SkyRider

I would either 1) wait until I had a trip to the states 2) wait until a friend/relative was coming from the states 3) make the trip especially for buying it to the states.

That last option is way more feasible than initially thought on large items too. If you are going to buy something big, the ticket quickly pays for itself in both dollars and peace of mind knowing you aren't going to get a second rate product. I don't know about other people, but every single thing I have ever bought in Thailand, short of an Ipad, gives me the heebeegeebees, like it was a refurbished package, or opened and returned, or a display model etc. And what about when they insist you take the display model people have been mucking with at full price. What a joke. I am sorry but it is true. Yeah, I will pay full price (=50% markup compared to US price) for the watch that hundreds of customers have had their grubby hands on.

Good points. But that is a very long flight back to the States, and not that inexpensive. And friends don't come to Thailand often.

Does anybody know what would be involoved in having it shipped?

Hold on a minute pal. did you say China Town guitars might be fake? lol

Nana Cowboy - Thanks for the confirmation regarding guitars sold in BKK China Town. lol

2 subjects:

1. I've been shopping for a bass guitar here in BKK, I checked out Siam Paragon, Central World, (I heard China Town has some, but they may be fakes)

I haven't really found anything that feels or sounds right.

So now I'm thinking that I should have one of my guitars shipped to me from America.

What would be the best way to do this, FedEx?

I heard customs in BKK will charge money. How much? What compications could incur?

2. Any musicans in BKK, who would be interested in forming a band, or need a bass player - "classic rock" - please contact me.

I live in Bangkok and I'm planning on moving to another room in Bangkok. Evening hours. (With the few belongings that I own)

Can anyone please recommend a taxi cab company that will be able to speak English to me on the phone?

I have to have an important document sent to me from the USA to Bangkok. I would like to use FedEx or UPS, but I may not be home to sign for it. Does anyone know the the most secure way to send it, without requiring a signature? Would it be USPS priority mail?

 

The OP has college credits, so I assume does not have a bachelor degree. If this is the case, that will be far more of an impediment getting decent employment here. If that is the case, I'd be finishing the degree first. A tefl certificate is definately not required by immigration/labour department. However, if one plans to teach english here I'd suggest it is a good idea - a good way to get some supervised teaching experience. But a LOT more will be learned during the first year of teaching and beyond.

 

I agree that it's a good idea to take a tefl course, especially if you don't have any prior teaching experience. If you don't have any prior teaching experience, then it will help greatly. I would hate to think what it would have been like to enter a class room, without having taken a tefl course first. Without the tefl course, I would have had no idea what to do. For me, taking a tefl course made a huge difference, I learned so much about teaching from that course.

I do not believe there is any "test"

However, if you have been studying the Thai language for one year the Immigration Officer may expect you to be able to converse in

Thia !

The basics? Sawadee Krap? Where are you from? When did you arrive in Thailand? What day is it? Arai? Pom mai roo.

My one year Ed Visa will expire soon, and I would like to apply for another year. I have been told that I will have to take a test. Can anyone please tell me what the test consists of, what I should prepare for?

Thank you.

I just found the answers to your question in about half a minute by simply Googling the phrases "us passport" and "add extra pages" which took me straight to the info on the US State Department's website.

I'm ever amazed by the many questions that get asked here on TV.com that could so easily and quickly be answered my simply using Google.

I have to get pages added to my passport soon. I saw the post headline in the email, featured topics and clicked. I was curious to see what other expats had done concerning adding passport pages, interested in where they went, time frames, and difficulties that might have occurred. What I learned from this post is that there are other options available to me besides just adding pages, I can renew. I now know that there is a slight price difference between adding pages and renewing. If I renew, what problems might occur that I might not have considered. I learned that there are 2 add page options. I learned how long other expats waited for their passport to arrive. I learned where it might be best to exercise any of these options. I don't believe the state departments website provides the personal experiences and insight that the OP's question has generated.

I'm ever amazed by the never ending negativity on TV, particularly from the most senior members. In stark contrast to most online communities, the senior members on TV are nearly always responsible for the most trollish, negative, denigrating comments. I have an idea after living in LOS for the past year and my interactions with the expat community, that to a large extent the expat community in Thailand is predominately a bunch of social misfits unable to function in the west and come here because the Thai's tolerate their BS.

I mean really, what required you to spend one moment of your time to reply, and add NOTHING to the conversation? In the future, if you think it's a question below your clearly superior intellect, <deleted> and move on.

In closing, thank you OP for the question and thank you TV community for your experiences and insight, I for one learned something today because of you.

Thank you for that Clarkeman - and thank you to everybody else who gave constructive input on this topic. I appreciate it.

I've been to the embassy many times wearing shorts and a nice shirt. I don't think there's a dress code, but I've rarely seen others dressed really poorly. I'm sure it happens, but it's the exception rather than the norm.

