PeaceBlondie

I average less than 9 cc's of beer Singha per day (one can per month, max) but drink 2.5 to 3.0 liters of Pepsi Max or Diet Coke per day.

Let's assume the quality is worse when the price is 20% of the real designer label. If it's the kind of fashion design that goes out of style in a year or two, it doesn't matter. A good men's suit that will never be out of style (black, pin striped, etc.) - yeah, go ahead and pay US$1,800 for it, and then get the Lamborghini Murcielago to match it, and then everybody will know for sure that you're not old money.

I didn't drink from 1965 to 2001, and never missed it. Have averaged about one beer a month since then, and don't appreciate it.

A man who has to be drinking to enjoy life is......an.....alcoholic (which I should know how to spell, since my son is one).

Sadly, Khunling probably has the right idea for a money spinner... you're going to have high turnover and perpetually inexperienced airhead teachers, though!

"Steven"

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Think the Thai's will notice though?

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Unfortunately (being a Texan with a big gut, and I smell after two classes without air/con, and I'm well over 45) - many students in govt. schools and private language schools wouldn't know a well qualified teacher in the first place, and the DOS may not care, anyway.

Steven's right - the director will have high turnover, people who don't show up for work (at least not sober) and disappear one day because their boyfriend wants them to come home, or whatever.

I replaced very young looking females at my first school, and was later replaced by a 21 year old (who's already left). To a degree, the staff mistreats and neglects their farang eachers because they really don't care if the teachers stay. The white faces bring in money from parents who don't know what a good teacher is.

If this is on topic, I'll go ahead.

At my last school, the Thai teachers of English loved the funny cartoons from the Bangkok Post: Beetle Bailey, Blondie, etc. Trouble is, it's almost impossible to understand the humor unless you're a native speaker familiar with the US Army stereotypes and the 1950's classical nuclear family of man, blond wife, girl and boy with a dithering idiot of a boss at the office.

Repeatedly, I had to explain the background of the background of the culture that related back to the joke. It can't be that funny when you have to explain that much.

Then there was the cartoon strip about a pizza delivery boy bring the wrong pizzas to the big house party. The teachers got all the characters confused and thought it was set at an Italian restaurant. Which destroyed the point of the original cartoon. Nevertheless, the teachers insisted on putting the cartoons on the final exam and making incredibly bad answers, multiple choice [my response - all these answers are either best or worst!]

Likewise, if you have to take 15 minutes to explain how to play a game, it's too hard.

Oh, the original post reminds me of the religious little girl whose father was an atheist. He posted a sign over the front door: GOD IS NOWHERE.

She changed it to "GOD IS NOW HERE."

On the subject of contracting HIV through oral sex (which should be of concern to both straights and gays). I think the risk is low.

I used to go to the same gay health clinic in the USA, approx. every 6 months, for my HIV test. Usually my counsellor was big Al, and he began to remember my stories (which were true; do not lie to an STD counsellor unless there are criminal acts involved). Anyway, one time Al was busy and this young counsellor started in on her sermon, "You must always wear a condom when you have oral sex." She said likewise to my boyfriend at the time (we had never used condoms for oral sex).

Al disagreed, saying that the risk is very low, unless you have a recent, serious cut inside your mouth (of which you'd be aware, such as recent dental surgery). I think Steven has pointed out that the body has all kinds of natural biological defenses in the mouth and stomach area against infections (whereas other body openings don't).

No, in Thailand I never saw anybody using condoms for oral sex, and I stopped doing it in 1996. But for anal and vaginal sex - absolutely need to use condoms.

Anything's possible, and I may be wrong, since I'm no expert (maybe Al wasn't, either). Death from motosai accident is far more likely than contracting HIV orally.

Whatever classism exists in America is not usually based on whether your grandparents were old money. It can be money, what part of town you live in, what earned degrees you have - certainly your occupation. How you dress, whether you speak 'standard English.' The Black Americans who wish to become educated refuse to speak ghetto English, and can be very precise in their speech. Likewise, second generation Americans strive to lose their parents' accents.

The mere fact that a language began in a certain locale does not make it superior. Castellano became the predominant dialect of Spanish, and central Thai for 'Siam' not because of linguistic superiority or purity, but by conquest of the sword. The American linguistic sword is economic and media-driven, but that doesn't make American English inherently better. Perhaps it's more easily understood around the world - and isn't that what teaching ESL or EFL is all about?

I saw the long list of applicants for the job that I currently hold. Half admitted they were out of the country. Many who were in-country either had never taught EFL, they weren't what we normally call 'native speakers,' or they had some other obvious fault on their application. The short list would have been 10 out of 50. Then you phone the top ten, and four of them say "Oh no, I've got a job, or I'm leaving the country, or I don't want to work in a province anyway." Two of the six can't do an interview this week, and .....I think my mate and I were the only ones interviewed, and we got hired based on word of mouth (local grapevine). I was interviewed but didn't need to do demo because I was a known commodity in the town.

But if you don't have the time or the means to check the references, then the interview and the demo should prove the point. I doubt that I'd ask for a new lesson plan; maybe have them bring one to the interview, and briefly review it.

