Ajarn

Yaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay!  As a public-school teacher, I may actually live to see some of those benefits, whatever they are!

"Steven"

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I wouldn't count on it having one iota of effect on you. They're talking about Thai teachers, as government employees, and as a farang teacher, it doesn't count for you...

What new rules? Share please!

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News i have heard from the staff of MOE during their visit to School.

Starting next year at start of School year, (i only heard this from MOE staff!! not the big wig)All new English Teachers that have not gone through the proper procedures of applying and obtaining their work permits previously will have to obtain a certified letter from their Embassy stating their degree is real, will have to sign a document at school for MOE giving permission for them to receive documents from graduating University. Then license will be processed for work permit. (after they have recieved confirmation from University) maybe this is all old news for some of you but thought i would share what they told me. A push to curb the tourist teachers?????

I would like to thank the person from here that helped me with some lesson plans for M5 classes but i can not remember your nick name here but thanks again.

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I think it's a HUGE leap forward if the MoE actually starts properly verifying credentials. I sincerely hope it hapens. It would go a LONG way in improving the teaching profession here, I believe.

When they were re-doing the CM-Mae Jo road about 10 years ago, I was doing some extra teaching at Mae Jo university 3 evenings a week. I travelled that road throughout the process... One of the problems I noticed was that the packed dirt bed never seemed to get dry, like the water table was kinda high. At that time, it was mostly scrub and rice fields lining the road. That road was layered in asphalt.

..... 10 years on, this concrete road is still in mostly perfect condition, while the CM-Maejo road totally sucks- the highest speed one can hope to maintain on this road is only 60kmp because of all the sagging (dips) and uneven road surfaces from crappy repatching.

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I use to teach at Mae Jo when the road from Chiang Mai up there was still a two lane near-death experience on just about every trip. Scarecely a week went by where I was not forced onto the side of the road by some freaking oncoming truck passing another truck without taking any consideration to my earthly presence. So despite the current dips and uneveness, it is now a far safer, although far less bucolic, road.

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I must disagree that it's far safer now... I realize it's probably been awhile since you've travelled much on it... The heavy truck traffic makes up almost the majority of traffic now, shoulders are basically non-existent, there are still many scary U-turn spots, and combined with the dangerous surface, I think it would likely qualify as the most dangerous 10k stretch of road in Chiang Mai. I live just off this road and travel it every day.

And motorcycles are still at the bottom of the ladder..

Hello ArtfulD,

Wheelchair access in Phuket isn't actually a big problem!

I am the MD of a company specialized assisting wheelchair users to find accomodation, tours and travel, diving, sailing and much more. I have contact with almost every wheelchair friendly guesthouse and hotel in Phuket. This means if you book throug me, you will save up to 30% compared to the hotels listing prices. Cos I share my commission with my clients!

I can also recommend Patong Palace, I have a contract with them and can offer you a 30% discount compared to Paul Andersons listing prices.

I have wheelchair rooms from 400 Baht/night!

Also we cooperate with a company offering sailing at a big motor yacht with wheelchair access! Also there is a crane for lifting clients in and out of the water if they will swim or snorkel.

You are welcome to email me at [email protected]

Have a nice day all of you! 

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I didn't know this forum was to used for advertising, and I can inform you that Paul Anderson doesn't set the price.

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Come on Sonthaya, he's offerring valuable info just like you. No need for the catty messages, na'?

Let's all continue to be supportive of each other here. I really appreciate anyone taking time to offer suggestions. It's all good

One thing different in Thailand is when a reporter, photographer or cartoonist causes offence to people in power they very often wind up shot or deported.

Though I agree with the rest of the posting, I don't think this quote is really a fair statement of the current or recent-past scene. Yes, reporters have been shot in the past, but many reporters are also heavily involved in 'dark' activities, making it difficult to say for sure why they might have been shot. In the last few years, I'm not familar with any deportations off-hand... Though I don't doubt it has happened, I don't feel the situation is common enough to be labled as 'very often'.

In fact, there are a number of reporters who regularly trash the people in power without any obvious retaliation except public criticisms and likely lots of bad vibes sent out . This government seems to prefer economic punishment in such cases... And many would say that Thaksin's control of so much advertising money has been very effective at quieting much of the bad press. We don't even know of some of the worst stuff, I'd venture to guess.

