Tarragona

Well I never knew that Thailand had a player who played for Huddersfield.?

You live and learn as they say

He never made the first team and struggled to get a regular game in the reserves I think.

Are you telling me that because my friend has a degree he will be a better teacher than me or that theres more chance of me being a 'peedo' or an 'undesirable'??? ...my friend that didnt even get english lang/lit A-C GCSE???

If i have to,i will go out of my way to get a degree.Im not looking to retire in thailand.I am 23 years old for gods sake! Lets say i get this degree.All of a sudden do i become a wonder teacher? well? Give me a break.

I think you completely miss the point about having a degree. A degree is not meant to show whether you are going to be a good teacher or not. It shows that you have reached a level of maturity, responsibility and academic achievement that is considered necessary for a teacher - no reflection on potential teaching ability. In Thailand, where teachers are still given an elevated status, it is considered important that they have this symbol of that status. Often, the higher the degree, the higher the status. I have no idea of the situation in the UK these days but I'd guess it's still difficult to become a teacher without having a degree. Why do you think it should be different in Thailand?

What is probably needed is for a distinction to be made between the formal education system and language schools. Especially when there is a shortage of language teachers, those without degrees but holding a language teaching qualification should be able to work in language schools but perhaps not in the formal education system.

Again, if anyone could provide some up-to-date information from the UK, I'd be interested to hear the hiring policies of accredited language schools over there and also for Esol courses in further education colleges.

In the King's own translation of his 1999 birthday speech he says quite clearly:

"Last year, I stated self-sufficiency is not a Sufficiency Economy; it is the Stone Age Economy."

It's quite an amusing speech and discusses the terminology though not much about the concept itself, as he did that in previous years. I'm not sure if translated speeches from other years are available anywhere.

I'd agree with Rikker that the idea of 'Sufficiency Economy' is not intended to have exactly the same meaning as 'self-sufficiency'.

BANGKOK: -- The Bangkok sky train service will raise its minimum fare from Bt10 to Bt15 next month, it announced Wednesday.

50 % increase... Respect !

They can't make it less because the ticket machines only take 5s and 10s don't they?

Back to square one. I still don't know what "sufficiency economy" in its practical implementation means, translated into a national economical policy.

Well, I don't think anyone does - wasn't that the point the King was making?

I think though that the concept specifically related to small-scale farming is the 'New Theory', and as you say, it's more focused and practical than the whole 'Sufficiency Economy' idea.

I've just dug up the King's English translation of his birthday speech of 2001, a couple of years after he introduced the concept. It won't tell you what Sufficiency Economy means (read it through to find out why - quite amusing), you can dig further yourself if you really want to know the King's ideas in depth. Genuine attempts at practical application would be interesting but I'm sure nobody's expectations are high.

The speech is here.

If you want a hardcover, for general use I'd also recommend Matichon, available from matichonbook.com.

My choice too. The dog's nuts for your regular everyday kind of use.

I've never had any problems using either the Suan Phlu or Samutprakan offices (I live in Samutprakan). I just use whichever happens to be most convenient at the time.

Wouldn't Glaeng be better than Gleang? Prefer Klaeng myself.

I was thinking of taking a trip out to Chantaburi for a few days next week. Looks like I ought to postpone that.

Try bkkmaps.com

There's nothing quite like that in the dropdown district menu. Could it be 'Samrong'? In which case, you need Samutprakan not Bangkok - it's beyond Bangna.

namecheap.com

I can add a Thai bank account now.

Students in Thailand aren't taught to think but to remember what they read in books which they forget the minute they came out of the exam room.

They have started trying to teach them to think by basically not trying to remember anything from books at all. Many westerners hold very simplistic views about rote learning, memorization etc. without examining the integrated role that it does play in western education. Unfortunately, the Thai system is currently throwing the baby out with the bath water. Interesting to note that the British government has recently announced a serious shake-up of the education system and a return to exam-based assessment. It took them 10 years to realize that project-based work wasn't producing as expected. The Thai university system is only a couple of years down this road so the current generation of students will suffer the consequences.

The reason the students only go in two days a week is because they organize their schedules so that they have to travel in to the university as little as possible - even if that means studying from early morning to late afternoon without any breaks. Their grades are probably terrible.

They'll probably charge you an average amount from over the last 6 months or something.

This is quite a common occurrence - the thieves are after the copper in the meter.

Agree ..and has been for the last couple of years.

My journey to work doubled timewise about 3-4 months ago. If I can make the 4km to Samrong in less than an hour I'm feeling blessed.

With all the bridges they're building across the junctions on Srinakharin everybody in Samutprakan is using Teparak and Sukhumvit. I usually take the Old Railway route but that has been out of action for months because of roadworks (due to reopen for inbound traffic on 5th October though).

The Sukhumvit tailback hits the Naval Academy most days and from the radio some mornings I hear people at a standstill on the wrong side of Paknam. Teparak is usually back to Mooban Tippawan by about 6.15. The Outer Ring Road is still a way off completion but has made a mess of the road in front of the Toyota factory and combined with the new bridge opening and encouraging people to head off down Poojao road it's pretty horrible down there of a morning.

It'll all be perfect when everything's finished though.

...where will these be re -routed?

I don't think they'll be re-routed because it's only one lane that will be closed.

The rush-hour traffic is absolutely f**ked on Teparak-Sukhumvit-Srinakharin already with the roadworks that are going on. With this BTS extension starting, if you're in Samutprakan getting to town will probably take the same time as Korat-Krungtep.

I hope there is no any fights like usually in his concerts

One of the great myths about seeing Carabao live that comes from their very early days. I reckon I've seen them live over 70 times in different parts of the country and even in the temple fairs there's hardly been any serious trouble. Pub gigs are almost completely trouble-free. When I have seen fights it's not been because it's Carabao playing - just the norm for the enviroment you're in. T

I cant believe that a set of military generals etc. will give the power back to the people

It's not as unlikely as you imagine. We shall see.

you will find the most photos at yahoo news.

A lot there. They're making a great effort to get photos with monks and soldiers in the same picture.

It is a big lot down for those students who fought for democracy to bring down

the military rule many many years ago.

Yes but so was a government like Thaksin's (which contained some of those students).

Anyone know what the coloured armbands and ribbons signify? The ones in the photos all seem to be yellow but the soldiers I've seen around the port and PTT depot are all wearing blue ones. Different units, I guess?

From http://www.glo.or.th/detail.php?link=result_image you can select the date of the draw and see the full results sheet. It goes back a couple of years.

Any other options?

I live in Thailand on a Non-Immigrant O Visa with a Work Permit (extend every year)