Laulen

I wonder what the British police make of all these developments as observers, after Prime Minister Cameron offered the Thai Government assistance. What, for instance, is being done to investigate any other leads from this case?

Hi

Been trying to get a WP for some time now. I have an internet cafe and therefore my own Ltd company. I am looking to do some tutoring work and have tried to get a WP in many different ways.

The first mistake was mentioning the word school, then we filled out a raft of forms and had to produce lesson plans etc etc and handed these in only to be rejected as my partner doesn't have a degree and she would theoretically be in charge of the teaching business. (2 weeks work, you would have thought they would have said at the start!)

I can get a WP through my Ltd company but it wouldn't cover teaching local kids English!?!?

Anyone else have any experiences with this issue? Am i better to pay a little bit more and use a lawyer? Can anyone recommend a lawyer in Ubon?

Is it really that difficult to tutor a few kids for some extra cash?

Many thanks

TJK

For what its worth I was in Ubon last week. It seems that no one can teach unless they have a degree. This is a legal stipulation of the Education Department and not the Immigration Department. So, even though I have a Cambridge DELTA qualification it counts for 'diddly squat' without a degree-level qualification. Meanwhile, back in the UK I am highly sought after, have been through three British Council school inspections, including managing one as DOS.

I have also taught in Thailand with just a CELTA, minus the degree qualification, but that was in the days before the great crackdown!

Can't afford a degree qualification married to a Thai with two children. So, I don't know how I would fare if I restarted teaching again in Thailand. TIT

I realise that many if not all of you will not be in the United Kingdom, but, as 'Mossfinn' appears to have spent some time in Oxford, he might be interested in the latest research regarding TB drug developments.

TUBERCULOSIS DRUG DEVELOPMENT

August 26-31, 2007

Magdalen College

Oxford, United Kingdom

More information for you from here

With all good wishes to those of you still recovering from this debilitating disease.

Laulen

A most interesting objective view of Thai economy Mr. Blam.

I hope you continue to enjoy the fruits of this wonderful country. You have obviously negotiated your way very successfully through the maze of mysterious business practices and come out on top!

Is there such a thing as 'clean' politics in any country? Are not we, the voters, somewhat responsible for believing all the election hype to get these people into power in the first place?

Is it a case that all the suitable people with integrity are just too busy with their own lives to have time to take responsiblity (sorry read that as 'power') over other peoples' lives?

Such a tragic waste of life; for what?

Thailand's king has pardoned a Swiss man who was sentenced to 10 years in jail for defacing images of him.

Oliver Jufer was sentenced last month, after he admitted spray-painting images of the revered King Bhumibol Adulyadej in the city of Chiang Mai.

It was thought to be the first time a foreigner had been jailed under Thailand's strict lese majeste laws.

Now he has received a royal pardon, Mr Jufer is expected to be deported as soon as possible, police said.

"The king in his kindness has granted him a pardon and he has been transferred from prison and is in the process of being deported from the country," Chiang Mai police Col Prachuab Wongsuk told The Associated Press.

The king is widely loved in Thailand and often treated as a virtual god.

Analysts say that this act of compassion against a now contrite foreigner will only enhance his image still further.

From BBC News 12.04.07 copyright.

What has happened, has happened.

There's nowt that anyone here can do about it!

Let us hope that Phyllis Tarawhiti spends the rest of her life wisely!

Nationwide security alert for Songkran

Once again the Aussie embassy issues another fear-inspired advisory. The taxi driver was pissed off that the police gave him a parking ticket. Damage to the phone booth was minimal. A home-made device? What a laugh. He filled a bottle with some petrol and threw it at the booth. Big deal. He was no terrorist. He was a drunken idiot, is all. I live up the road from the Cineplex. I drove past there this morning. The booth was still standing. No real damage.

Fear is a lie

False

Evidence

Appearing

Real

Go out and have a very happy Songkran. Even the Mozzies will be out there throwing water. Jeez! Enjoy life. Don't cower in fear.

Thanks for the update. Great to have someone 'on the ground!'

Terrible strife and hardship seem to visit those who can least help themselves. Outside Thailand these reports seem to be hardly reach headline status anywhere.

The film 'Beyond Rangoon' starring Patricia Arquette, made in 1994. The present situation seems to have not changed one iota!

Does anyone care?

Such butchery! If the allegations are true, then justice must be seen to be done!

How can Thai people just stand by and tolerate those in authority to 'get away' with it?

This poor young lady has this experience to last her a liftetime. I just hope that there is some charitable organisation that can help her and her family in some way. The Thai Police Benevolent Fund, if the accused is found guilty?

What else do you expect at this time of year?

Be grateful for what nature sends; it is for free, although the devastation it might cause is not!

