Ajarn

Before the original King Kong (with Faye Ray) was made, they went to northern Thailand around Nan and filmed a movie called 'Chang'. Silent, but a great movie which I guarantee the whole family would enjoy. It's available on DVD from Amazon.com

Has anyone here ever experienced problems that were clearly due to the ice? I haven't, and I've never ever taken any precautions except on my first day in Thailand- on the suggestion of a guide book, I brought some 'baggies' to put the ice in first...Hey, try stuffing that in a glass of coke..What a mess! Tossed all the baggies and just through caution to the wind after that...

Ok, I know everyone has differing opinions on the two-tiered pricing phenomenon, but I guess most of us would agree that it is irritating when it's right in your face.

The other night I went to have dinner at Khao Tom 1 Baht on Thanon Rachadamnoen (opposite the Writer's Cafe) , and the waitress (new) gave me the farang menu. I was too tired to explain for the 3000th time that I can read Thai, so I just took the menu... My GF was also interested, she always likes to check the spellings and see how they translate things such as "het khem thawng", "phak kracheet" and the likes...

Well, this time she noticed that the prices on the farang menu were higher than on the Thai one... The Tom Yam on the farang menu was 20 baht more expensive than on the Thai menu, and on the menu nailed to the wall. So my GF tentatively asked what that was, and was given the "rakhaa farang" explanation.

So that's that. We ended up paying the Thai price, and I would assume they give that to anyone who knows about the difference since there is really no good defense for their policy... but then again, do we really want to go to a restaurant that preys on people's inability to read Thai? 

Maybe at least once, it seems

Yes, I was simply too knackered that day to muster the strength to go eat somewhere else. Besides, my GF's mind was so set on their Tom Yam Kung (nam khem khon) that I did not have the heart to speak up...

I hear ya' ... How was the food?

from my standpoint, If I want to go there, I'd rather go into such places and directly confront the owners (not the staff) regarding the double pricing policy. Seems to me that would have a faster effect in possibly changing minds than by having a few people not go there, which the owner has no idea about... Better to pack the place with farangs complaining about the dual pricing (and leaving, if they don't get the regular price).....Of course, I'm not sure how safe the food might be after that!

Yo dog, sick means excellent, cool, you dig Daddy'o? 'Prick' is definitely negative and uncool.

Man, this language is nuts...

What about when they say "word!"? What is that supposed to mean, and how do you use it?

Shit, you'd never know I was an English teacher for 25 years

From Oxford..

– PHRASES kick against the pricks hurt oneself by persisting in useless resistance or protest. [with biblical allusion to Acts 9:5.]

Is there a Bible in the house?

Ok, I know everyone has differing opinions on the two-tiered pricing phenomenon, but I guess most of us would agree that it is irritating when it's right in your face.

The other night I went to have dinner at Khao Tom 1 Baht on Thanon Rachadamnoen (opposite the Writer's Cafe) , and the waitress (new) gave me the farang menu. I was too tired to explain for the 3000th time that I can read Thai, so I just took the menu... My GF was also interested, she always likes to check the spellings and see how they translate things such as "het khem thawng", "phak kracheet" and the likes...

Well, this time she noticed that the prices on the farang menu were higher than on the Thai one... The Tom Yam on the farang menu was 20 baht more expensive than on the Thai menu, and on the menu nailed to the wall. So my GF tentatively asked what that was, and was given the "rakhaa farang" explanation.

So that's that. We ended up paying the Thai price, and I would assume they give that to anyone who knows about the difference since there is really no good defense for their policy... but then again, do we really want to go to a restaurant that preys on people's inability to read Thai? 

Maybe at least once, it seems

T&T offering a chance to sit in on a class is a great idea

^ Yeah whoever thought of that must be an almost genius!

Almost?

Watch out for that Peter Principle

Yes, these crazy youngsters use words that mean the opposite of what you think they should mean. Me I'm wicked (< but that's good, not like a wicked witch which is bad!).

Man, the world is upside down, it seems...

So, if I say 'you're a sick, wicked, prick!', is that good, or bad?

Nothing personal, of course.

...

A Master's Degree in anything opens many more doors, both real and surreal.. 

As I'm sure you've figured out, The Facade rules in Thailand. If you have the right shoes, watch, car, degree, friends, etc., Thailand seems to become a happier place to live for some reason   Everybody plays it, and it seems almost natural after awhile to play into it yourself...

For me, I've got some downsides, like being ugly as sin, but my degrees, my experience, and my Thai Schmoozing Skills have worked miracles for me. For example, I've never, ever been turned down for a job after an interview... And never a shit job, either. You can play The System to your advantage, but still maintain your integrity and honour, I firmly believe.  Once you've established yourself as being 'part of the group', your personal integrity becomes less threatening to them, and often even gains you more respect. ....TiT 

Anyway, I digress...