In a current case, one reporter is being sued by Thaksin for defamation(?) But, so much dirt has come out during the trial, I imagine Thaksin will think twice about taking that road again...

I've been really impressed with the quality of the provincial hiways and roads south and east of Chiang Mai compared to the areas around Chiang Mai - In fact, the 'new' outer ring road starting from Huey tung taw to Mae jo road is in terrible condition already and has been repaved in sections a couple of times already, while other sections have huge, hard dips that put your back out (it still hurts!)

It seems like the roads that get built these days using concrete are of high quality construction (e.g. the four-lane Highway 11 from Lamphun to Lampang) and the roads that are constructed using asphalt are of varying quality. Of course, it doesn't really help that in the immediate Chiang Mai area we have armies of overweight construction trucks barrelling down all of these new roads. All of the new ring roads have countless housing projects springing up off of them and with that construction comes the heavy trucks.

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When they were re-doing the CM-Mae Jo road about 10 years ago, I was doing some extra teaching at Mae Jo university 3 evenings a week. I travelled that road throughout the process... One of the problems I noticed was that the packed dirt bed never seemed to get dry, like the water table was kinda high. At that time, it was mostly scrub and rice fields lining the road. That road was layered in asphalt.

Around the same time, they were also making a concrete road (formerly asphalt)from San sai market to Baan Bo Hin (a few k's south of the Doi Saket turnoff). 10 years on, this concrete road is still in mostly perfect condition, while the CM-Maejo road totally sucks- the highest speed one can hope to maintain on this road is only 60kmp because of all the sagging (dips) and uneven road surfaces from crappy repatching.

Yeah, farang and eetan (or itan) drivers always get my full attention

For anyone who doesn't know what a 'eetan' vehicle is....

from: http://asian-links.com/larry/motor.html

It's actually a vehicle with a very interesting background.... The motor is an 8-12 hp gas engine that is mounted on a type of rail slide for easy on/off. Slide it on, tighten two bolts, and you're off... This engine is also the same one used in the 'kwai lek' (iron buffalo) - another wonderfull example of rural ingenuity. This engine also mounts to a thresher, water pump, power generator... All have the same mount. Who ever said Thais couldn't problem-solve

I agree with you about many of the back roads here in LOS and I have often been amazed at how good the roads in fact are, I have ridden many roads in LOS on a motorcycle and have said for many years the "back-roads" in LOS are much better than in my own country in the west.

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That just dawned on me yesterday...

I have GPS in my truck and I like its accuracy to measure my speed. I usually keep in on 'KPH' which I'm used to now after so many years, but yesterday I switched over to 'MPH' measuring.. As I was cruising this two lane country road, I looked over to see that I was doing almost 60MPH... It dawned on me that not many of the country roads where I'm from could be driven at such speeds...

But, still, consistency of surface and proper safety warnings for road problems are still a problem here, so I can't 'Space-Out' here as I could on many of the hiways in the western US. I guess that's probably good, though...

I sure do miss riding bikes.

I assume you have a contract, signed and witnessed that lays out what was agreed, referencing the plans?

If so then you should be suing for breach of contract.

It is a civil matter, not criminal.

With hold the final payment until the house is to your satisfaction.

You lawyer will be able to advise and you wife will know the way around the Thai system, hopefully.

For reference of others reading this.

Watch every step of the construction like a hawk. 

Get your own tape and check measurements, check levels as well.

At the first sign of deviation from the plans call the head man, the one who signed the contract, and say "STOP!  This is not correct".

Show him the plans and point out what is wrong.

Tell him to correct it.

If necessary tell him to remove his staff and find a new builder.

No more money to the old one until the problem is solved.

Otherwise they will plough on regardless.

I have made the mistake of not being firm enough, and my house is not as I wanted it.

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I completely agree with Astral. In my experience with construction workers, or any kind of worker for that matter, whatever you let 'slide' is taken as your permission to continue on...

Maybe you were the Good Cop when the Bad Cop might have had more success sometimes?

Mostly at night time- not during the day 

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Thai's frequently sleep during the day!!

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Or is he smashed drunk?

