MaciejKlimowicz

Isn't it amazing? It's been more than a moth since that man got into a fight in his hotel room and than jumped out of a balcony. Yet he is still here and stealing high power bikes. I mean, I thought visas were tough to handle in Thailand...

... I guess they are if you play by the rules...

One of most popular trip plans among my friends visiting Thailand was to come to Bangkok, spend some time traveling around Thailand, than go to Cambodia to see Angkor Wat, come back to Thailand and rest a couple of day on a beach an head back home from Bangkok.

Was it just made impossible?

It seems there was some confusion with the victims' identity. One, earlier reported dead Russian - survived. A person from Poland - didn't.Hospital stuff got it wrong.

Polish media report 2 Poles dead so I'd guess one more Russian survived. Confusing....

http://en.ria.ru/world/20131104/184513677/No-Russians-Killed-in-Thai-Ferry-Disaster---Embassy.html

Stil no more news on the nationalities of the victims?

I thought that was already covered in every news report? 2 Russians, 1 Chinese, 3 Thai

Polish media quote Polish MOFA stating, that two Poles died. A marriage, both 60 years old.

Stil no more news on the nationalities of the victims?

Polish MOFA confirms death of two Poles. But I can't seem to find this info in any local media

???

Hi

Check out this good site for accurate info: http://kohsamed.net

Best Wishes

Big thanks for the great link - I e-mailed them and cleared things up.

Koh Samed next weeken, tomorrow Sukkothai or maybe even Nan.

Cheers!

Mac

Hello,

4 days off this week. Can you share some ideas for long weekend destinations out of Bangkok?

So far I enjoyed trips to Hua Hin, Koh Si Chang, Khao Yay, Kanchanaburi, Amphawa, Pattaya and Ayutthaya. All very nice and easy escapes.Any other suggestions?

I wanted to try Koh Samet but I've read that it gets packed on long weekend and prices go sky high.

best,

Mac

ps. not sure if I'm posting in the right forum. If travel in Thailand is better than sorry!

One more thing - my GF has a signed contract with the agency where they state that they will provide a work permit. She's been working for two months now and still nothing.

She want's to quit but she also needs the money they are supposed to pay her so its not that simple.

If your girlfriend is working on a touristvisa, I think you should keep a very low profile

That calls for another question - can she get in trouble if we report the emplyer to the LD? Is she the one to blame or the emplyer? What if it do it later - once she has a work permit and a proper visa form her future employer (hope it's sooner than later)?

cheers,

Mac

Hello

I'm thinking of reporting my girlfriend’s employer to the Labour Department.

The agency she's working for didn't provide a work permit; they are reluctant to help with the visa (so she's on a tourist visa at the moment) not to mention that they fail to pay on time.

It’s a shame, as she likes the school she works for and gets along well with the school staff …but not the agency.

She is looking for a new job but before she manages to find one (not easy as she’s Indian) she's stuck with the agency.

The question is - is it worth it? Is there anything to achieve there?

best,

Mac

Rents a condo in BKK and expects peace and quiet and the local school to change it's timetable just for him........tell ya what mate, .. buy earplugs or move ...........but stop expecting the local population to change their routine just for your sake.

I do not expect, I hope for it. At least at night. And I did not go to the school to demand anything, I went and asked politely if they could please finish they practice at some different hour than 23:30. Or go indoors. I think that's a fairly reasonable requests.

And I really don't understand this "you don't like it, go live somewhere else" attitude. One has no right to say anything, just pack his suitcase and go...

Anyway - there they are, banging away outside my window. Thanx for the info about the contest - I have sth. to wait for.

But it made me wonder - is there anything like "do not disturb/keep quiet after 22 or so" in Thailand. Even if it's as functional as security checks in Siam Paragon?

cheers,

Mac

Problem with noise

Hello,

I know it might sound strange as we’re talking about Bangkok but…I have a problem with noise.

I recently moved to Soi Sanphawut (next to Udomsuk and Bang Na BTS), I’m renting a flat in a condo building. The thing is there is a school right next to my place and kids from this school have some kind of drumming practice – there must at least 20 of them playing five different kinds of drums, xylophones and stuff. They have their rehearsals four times a week including weekends. And it’s not that they play for 1 or 2 hours – it goes on and on, sometimes form 10 AM to 11:30 PM! And it’s really LOUD!

I did go to the school and talked to their teacher – ha apologised, said he has a contest coming up and promised to keep it down, change the venue and the hours. It’s been a few days ago and as I’m writing this I can hear drums banging outside my window.

The owner of my place tried calling the school some time ago but all he got in reply was, to keep it short - “go <deleted> yourself”

Honestly, I’m cool with a party next doors form time to time, I have nothing against loud music but this is just way out of line.