Hey, this is Thailand. It's bloody hot. Nothing wrong with nice shorts and a nice short sleeve shirt. And sandals. But if you want to impress, long pants and shoes would be better.

Exactly, it's hot in Thailand, I don't want to wear long pants if I don't have to. I prefer shorts. And I will wear a nice shirt, of course.

I heard that I cannot get into the US Embassy in Bangkok wearing shorts and sandals. Is that true?

I only need to add extra pages to my passport.

I found a pharmacy,

It's air conditioned.

It's near Big C.

to give you an idea of how much i pay,orfarin 100tabs x 3mg = 450bht.

inr.blood check 200bht.

INR blood check for 200 baht is a great price. Where is that? In Bangkok?

I think there are very many good Thai musicians.

Sek Loso being the best.

How many extra pages do I get if I add extra visa pages to my US passport?

I live in Bangkok and my passport has run out of pages. I'm trying to decide which is better, add extra visa pages or renew passport.

Since my passport is valid until 2016, I think I should add extra pages. But how many extra pages do I get for the $82 fee?

Where is an inexpensive place to buy Wararin in Bangkok?

No matter what anybody tells you, the online course is crap and the in person course will be more apt to be seen as legitimate. Now, certain interviewers may not care either way, but a "good" one would I think will not favor online courses. Online=crap in my opinion.... how about this, if you want to work on my car should I hire a person who has studied them online, or one who actually worked on cars?? Easy decision for me.

I would just skip the course altogether, save the money, and start showing up at schools. You'll get a job, it'll pay about 32k, which is what you'd get with the certificate, so why get it?

Thank you for that feedback. If I were to show up at schools, an manage to get a job - would that job also give me a work permit?

He was right, if you get a TEFL or not, you will probably not get the work permit. See why I tell you not to get the TEFL?

They actually need your degree to file for the work permit I believe. Of course, anything is possible though.... sometimes someone's cousin is the lady behind the counter at so and so office etc.

Don't be discouraged though if you want to work here. I did a TEFL (and regret it) and there was a guy in there who had no degree and he seems to have plenty of work now AND before he took the course. TEFL is just another way to soak money out of foreigners here. If you must do one, do it in a country that has regulations regarding this stuff.

What do you mean by regulations? Thailand's TEFL schools are not regulated?

No matter what anybody tells you, the online course is crap and the in person course will be more apt to be seen as legitimate. Now, certain interviewers may not care either way, but a "good" one would I think will not favor online courses. Online=crap in my opinion.... how about this, if you want to work on my car should I hire a person who has studied them online, or one who actually worked on cars?? Easy decision for me.

I would just skip the course altogether, save the money, and start showing up at schools. You'll get a job, it'll pay about 32k, which is what you'd get with the certificate, so why get it?

Thank you for that feedback. If I were to show up at schools, an manage to get a job - would that job also give me a work permit?

You won't be able to work legally without a degree I'm afraid. The rules have been tightened up considerably in the last few years.

Agree. Chances are slim at primary and secondary OBEC schools supervised by The Teachers' Council of Thailand in regards to the teachers. Even teachers at the rural ONIE projects need to hold a university degree, however they are not supervised by the TCT. Many universities have their own local policy that teachers should at least a bachelor degree.

However, language centres, tutoring centres and teacher placement agencies are still in a gray area.

If I tried language centers, tutoring centers, and teacher placement agencies - is a classroom course more credible then an online course?

I am American, 50 years old. I'm interested in teaching English in Thailand. I don't have a college degree and I don't have experience - I know that works against me. I've heard it's still possible to get a work permit for teaching English in Thailand (Bangkok) with only a TEFL certificate.

Is an Online TEFL certification credible for getting an English teaching job in Bangkok - or is a class room course considered to be much more credible?

I assume that since I don't have a college degree or experience, that a classroom course would be better, but I'm not sure.

How many hours does the course have to be?

Can anyone please recommend some credible TEFL schools?

i save money by not flying business class no more ...

Sorry to hear that things are so tight for you.

My suggestion is stay away from the farang economy, stick to eating from and buying from Thai economy businesses, it's still unbelievably cheap, and as for the restaurants, the food can be quite superb.

Totally confused where the OP wants to go with this.

I am confused that you are confused.

Does it really have to have a destination? It is what it says on the tin, and there is a full explanation as to why it was inspired.

Like the member who posted about his 300 baht day out at the caves etc.... Sounds like an interesting and fulfilling day. Maybe he will get a few PMs asking where those caves are. Maybe he won't.

We all know the thread will go off on tangents, but don't they all? That is nothing to do with the thread and more to do with a minority of ill educated.

This thread could provide a good and valuable resource for farangs that don't have the reddies to live the way they want to every day. There is a thread on here that shows that is the case and they are in the majority from what I read.

