yourauntbob

Until people start refusing to use the vans or they change the drivers incentive to get there as quick as possible things will not change. I for one will walk before getting into one of those death traps again.

He campaigned on BTS and MRT stations. I was hoping he would win and implement these plans. They are all a bunch of crooks and I dont care all that much but I hope at least something good can come of it.

My teacher told me, my English is much better then the German of most Brits ! When you not like my topics why you response,when you have nothing to say about the topic itself! You can go to learn German,but I tell you I will not joke about your spelling ! My English teacher told be also, that the Brits much more tolerant when some spelling is wrong, then the German!

Unlucky enough for you I speak German, I lived in German for 12 years and worked translating Books from Telecom suppliers into German guides for staff at big Telecom companies in Frankfurt am Main

Tut mir leid.

Seeing as you are taking this personally, are you going to post the size of your appendage as well?

Sandman makes an excellent point, something we have discussed at length here many times.

Anglos can be very arrogant towards those whose mother tongue isn't English, yet wish to mingle with people not of their own origin . . . this should be applauded, not derided.

Oddly enough most Anglos can't spell to save their lives

Added to which Sandman doesn't say his English is better than your German, he says that he wouldn't denigrate anyone whose German isn't perfect . . . but of you didn't comprehend that . . . perhaps your German is acceptable but your English isn't.

Actually, re-read your post and see if you can find several mistakes.

Tut mir Leid (should the 'L' in Leid be capitalised? Can you answer without looking it up?)

+1

you said it better than i could have

Rent is cheap here. Finding tenants can be difficult and even if you do, your rental income is going to be less than what you would need to pay on a 30 year mortgage.

Take a look around those areas and see what people are asking for rent. I would bet a 1.5 million townhouse would only go for around 5-6k per month.

I fail to see the point of this post.

A women is outside her apartment smoking in the rain and notices the woman next to her has a condom over her cigarette. Curious, the first woman asks the stranger "Why do you have a condom on your cigarette?"

Woman 2: "It protects the cigarette from getting wet in the rain, try it and you'll notice the difference"

The next day as the first woman is driving to work in the rain she stops off at the pharmacy and asks for some condoms.

The pharmacist asks: "What brand and size do you need"

Woman: "Doesn't matter, as long as it fits a camel"

On my way to work on Friday I was rear ended by a pickup truck. The force of the crash pushed my car into the car in front of me and my trunk is basically in my backseat. The (Thai) driver took full responsibility for the accident and both of our insurance companies came to take pictures etc. After all the paperwork etc was finished I went to the hospital to get a checkup. The doc says there was no broken bones but I do have a minor case of whiplash. I used my own accident insurance for the original prognosis but am wondering were the law is if I have further problems.

Additional info: my car was 100% legal (fees, taxes etc); I have a work permit, drivers license, insurance etc.

I am going to meet with his insurance company now and was wondering what actual laws in a case like this might be (links to government websites would be great).

Thanks to all in advance

1) politicians must abide by the laws they pass for others. limit on 10 years of government service and then you need to go back into the private sector.

2) crackdown on corruption in the police force. increase the police salary, then use "secret shoppers" to report police that are taking bribes. all tickets would need to be written up, if the officer does not write the ticket up they would be fired immediately.

3) fire the Board of Uneducation. Bring in people that know something about education and not people who have connections. there would no longer be a "no fail" policy.

4) expand public transport in BKK. MRT and BTS would service the majority of the city in 10 years.

5) Get the police out of the red light control booth. a) they do a terrible job, their time should be spent enforcing the law. They should be arresting/fining people breaking all the traffic laws for starters

6) make the government and all government purchases transparent by putting all info directly onto the government website for anyone to read

7) loosen the visa/business ownership requirements, allow productive foreigners to help make the country more prosperous

8) no more markets on the sidewalks. the roads are too dangerous without forcing people to walk on the street

9) legal age of consent 18, not 15

10) strengthen the consumer protections board. all companies that do not deliver on what they promise will be prosecuted

I save a lot of money by no longer paying for boom boom

I for one am just happy they did some police work for once and made some arrests. Hopefully they will keep it going and follow through with tough prosecution. Maybe I am getting a head of myself though....

Leo obviously doesn't know Thailand. Just because they ban it doesn't mean they will enforce it.

Had one taxi swerving in and out of traffic, cutting people off, and double laning turns brag to me in Thai one time in that "Taxis can drive like this, farang cannot." I politely told him I wished that no one would drive like that.

The vans are the worst. They should all have their license (if they even have one) revoked and they should be replaced. I promised myself I wouldnt rant anymore than that....

Educators can be stupid. Sorry, but they aren't the brightest of the bunch or they would be doing brain surgery.

