Bryan in Isaan

My first visit to Issan was a lot of fun yet occasionally a little painful.

Plenty of food was laid on as they knew we were coming, plenty to drink as well, the house at the time was an old style building with low beams (for me). I 'examined' several of these beams up close with my forehead as well as a few low flying door frames.

Never assume there is any sort of code when it comes to obstructions, low clearance or any thing for that matter. I lost count of all the things I have run into or tripped over.

Sleeping directly under a ceiling fan seemed a great idea at first until beatles flying into the fan are deflected down at great velocity and typically smack you in the head as well.

...

How about those kamakazi grasshoppers? Often I will be walking around the yard, drifting off, contemplating the meaning of life and one of those things will ping me right in the face going 90 kph. They don't even need a ceiling fan.

Will there be a loud sucking sound as tourist flee the country, are will the bombs be ignored. I staying low in my villege

The loud sucking sound might be the investors pulling out their money. Any quick solutions at this point would be looked at with suspicion. It might be better if the authorities would just say, "We don't know who did it.", not "We don't know who did it but we are freezing Thaksin's assets just in case."

I doubt if assets in a bank are actually "frozen". Someone gets the use of the money. Around the villages, private loan sharks make as much as 100% annual interest off of short term loans.

TA22 wrote:

All this operation need MONEY .

where is the money coming from ?

Where is the C4 and the bomb from ?

find the root .

who is paying for it .

The Bangkok operation wouldn't have needed much money. What, 10k baht for a few bags of fertilizer, some tin boxes and some alarm clocks?

I did this in 2001, from Seattle, USA to our village in NE Thailand. Asian Tigers and their USA affiliate shipped a 20 ft box door to door for about $4000. We brought in 4 used computers to donate to a village school. I thought I could get some paperwork to help us get them into the country tax free, but could not, so we had to pay about $100 more to get the box delivered. I had a beautiful lawn mower and Troy rototiller which I left because I heard I could not import them without paying heavy machinery taxes. I'll always regret not bringing them. Can't get any like them in Thailand. It would have been worth paying the tariff. Bring your power tools AND your fancy hand tools. You can get cheap, simple tools in Thailand, but it's difficult to find anything elaborate or specialized. Mechanics and carpenters in Thailand, the ones who buy tools, are usually poor laborers, not wealthy weekend hobbyists or craftsmen as you might find in the west, so the poor laborers are who the tool suppliers cater to.

Washing machines are better wherever you come from. You can get good refrigerators and freezers in Thailand so you decide whether or not you want to bring yours.

My wife and I are legally married in the USA. She is still a Thai citizen but was out of Thailand for many years.

One more thing - make sure you have the storage space equal to where you come from, shelves, storerooms, attics, etc. In the poor village where we ended up they don't have storage space because they have nothing to store. We had piles of boxes for years. Plan ahead.

Good Luck,

Bryan

On the topic of grief - but that of the Thais over their loved ones. My wife and I were at a concrete supply yard in NE Thailand a few years ago while we were building our house. The owner, a woman about 30 yrs old was waiting on us. We had been there a few times, but were not close friends with her. The woman was talking with my wife and mentioned that her husband died in an electrical accident, I think a few years before, and the she broke out sobbing. My wife, who is westernized from living in the states for years talked with her, hugged her and so forth. This seemed unusual to me that anyone, especially a Thai would confide in us like that and display emotions in this way. She probably felt safe with my wife and was able to let go.

Bryan

Hi Preceptor:

Good question about the consumption. I have not checked it yet - I was going to fill it up and check it a couple of days ago, but couldn't get any octane 95 gas in our small town. I will drive to a city somewhere and get some. I was told by the previous owner that Octane 95 is needed but maybe octane 91 is good enough. I need to do some more research.

Your friend's old Civic with the 1.8 L motor must have been quick - small car with good power to weight ratio. I am not familiar with the Civic "CF". Is that anything like a CRX? Those looked real sporty, but wife didn't like them - said they look too much like toys. Well, that's why I liked them.