I know that a lot of people who want to show everyone that they can afford to live here lavishly here will chirp in with irrelevant and unhelpful comments about 'if you can't afford to live here carefree, then go home'. People are in Thailand because of Thailand, and many have Thai wives and girlfriends. You can't just tell them to go home... Who is anyone to be able to say that to others?

I won't argue with anyone because it does the thread absolutely no good, and lets be honest, how many times have YOU got very good and helpful info from this website? I think to start trashing the threads and people's posts just for a bit of sport fishing is basically pissing on your own doorstep and everyone elses.

That's why it needs such a large amount of moderators to control the braindead.

I think the OP started a good post. I certainly have to and am trying to figure out how to save money in Thailand. Going back to my country may not be the best option, because in general, it is so much more expensive there.

Regarding motor bikes instead of cars - I walk before doing either if I can, get some exercise, and every baht adds up.

Regarding motorbikes... Apart from the fact that we drove about 120km yesterday, do you have a Thai partner ?? Like I said, getting her to sacrifice the use of the car was a major result. Asking her to walk is crossing the line

I do have a Thai partner, and that is usually the time when I cannot walk, because like you said, she usually won't do it.

i save money by not flying business class no more ...

Sorry to hear that things are so tight for you.

My suggestion is stay away from the farang economy, stick to eating from and buying from Thai economy businesses, it's still unbelievably cheap, and as for the restaurants, the food can be quite superb.

Totally confused where the OP wants to go with this.

I am confused that you are confused.

Does it really have to have a destination? It is what it says on the tin, and there is a full explanation as to why it was inspired.

Like the member who posted about his 300 baht day out at the caves etc.... Sounds like an interesting and fulfilling day. Maybe he will get a few PMs asking where those caves are. Maybe he won't.

We all know the thread will go off on tangents, but don't they all? That is nothing to do with the thread and more to do with a minority of ill educated.

This thread could provide a good and valuable resource for farangs that don't have the reddies to live the way they want to every day. There is a thread on here that shows that is the case and they are in the majority from what I read.

I know that a lot of people who want to show everyone that they can afford to live here lavishly here will chirp in with irrelevant and unhelpful comments about 'if you can't afford to live here carefree, then go home'. People are in Thailand because of Thailand, and many have Thai wives and girlfriends. You can't just tell them to go home... Who is anyone to be able to say that to others?

I won't argue with anyone because it does the thread absolutely no good, and lets be honest, how many times have YOU got very good and helpful info from this website? I think to start trashing the threads and people's posts just for a bit of sport fishing is basically pissing on your own doorstep and everyone elses.

That's why it needs such a large amount of moderators to control the braindead.

I think the OP started a good post. I certainly have to and am trying to figure out how to save money in Thailand. Going back to my country may not be the best option, because in general, it is so much more expensive there.

Regarding motor bikes instead of cars - I walk before doing either if I can, get some exercise, and every baht adds up.

I've always thought that a budget of 65,000 baht a month was about the minimum needed, which also equates to the immigration requirement. Your budget is smack on that. The rent element though doesn't leave much, about 5,000 baht a month for a room ?? You can get a room for that but it won't be much. It's odd you plan to spend as much on wine as you do on rent. Also the entertainment budget at 166 baht a day ?? Unless you like a really quiet life that is too small. It buys about 2 beers a day, and no female company.

I'm paying about $7500 for my room, including electricty and internet, and I think it's a nice room.

I don't necessarily need a quite life, but I haven't been going out much lately either, got tired of the bar scene. I've been staying in with my girlfriend - but we drink alot of wine, thus the high wine cost. I would love to get that wine cost down, but it's difficult to find good wine here, and it's expensive.

Ummm, I live comfortably on way less than this up in Chiang Mai (like I've bought Apple computers and iPhone and iPad and furniture and appliances - washing machine, refrig. etc. - and spend less per year). So you'll be alright - can up that wine budget a little and drink the good stuff. (or skip the extra costs, unexpected costs, emergencies, and you can put in climate controlled wine cellar)

Tha's good to hear. I'm always shocked when I do a budget, and see that wine is one of my biggest expenses

But I do think it is better to try to have a certain amount estimated for emergancies - because they can, and usually do happen - so I don't think I can have the wine celler

unexpected costs,have you a partner? if so and she is thai there will be plenty,if not why pattaya?there's plenty of hidden costs there,its not for settling down anymore,ok if you want to live like a tourist but 15,000bht a week wont go far,so can we have a little bit more of your expectations and situation.then you will get all the answers your looking for.30yrs and still learning.

I'm in Pattaya because I like the beach resort atmosphere.

I'm in a new relationship with a Thai girl, only one month now - I'm aware that can have unexpected costs. She has a job, she doesn't need my full support.

My expectations, looking at costs, I'm concerned about being able to stay under a 25K per year budget. I'm not working here, I need a work permit first, I know that is difficult to get, but that would help a lot.

I can move back to the States, but I'd like to stay in Thailand, if possible.