Einstein was kicked out of what we would call grade school because they classed him as "retarded." His mother knew better and home schooled him. Then he couldn't get into a good Uni so he took what he could get.

Then he began to write and publish his papers and got recognized. Then every uni wanted him. He wound up in the States teaching and studying. We all know the rest of the story.

Even then, he didn't wear socks because he couldn't remember to mate them and got tired of being laughed at for having mismatched socks.

People are often judged by the wrong standards, even in the West. I have a wonderful neighbor boy in the US who is so bright that he was allowed to go to uni at age 16. But, he stayed at home, and the uni classes were chosen to be acceptable to complete high school. He was studying chemistry, statistics and one other difficult science all in the same term at uni, and got high grades. This is the only such child I've ever heard of. He is also emotionally mature and has wonderful people skills, so this also made it possible. This Spring he graduates from high school with 2 years of uni also completed.

I hope your girl student finds a good path. I think she can if she doesn't give up.

thanks for your kind words.

I'm just curious but were these students registered in the Thai program or International programs?

According to some friends I know it is very easy for kids to get accepted to the International programs but not the same as the Thai programs as they have to do really well to pass and more competition.

Maybe the ones with the GED got accepted to International College and not specifically the Thai University

Good point, this is something I am not sure of. I will try to take note in the future. Thanks for that insight.

Isn't admission to elite universities a function of their university admissions test score? It's similar to the SAT in the US, although in Thailand, I believe it's called the O-NET or A-NET. So how did your student score on the admissions test?

I'm no expert, but it appears your rant has no relation to reality. How do you know that students with GEDs are selected over those without? You don't.

I know that students with GED's are selected because I have had numerous drop outs from our school (my former students) some good, some bad, come back to visit in their University Uniform. Many were going to Chula, several others to Mahdol. So I do know, obviously you dont.

Also, her entrance scores where good enough to warrant an interview. I dont know the exact numbers, but I would guess she did much better than most.

Some of these other folks are more knowledgeable than I regarding GEDs and such (e.g., Garry, Bangna, et al), so I'll defer to them. But I don't think that you're being fair to all Thai universities in referring to them as "stupid" when you have no idea what the admissions policies of these schools are. But I get it: In Thailand, farangs will rant and rave about the Thais even though they don't have all the facts. Typical MO on these threads.

I may not know the admissions process through and through, but I have helped students prepare the paperwork necessary for four years. I have had to educate myself to a certain extent and am aware of the general process. All of the students have had to take my class, and many I have had for two years. Our school is not very big, and I get a good sense of a students ability from other teachers and have numerous conversations with many of the parents regarding each students academics.

That being said, it is amazing they accept the students they do. With the exception of two or three, many of the GED students struggled to pass or were average in the majority of their subjects. Some students that have come to me for recommendations in the past and I turned them down because I did not feel they were ready and had a snow balls chance of getting in anyway. I have been surprised a few times when they come to visit and tell me where they are attending school. Either the admissions exam is not very good at picking up aptitude/intelligence or it is simply a non factor.

I will say this though, I am speaking from a limited sample. We graduate only 80-100 students per year and the situation may be more than I am seeing. Its just that I need to shake my head at what I see.

Have you stopped to consider that the university did your student a big favour? I was one of those students that skipped a year and went to uni. I had decent grades, nothing stellar, but was a "smart" boy. However, I was not emotionally prepared nor educated in the ways of the world to go and live in a university dorm with the big boys and it showed in my performance. Biggest mistake I ever made was trying to rush it. I ended up stressed out, miserable and with a horrible GPA. I had to add a year on at graduate school to redeem myself and was lost for some time not knowing what to do. Some students are much better off taking the slow train than the express route. I frequently recommend to prospective students to follow the UK example of a gap year and to break up studies between undergrad and grad school.

Good point, although this is one student I believe is ready for university. Strong head on her shoulders, elected for some of the more difficult classes outside her major (our HS has majors) and is very emotionally stable.

"Also, her entrance scores where good enough to warrant an interview. I dont know the exact numbers, but I would guess she did much better than most."

A lot depends on what faculty they are trying to get into.

Without that information, hard to judge.

Medicine = difficult. Business = easy.

Terry

Economics

I think you are talking about being able to challenge the university exams and skip grades 11 and 12. This isn’t really the same as dropping out of High School and getting a GED. It is less common now, but when 15 years ago, most top students would skip grade 12, and the very smart students would skip 2 years of high school. If you couldn’t get into University before grade 12, you would not be considered an elite student. I’ve heard it is more discouraged these days. I was always jealous of this policy. I would have loved to skip a grade back home and graduate university a few years early.