Bryan

Skyline:

I am posting a couple of shots showing the unusual 1.8si and the "exclusive" on the rear. The engine is a 1.8, similar to that of the 94-00 Integra. It is fun to drive, though probably not as sporty as your type R. You probably have a 5 speed too. Mine is an auto, since my wife didn't want to drive a stick. It still has plenty of oomph for getting around all those slow farm trucks around here.

Bryan

Thanks for all the info, Sky. I'll post pictures if I can figure out how to do it.

I'm pleasantly surprised that a person can order a sleeper like this from Honda of Thailand. It's a four door and probably evan gets good gas mileage. When we take it in for oil change or tune ups where the car was originally purchased I will get my wife to get some history on it.

Is your car a Civic or Integra? What year?

The stamp engine type says B18B4.

Nice picture. I doubt if mine is a VTEC. The one in the Honda looks like my '93 Integra motor, long runners on the intake manifold, but they curve differently than the one in your photo.

Good idea Sky. I will check in the daylight. Is that number stamp easy to find? I don't know whether or not it's a VTEC. Would the stamp # also contain that info? Redline on the tach is around 7k, but that does not necessarily correspond with the redline of the motor.

Thanks, Bryan

Wife and I just bought a 2000 Civic 1.8si. On the trunk it says "exclusive", rather than LX, EX, DX, etc... I have looked for info about this particular model and not found anything. The books all say 2000 Civics have a 1.6 L motor, 2001 Civics have a 1.7 L motor, neither has a 1.8 L, as mine is supposed to have. It runs good and accelerates like crazy. I'm wondering if this is some kind of custom dealer built car, maybe with an Integra motor. Has anyone ever heard of one of these?

Thank you,

Bryan

Such protectionist policies are only bad in the long run for Thailand.

I mean if you give planning permission to build a hypermart and then pull the plug before it's competition you're going to seriously damage the confidence of foreign investors.

Other than beer what can you really buy in a 7/11?

Phone cards. soda. small packages of diapers and lots of really processed foods designed by the people who bought the world America the land of the fat.

.

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Plus my corner store sells beer cheaper than 7/11

Here in Kalasin province there are no Foreign owned giant box stores, only a giant Chinese box store in Muang Kalasin - just like a Chinese mini mart, only bigger. Nothing against Chinese, I just miss the European stores in other provinces if I ever need anything other than village food.

7-11s are a life saver out here in the rice paddies. They have whole wheat bread, fresh milk, hot dogs, good potato chips and other good snacks besides the sweet-sour-pepper-shrimp flavored whatever in the native owned stores. And internet cards - noone else sells them within an hours drive.

Our produce markets are actually good here. The fresh meat is OK and BBQ chicken better than I could find in the city. I just have a craving for western food once in a while and other things only sold in European owned stores.

I hope the Thai authorities offered some robust evidence that the footprints came from the Dane, that is, a match with a specific pair of shoes, maybe even a plaster cast - not just the fact that the prints were longer than average. I hope the Dane gets a fair trial. It doesn't sound good.

I cringe just thinking about those contractors laying 60,000 km of "asphalt". Probably better to leave it laterite unless they can do it right. At least they can run a road grader over the laterite a couple of times o year to smooth it out. When the "asphalt" road falls apart after a year it is worse than a laterite road. It looks to me like when they lay concrete instead of asphalt they usually get it right, though it is probably much more expensive.

Yeah, several times in the Qualifications thread it is mentioned that the high paying jobs recruit teachers from overseas. Aren't those the International (capital I) schools, for which one has to have real qualifications? Do you know any names of schools that might be doing that? I don't have proper credentials, but it wouldn't hurt to try anyway.

After spending years in the villages, I can certainly relate to the part about being a Martian or alien from Jupiter.

I have a hunch that I could do well in interviews and many other situations if fluent or even barely able to communicate in Thai. From what I have read on the forum, that doesn't necessarily lead to a high paying job, but would help greatly in job hunting, networking and interviewing. Maybe some of the previous posters assumed fluency in Thai.

www.prtr.com

www.prtrexecutive.com This is probably better for your skills. I got my job through www.prtr.com but I know they have the www.prtrexecutive.com site for higher level positions.

Good luck with it.

..

I am looking for expat work too but I will have to take a break for a few minutes now, after being blinded by that prtr.com bright red screen.

