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not much available on the Mekong as it is difficult to navigate in places. for 3, 4, 7 nights ( more ) the Mekong Explorer offers an upscale cruise product. it travels up and down the Mekong from Cambodia right up to Luang Prabang, Laos (during parts of the year). Or you can hire a few local fisherman who may take you down the river from Chiang Khan. have done this and was fantastic!

www.cruisemekong.com

it is usually never a problem until...July 17th, German guy did this handed his passport blah, blah, goes back on Friday at arranged time, no passport! Tout says, problem, German guy says what problem! Tout says come back Monday, ovrr, and over, and over, "come back Monday!". German tourist goes into offie about passport, official asks him for his receipt for passport. Of course he does not have, tout has. Official starts asking him why he has no receipt if he applied for visa he was given receipt. German guy begins to realize there nay be a problem!

Tout did get his passport back to him on the following Monday afternoon as promised but He did have a few restless nights in Vientiane. As told to me by German tourist upon his return back the guest house in Nong Khai. We had his bags and room holding for him as he was expected back the Friday night.

So most of the time, no problems. However there are the one or two times I have heard of problems. Me, I would not want to be sitting in Vientiane after being told, "no problem ,come back tomorrow" by the tout who i gave my passport to. As if there is a problem the consulate can not help you as you are supposed to hand in and apply for visa in person.

But again many people use them, no problems.

anything is possible in this country. i started as a tourist, then saw an ad for a job with Macro, open to foreigners with proper visa, then started my own business and followed with teaching. Married to a Thai so a little easier and I speak Thai (not anywhere fluent, but well enough), and read & write it a little.

If you educate yourself a bit, learn Thai (3 months if you are serious) make connections with the locals, Thai & farang, stay away from the "bar" crowd, you can find work. Not as easy as other places, but there are possibilities.

80 baht!! atbthe womens clinic in nong khai next to fuji film....

receptionist: girlfriend pregnant?

me: nope, drivers card

her: 30 baht

me: thank you

this was several years ago...heard it is 35 baht now.

not a fan of the program but as far as visa and work permits are concerned they fall under the excemption status as sanctioned by royal decree. which means under special provisions some people who are performing duties to help benefit areas such as education, culture, sports etc do not need or require a work permit (paid or not).

my last employer in Thailand as a "teacher" (after 3 years of actually teaching) was with a "western" managed company that wanted teachers with enthusiasm not "experience" as all lesson plans were provided and taught via a power point presentation. as long as you could enthusiastically get the students to repeat the word "inside" after showing them a slide of a red dot inside a box they received a grade of 80%. so i imagine these guys and gals could do no worse then this prgram.

i lasted 3 months before admitting to myself this program was actually rolling back the students english language skills and quit.

You dont want to hear the words probably and might, then you need to get an immigration visa and stop "living" here on tourist visas.

Ah Dave, you see that is why when you assume something it is usually wrong. I did exactly what this young fellow is trying to do for the better part of 30 yesrs. I started out at 18 now not as good ss the guys who travelled innthe 60 snd 70's but was still a wild and untamed world. Parties wrre good without people trying to drug you or kill you. You gad the standard STD's but nothing that would kill you.

So did all that for years. But comes a time in every boys life when you realize you must become a man and accomplish something

for yourself or your family. OP talks about his girlfriend and has no clue. When the time comes and meets the right person maybe his perspective will change. As it will be less about what country is next on your list, but food, shelter, and safety for his family.

Then again he may be the type of person to just say sod it, and walk away from them. Yeh I work for someone else but they pay really well, my wife is happy as we will be moving into our new house, and my daughter will be looked after till she goes out on her own. Thats reality brother.

By the way I am always curious as to what these great digital gonads do. They always claim they make money "even when their sleeping" yet when asked what the website is or an address to go look no one ever tells, why is that.

If I wanted to mingle with Farangs, I'd go to Farangland.

Really? And where might that be? After 5 years living in Thailand my family and I have returned to the West. In my new little village in the middle of nowhere (town of 4,000 people) 42%of the population are "immigrants". Philippines, India, Korea, Mexico and Chinese. All working, raising families for the most part. Most have integrated into the community. Speak English, friendly, speak well of the country they call home. Many seem thankful for the opportunity they have been given . Realising how difficult it is to get a visa(work permit, visitor, student) they want to be seen as being productive and helpful. In part there is always the threat of being kicked out.

