sunkist

Thailand would do well to take preventitive measures like the mosquito fish which were so effective in the Philippines

http://m.gulfnews.com/news/world/philippines/experts-tapping-new-weapon-a-fish-in-fight-against-dengue-1.1213931

Yes, this has been cropping up just recently- something about an "exam" that everyone must "pass" (soon!) without any real info yet about just What The **** They Are Talking About- probably mostly because the schools are still mostly out. I have heard some sort of rumbling about this indirectly from my school as well, though all teachers are already out and we have already had our WP's and everything processed this year. In other words, the Ministries have ALREADY decided we qualify, but now we don't.

The closest thing I've heard to detail comes from a post on another website, but it might be true: someone said they heard that all teachers without TEFL certs who've been teaching less than 3 years will be asked to pass *some* sort of exam on Thai culture. This is likely more accurate than anything we'll hear officially anytime soon.

What does this mean? God knows. Obviously some moron at the top feels that it will somehow clear out the majority of dodgy teachers (who have no work permits and are off the official radar entirely) to harass those of us who actually qualify for them, or even already have them. Predictions: the test will be completely inapplicable to non-TEFL teachers, but we'll have to take it anyway. The test will be full of largely inaccurate but very proper-sounding platitudes about what "should' be true in Thai culture, which we will bob our heads at blithely and get passed for. After all, are there ANY tests given by Thai institutions at ANY level which ANY one in Thailand can actually fail?

Cynically yours,

"Steven"

The latest teacher exam in ISAAN was failed by all who took it. Nationally less than 10% passed it. Does that sound like a test taken anywhere or anytime that is right?

Temporary insanity or even better self defense...50 times is a little hard to count though.

One of just many crazies in Pattaya and it's a wonder the B.i.B. did not take the chance for a photo op with all the brass behind him at the table. Who knows what sent him off but he claims not to remember anything about the incident, and no mention of his clothes, wallet or anything else that were not on him. Very interesting dear Watson.

Said he stripped off so can assume he had pants close by?

Agree. Just like it was tree on my property and an armed person trespassed to cut it down. bang bang.

Please keep your Pattaya bashing comments to yourself. Users have been removed for such remarks. Many of us live pleasant and fruitful lives here in Pattaya.

Shame that three Finnish men have lost their recently for divergent reasons...but still a tragedy. To attack the character of the deceased or Pattaya is just rude in a time of grief.

I would take a separate VIP bus to the border then get a van service on the Thai side to take me through and then drive me wherever I want to go in Ventiane. Regular buses can be a nightmare and getting through the border is a real pain both ways. Last regular bus from Bangkok to Udon Thani we walked out of the bus station to meet bus outside after police had cleared it and they gave us plastic stools and packed the aisle ass to nuts full for the 10 hour trip. I raised so much Crazy Farang fuss they finally got my six month pregnant wife in a seat and could sit on the seat edge instead of squatting on that short plastic stool. Now I am careful to get only VIP buses. I heard the train was not air conditioned and pretty rough shape, but gonna try it one of these days.

I met my wife on line and was careful to find a good girl...college education and either teacher or nurse are usually good. Horror stories abound on bar girls or city girls. Of course there are exceptions to these. I came here and we made some promises and were engaged for over a year. I took her to the US (Alaska) on a fiance' Visa and married her there. Thailand to 50 below and 8 months of snow not a problem as long as she was with her husband. Seven years later we have a 6 year old daughter and I am retired here in NE Thailand..in the country. Does not matter what you do because even if joint owned your wife owns 51% and you 49%...with a divorce she gets it all. With the cost of housing here is cheaper than the same procedure in most other countries where the wife gets the house anyway. If you do not trust her...do not marry her until you do. My wife of seven years is welcome to the house here if we part our ways. She has seen me through Cancer, Chemo, Radiation, and good old PTSD. I think same is true here as anywhere...usually country girls and educated girls are safer...an opinion some will not agree with who are happy with a big city ex stripper or something.

This is sort of off topic but this is all the result of the storm so I will still post here.

Look into catching the train from the airport. The taxi could take a while.

Ok can you please guide me from the Suvarnabhumi Airport to Sukhumvit 81, Bang Chak, Phra Khanong, Bangkok using train, since the taxi count take a while.

moe666 and others, what is there in walking distance of Sukhumvit 81, Bang Chak, Phra Khanong, Bangkok. Even shopping indoors would be fun. I was really looking forward to going to MBK center and Pratunum.

You're close to On Nut BTS, so you can basically get anywhere, particularly MBK (National Stadium BTS), and all of the night life locations are close to a BTS station. Pratunum isn't close to a BTS station, so you might have to walk a bit to get there. Overall, it's only going to be rain for a day or so, so it's not going to be an issue for you once you're here.

