Ajarn

I've seen all the various seed packet varities (like Burpee) I remember from the the States being sold here,... Flowers and vegetables. In the 20-25 baht range per packet.

Maybe you guys are one of those spooky types who sleep with your eyes open?

Just as an aside to anyone going in the near future, the strawberries being sold between Chiang Rai and Mae Sai, the big, red, pretty ones are selling for 300B/P/K, with the smaller as little as 100B/P/K .... I recommend the smaller ones as they are sweeter and more real strawberry flavor...

I was in Mai Sai a couple of weeks ago, and all the ones (big and small) I tasted were definately lacking in flavor and sweetness, even among the reddest ones. Can't remember the price, but I remember thinking that they were too expensive... I'm used to paying well under 100 baht per kilo for the best and biggest, but of course they're going to be more expensive now, when there isn't much around yet. I'll try again in January

I haven't seen them around Mai Sai lately, but sometimes you'll find these absolutely delicious oranges around the markets... They are quite big, with an extra thick skin that is super easy to peel. Quite orange, no green. They say they're from Burma, and they ask 20 baht per kilo. Even when I've seen them around, they still seem a rare find...

Although obviously ThaiVisa doesn't condone working here without a work permit etc. etc etc.!

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Yeah, right

I've known of at least a half-dozen farang volunteers who've been booted from Thailand, and not one was ever leveraged out using the WP laws. In the most recent case I know of, Matthew Xxxx, an extremely public and confrontational in-your-face kind of guy who rubbed the authorities (and most others) the wrong way, was simply not allowed to re-enter Thailand when he went to Mai Sai on a visa run. None of these guys had a work permit, and each was effectively booted out by immigration, at the border. Much easier and less paperwork, I'm sure.

If you want to volunteer for a Thai school or organization, I feel you'll have nothing to worry about if you're a decent and reasonable person. Don't sweat the WP, I'd say.

In my observations in Thai schools over the years, age is only sometimes a negative consideration in hiring when it comes to teaching young kids, because of the vast amounts of patience and energy kiddies require. I have only modest amounts of both, so I am not so great with kids in the longterm- no matter the salary

On the plus side, I think 'advanced' age is big plus in teaching- Life experience and overall maturity in someone are valuable in any learning environment... Many schools recognize that, and your age will often garner you more respect.

But, our experiences can also make some of us quite set in our ways, na'? Not always a bad thing, but something that I looked at very closely when hiring older teachers. Flexibilty in the Thai working environment is critical.

Schools also sometimes prefer younger men and women (especially women!) because they might feel they'll be more 'fun', and thus good motivation for their students. If you've ever seen an English classroom with a Thai teacher, you might have likely witnessed lots of yawning students, so it's understandable that some schools will be looking for Farang clown college grads...

If you're flexible, energetic, and look presentable, I think you'll do okay in Thailand, no matter your age.

She works in a supermarket and is not involved in the sex trade as far as I know. She is not in Bangkok either, for what that is worth. I have made quite a "stink" over her request, but she seems unwilling to change the plan. My guess is that boyfriend or "real" husband wants to spend "quality" time with her during this period, but I have no direct knowledge of such a relationship.

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It sounds like you already know something ain't kosher with the situation, and you don't trust her... I'd say take the hint and either deal with it directly and force the issue or find greener pastures... Don't be a sucker, like so many others here. There really are plenty of fish in this sea...

And learn whatever lesson there is for you to learn so you don't find yourself in this situation again

but right now who can replace him....another 4 of KT is hard to bear but may be inevitable

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Not only inevitable but almost certainly........guaranteed

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If there's one thing I've learned here, it's that NOTHING is guaranteed here. Anything can and does happen in Thailand- especially in politics. TiT, na'?

Where can I rent the video?

is a Wai.

Use your finger or chin to point out things, not your feet. It's considered rude here.

But picking your nose in public is fine

A great ideal, but really just politician hot air.