How is this related to the OP? Mai loo, but part of me feels if expats (not all, some) put forth the effort to integrate into the Thai society (learn the language),join local clubs (badminton, football, scouts, fishing, golf), as the immigrants here have done they may find less of a need to be all part of the expat crowd. I took the time to learn the language and have to admit other than 2 or 3 farang most of my social interactions were with Thais.

I get the feeling the foreigners here seem to be thankful for the opportunity they have been granted, then some of the expats I met during my time in Thailand

for Smurf, I realise what you are saying is partly tongue & cheek, but you have choices. I fly a lot and have been seated next to or very near to:

a person who vomited thru the entire 12 hour flight - these people should not be allowed to fly

a guy so fat part of his leg fat covered half my seat. so I sat down on it. he complained to the in flight crew. I said i wanted a partial refund as I was not paying for his fat to fly on my seat (premium economy seat so a little bigger seatnthen econo) - fat people should not be allowed to fly

a lady whose body odour literally made my eyes water - stinky people should be denied boarding

drunks & stoners not only tend to be annoying but can be dangerous - these people should be given 10 year travel bans. i have been on three flights that had to be diverted because of these a$$holes, 2 in canada, 1 in caribbean

i have encountered people who snored so loudly in economy it woke me up in business class - people who snore should be asked to leave the aircraft immediately.

annoying talkers, mostly drunken brits or australians, who believe their stories are so funny that they need to have everyone on the aircraft here them -brits & aussies should be forbidden from purchasing tickets

korean, chinese and a few others who snort up their nose snot and then spit it out on floor in between their feet and yours, for 7 hours running...should be shot and dumped into the ocean

or my flight last May. this person seated next to me whose breath was so bad you could smell it while he breathed thru his nose. i refused to be seated next to him. the in flight crew thought i was kidding. i told them to go smell him. they refused i asked if there were any available seats to move to (i was in evergreen class premium economy) they said it was a full flight. i waited by the exit doors hoping for a no show. no luck. i walked off the aircraft. told them to pull my bags i was not flying. they told me they would call security and have me arrested for disturbance. i said go ahead. co-pilot came out to talk to me, i told him to go smell the guys breath and assured him i was not going to sit beside the guy for 11 hours. off he went.

i was booked on another flight the next day in business class with my bags waiting for me!

so people with stinky breath should sit next to me more often so i can get an upgrade - or they should get their own enclosed section of the plane and not bother anyone

me, i will take a crying baby over most of the above (all of which i have encountered on nearly every flight) especially the snot snorters who are the worst.

pay for your Laos visa in Thai baht...you will save money. The rate varies based on the nationality of the passport used.

a surprise gift for the gf.......a sybian.

not sure if people noticed, but the student in question is a high performer. good gpa, top if his class. teacher was probably just mad that a 9 year old was smarter than him.

as a rule one should only beat the disfunctional, less inteligent and just all around weird kids. because as we all know they add nothing to society, in general, other then posting on TV.

Hi David, dont get too caught up on all the terminology. Wiki has a great breakdown of the general structure of the Thai school system. I have 2 children, one in M. 1 (grade 7) and young daughter not yet in school. I have also taught in the Thai school system. The worsr program was the English conversational program leased out by a company called sine. In my opinion I would avoid enrolloing my children in it.

However again in my opinion they were very good at teaching math, science, music, and geography / history (although these last two are a bit skewed). you will need to supplement your childrens education at home. But if your children show any interest in the above subjects (msth &science especially)they will do well in the thai system.

I strongly agree the biggest problem was getting children to be creative and acting as an individual. The system makes it very difficult to o this. In part because of large classrooms it is nearly impossible for students to be independant and still get the guidance they need. And before the "teachers polce" jump all over this post I am typing this out on a tablet which I hate using.

So in general I trust the system to provide the basics and even offer a better program in some subjects, but you will need to be an active parent in othrfs.

just moved back to north america after 5 years in Isaan! surprised by how good it feels. plenty of high paying work, people are as friendly as i remembered, excellent options for food including several Isaan restaurants. hate to say this but probably not comjng back. ,crazy part is since i have been back i have met 10 or so Thai people working in the small town and have had some very interesting discussions. asked 2 ladies who work in the local coffe shop why they are here, they stated it was better here then in thailand, money, house, and school.they were from khon khen area...go figure. however it was very difficult for them to get visas, especially work visas, took them nearly 4 years to get an open work permit. but they got'em.

you need go sit down with your gf and discuss all the reasons why you both feel she would return back to thailand. now take out any emotional type answers (sick family, elderly parents, look after her other children) what ever you have left over might help...owns land, has a job, going to and enrolled in post secondary education. immigration canada needs her to prove (not you) she will return back to thailand.

also in regards to the child unless you are legally married just listing your name on the birth certificate does not automatically make you the legal father. also for registering them for canadian citizenship as well. good luck

With a multi entry visa can leave country every 150 days.

