sezzo

There is a shop in the main road opposite the entrance to the Tokyo hotel. Its where the main road narrows considerably. These guys sell mowers and other small engine machinery. The owners speak quite good English and Im sure they could get parts for you. I have bought and had stuff repaired done there before but not for mowers.

I would have thought it would be a godsend if the supply of Leo was disrupted. Terrible taste. Chang or Tiger for me any day

My wife asked a similar question about the grandkids when she was at the Thai embassy last month. Apparently it is not a difficult thing to do, mind we were enquiring about 1 and 2 year old. Google Thai embassy Canberra and their website has all the phone numbers. The info on the website is in both thai and English. I have had a few dealings with this embassy and always have been treated well.

I did see a cardiologist in Ubon for about a year or so. He has a clinic close by to the Sapasit Hospital. He speaks quite good English. Problem being is that you have to line up with all the hordes of people waiting to see him. His clinic is located on the road that crosses Sapasit road in between the hospital and the police HQ. So if you are heading along Sapasit Rd back to Ubon centre you turn left at the first traffic lights. His clinic is about 50 m on the right and has a large glass entrance to it.

Hope this helps

I have used the Silver Star pool many times. Nice sized and clean pool. I managed to go there during the school day when it was quiet which was ideal for me. From memory it was about 50 baht per visit to use.

Sounds great!

Where is it, by the way?

Thank you

Im not too good with road names but here we go. If you go along the main road out of town past Big C, cross over the intersection with the ring road. This is now the road to Amnat Charoen. You go about 1 kms of so and then you will see the Nissan dealership is on the right. Continue on for another 500 m and there is a market on the left. Just past the market is a small soi to the left and it is about 100 m up on the right. You will see an open car park with also undercover parking for about 3 cars. As you turn left off the Amnat road there is a Krungthai bank opposite.

Hope you can follow my directions

I have used the Silver Star pool many times. Nice sized and clean pool. I managed to go there during the school day when it was quiet which was ideal for me. From memory it was about 50 baht per visit to use.

Topdeck,

I have sent you a PM

Enjoy guys. One day I will get down to Tronds place for this particular Hash. If we are back in Ubon next Xmas holidays will try and get there

our local mom & pop store here in Udon Thani has a great deal on Beer Chang Classic (much better than Leo IMO)

2 Bottles + Ice THB100.

Seeing Tops and Big C near us are now THB 50 per bottle - that's a pretty good deal!

My sentiments exactly

Entschuldigung!

Thank goodness for Google Translate

Steve, its Carl with a C mate. Don't want to sound too german please.

Enjoy the hash, wish I could join in

Why this big hang up about learning English at these Ubon schools? I wouldn't even worry about English. if one of the parents is a native English speaker learn at home, read English books and watch English movies. The whole English programme is a farce in most schools. Send your children there to learn Thai, incorrect right-wing history, some science and some math. Forget the English programs. Just go through the Thai program.

I think the emphasis on English stems from a need for Thailand to boost its English levels prior to ASEAN coming into effect. Apparently Thailand is way behind the eight ball in relation to their competency of English language. Having said that employing teachers from non English speaking countries who aren't trained specifically in English to teach English in schools doesn't work.

Certainly sounds like I did the right thing taking my son back to school in Australia. I actually was debating whether to change schools in Ubon but they all seem to be of a similar standard. Good to hear some input from others in the same situation that I was. Good luck

Ok I will go first. I sent my son to the YES school in Ubon for 2 years. The reason we chose this school was that the English Program (EP) syllabus was 50 percent taught in English and 50 percent taught in Thai. My son had 4 years at an Australian primary school and his English was great but he only spoke Issan and couldn't read or write thai. In the first year the teachers were very helpful and he quickly gained a good grasp of thai, both written and oral. It all started going down hill after that.

As my son could read, write and speak English quite well he was continually roped in to participate in English speech competitions with other school in Ubon. He always placed quite high in these competitions. The school quickly took claim for teaching him good English. It got to the stage that he was often missing his own lessons so he could represent the school in these competitions. He was placed there to learn written thai and there he was being paraded as their English speaking wonder boy. Wifey wouldn't let me go into the office to vent my frustrations.

Enough of that rant. He was in a class of 6 or 7 kids. It seemed in the last year he was there that the teachers were always being used for other tasks apart from teaching. So the kids were often left alone in the classroom for the teaching period then given homework to be done at home. Most days he was getting about 2 or 3 hours of homework but was sitting around most of the day doing nothing during the school periods.

The school are supposed to have native English speaking teachers to teach the English program lessons. There were a few native English speakers but the others came from all over the place like phillipines, Germany, India, Ghana, France etc. It was ok for my son as he could already speak English well. The other students would have had major problems with the varying accents.

I chose this school as opposed to the religious based schools as I didn't want him to be brainwashed with Christianity like the religious schools in Australia. We removed him from this school and he is now back in Australia getting a far better standard of education. For the high school fees that we were paying I expected more that what we got. The facilities there looked good, the uniform is nice but there was no substance in their level of education for my liking.

I have a friend of mine in Ubon who was diagnosed as a celiac about 6 years ago. He refrained from drinking beer since then. He has just discovered that drinking 3 or 4 longnecks each day of either Leo, Singha, Chang Classic, San Miquel or Ashasi doesn't irritate his condition. He believes this is due to them being rice based beers.

If you do a search on this forum for Drivers Licence in Ubon there is a couple of threads. I did mine about 2 years ago and it has changed since then. The letter from the immigration has now been changed to a letter from the tourist police I believe. Do a search and all the info is there.

Hope this helps

Hi sezzo, it's me Jeff. You're right, just so bloody cold here and bit homesick. How's things for you here.

Cheers jeff

Jeff, you are in Sydney mate, cant be feeling the cold there. Come to Canberra for a visit and you will know cold. I will PM you my phone number. Give us a call

Thanks guys for the info, need to decide to finish my treatment in Australia or come home.

Cheers

i have been as a visitor to the cancer hospital in Ubon a few times over the years and I don't think I would like to be there as a patient. I cant comment on their procedures or standards of care but being a government hospital the place seems to be always teeming with relatives and other hangers on which is very offputting. I have also been to Sappasit hospital quite a few times visiting friends who are "imprisoned" there and there is no way that I could spend any time there recovering from an op or treatment. The swarm of people hanging around would drive me crazy. On the occasions that I have needed medical care in Thailand it has mostly been in private hospitals where you can get some personal space.

Having said all that, I see that you are still in Australia and if it was me I would continue with the treatment before you return.

Just my two cents worth.

I recommend the vet clinic in Warin, on the main road into Ubon across from the fire station!

Ive also heard good reports about this vet as well.

Hey Carl.....hows Things? About to get the pies, sausage rolls etc happening down here in Pracherup Khiri Khan. Its a lovely 30 degrees here...hope to see you soon again someday. Cheers. John

Gday John, things are going well over here. I shall definitely include a trip down your way next time back in country. Good luck to you on the new business

Hope that your son is at least getting a decent education now back in Oz, Sezzo

Steve, He loves his new school. At least he is learning something here. Good luck for next week and Im sure it will be much warmer than here at the moment

Love to be there but ........

Fair chance that I shall attend. Should be my last one prior to relocating back to Oz