As far as directions from the airport, given that you're in Soi 81, it's probably a toss-up as to whether a taxi or the trains would be better. If you're arriving in the morning and it's raining, you're screwed both ways - packed trains and busy traffic. If you're arriving in the evening (note: the trains stop at around midnight) and it's raining, the train would be OK and the taxi may be OK.

IF you were to take the train, go to the bottom floor of the terminal and catch the City Line train to Phaya Thai (end of the line). You could catch the Express train but they don't run as often and there isn't much difference between the time taken for the Express and City Line (stops all stations) anyway. At Phaya Thai, there is a short walk way to the BTS station. From there, get a train to On Nut (pronounced On Noot). The main issue with catching a train is you still may need to catch a taxi to get to where you're staying.

But, having said all of that, given that you're staying in Suk Soi 81 ... I think a taxi is the way to go.

Just buy a pass or have coins and try to figure it out. Pass is easiest. You are a little ways down Sukhumvit...I usually stay closer in. Cab is fine if not a rush hour arrival. Say arrive at midnight like many just go get Taximeter and have good directions to hotel.

I did this same thing at Vientienne last week.

I have worked in Thailand for 6+ years and had Non-Immigrant Visa and Work Permit. But that ended recently. So, I went to Immigration at Change Wattana and they told me that I had to provide all documentation plus the cash in a bank account, and the wife all within a week or I would be overstayed. I have the cash but it has not been sitting in my account for 60 + days.

So, the Chang Wattana Immigration official suggested I go out of the country and get a tourist visa, and then return to Immigration when everything was in order. I agreed... and went to Laos.

The kind Immigration official (female) at Vientienne took one look at my request for a double entry 60 day tourist visa and then through my Passport and saw a number of visas that clearly showed I was not a tourist and stated the obvious: " Why are you applying for a Tourist Visa when you are not a Tourist?" I explained the reasoning. She said I should just apply for the Non-Immigrant O visa (based on marriage to a Thai national). So I called the wife in BKK and she arranged all the documents and emailed them to me, I printed them, and submitted the passport the following day. I was given a Non-Immigrant O visa.

Why Bangkok Immigration did not suggest this to me, I will never know. Anyway, it worked out fine.

Yep - you just never know - another day, even the same office, and print-outs from emails would be 'unacceptable' - the gods were with you !

Difference I noted in Laos embassy is out of country and your are supposed to apply for O Visa before you come into Thailand. They are very nice up there in my experience. But like I said in Bangkok there is a VISA service will get it all together for you...they have someone they can give a little tea money to for the "out of country" requirement.

I went through VISA service in Bangkok and first get 90 day Visa then they apply for O visa. Then you just check in every 90 days. They had a way around the requirement to leave the country and go to consulate like Vientiane. Vientiane is not so easy as just drive over.

"The social networking website Facebook has now more than one billion active users each month"

I'm not sure what it means to be active on Facebook. Does that mean a member logs a specific number of hours online? Does this count group and business pages as well?

If someone finds a link that clarifies this please post it. I am interested to know.

Now if they could just get those people to buy one share each of their stock.....

If you want to see how many 'friends' you really have, try this. Die (or fake your death) and see how many Facebook friends show up at your funeral. If you get 1 for every 1,000 'friends' you're doing great.

I just love destructive testing...but this one sounds a little final...and how would you know the results prior to your reincarnation

Hard to believe with the price of a room. I arrived a midnight flight first time in country and grabbed a room and was put into shock at the price for a few hours sleep.

Love Incheon, narita, and dubai with there rooms by the hour. Great way to take a break on those super long flights to lie down, shower...get over the sore bottom blues.

uptheos: Yes, a lot of evil seems to come out of those Prayer meeting. They are showing off how much they learned

from the spiritual leader,

and how in went in 1 ear and came out their Anus; kinda like some people from all religious faiths.

Just don't eat with your left hand. This is a myth it seems because I ate in a military mess (way better than any other I ever went into) for the United Arab Emirates with some Egyptian officers and left hand was in use all over the room. Hate it when I believe a story and find it totally not true.

My experience in a couple of Muslim countries is that it was a non working day....except for the afternoon markets set up every Friday for foreigners. Seemed to be an exception there not for other workers.

And exactly how many bankers have been held to account for the current global economic crisis? Not just a Thai problem.

They are accountable...their bonus went right into their account...they knew to sell that stock option quick. Deregulation can be a wonderful thing. Lotsa money was made at the expense of all of us worldwide. The occupy wall street movement is just not going to change things I fear.