Will require an extension for reason 2.24, cost is 1,900 Bt at each entry. Make last entry at the last allowed time and will have almost 17 months for each issued visa.

You need to leave every 90 days and cannot extend for 60 days to make it 150 days before you leave the country.

Yes, you can. Mods would confute me if that wasn't possible.

why would you do this though? it is a multiple entry visa! which means you could go to Laos everyday and return no problem (just pay laos visa). it is valid for one year (has an expiry date, use by) at which time you make one last border run and get your last 90 day entry. in essence you get nearly 15 months with it. why in the world you would apply for an extension in between time is lost on me.

Hope I live until 91!!

And still be fit enough to travel to pastures new for the next exciting adventure...good luck old codger 555.

is this the same guy on another thread looking to start a family!! Good on him at 91:)

i am sure somebody has added this but the rate in baht is set at 1500 & 1800 (canadians) as it would take border agents longer to process each individual nationality. so they set the rate in baht based on an exchange rate a few years back and just left it. no rip off. as they say take clean bills and try to use exact change (usd) if possible.

2. Taxes.....It makes no difference to Revenue Thailand if you have a work permit or not you must file income tax if you make money in Thailand....

My understanding of the OP was that he thought taxes were being deducted from his pay, but not remitted to the tax authorities. In other words, he suspected his employer was sitting on the cash.

In that scenario, with no WP as well, the employee - through no fault of his own, and despite his best efforts to remain legal - is off the books/radar as far as the authorities are concerned.

I am not sure what you mean, sorry. The OP is still required to file income tax and if money is owed he must pay. If by some hook or crook the agency has not forwarded his deductions (which he should have shown on

his monthly pay statement) that will be a matter between the employer, employee, and revenue thailand. One in which if the employee can show deductions made will have no problems.

Agencies do not fall under the same regulations as schools for the severance. Agencies are not to be trusted and never used. No I don't have sympathy for a 65 year old man who put himself in this situation. He can go to the labor board, he can try and fight for a small amount of money, or he can put his big boy pants on and try to find something better.

As for square, yes, I had a typo on that thread but cannot edit after a while and it wasn't pertinent to the discussion. However, you were equally wrong and posted a lot of misinformation also about cost of living.

Would it have been better if all posters lamented with the OP and offered our sympathy? What advice can he want or need. There isn't anything that he can do really. There is little recourse but to move on. I know people who have fought through the courts and have won. I also know that it took them over 1 year and they ended up winning 50k baht. Not really worth it.

The other thing is because of libel laws the OP has to be careful what he says about the agency.

The Op was asking some pretty easy questions, being in a situation, where he's seeking information.

Your statement that you "know people who ended up "winning" 50 K" is priceless.

At least they went for it and those agency might have changed a little bit regarding ripping others off.

I'd reckon to fight, even if it's only 50 K, as you've said. It's not only 50 K, it's your freaking right, when people are doing wrong things to you.

And agencies are well- known for doing that to people. Instead of trying to give the OP the right information, there's a little war between posters who obviously don't like each other.

Sorry, but that's not what this forum is made for. Leave your private wars where they belong to. At home.

And your last statement, that the OP has to be careful what he says about the agency says a lot about your character as well.

Most agencies pretty much s-ck. Please spread my word. Thanks.

Not to hijack the OP's points but your response in part about the comments people make in public are incorrect. It is strongly suggested you not make, and I do believe it is part of the forum rules, any mention of particular names or businesses in regards to such negative comments.

You state "most agencies pretty much suck. please spread the word. thanks." Is fine as that is your opinion in general regarding agencies however had you posted a particular agencies name, address and phone number your posting would not be up very long and you may even get a knock on your door one day.

However please google defamation laws thailand and have a quick read if you do not believe this could get you into trouble. My apologies to the moderators for this off topic discussion but felt it is important for some people to understand the seriousness of slander in this country and it should not be taken lightly.