Is there anything I can do? Or should I keep my heart cool and use earplugs…

Cheers,

Mac

Shame thay can;t even get the guys name right. Theres no way on earth there is (was) somebody called "Motkowhki Jagakmaciej" in Poland. I know, I come form there.

Cheers,

Mac

Hi,

I’ am a non-native (Polish) English teacher currently working for a government school in Bangkok. I have a MA degree in social sciences, a TEFL certificate and CAE certificate. I’ve been teaching here for almost 2 years.

I’ve been wondering – is there a place where I could get some better teaching qualifications in Bangkok? More certificates, a degree in education? Anything that could help me get better jobs in better schools?

Are there any diplomas that could make up for that my non NES passport?

Cheers,

Mac

I got it on eBay, together with my Macbook. No idea where it originally came from.

Anyway - the one I have to deal with now is the original one. I got it a couple of months ago here in Bangkok, but not in an apple store. And it broke too...Yeah - I had two broken power adapters in less than a year...

I'll give replacing it in an iStore a try and if this doesn't work I'll have to get a new one.

Cheers,

Mac

Shame about the "no father present" policy in Thailand. Today I saw my baby for the first time on the ultrasonograph (Bangna Hospital). What a feeling! And the nurses didn't want to let me in - it was the doctor who asked my GF halfway through the examination if I wanted to take a look too.

Anyway - still not sure about the hospital. We do our prenatal checkups in Bangna hospital as it's nearby and they speak a little English. One visit with medications, ultrasonograph and some test is around 1000B. Their birth package is 35k for natural and around 40k for cs. It is a bit expensive for us and they don't allow the father in the room se we keep looking.

If you have any experience with a public or not so pricy private hispital in Bangna / Phrakhanong area (or anywhere near the BTS), please let me know

As for the insurance - Thai Social Seciurity comes in handy - they do refund the birth costs (from what I know, with just me insured we should get around 12k back) and give a nice maternity leave. Without it we're left with nothing.

cheers!

Mac

Half a year ago? Get it replaced for free at any Apple authorized dealer in BKK, any iStudio. It does come with a 1 year warranty. Normally you won't need a receipt of purchase either.

How is it broken, and what is broken? Some Mac repair shops can probably fix it if it's the cable or the magsafe plug.

There are no 3rd party power adapters for Macs as Apple doesn't license their patented MagSafe plug. I think it's probably because they think that 3rd party power adapters are poor quality and good chance they'll blow up your Mac - can't really blame them. The MagSafe system is cool but not something I'd trust a no-name chinese hardware maker to create clones of.

How is it broken, and what is broken? Some Mac repair shops can probably fix it if it's the cable or the magsafe plug.

It just stopped charging. The magsafe light flashes for a sec and than it's gone.

There are no 3rd party power adapters for Macs

The thing is I HAD a third party adapter. I boutgh it together with my secondhand macbook. It was a strange construction - a big power adapter like the ones used for pc laptopos and a cable with the magsafe plug. It stopped working after a couple of months.

I'll give it a chance in an iStore (I didn't buy the power adapter there so I don't have a receipt - I got it in a funny little unauthorised mac shop in Panthip) and if that doesn't work ill try the adress mentioned above.

Thanx!

Mac

Hi,

Where in Bangkok can I buy a REPLACEMENT power adapter for MacBook Pro - I don't want the original one as it's too expensive and I got one half a year ago and It's already broken.

I went to Phantip Plaza but to no avail.

thanx in advance!

Mac

Some more photos and a video here

http://skokwbokblog.com/tajlandia/eksplozja-w-bangkoku/

cheers

Me n the mrs have had 2 children in the police hospital

Thanks for the suggestion. I'll look into that. I Have to say I tried getting in touch with them before but when I arrived there in person they told me to call the next day as the working hours were just form 8 to 12 AM. When I called no one could understand English.

cheers

The deal is done. After 2 hours of negotiating I got 12k od my 18k depisit back.

The money was deducted for two damaged chairs and a burned kitchen top (repetedly refered to as "the burned chicken" )

I'm not entirely happy with what I got but it could have been worse if I didn't put my food down. In the beginning they wanted to deduct 3k for each of the chairs (two of them) and 6k for the top. By the way, I got the chairs too.

The bottom line is that It's not easy, they do try to look for a reasin not to pay you your money back and you do not have any leverage except for your negotiation skills.

good lick with your deposits!

Mac

http://www.thaivisa....l/page__st__100

Have you gone through the above link.. one post //109 is pertinent to Bangkok. I havent read through them all.

Good luck

Thanx, I've read through this topic but most reccomendations are for hospitals outside Bangkok. Anyone had a good experience with a public hospital IN BANGKOK?

cheers!

Mac