A Master's, even an MBA, is a requirement for most university contract positions (hourly teachers normally just need a BA/BS and only teach undergrads, since a Master's or above is needed for grad students). Now, among these grad students are many working teachers, businessmen, housewives, police, etc.. In my own experience, and in the experience of the other Ajarns I've known who were teaching at that level, there was never a lack of highly-paid extra work available, and other payoffs.

I've Got three years of Engineering Grad School(around 50 semester hours completed) - working as a research assistanct(half time) - passing my PhD quals but then dropped out - never got my Masters though it would have been easy if I'd had the heart for it so no thesis was required (since I Passed my Phd oral quals).

Think that might eke me by?

You didn't mention any degrees awarded, so my guess is no...But please don't rely on my guess. Stop by a local university and ask, or email them with your question, would be my suggestion.

I bought a sick gold Rolex on Sukhumit a few years ago. It impresses the ladies and gents. Stopped keeping time awhile back, but it's not for function, stricktly fashion. I feel oh-so-hi-so when I wear it, yezz.

Please excuse my relative ignorance, but I'm guessing that 'sick' is good?

Bob, there are some quite big differences between many of the courses, most noticebly maybe, the focus on adults (CELTA) or kids or whatever. Some courses offer more classroom practice or more peer feedback (of great value, in my experience)... One large advantage with CELTA courses is that each course has an inspector come in and make sure the course is being run correctly and consistent with established CELTA Course Guidelines...On the downside, that makes the courses more rigid, with less flexibilty to focus the training more to a particular locality, like Thailand...

T&T offering a chance to sit in on a class is a great idea, and just the offer seems to say they have pretty high confidence in their quality.... And the fact that they seem to focus training more on the likely local market for teachers than CELTA does, makes them of great value to the newbie teacher, in my opinion.

And soon, unemployment insurance!... 

Ajarn: FYI this became effective as from 01.01.2004.

I'll wager no falang has succesfully claimed it though.

Re the 'free' health cover that Ajarn refers to. I thought we all make a statutory contribution of 5% of our monthly salaries - up to a maximum of 750 baht. The cover is good, but I'm not sure I would describe it as free!

On the subject of taxes. My university isn't deducting it so I'll have to make a payment myself at the end of the year. I would like to budget for it, but asking the local tax office for some help with the calculation is a waste of time. Didn't there use to be a tax calculation spreasheet linked to TV? If so, could anybody direct me to it?

Sumitr Man - It's good to see you contributing. You used to make some of the most informative and helpful posts on Ajarn. I appreciate you were p*ssed off when your posts were lost, but it would be good to see you over there again.

I'm pretty sure the employee SS contribution is more like 2%, but that was a few years ago, so it may be higher, but not 5 % I'm pretty sure. 5% sounds more like the income tax for teachers, maybe.

And yeah, you're correct. It's not quite free health care...But is quite good, even doing 750,000 baht surgeries that I recently read about in the Post. I had a heart problem from pesticide poisoning some years ago, and everything was covered. Excellent inpatient care, too, then.

I haven't paid university teacher taxes for a few years, but the last time I paid just over 1200 baht for the year @ a standard govt. 'Ajarn Piset' salary of 17,000 + 8,000 housing...Is your salary the same?

Do you teach in a government university? Since the new wage guidelines for one-year stamps has come into play, are farang university ajarns still getting the one-year stamp from immigration?

And we're trying to compare to our own language, with pretty much the same issues in 'exact' translation, I'm naturally reacting with a lot of my own culture, and my own feeling about the word 'teenager' in English... To me, it has the obvious 'teen' part to give it the age limitations, but, for me, it also can be ageless, as a noun or adjective, and I might also use 'teenager' (jokingly) to refer to an adult as less-than-adult in terms of developement. And all the other thai definitions presented.... Same same as the Thais I've closely questioned and verified in use a number of times....minus the exact age definition. But, close enough, to me.

Many times these don't translate exactly in real life use , as we all know, making me even more determined to get it right, so then when I joke using this vocab, I don't hear 'farang baa' under someones breath along with blank stares....

So, I've become slightly anal , perhaps, in some of my definitions? Like a narrowing of the mind sometimes, maybe?

Hey, safety first!

Meadish and snowleopard, thanks for your contributions

Ajarn  You get around ehhhh !  

My other physical options being limited, I love driving around, exploring my country, and sometimes giving the locals some cheap thrills when I come into town

Driving is also my form of meditation

the certificate is the icing in the cake (or as the Americans say, the gravy!).

Who told you we put gravy on our cake!?

At least we don't have spots on our dicks!

Wow, thanks for that!!!  I think I'm using the same "B&B Thailand North" map as you are.