May I suggest that only you speak English and your wife only speak Thai to your child. Your wife's English possibly like most Thai's is more Asian/English, than true English spoken in 1st English speaking countries. I'm a retired teacher and when I was teaching at a bilingual school in Phuket, I met a 2 year old girl who eventually became my foster daughter, living with me on weekends. She is now 13 years old and speaks the most perfect English in her bilingual school. While living with her grandma during the 5 day week, she only speaks Thai with her.

Personally, we don't speak Thai at home. English is the language of the household. It always has been, and it always will be. So, our son should know that and adjust to it accordingly. Since his mother had to quit work to stay home with him, we lost her income. As a result, I often work more than one job to make ends meet. I don't get to see him and interact with him as much as I would like. My wife is fluent in English, and she doesn't make the typical mistakes I often hear. If she did, I would ask her to speak Thai with him.

Furthermore, we intend to move him to the states for his education. As a teacher here, I am not too thrilled with the education system. I work in a supposedly very good school. Nonetheless, I am still less than pleased. He will go through Anuban here. He may even do a couple of years of Prathom, but I haven't decided on that yet. Ideally, he would begin grade one back in the states. As much as I love Thailand and want to stay here, I feel it would be selfish of me to allow him to get his education here. I can't afford the top notch international schools. He will learn the Thai, but it is critical that he learns the English naturally.

Interesting to hear this side of the equation. I am taking the opposite as I will be taking our daughter to Canada/US for the first 3-4 years and return back here starting P1. Along with finding a decent school here (and there are many) I will be filling in the gaps with home schooling. Not to overburden her just as a complement. My thinking has been that with her language skills (3 and counting) along with supplemented schooling she has the potential to be a big fish in a little pond versus being a little fish in a big pond in the West. Possibly.

As for the OPs worry, not a problem, as long as she/he shows continued developmental growth, plays well, is curious, responds to sounds, motor functions etc...then the language skills will come. I have met several linguists and all have stated the same thing that the magic "age" is three. Having children exposed to several languages from birth to the age of three makes language processing easier. I had the opportunity to meet a very special person several years ago who was fluent in over 16 languages (2 of which are now considered extinct). It was very interesting in hearing their take on childhood development in language. As one poster mentioned about a "black box" the idea is that children not "translate" language as adults tend to do (which is why some people find it difficult) children learn from exposure.

She strongly suggested that for the first 3 years (in a bilingual home) one parent speaks X and the other parent speaks Y even if the one parent is fluent. In our case I spoke English, my wife Thai (encouraged not to speak Isan).

Good luck it is a very exciting time in a childs life and yours.

Well, some of you would fit nicely in a Thai classroom of 12 year olds.....

Not that I am an expert ....

1. Severance pay - maybe, it will depend on how your contract is worded. Fixed-term or Open-ended. If it is a fixed term contract it will be very difficult to obtain severance pay. Unless they have included wording such as "either party can terminate this contract given 1,2,3 months notice...." or something like that. If it is an Open-ended contract then yes you may be able to file. The Labor Boards in Thailand, in my opinion, are quite open and honest and will try to assist you in this matter. If the company has provided you with sufficient notice of termination and / or you have breached any condition of your contract then no.

2. Taxes - once you are in the system ie. obtained a Tax Id No. and have filed a tax return then you are in the system regardless of having a work permit or not. It is your responsibility to file a tax return every year if you are working. A company withholds taxes from you to offset your payment that is made to the Government at the end of the year when you do your return. If an over collection has been made you will get a refund after you have filed your tax return for this year. If you leave the country or have lived in Thailand for less than 180 days you may be able to file for a return of these. You should also note that Thailand has many reciprocal agreements with many countries for tax purposes and any income you make here should be declared on any other income tax returns you make in the rest of the world (or vica versa if thailand is your home).

It makes no difference to Revenue Thailand if you have a work permit or not you must file income tax if you make money in Thailand.

3. You may be able to obtain a 2nd waiver, it is however up to the employer to provide the proper documentation for you to obtain. If your employer is unable to or unwilling to provide this information then you may be stuck without one. If you stay at one school it is possible to work up to 4 years (2 x 2years) if however you change employers or schools you can easily use up these two waivers in as early as two semesters. If you are in the process of upgrading (proven enrollment) your current degree to include B.Education then it is possible to receive a third waiver (with some conditions).

Hope this helps and again I am only providing information that has been either obtain through personal experience or other co-workers....it is by no means professional advice and could be a pile of horse manure for all I know.

have not checked the prices but how about flying from Vientiane. Flights with Laos Airlines via Pakse 5 times a week I believe. Easy to get to the airport from Udon and can visit Vientiane for a day if you wish.