That wouldn't take long. Besides, I'd ask them to bring their documentation to the interview if they hadn't sent it by email or fax: actual diploma, maybe transcript of courses taken and grades, actual passport with visa, copy of old license or WP. Straightforward.

Not sure if that many bachelor's degrees are phony, anyway. The truth isn't that easy to find out. And if they do the interview and the demo well enough, the bachelor's degree doesn't matter much (unless the government wants to see it for a TL or WP).

Pardon me, dear doctor, but he used the plural pronoun, "they."  Thank you for not explaining why you are the only one who introduced the term "license" and I shall try to refrain from stating what I think 'we' know.

I happen to know full well where we happen to be.

Neeranam, thank you for your appreciation.

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Pardon denied.

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I refuse to retract the request for pardon.

Does one need a license to register a request for a pardon?

Could it be that native speakers of English from North America find it even more difficult to understand speakers from India because, first of all, their vocabulary and syntax may be old-fashioned (although not out-dated)? The employee I had, and an income tax client that I had, spoke very bad English. They were both well educated, and coincidentally from Kerala, in southernmost India. My boss from New Delhi or Calcutta was much worse. Maybe I got the bottom of the barrel, earned degrees and all. Perhaps their writing style was better (Joseph's wasn't).

All those call centers (centres) that are opening up in India - how well do they speak if they're taking calls from North America?

The correctness or rather the effectiveness of any language, in my opinion, should be measured by how well it communicates. If the pronunciation is atrocious, it doesn't communicate.

Pardon me, dear doctor, but he used the plural pronoun, "they." Thank you for not explaining why you are the only one who introduced the term "license" and I shall try to refrain from stating what I think 'we' know.

I happen to know full well where we happen to be.

Neeranam, thank you for your appreciation.

Do the tests still require three month waiting period to detect the antibody? Pujun can't wait that long. If he can convince the guy to go for a test (and Pujun, be prepared to pay for it), what's the window of time? Even if the Thai guy 'contracted' something like HIV in the last month, can he pass it on that quickly?

See how much we don't know about certain details.

Been there, done that. Test came back two weeks ago, negative as always. Got to be careful.

What other diseases besides HIV should one be tested for, periodically?

Ramdom, the good doctor is more than able to answer for himself, but we know what the OP said. In some countries, the vehicle is licensed and the metal plate is a license plate.

hi all

does anyone know the tax rules for US citizens living outside the US but earning money in the US? can anyone recommend an accountant either in BKK or in the SF bay area CA, who can advise me.

next year i will be living outside the US for at least 330days (the IRS rule) but i will still be getting paid by my US employer. i think i shouldn't have to pay US tax but i need to know all the rules and laws.

thanks steve

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I'm a retired IRS auditor and agent, so my first best answer is, "I'm not sure."

To begin with, all US citizens are required by Title 26 (the Internal Revenue Code of 1986) to report ALL their world-wide income. Then you go looking for exemptions.

Generally, your foreign earned income can be exempted, up to about $80,000 per year, if you meet either of the two requirements: the physical presence test (to which your 330 days may apply) or the residency test. Go to www.irs.gov and in the left column, select Publication 54. Yes, it's like Greek or worse. But, since your employer is in the USA, I'm not sure.

Hope that helps.

...............Can't believe that Tia Maria is still open-- must be a front for a cash laundering scam because it sure isn't a restaurant..

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You may be on to something, farangene. When I worked at the IRS in the USA, one of the revenue agents heard which Chinese restaurants in our neighborhood were on the suspected list of money launderers. The food was great, and a full meal with iced tea something like $2.99! They must have sold the food at cost. The waitstaff wasn't from the right part of China (illegals from western China) and the cook and dishwasher were illegal Hispanics!

Bow, congratulations on getting your paperwork sorted out. I've worked at two schools where they just go numb when I mention 'work permit,' even though I show them the long list in English. If they haven't done it before they don't know how to do it. I see that having it in Thai language helps.

here's an analogy: if we were in our home country and a foreign teacher asked our help to go to three national and local agencies of our bureaucratic governments - and his information wasn't in English - we wouldn't know how to do it.

Astral's right: it's great when your students finally say, "Ajarn, I don't understand." Some students just can't do it. My TEFL instructor forbid us to ask the question, "Do you understand?" because in your first few months with students, they'll all say yes.

It is your visa status that is more important than the work permit.

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Thanks, astral; good point. I got my registration by showing my B visa at immigration. I take it a tourist visa wouldn't suffice?

Thanks, Bizz, for all that Irish data. Two people who caused the population of Clare County to increase by 9.9% between 1996 and 2002 would be my son Chris, who moved there to have their baby, Allanah (curly blond hair, sky blue eyes!). My son looks like the cartoon teenager "Shaggy," but they haven't a dog named "Scoobey Doo." He loves it there.

But Axl Rose was wrong: "Nothing lasts forever, even cold November rain." In Ireland, apparently the cold rain lasts forever.