The "Qualifications" thread was excellent. I had read that before, but rather quickly. I think it did mention in places that a person might have to do a year in the K-12 gov't schools. I might still give a try at the Rajabhat schools upcountry anyway.

Thanks for the CELTA/TEFL clarification. I do hope to work with adults or serious kids - if there ever was such a thing.

I figured that my quals would not be very good going back to the USA, given that their requirements would be so high and teachers are so specialized. I wouldn't mind doing some substitute ESL teaching as supplemental income.

I am in the good old USA now. Thank you for the 4th of July greeting. I just spent four years living in Thailand. That is considered a career gap to prospective employers. That is frustrating. I was not drunk or asleep the whole time. I built a house, did volunteer work, studied Thai and kept active, but it was not directly related to engineering. I will probably return to Thailand soon, but hope to somehow close that gaping hole in my resume, since I can not afford to retire yet.

I am considering entering the teaching "profession" in Thailand. I am 47 yrs old. I have a degree in Engineering in the USA plus years of industry experience. I lived in Thailand for four years, but wasn't working in engineering. I plan to get a CELTA or TEFL (maybe someone can help clarify to me what the difference is). Then, my preference would be to go to work at a Rachabhat or other secend tier University. From what I have been reading on this forum, I could do that with a degree and TEFL/CELTA. It probably wouldn't hurt if I brushed up on my grammar as well.

My question is this: Would teaching experience at universities in Thailand for two or three years + TEFL/CELTA cert open up any job possibilities back in the USA? The same principles probably apply in other western countries as well, so I am open to comments from Europeans, Australians, etc.... Has anyone ever tried this? I would appreciate anyone's thoughts or feedback.

Assume:

I have been out of Engineering so long it would be difficult to go back to work in my old job.

I don't want to get a master's degree or B. of Ed. degree.

I hope to retire in 15 years or so.

Please excuse my ignorance about teaching in Thailand or career path in general. Although I have worked many years, I don't have much experience in job hunting.

Thanks in advance,

Bryan

Another old thread, but if you guys are still around....

In my province, noone other than my wife even speaks English. How in the world could they even conduct an interview, much less the substantial interviews described in this thread??

Bryan

I guess I am lucky.

In my time at the Bangkok government school, I instituted standard examination practices (I refused to use multiple choice exams) to make things fairer & also used "phonetic styled" (not phonetics or phonemics) instruction, against the wishes of many Thai teachers. The outcome was unprecedented! I gained results that had never before been achieved.

Whilst the other 2 "teachers" (both TEFL qualified & one with an 'English' degree...I do not even have TEFL) were busy playing "games' with the students, my tougher & somewhat more boring approach got results with the students. It didn't take the kids long to realise that they were learning something & that they could actually comprehend the "listening" part of a foreign language. The kids became much more interested in learning & less interested in "playing games". Thai kids are taught English by Thai teachers, who teach this language in Thai. Consequently, it took me 5 minutes to realise that their reading & written abilities were far superior compared to their listening & speaking abilities. Thus the need to go back to basics. Initially, Thai teachers disliked me for this but later saw the necessity.

I deplore the "total fun" concept of teaching. Fun is good if dished out as a reward...not as a total means of teaching.

You posted this quite a while back, but if you are still here, THANK YOU!! I am inspired. I have not yet taught for pay, but have been around the Thai school system, have nieces and nephews who are students and some friends who teach, so I am somewhat familiar with the system. One reason I have resisted the urge to teach and turned down job offers upcountry where I live is the requirement to p*ss around and play games all day, sing songs, etc... I studied some Japanese and a little Chinese in college and am now teaching myself Thai. I almost never played as part of my coursework and I would have thought my instructors were losing their marbles if they would have made us play in class.

Obviously TIT, that's the way its done here, etc... But I'm happy to see that there is an alternative -You have successfully bucked the system and provided an example of real instruction that has gotten real results. I might be returning to Thailand, taking a TEFL course and going into teaching in a few months. I would be happy to hear more about your teaching methods and experiences.

I would be happy to hear from the advocates of "fun" based instruction too. I am about to enter teaching and I hope to learn as much as I can so I can do a good job at it.