Wonder where all that confiscated stuff ends up...usually drug runners have a large cash amount with them

“We have caught a few people, parked along the bypass road, who were masturbating in their vehicles, but none of them were the man we are looking for,” he added.

Is this whole story a joke?

Nope, it's the hard reality

The allegations are a bit shaky though.

Phuket must be the new hub for masturbators.......

"Army chief General Prayuth Chan-ocha said he believed Nasa had not re-applied for the use of U-Tapao."

Because NASA has moved on and does not care about stupid politics from a country that can't even sort out its own problems. Stop trying to suck up to China, you seriously dont think that the United States has satellites that can see anywhere in China. Get real.

Can see everywhere in China but not see weather in SE Asia?

Are you serious...looking at the ground with a satellite is hardly the same as analyzing the weather which is not exactly visible and extremely three dimensional. Sure you can see a storm or front from space...but they still use weather balloons to tell what is happening in the atmosphere. To assume and antique U2 flown by NASA is a threat to national security is just plain dumb. Same as turning down emergency assistance. There are joint military training and cooperation between the US and Thailand. I have military friends that have done training out of that same base. This is just silly

Gaemi is neither a cyclone nor a typhoon.

According to the Hong Kong observatory it's categorized as: severe tropical storm

For the track information:

http://www.hko.gov.h...wx/tc_gis_e.htm

A cyclone is a generic term for tropical depression, tropical storm, severe tropical storm, typhoon, severe typhoon and super typhoon.

Source: http://www.hko.gov.h.../flw_e.htm#0068

Cyclone has rotation by definition. Tropical depression etcetera may not have rotation

Everyone here has a lot to say about the "poor electrical work in Thailand" but all of them have overlooked the fact that it is THEIR responsibility to ensure that THEIR house or THEIR premises are safe. Not to mention that all the posters here seem to be very knowledgeable when it come to (after the fact) electrics - yet NOT ONE has mentioned the one inexpensive little device that could have saved ALL of those lives. It's called an Earth Leakage Relay - or a Residual Current Device. Look it up - and if you don't have one installed, then install one immediately. Before we have to type in yet another RIP!

Is this a Ground Fault Interrupter? Does it work on 220V. 220 is renowned as killer voltage for heart stoppage. Nothing good about water and ungrounded systems. Most modern countries have and electric code. As does International Building Code...This was not a home...was a commercial property and has different standards.. Horrible accident and condolences to his family.

All of you farang should realize that rape still makes national headlines here in Thailand. In your countries rape doesn't even make the local news because it is so common.

everyone comes on here showing their hatred of Thailand and demands that it starts emulating the oppressive regimes you lot come from.

Please get out of Thailand if you don't like it. Move back to the UK or USA where you can't even smoke a cigarette without being monitored by the police, and god help you if you step out of the smoking zone.

Rape is not a common crime in Thailand, nor is assault, it happens the same as everywhere in the world but Thailand is one of the safest countries in the world.

Kiss my xxxxxxxxx

Why don't they control the levels from the start of the monsoon season?

There are too few people in Thailand clever enough to think of this and none of them are in a position to make this sort of decision. I think we could pick a new government made up entiry of TV forum members and they would do a much better job

I was having a ponder about this, and also the Thai education system lacking critical thinking and any questioning of authority. I honestly believe that there ARE clever intelligent capable people in Thailand, who really did excel in their chosen specialization at University. The problem is that they do not question authority or raise a point of opposition if they believe something is wrong. So when for example, the flood water specialists probably come out with a sensible plan to manage the water year around, if that does not support the latest requirements of uneducated, morally bereft politicians, then when the politicians or Ministers give a directive on how the flood waters should be managed, the real specialists just fall in to compliance mode and do as they are told. The Politicians are making decisions based purely on what will gain them the best political or monetary advantage, whilst the 'specialists' are making decisions based on what course of action is more likely to keep their cosy little job secure. The problem is endemic and embedded and there is little we can do, the country is <deleted>!

Kinda when they told the worlds foremost experts on water control (the Dutch) no they did not need their expertize.

Did everyone miss the part about seeding the clouds to get more rain. More rain, monsoon, flood control. Hopefully not. Agree they need outside engineering help from somewhere. The King is the only one who had a good plan to help flooding with the jowells of monkey simple idea.

Those rice farmers in the NE area where I live work very very hard for bare subsistence. Anything to help them other than hoping daughter marries a farang is great in my book. Where would Thailand be without the rice farmer...who will grow up to be one? Thaksin is not relevant to this truth. Like everyone else I am surprised he is talking and getting printed. Can't call him stupid..just getting old and not pertinent.