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Well, he's not 'hitting the sack', that's for sure

What time do people living in LOS hit the sack during these fine,sunny,rainless days?

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Mostly at night time- not during the day

The other thing that is everyone says that foriegner will never get fair treatment in a Thia Court, and no matter what the circumstances the Thai will always win. .

Fact: Thais don't always win.

Of course, every farang in prison says the court was unfair. Thailand isn't any different, from my experience in talking with incarcerated farangs... In the States, I used to run a 'scared straight' program for teenagers at San Quentin prison and I spent a lot of time with the prisoners there.

Anyway....Thailand is a basically corrupt society, so I can certainly understand your concerns about being able to trust the system to work properly. In so many cases, it doesn't....

But, of the cases concerning farang friends who've had dealings with the cops as a victim, and of the farangs I've known who've gone through the court process for civil matters, I've never seen a problem. In each case that I was closely familiar with, the cops and the courts were fair in regards to justice... And the farangs won their cases, mostly.

You'll likely hear other stories saying the opposite- and some stories might even be true- and that's the problem here- the system doesn't always work the same for everyone...

I can't offer any advice except to say that if it's clear by the law that you're in the right, you at least have a fighting chance, I'd say.

Best of luck to you. and learn whatever lesson there is for you to learn in order to better protect yourself and maybe avoid these kinds of future problems....

Am I correct in assuming from your words that you weren't around for any of the construction process, where you might have been able to catch the problems earlier?

I left Chiang Mai at 9 am just in time to get stuck in the trafffic along the middle ring road...

But, once on the main hiway and south of that last set of lights that heads into Lamphun, it's smoooth sailing all the way. I've been really impressed with the quality of the provincial hiways and roads south and east of Chiang Mai compared to the areas around Chiang Mai - In fact, the 'new' outer ring road starting from Huey tung taw to Mae jo road is in terrible condition already and has been repaved in sections a couple of times already, while other sections have huge, hard dips that put your back out (it still hurts!)

No such complaint about the roads I travelled on today, for the most part... 'TiT' though ya' know, so one must still assume the worst scenario. Even on the most beautiful and smooth road, it can change to a death ride in a flash...

So, todays route was Chiang Mai-Lampang-Phrae-Phayao-Chiang Mai... Here it is drawn on a map....

From CM to Lampang is 90 kilometers, but because the road is so good, most can easily do it in one hour (though that reminds me of a poster here who insisted it always took him 5 hours...) On the way down on the left side a bit past the Khuntan service area (what is this place? I do like the 'monkey art' in front of the cop shop, though.) is the Elephant Hospital which is a private organization using mostly private funds to operate. Visitors and donations are welcome. Along that same road a couple of kilometers in is an elephant camp that has rides and shows. It is also the govt's main training center for mahouts. Next to the camp is an incredibly scenic and peacefull lake...Food is available.

Taking 11 south out of Lampang gets you pn the smaller country roads. In about 2 kilometers, the road narrows to 2 lanes, but the traffic in the daytime is very light. All along the road are vendors selling local fruits, herbs and vegetables...

Phrae is nothing special, but the road going north out of Phrae has lots and lots of roadside vendors. I really love shopping this way, and you often meet some very interesting people. Today, I stopped in a 'knife village' that runs along the main road about 5 kilometers north of Phrae. On first look, it seems that there are like 50 places along the roadside selling all the same stuff, but on closer inspection, most of the shops have a guy sitting out back with his forge, making more knives... Same basic styles of knives of every use, but in varying degrees of quality/size/details. Not just knives for the kitchen and for the bush, but various metal gardening implements, too. A knife big enough to lop off a head is about 100 baht...

In Phayao, the main point of interest is the lake. Along the east side of the lake bordering the downtown are lots of little seafood places, with a pleasant promanade across the street that goes for about a kilometer. Limited benches for sitting and hanging out. I got some gai yang and khaw nio, along with a big plaa yang ...

Heading back to Chiang Mai, route 120 going west to Mae Kachan is still beautiful and green, and has lots of dramatic long views as well as dramatic close-up views of the limestone and granite cliffs running adjacent to the road.. A couple of waterfalls, a funky rest area (w/refreshments and facilities) with a great view of the valley, too. This is a great road for any big bike fanatics...