The 'King of Fruits' has lost its pong! That'll have to be smelled to be believed!

Next it will be 'rice without paddy - new drought-resistant strains', 'whisper-quiet' motorbikes, and 'speed-limiters' fitted to public buses!

Well, I suppose it is better safe than sorry!

Extra troops and police on the streets are inevitable unfortunately. I just hope that they do their jobs professionally.

I suspect that there will still be a higher death toll from the roads than from anything else that might happen over the Songkran period.

Perhaps they should ban overnight bus trips! It seems to me that most of these accidents occur in the 'wee small hours!'

My prayers go out to those who have died and their families, not to mention those injured who may bear the scars of this accident for life!

A ludicrous knee-jerk suggestion! Shares in DIY quoted stock will plummet!

It is a desperate situation by all accounts in the far South. Isn't there anyone who can start 'winning hearts and minds' with infrastructure projects and other financial aid to persuade locals that living in peace is preferable any day to daily insurgency and terrorist attack.

Or am I just naive?

This idea is just silly! Romantic though it seems, 'Siam' has not been officially used for nearly two generations of people.

I also note that other 'ethnic' groupings living in Thailand include those euphemistically referred to as 'farang', all too often used as a lazy way to describe anyone 'white'.

May be the now-discredited Field Marshal Phibul was more perceptive of Thai sensiblities, hence 'Thailand' the 'Land of the Free', than history would now have us judge him.

On whose authority (divinity) do they swear by?

...."I swear, by XXXXXX XXX, that I will drive safely, always observing the speed limits, and nothing but drive safely, so help me!"

It doesn't inspire me with much confidence!

Isn't drought a seasonal occurrence with Thailand and particularly the northeast?

It seems that this is an annual piece of journalism used perhaps to fill an otherwise 'quiet' time for newsworthy stories; or am I just being unfair?

Have there been no improvements to water storage and conservation projects, or have these ideas mysteriously been 'syphoned off' by well-meaning but self-serving individuals? Thailand is hardly 'bursting at the seams' with large numbers of immigrant populations, unlike in the United Kingdom and parts of Australia.

Let's hope for all affected, including my mother-in-law, the rains, when they do come, arrive and give the ground a good soaking, without too much damage to crops, dwellings, and livestock.

TIT!

Perhaps the Thai Culture Ministry should be sent copies of 'Calendar Girls' with Helen Mirren, Julie Walters et al. recreating the true story of how an English Womens Institute raised money to fund a local cause by producing a calendar of themselves photographed in the nud_e, but 'tastefully'.

From one prudish nation to another, perhaps here is a cause for celebration of the human form?

The Irish know a good thing when they see it! Also, I believe that they are generally viewed more favourably by Immigration Authorities when it comes to Visa renewals and the reciprocal arrangements that exist between the two countries.

Let us hope that all we read in newspapers is not the reality on the ground!

Sadly, it may be a case of 'no smoke without fire' as far as the Burmese migrant construction workers are concerned.

Perhaps a more robust diplomatic approach towards the military junta in Burma by members of ASEAN with a particular emphasis on their continued persecution of the many ethnic minority groups within the country should be pursued. As another poster said elsewhere on this thread, the 'grass' really is 'greener' for Burmese workers who manage to make it to Thailand.

It is a sad state of affairs when pharmaceutical companies take unilateral action against a nation state like this.

It is understandable that they should want to protect their innovative new drugs and to recoup massive research and development costs in the creation of these drugs. However, they lose sight of the fact that every new, innovative product is likely to have a limited 'shelf life' in the global market; someone else will come along with an even better treatment.

Meanwhile, those without a voice; the weakest, most ill, those in dire poverty; all these will experience a lingering death, and in some cases, in great agony!

What does this say about man's humanity to man(woman)?

Thanks for the pictures; it really illustrates what 'a thousand words' would find difficult to do!

I hope every effort is employed to put these fires out for both humanity and the environment's sake.

Happiness is ephemeral, just as is beauty and ugliness. Why we feel happy, or notice that something is beautiful or ugly is as much the result of our upbringing and cultural background as anything else.

It all makes for an interesting discussion, that could go on forever without any definitive conclusions. Yes, money can bring happiness; you have only to look at Maslow's Triangle of Needs. But for some, that is still not enough because they renounce earthly things (as much as they practicably can) in the pursuit of Maslow's highest 'need', that of spiritual enlightenment.

Perhaps one's life should not be measured in materialistic acquisitions that increasingly decay and need replacement, but rather in this short note I once saw on the wall inside the bedroom of an old and wise lady:

'Only one life that soon is gone, only those actions of your love will endure!'

Laulen

PS: It speaks of 'one' life; so perhaps this note does not apply to those seekers of reincarnation?