You are thinking about GED’s in an American context. Here if you are smart enough at a young age in Thailand, you can challenge the University and High school exams and skip a few years of high school. The kids getting into Chula after grade 10 are the real elite students, so don’t compare them to a drop out with a GED.

No, point blank they are getting their GED's and going to these schools. I hope I am not being redundant but I know these kids really well. Many from our school drop out and get their GED's and gain acceptance. They have told me straight up what their doing, some come back and ask for recommendations (bringing in the Chula recommendation form). This year alone I have had 10 out of my 90+ students drop out for GED's. These are grade 10 students with average intelligence.

Same everywhere. In the States, "minorities" (who will be the majority in less than 20 years) with bad grades and a brain stem are given priority over the, uhm, paler folks with excellent grades.

But such stupid practices won't deter the truly smart kids from succeeding. Your girl has many options.

Yea, I know she will be fine and probably do better off in life for it. Just sucks to see such a good student get passed over when I have other students (some of whom I wouldn't even write a recommendation for) get in.

Isn't admission to elite universities a function of their university admissions test score? It's similar to the SAT in the US, although in Thailand, I believe it's called the O-NET or A-NET. So how did your student score on the admissions test?

I'm no expert, but it appears your rant has no relation to reality. How do you know that students with GEDs are selected over those without? You don't.

I know that students with GED's are selected because I have had numerous drop outs from our school (my former students) some good, some bad, come back to visit in their University Uniform. Many were going to Chula, several others to Mahdol. So I do know, obviously you dont.

Also, her entrance scores where good enough to warrant an interview. I dont know the exact numbers, but I would guess she did much better than most.

Ok, so I have a bit of a rant here and just need to get it off my chest.

I work at an international high school in bangkok and am amazed at the selection process of Thai Universities. Why do they allow students with GED's acceptance into the "best" Universtiies? Many of our students leave after the (or during) grade 10 and go right into Chula. In the west, a GED is generally laughted at but here in Thailand students get their GED and go right into Chula, Mahdol, etc. Normally I laugh at how oblivious these "Universities" are and how it shows they have no idea what they are doing but today is a whole different story.

I have a student who was an absolute dream to teach. She was in my class for two years in a row and she was a top performer both years. She is smart, has near native English, and extremely hard working. Recently she applied to Chula and asked me for a recommendation. I (along with a few other teachers) wrote her glowing recommendations to go along with her high GPA (above 3.5) and a long list of extra ciriculars. Today she came up to my in tears telling me she was not accepted. <deleted>???? How are they accepting GED's when they dont have enough room for students that finished high school? My blood is now boiliing at the retardedness of the Thai education system. A student who does everything right and works her a$$ off gets rejected while other students who are too lazy and drop out get in because of some misconception that a GED is something to be proud of.

thoughts?

I really feel like we are being screwed over. The agency said that the school only pays them for the days we work. We don't even get sick leave.

The school pays monthly and the agency takes a week to pay us after the end of the month. We have to call a million times to find out if we are getting paid as they have a tendancy to pay late and avoid our calls.

We did ask the school countless times if they could hire us directly or even change to a different agency but they kept on avoiding us and pretending not to understand. We are a bit 'scared' for better use of word, to leave as we only have certificates from college and no degree, so might struggle finding work elsewhere.

Today we were given all the paperwork to have our work permits and visas extended for a year. We signed nothing from the school or agnecy as I know if you leave a contract before time you have to pay in certain cases. I have a copy of a contract but it's all in Thai (what good is that to us?)

As soon as we have all the documents and work permits for the year, my boyfriend, another British teacher and I are all going to haggle the school to be paid for going on these reporting days. Its not a holiday where we are sitting at home doing stuff all. They don't seem to think of it this way. Its so unfair how foreigners are treated in this country. At least by having the paper work, they cannot breach the contract I hope and we are protected by Thai law if my research serves me correct.

We came here to teach, not for a gap year. We take our jobs seriously and yet they seem to want to screw us over where ever they can. Makes one not want to work for them.

Hopefully we will win the battle with the agency and school. I guess its a bit of an optimistic outlook in a place where we all know nothing ever happens to our benefit.

If anyone wants the agencies name, to stay far away from them, pm me

Agencies say a lot of things, only some of it is true. There are decent agencies out there, but many are out to make money as quickly as possible with no regard for the teachers or schools. FYI, agencies need to make money, therefore they need to deduct some of it from you, same as any other type of agency (real estate, job, mortgage etc). In reality, if run properly, they add value by matching schools with teachers whom may not be able to connect without them. That being said, dont trust what they tell you and if you think they are screwing you tell it to them straight and start looking for another job.