Are there like dirt roads to other villages off that highway 1150?  Interesting to see that village Mae Pun Luang right on the border between Chiang Mai and Chiang Rai, but no road that goes there...  

I think David (Unkovich, who did a lot of work on that map) kept some places for himself...

Yeah, another one he missed is 1136, which is a backroad to Fang that goes off of 1150 about 8 k's west of phrao, and also goes to Chai Prakhan.. Kind of a crappy paved road, though.

As you're going west, there are a couple of Christian Lisaw villages (most are now, it seems) off the road to the left, but the last time I was on these roads, they were quite muddy and difficult to travel on. I'm sure it would be better in the dry season. One of these 'roads' hooks up with a back road leading into the East side on Chiang Dao town, passing a number of small lisaw and Thai villages.

Whenever I'm travelling south from Chiang Dao, I like to take a road this road....

At the intersection in the middle of 'downtown', take a left (if you're heading south) and follow the paved road, first to a bridge over the river where there are millions of carp fish and you can buy 5-baht bags of fish food and feed them from the bridge. Continuing along this road takes you through a series of small villages, mixed Thai/Hmong/Lisaw. Nice little vignettes of life through here. The road meets the main road south just before heading into the section that winds along the river for a few k's....

This is the best time of your to see the North, in my opinion. Just at the end of the rainy season when the lush greenery is at its max, and before the sky turns brown again from the burning...

By the way, when I entered the Phrao valley coming out of the moutains to the south, the whole valley as far as I could see, had a smokey haze... After driving another 20 k's I found the source- a trash fire in someone's yard that had been smouldering for a long time...Just after passing the source, the sky was blue again. You could easily see the smoke trail leading from this one fire. If they would spend a bit of effort to make these smouldering fires hotter, there would be much less smoke, and the stuff burning would be consumed much faster, meaning less smoke throughout...No excuse for these smouldering fires, really.

> lots of hilltribes, good road.

In what direction, specifically?  I still want to go back to that waterfall you get to a couple of kms before Phrao proper. (Turn off on the left, then a pretty long drive into the mountains.  Nam Tok Hin Lai or something it's called.  And (much) before that you will have past Nam Tok <something> and the Seven Colour Fountain.  (Just a bit past Mae Jo actually)

Cheers,

Chanchao

Either East, or West, out of Phrao(sp)

To the East along 1150, it's about 90 k's of beautiful moutains driving to Wiang Pa Pow. Along the way is 'Baan Sam Li', a very friendly Lisaw village. Worth a visit and a chat if you have the inclination. At the end of 1150 East, if you go left, it'll take you to Chiang Rai (after a pie stop at Charin Resort KP# 141, about 10 kilometers past Mae Suay).Going right at the intersection takes you baack to Chiang Mai.

To the West of Phrao(sp), there are Akka, Lisaw and Hmong along 1150. No tourist scene in any of these places, just normal working folks. There's also an interesting police outpost (below) which reminded me of a funky country lodge.

In Phrao(sp), there is a quite good basic Thai restaurant serving up noodles and stir fries. Farangs are quite welcome, and I've never gotten the shits after eating there- my highest restaurant recommendation.

So, coming from the south (Chiang Mai), turn right at the useless traffic light just in front of the Phrao(sp) police station (how convenient for 'wan sin duan') After turning right, go down about 300 meters to the next intersection. On the right side at the intersection, you'll see the simple and clean restaurant.

Chaiyo!~Chaiyo!~Chaiyo!~

It can be done.

It will all depend on the school again though. I know a guy that is in a wheelchair and managed to get a job but it took him a while as most took one look at him and mentally shouted "next please!"

That's my choice, too, and I've convinced myself it's too much of a hassle for me in a chair because of all the physical barriers in any school I've seen. One reason why you hardly ever see students in wheelchairs.

My great respect to your friend for his perseverance

Does anybody have any experience of taking their TEFL at Text and Talk in Bangkok? They make a lot of appealing statements on their web-site, which on the face of it sound good, but I'm naturally cyncical.

For example, assistance with a Non-imm B visa (before arrival), accomodation and work placement. I'm comparing this against the CELTA that ECC run. The course content looks similar, I'm just weighing up the best one to take.

Ps. I know the CELTA is more internationally recognised.

My personal opinion is that, if you're staying in Thailand, T&T or Tefl would be a better choice than the CELTA.

Phrao, most likely. 

Phrao is North of Chiang Mai, past Mae Jo and then much further.  There's not a lot there.  Kind of like Pai before it became "Pai". :-)

Cheers,

Chanchao

Not tons, but more than one might imagine, since things are quite spread out in Phrao(sp)

One of my favorite day drives. Varied scenery, lots of hilltribes, good road.