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It's the same everywhere in the world I've been, and I've often used the idea that all politicians have the same parents in situations where I was trying to build cross-cultural connections by showing what we have in common, since everyone can identify with politicos blowing hot air.

but I haven't seen much field burning, or any forest fires lately, which are the main contributors to the visible form of air pollution around here, it think...

The pollutants from fires and field burnings usually put in their annual appearance around late-February.

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Yeah, when it seems that you're wearing brown-tinted glasses

Sounds like your propblem has nothing to do with New Years.

Wonder what she sells....

Good luck in your relationship

And who will teach a first time tourist how and when to wai?

Someone might but until that happens, simply don't wai.

Alternativelly, follow Lonely Planet (that advises to wai back) and wai children and food stall staff and hawkers along the KS Road.

I'd suggest more of the LP approach to wais... Don't worry if you wai the 'wrong' person. Nobody except some farangs will think any worse of you- I think you'll find that any Thai will appreciate your attempt to show respect to their culture.

Just feel respect for others, and let that guide your words and actions. Hard to go wrong that way!

got to thinking that maybe most of you guys and girls are about the age of my son 

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Never confuse immaturity for youth.

cv

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I think, for many, it's more like 'premature'... Like they need to cook a bit more in the oven before they've reached maturity

4 more days and past the 50 mark. With a few bike wrecks, the Army, and picking up too many transmissions and installing them by hand, I sometimes feel like a 100. Overall though, Im ok and don't worry too much. Knees hurt the most but still love to ride motorcycles. Gotta get some fishing gear to take up more of my time instead of living on my computer. The misses swears I love it more than her.

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Kris, I used to always say I had three wives.... One Mia Luang, two Mia Noi's named Honda

I wonder what 'paper' you're referring to... Is it a true chanod? I read that that they will not give a full chanod to many of these farmers, meaning they can't sell their land, but they can get a bank loan.... Failure to pay off the loan would result in you losing your rights to farm the land, and the rights would be given to someone else....

Some might be better off NOT being a part of this program.

As for the 'fees', it could be some minor govt fee for processing, but if it's like in the thousands of baht, I'd expect that to be something more nefarious... You can either ask at the issuing office, or ask one of the people you referred to as already receiving their 'papers'.

I seem to remember reading that the current 'poverty line' here is about 1,200 baht per month... So you're not in poverty if you get more than that...

Swimmable rivers in Oregon?  Maybe in August ...    Thailand also as swimmable oceans...  A bit briney,  sure,  but the fish are a heck of a lot prettier      The hot springs are fabulous though      Cold weather + hot springs = good time   

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Ever been to Macredie Hot Springs near Eugene? Fond memories of trudging half-naked through the snow to get there.... Sure right about the seas around Thailand. I really like the quite warm waters in the gulf, but the ocean off Oregon was waay too cold for me

Even though I was secretly from California, I still had a 'Don't Californicate Oregon' bumper sticker on my car...

Amazing: out of some odd 50 commentaries, this chap Rod sticks out like a sore thumb: it's the only intelligent comment about some poor guy, who did not choose to die in this way and all the rest of you chaps produced a lot of verbal diarehaa ! !

Makes you wonder what we're doing here, hey Rod ?!

With your myopic vision and problems with counting, I'm wondering the same thing about you....

Promising the world with eradicating poverty.... What does that mean? How can he do that?

Well, Thaksin has already told us how we'll know the he has eradicated poverty.... Remember the call for poor people to sign up some months ago? Those are ALL the poor people in Thailand, right? Afterall, he asked every poor person to register and list what they needed and what debts they owed now, and also told them he would help with their problems. Of course ALL poor are going to sign up, right? Anyway, that's Thaksin's logic as quoted in the press (and I heard him say the same in a TV interview)

He'll succeed in his mind by making sure the poor get the relevent referrals to the program that he 'knows' will solve their problems of poverty. Some denuded land on which nothing grows, but can be mortgaged to the bank for some quick cash- and, if history is any guide, any freebies from the government will translate to the rich getting richer and the poor being stuck with the shitty end of the stick - until they threaten to march, or an election is drawing near. Then there will be another bail-out program. And so the cycle continues, as it always has....