Thank you,

Bryan

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Haha. So letting in unproductive retirees who marry uneducated farm girls will help us join the international community? If these are the leaders of the "international community", I'd prefer to be left out.

But nice try with the meaningless cliches.

Boy, I'm not sure where to begin. Let's start with farangs pricing poor thai's out of their own land. Gee, did you ever stop and think that it's your own people selling the land to farangs? That's right, your own people's greed. The thai's who own the land do not care about "poor thais", their fellow citizens, they care about maximizing their profits. Now as to the women. No one is stealing your women, women are thinking individual human beings, and can make their own choices upon who to be with. My wife, who is thai, told me before we got married, she would never marry a thai man again, after being beaten and treated like a dog by her ex(thai)-husband. Perhaps you are the one who needs to stop with the xenophobic, hate-filled cliches and start to really understand what's happening with your land and your women.

Very well said, stevieff!

And a couple of more comments for Thaible-

Why do you consider non-working retirees "non productive"? Their productivity is the money they bring in. By that measure, they produce as much as 10 Thai citizens. Also, not all wives of farangs, retirees or otherwise, are uneducated. This is another xenophobic myth - that is, a Thai who marries a foreigner must be somehow inferior, lacking in morals or intellect.

University should be a place for learning to think and express yourself.

Any uniform is totally out of place.

But then this is Thailand, thinking is not a strong point.

I have a friend who just set up a language school in the NE. She's been here for about 6 months and her registration only JUST got approved. Apparently the education officers were not as interested in her curriculum as they were in her school's "policy concerning dead students". The schools application was NOT approved until she wrote that the school does not accept dead students and that dead students were not required to attend class or examinations and they thus would not be allowed to graduate... something like that.

Someone should write a book. Really.

I think you are getting closer to the real problem. I have nothing against uniforms - tight or loose - whatever, but if superficial "policies" become a substitute for real education, it shows that the school is unable to deliver. There is a teacher at my nieces high school who spends a lot of time checking to make sure the girls don't let their hair grow longer than the regulated length - as if this teacher is doing something important. It reminds me of the slogan from a few years ago - "a mind is a terrible thing to waste"

Good posts everyone. I believe that when the dust finally settles, the country will have moved ahead. It is good to see that in spite of so much contention there is still relative stability and almost no violence. That is the sign of a real democracy. And let healthy debate continue. My congrats to HM the King and the people of Thailand.

Farming practices will have to change if standards of living are to improve in rural areas. Mechanization will have to take over from labour intensive practices if wages are to rise. These things are already starting to happen under Thaksin. It will be decades before 10% of the population on the land are producing 10% of GDP as is the ratio in developed countries, but things are moving that way thanks to democracy.

so ... unemploy how many farmers to accomplish this? Then those that are unemployed will do what etc etc ... and how to pay for it all?

But ... back to Abahist ....

The guy has more to offer than any other person I see on the political front at this point .... the Democrats need to smooth their decision-making process out .... they take too much time building concensus amongst themselves ... so a strong platform will help them out a huge amount

I don't know about mechanization, what about greater agricultural productivity? There are already better methods out there being taught in the agricultural colleges and being promoted by the royal family. It would take a relatively small amount of gov't money, but strong leadership to improve farming methods. Take for example a farmer getting 300 bushels from his rice harvest rather than 250 for a few baht more in upfront costs and using better methods. That would be around 5000 extra baht - a lot of money for a poor farmer, but more importantly, that's double his usual profit. Improvements like this might raise the farmer's percentage of the GDP from 1% to 1.5%. That's doesn't sound very exciting, but it buys a lot of school uniforms. Greater productivity would generate slow, but solid growth for the rural economy, helping to pay for more improvements, better schools, etc... Just my two cents, but I'm just a foreigner.

Soooo ... back to Abhisit ....

What is his position on this issue? He is the expert, not me. What DOES he have to offer? I realize this little thread is by no means comprehensive, but I didn't see much information on his solutions on how to reduce poverty or improve education in agricultural regions or problems in other regions. Perhaps if he has any positions on any issues, this thread would be a good place to talk about them - bring in articles, quotes, speeches, etc...