From Mae Kachan, you're heading back to Chiang Mai. A few k's south of Mae Kachan is the Hot Springs Tourist Trap- but hey, if you like buying Tourist Schlock, this is one of the best!

Past the Hotsprings is the best/worst part of the trip. I figure I've travelled this 60+ kilometers mountain section hundreds of times. It's a beautiful road as a passenger, but the road is very curvy and dangerous through the mountains with many drivers exhibiting their worst driving skills, it seems sometimes. You really need to be on your toes here- many accidents along this stretch.... Ironically, the worst sections of pavement run past the main Govt. Hiway Office north of Doi Saket, just as you get into the mountains. Mostly crappy road surface for about 40 kilometers north of Doi Saket...

I got back today at 6 pm. I stopped in lots of places, had lunch along the Phayao lake and cruised Phayao and Phrae towns a bit... A great day, and one I'd recommend to anyone with a day to kill, and who loves to drive and experience this country as much as I do.

Sunset out the driver's window just outside of Doi Saket...

Infant boy kills sister in gun game

Published on November 12, 2004

A nine-year-old girl died in a Ubon Ratchathani hospital yesterday after being shot in the chest on Wednesday night before by her infant brother while they were acting out their favourite movie scenes.

Grade-3 student Pornnapa Inla-or was shot on the left side of her chest by her four-year-old brother, Nong A, after their parents left them alone in a makeshift hut the family was living in while work was carried out on their home.

"We went to check on how the renovation work was going. We were only about 100 metres away from the hut," said the children's mother, Sunee Inla-or.

According to Nong A, Pornnapa was showing off a gun that her father had borrowed from a friend. He asked to hold the weapon and the two then began acting out hero and villain scenes.

"Suddenly, the gun suddenly went off and she was shot," said Sunee.

Nong A has been in shock since the incident, she added.

Pornnapa was rushed to a local hospital in Phibun Mangsahan district, where she later died.

The children's father Meechai Inla-or said he had borrowed the gun from a friend to protect his family against would-be robbers while the family camped out in the hut.

"It was me who left the gun unattended in the hut. It was my carelessness that caused this tragedy," he said.

The police will not press any charges while the parents grieve and arrange their daughter's funeral, said Pol Captain Taweedej Klaibutr, the case officer at Phibun Mangsahan police station.

"But after the funeral, we will need to consider whether they should be held accountable for their recklessness," he said. Sunee planned to bury her daughter near their home so that the family could feel that Pornnapa was nearby.

"It will take time for us to come to terms with her death. Until then, she will not be cremated," she said.

When viewing my stats on my website more then 95% of browser is a version of IE. over the last 10 years those stats have been turning over for IE steadily every year. Netscape is completely out of the picture. They went from over 60% of usage in 1995 to a mere 4% now.

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Same with my visitors. I just glanced at the 56 people who are on my website at the moment (I have a program that monitors website visitors in real time called LiveHuman), and all but 2 are using IE. The lonely 2 are using Netscape.

Chiang Mai _ Buddhist groups nationwide have called for a halt to construction of a three-billion-baht luxury hotel here which resembles several Buddhist temples, while the hotel operator has promised to change the design if the Culture Ministry says he should.

Mandarin Oriental Daradevi Chiang Mai Hotel is being built on a 500-rai land plot in San Kamphaeng district to resemble northern-style temples. Its entrance and performance stage will look like a chapel and an arch at Wat Lai Hin in Lampang while another stage will look similar to an arch of Wat Phrathat Lampang Luang in Lampang.

Buddhist representatives who attended the 44th Buddhist assembly at Buddha Satharn in Chiang Mai yesterday agreed with the Buddhist Association of Thailand that the design was inappropriate and could spoil the image of Buddhism.

They want the hotel to revise the design and avoid decorating the hotel with Buddhist symbols.

Sant Suebsaeng, manager of the hotel, said the hotel operator had invested more than three billion baht in the project, but would be willing to change the design if the Culture Ministry told it to, in a bid to win local acceptance. The hotel is expected to open later this year.

With only about 45 days left in the year, I'm guessing the Post meant to say 'next year'. If if was actually 'later this year', it kinda seems too late to change the design if the place is expected to open this month or next...