Not much real follow-up or support after the referrals, either. Not enough manpower. "Up to them to decide if they take the bait...er, free giveaway by the government. I've completed my part" I can almost hear him saying...

All he needs to help you is for you to give him absolute power and not question anything he or his friends do....

I can't speak for all of it, but much of the 'haze' you see is visible humidity at this time of year from the cold air coming in from China. In the morning, it's fog in some areas, but in the daytime, it's too warm for fog so it shows as humidity. This was noticeable to me recently whe I went up to Doi Angkang and saw the same thing everywhere in the mountains at all elevations, On the non-sunlight sides higher up, it is heavy fog/light rain...

Certainly, it makes sense that there is always higher-than-safe levels of pollutants in this area because of the geography and vehicles, but I haven't seen much field burning, or any forest fires lately, which are the main contributors to the visible form of air pollution around here, it think...

In any case, it still sucks that we can barely see the beautiful mountains around us... And soon it will all be air pollution blocking our views and our lungs

I always research my symptoms on the net before going to any doctor.  I have been feeling numb all over my body, and after a stool sample the Docs diagnosis was alcohol withdrawl.  I asked him if the symptoms could be caused by anemia, he looked at the whites of my eyes, and told me confidently no, he doesn't think so.  I pushed for a blood test, and sure enough, I have anemia equal to missing two or three bags of blood.  I don't feel the doc is inadequate - he is busy diagnosing all day, he doesn't have time to research all symptoms as thouroughly as I did.  Together we were able to come across the right treatment - I couldn't have done without his help.

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I couldn't have done without his help.

Of course you could have, and you did...

Your SOP with Thai docs follows mine. I've lived here for a long time and have a very extensive history with docs and hospitals here. You MUST be proactive and never fully trust what you're being told. A couple of times I would have died had I followed the doc's advice about my heart condition- doc presecribed me a drug, which, during clinical studies, was found to have a higher mortality rate than those taking no meds.... He had simply accepted the drug salesman's info and never check further for more current studies. I found the info in 10 minutes on the internet..

and Diabetes... Doc told me 'under 300' was within normal range for Blood Glucose level (In fact, above 120 is considered damaging) He also prescribed a drug, which it was recommended that the doc give a liver function test first due to possible averse side-effects involving liver damge....Never mentioned it to me.

Lots and lots of these kinds of experiences- Like the drunk doctor who operated on my two severed tendons after an accident...Or the doc who missed a stich when he removed my stitches, and when I noticed and pointed it out to the nurse after he left, she came back and said the doctor told her that he was sure he got them all and couldn't be bothered to return again. The nurse apologized and removed it herself.

And if you have a malpractice complaint against a doctor, good luck The Thaksin government has made that virtually impossible by changing the regs to limit the exposure by doctors and hospitals. It is still common for a hospital to file a countersuit against anyone accusing them of malpractice, the idea being that they will discourage you financially. There were proposed amendments to the law to disallow hospital counter-suits until the original suit was settled, but Thaksin killed that, too.

As usual, Buyer beware here. Beautiful nurses and beautiful hospitals don't mean shit. Don't be fooled by the polished facade one sees everywhere here. Beautiful, but dangerous, is my rule of thumb

Ever wondered why we have so many new underpasses instead of round-abouts? Round-abouts are cheaper less divvies to go around...

Huh? Roundabouts on the Super or Ring Roads instead of the under/overpasses? Can't image that being any kind of workable solution in those places...

I prefer communicating with farangs in this forum rather than face-to-face in, most cases. Keeps my life more peaceful

As for using English or Thai, I feel equally comfortable with either language (not saying my profiency is equal). I simply enjoy communicating with all folks from anywhere on most any topic. I don't fear making language mistakes, only in being misunderstood, but I never lack confidence that I'll be able to make myself clear in any situation even if I do have the language skills of a Prathom student (or annubaan 6? )