Yes, if climate was left out of the Economist's criteria, what else was also disregarded? I can't stand cold weather; everywhere beyond 30 degrees of the equator is totally unacceptable, and within 20 degrees is better. And I like days of at least 11 hours, not 7.

But as Chris wrote to me, "Dad, everything here is green." Including the moss. And when God finished creating the world, he dropped 900 trillion tons of slate in western Ireland. His inlaws cooked me the best meal of boiled ham and potatos! The ale was a bit dark, and the prices were way too high. Clean city, that Ennis. They even drive on the right (left) side of the road. I only saw western Ireland, and it was gorgeous.

For me personally, I pay all my regular expenses out of my Thai baht salary, but the extras come out of the US pensions. The exchange rate peaked at about 41.5 a month or so ago, and is now below 40 again. Fortunately, I withdrew a lot at 41. Now it hurts to only get 39 or 39.6 (with charges).

I agree that the horrific national debt and annual budget deficits of the USA, general anti-Americanism throughout the world, huge trade imbalances, and skyrocketing interest rates can only decrease the value of the US dollar. I could take heart when I see my Thai salary having more apparent value against the dollar, but my exchanges never go that way.

Anti-Americanism cannot be applied by rhetoric or by national warfare - only by terrorist violence and by economic monetary warfare. Surely we all prefer the latter.

I asked a guy who got a master's in economics from one of the best business schools in the USA about currency rates. He didn't have a clue. The only experts are like the famous British economist, Ricardo - they're amassing a personal fortune with their knowledge. The rest of us are clueless.

The American humorist Will Rogers supposedly said that everybody talks about the weather, but they don't do anything about it.

That's why you can talk about the weather when there's nothing to talk about.

Two old men on the porch in West Texas, sitting in rocking chairs, every day from May through September:

#1: Shure is hot today.

#2: Yep, shure is.

#1: Yessiree Bob, it's a real scorcher today.

#2: Boy howdy, it shure is hot.

......ad infinitum.

If you aspire to be a writer or lyricist of pop songs, be sure to write a rain song. Then, when it rains (as it does sooner or later, unless you're in Arica, Chile) they'll play your song!

I live just above an open air restaurant with live music, and it rained a few nights ago around 10 pm, the first time in about two or three weeks. Immediately the singer broke into "Listen to the Falling rain" or "Raindrops Keep Falling on my Head." B. J. Thomas is probably living on the royalties just from that last song.

After countless years in South Texas and two years in southernmost Mexico, I moved to Chiang Mai. The only place that even pretends to serve Mexican food is the Art Cafe at Tha Pae Gate, and it was terrible. There's a Spanish restaurant in the south part of Phuket Town, but I didn't dare try it.

Go to a real Western supermarket (like Rim Ping in ChiangMai) and look for brands like El Patio, nacho-flavored Doritos, etc. Then take it home, and try to prepare it. But you'll pay 3 to 5 times what it costs in south Texas.

They may not have much good Thai food in Houston, either, but I passed up a free meal there for fear that it might be real, pet maak Thai food, even though the cook from Lamphun said she could make it mai pet (they lie about that, all the time, in Lamphun).

As for ethyl alchohol, it's a poison. Binge drinking is for stupid university students to die from.

But sex? Well, heart attacks can be brought on by exertion which is excessive, but once you're in shape for that kind of exercise, there's no special exertion. So, just keep in shape by regular sexual exercise!

1. American

2. Mexican (but not Tex-Mex that's too picante)

3. Italian-American

I hate Thai food. I detest 95% of it. I had no idea it was that terrible. I only eat a couple of mai pet things like kaow pat gai (I'm a cowpat guy). My usual excuse is that Thai food is too spicy (true 80% of the time), but it also smells and tastes like the deposits in the toilet. And 99% of all Thais don't understand what 'mai pet' means.

That's just my personal opinion expressed to farangs. There are three sacred things in Thailand: Buddhism, the monarchy, and Thai food.

It is a Ministerial Requirement ( Interior Minister ) Not a law.

Ummm........ So, what is the difererence if a fine is involved?

I've yet to hear of anyone calling Plod's bluff and going to see Plod's boss and getting a rec't.

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ubon, you've made two good points. Even if it's a ministerial requirement, and not a law, it should be printed or gazzeted, yes? And nobody can find a copy of the printed or gazzeted requirement, yes?

Also, your point is that in most cases, the farang is usually in trouble already for breaking a law. I don't mean the phony charge of littering or the initial problem of not having a passport, but maybe drunk and disorderly, being in a bar fight, arguing over payment to a prostitute, etc. Then they can 'throw the book at you' for whatever charges they wish, and they surely need positive ID. Your passport is the most positive ID. I carry the mini photocopy in my wallet, along with current visa and entry stamp, but I've never been asked. Never been stopped, even though I break trafffic laws about five times every day. But I don't get drunk or stoned, don't get in fights, spend most of my time as an ajarn, and always pay my bills.

If Bangkok's local cops are pulling people out of taxis simple because they don't have their passports, it's time to start publishing detailed accounts in the travel forums and tell people to visit Mexico City instead. The heat, pollution, and corruption levels are similar.