CM-Phrao(sp)-Chiang Dao-CM About 200-250 k's..4-5 hours

Phraw(sp), phrao, prow, praow

up to you

To be more specific.... Phraw(sp) is at N19°22.083', E99°12.249', 441 m

The exploding kanom was purchased at N19°25.794', E99°04.736', 472 m

precisely.

For myself, none of these postings annoy me at all simply because I don't read them. I never see any postings on sports either, also simply because I don't read them....I hate most sports, but I'm not going to complain about them being discussed here. And recently, I saw a warning from George that he was going to censure a topic on 'Anna and the King' out of some legal fear, perhaps. I think that is just unreasonable paranoia...That movie, and the government' ban on most public showing, has been discussed in Thai public forums, ad nauseam...And, as I said, only some showings are banned. The film has been shown in academic settings with permission from Thai authorities. I know, because one of those occassions was in my university class on Critical Thinking about 8 years ago.

I don't like Morals Police in a public forum. Granted, controls, even beyond self-controls must be in force, and that's what mods are there for. But this is about Thailand, and the sex/bg scene is of interest to many, it seems. I don't feel such discussions, if civil, should be censored.

Civility, not Morality should be the guiding factor in censorship, I believe.

But, as a business, that's a whole different story, maybe, and I wonder if that's actually playing a bigger role here than I've seen mentioned...

Like search engines. Maybe TV is worried that some engines will lower their 'scores' if they have dirty words? That can be true, to a degree, and maybe valid reaon to put some controls in, as they already have.

But, to me, it's simply entertainment. I know I can always turn the channel here to find a more interesting or thought-provoking discussion...Like this one

Ajarn......I have no issues with men since I am happily married. Where does my post say I hate men or have issues with them?? Please do not make assumptions (as you so like to refer them as) I do tend to look out for women though, dont see anything wrong with that  Habit

Fair enough. First, it was not an assumption, simply an observation, and I labled it as such. Of course, I don't know the real you, and my intention was not to cast aspersions on you, but as a supportive gesture because I sensed some angry issues going on that seemed to get in the way of....open-mindedness, perhaps? Please, I'm not trying to war. I can see clearly that you are being reasonable here and now, and I want to encourage, not discourage that...Okay?

If you believe my particular sense about you is wrong, then cool. It's not caste in stone in my mind, so need to convince me otherwise. But, I'm sure you'll agree with the sentiment I expressed to you regarding keeping an open heart and an open mind here. Life is different here in so many ways, much of it quite confusing to us as foreigners. In our own minds, we must try to make sense of stuff in order to not drive ourselves completely nuts, but sometimes our own assumptions and judgements about our experiences in this foreign culture are wrong or misguided. Not because we're stupid people, but because of our own background, language problems and other issues, we must guess a lot...I don't know anyone who always guesses right. Do you?

I know I sure don't, even with almost 2 decades living and working here among Thais and being relatively fluent in the language. That's really why I'm here. To learn and to compare experiences with others, either to validate my own 'guess', or to show me me guess was off in some way, maybe. Part of that process is sharing my experiences, hopefully for others to go through the same validation process and, if their guess/experience doesn't fit with mine for some reason, then confront me with your take so we can both maybe benefit.

Okay, I'm ###### impatient. I know that. And, if I sense a closed-minded or unfairly judgemental statement, I feel frustrated because I'm not always sure how best to deal with that issue- and I often do feel obligated to say something. Maybe it's the teacher in me Often I do suggest (strongly, at times) that there is more to the story than they might feel...Maybe that's wrong, but my intention is to get them to broaden their thinking a bit. Though, as I've said, my patience is small when I don't get the cooperation I want. Not saying it's always right to do, but I'm hard-headed just like many others here. I do have strong feelings, as well as strong values....As you likely do, too.

You're not the first person who's suggested to me that I sound like a know-it-all. Maybe I do 'sound' that way at times, but I try not to, even when I do feel that I know it all...

So, lets back up and regroup, na'? I am sincere in hearing your message, and I hope you'll listen to mine- especially when it's the best advice.. Kidding!

re: leaving LoS, I've heard that fiance is actually more expiditious, although I suspect it prolly doesn't matter too much. The kid ought to put a lot of it on the fast track...

Drummer, from everything I've heard, and my from own experience, the fiance' visa is MUCH faster, normally. The process to get a visa as married takes upwards of six months, or so I've heard... A search here will give you the whole scoop, I think.

Ajarn, stop with the childish comments. Cant you stop when someone else is trying to stop??

Get it now?

Oh, I see. You wanted the last word- and last shot. Sure, no problem

But, work on those anti-male issues you seem to have, na'? Life can be pretty good here if one can chill and keep and open mind and heart. Your expressed anger and stuff must be very uncomfortable for you, and I'll stop responding to your bait, which I do accept my responsibility for...