miccurrie

There used to be a USIS library associated with the American consulate. When that closed down, the library was passed on to the AUA in Chiang Mai and as far as I am aware they still maintain it. I'm not sure what the conditions are for using it but if you contact AUA they will tell you. 

Strange, I'm sitting in sunny Songkhla right now and it's just that - sunny and clear, same as it has been all week.

I did the same thing more than 15 years ago and I've never regretted it. But there are some caveats.

First (and others have commented on this) it is getting more and more difficult to get good teaching jobs if you don't have a degree, and you should also be careful in selecting your TEFL course. There are a lot of courses on offer in Thailand that aren't worth the paper that the certificate is issued on, because they do not actually teach you to teach, they aren't accepted by the better employers in Thailand and they are absolutely useless if you decide to move on to another country. I would suggest that you do either a Cambridge CELTA or the Trinity TESOL both of which are internationally recognised and do enable you to come out of the course and teach straight away.

You would find it very hard to get a teaching job on Koh Lanta but there are lots of places in the South where you can live and teach. Nakhorn Sri thammarat, Surat, Songkhla, Hatyai, Trang - all have good state schools, universities and private language schools who employ foreign teachers.

Salary levels are not as high as in other countries but outside of Bangkok the cost of living is pretty cheap and 30,000 Baht a month is a livable salary as long as you don't expect to lead a life of luxury. You can earn more than this and you'll find plenty of opportunities to top up your income as a teacher as long as you don't mind working hard.

Finally I would very strongly advise you against bringing the dogs as you will find that to considerably limit your lifestyle. I have personal experience of at least 3 teachers with dogs who found it almost impossible to rent accommodation at a reasonable cost because of the dogs since a lot of landlords just won't rent to people with pets. I share your love of animals but there are plenty of opportunities to put it to practical use locally just by caring for the abandoned animals which you will find wherever you live or work.

Good luck

Does anyone know about a change in the law affecting the 90 day reporting requirement which apparently came into effect on 7th September? I've just tried to give the usual notification well within time at the local office here in Songkhla but have been told I must now report to Hatyai as a result of a change in the law. This could be something local or it may be symptomatic of a general tightening up on 90 days notification.

I occasionally buy T shirts from 'No Problem', the brand name is NPB. The sizes all seem to be based on European sizes starting at S and going up to XXXL (in which you could comfortable fit a family of 4!). The quality is good and if you buy from Bangkok the prices are OK. I generally buy in Hatyai where the prices are higher. I don't have a phone number for the Bangkok outlet which is in a shoppig center near Pratunam (I thinkit's called the Platinum Center)

I hope so.

The only thing he has is a big mouth.

He cant control his party, he cant control the people, he can't control the country.

Just a bungling incompetent with a big mouth and f all leadership skills.

What a pathetic excuse for a prime minister.

Truly amazing millions voted for him. I hope they all learned their lesson.

But he was democratically elected and by a sizeable majority. Who is going to want to be PM now, other than an even worse big mouth who can't... etc. The main loser out of this farce will be democracy in Thailand because even with more than half the electorate behind his government Samak can't stay in power, as Thaksin couldn't before him.