I remember being warned about 'Phom ko-tod' after asking to fart a few times

Using the prefix 'Ai' before your mates name shows familiarity and freindship. Be warned though. Only use this to close friends as it can have derogotory meanings as well.

'Pee' and 'Nong' are more terms of endearment or respect but can also be used in a friendship context.

'Tee Rak' means 'Darling' and should only be used to your significant other.

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You are right about the "ai" prefix, but a BIG caveat for people who have not heard it in context and understand how it should be used.

If you use "ai" before your taxi drivers name when referring to him, directly or indirectly , or the bartender or whatever, they would most likely find it highly offensive (some *might* laugh as well, but it is still not worth risking being offensive).

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And of course, 'ee' before a female's name can be equally rude.

In the north, 'ah' before the man's (maybe women, too?) name is used as a sign of respect. 'Ah Hia' (mid tone for hia, not falling tone) is often used to refer to a Chinese man of perceived higher status...

"Pee" (older sibling) is a normal word of address that signals a willingness to not be distant but should be used only for people who could be your older sibling.

Not in my experience. 'Pii' is the most common word I hear used to refer to anyone older or of higher status.

Isn't there also a difference with the Glycemic index of Brown rice, being lower.

A lower GI means that food you eat is digested into your blood stream slower.

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As I understand it, I think it refers to the absorbtion rate of sugars/carbs only, not the other nutrients. I think it also means that your blood glucose will remain high longer than the higher GI foods. I'm a diabetic, so I refer to the GI quite often. Unfortunately, I can't eat much in the way of any rice or noodles. No more than a 1/2 cup per meal. I especially like sticky rice, but my body reacts to it like it's concentrated sugar... In fact, its GI is even higher than pure sugar in any form.

1,800 posts in 3 months - do you do anything other than post on ThaiVisa?

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A cat nap between posts seems about the limit to his free time...

Go to this link at the Inquirer http://www.theinquirer.net/?article=19601 which states that Microsoft has started to implement it's "Stop the Pirates" program.  Seems that when you need to update anything,you will be asked to verify your copy of Windows.  If not legal you can purchase on the spot and download a legit copy or your computer will cease to function.

So I guess that 4,000 Baht I was asking for a 8,000 Baht original of full version English Windows XP Professional was not a bad deal after all.

So in hte end either the viruses or Microsoft will get the cheap charlies that made fun of me when I bought the originals.

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Pure Propoganda. I feel very secure that the localboys will continue to find a workaround for anything MS comes up with

And I wonder how MS feels about you reselling a copy of their licensed software. You only have rights to one license/one machine, right?

The scouser is correct, white rice is milled (Polished to be exact). Brown rice is milled but not to the same extent.

Brown/Red rice has far more vitimins that white rice and has a much higher fibre content. However, it can agravate some health problems particularly if the consumer has problems matabalizing vitimins. People who suffer with gout should not eat brown/red rice.

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This is true and is why health fanatics like to eat Kao Dang, red rice.

Thai's will not touch it, as it is normally served in prisons,

and hence has a stigma attached.

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Not strictly true. There are a few varieties of red rice. The Kao Horm Mali Daeng is a relatively new variety, which used to be heavily promoted by Khun Mechai, of tattooed pig and condom & cabbage fame. This rice is quite rare and sells at considerable premium over white rice. High fiber, High vitamin & Mineral and delicious flavour.

We used to grow it on a property in NE Esarn and wholesale exclusively to health shops & high quality supermarkets around Thailand & overseas. The retail price here was almost 100 Baht per kilo.

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I read in the Post a few days ago that brown rice is what's given the general prison population, and white rice given to some elderly prisoners...

Copy of letter sent to Bkk Post Webmaster...

Hi again..

Just wanted to tell you that I found the problem- it was in my security settings as shown below...

I had earlier disabled this because many websites use meta refresh on the same page to kick up their pageview stats and it also means that website will show more banners..

I still would suggest a direct link bypassing your meta refresh. I can't see any reason for you to prefer that way, and, as I said, others have reported the same problem as me.

As an alternative, you could use your .htaccess file to code the page forward seemlessly, but, again, I can't see any reason why you don't simply use a direct .html link to the .php page...

Thanks again for your responses..

Cheers.