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Don't forget that if you're making your social insurance contributions in Thailand, you'll be eligible for a pension here (on 15-years worth of paying in or something). I missed out on almost 10 years when I worked for a government institution (as they don't make contributions?). But I'm up to 5 years now and I'm assured that even a foreigner will be eligible if they have been paying in.