chrisbacke

How does a place that sounds that tacky not survive in Thailand's tackiest place?

Well, this IS April Fool's Day...

They've learned from the best.

For all the anti-coal sentiment, I've heard diddly squat about anyone installing solar panels en masse anywhere in Krabi. Power blips are a several-daily occurrence, while outages aren't uncommon either.

There's already a pretty large off-shore thing as you head up the coast to Tub Kaek - you've really got to watch these <deleted>' trucks as they round corners. If this move puts these trucks off the roads, I'd be all for that.

Last night (March 23), a road patching crew was at work just north of intersection, closing down one of the two lanes to make repairs at 6pm, at the height of the rush hour.

Because as we all know, closing a lane of traffic during rush hour is a great way to ensure fewer accidents.

I interviewed a self-proclaimed sexpat once: www.oneweirdglobe.com/about-the-life-an-interview-with-a-sexpat/ (he's anonymous for obvious reasons, and I couldn't tell you his name even if I wanted to since I long forgot it).

Insert the old line about different strokes for different folks.

Less money in building an interoperable system - no wonder it's gone so slow...

Come for the bars, stay for the bartenders?

We recently renewed our ED visas in Pattaya, and was told by our school of the two-tier system (for want of a better term). It was as described above - pay 1,900 baht for a 15 day visa, they'll check to see if you're in class (disrupting the class in the process, but mai pen rai), then they'll add on the other 75 days. Alternatively, pay 5,000 baht and they'll just give you the 90 days no questions asked. It also required an overnight stay, whereas before it was processed same-day.

Thankfully, this was our final renewal, and we will not be continuing with an ED visa. The good are lumped in with the bad (which probably outnumber good students 2-to-1 or 3-to-1). The bigger schools have had little incentive to offer proper education, just a pipeline to a visa, and the students are the ones that get punished for it.

If you're sincere and coming to learn Thai, the price will be the same for you - just don't skip classes! Everyone else, it's a convenience fee - meet me offline and I'll share my opinion on how corrupt it is...

Ao Nang is a touristy destination - you'd have to head back towards Krabi to find many places where the locals go. You might find some street food vendors along the sois where there are more locals than farang.

That being said, there are some excellent restaurants in the area - Khow Soy (turn right instead of left like everyone else heading to Ao Nang) is one of our favorites.

Domain names, I know =)

Yes, the .com is king - but you may be surprised how cheap your preferred name can go for. Assuming you can find contact info, try reaching out and making an offer. Alternatively, employ the thesaurus or your preferred alcohol to come up with new ideas on names - most decent two-word .com are probably taken, but certainly not all. No more than three words, though, and for the love of whatever god you believe in, no hyphens =)

Also, consider .co (originally for Columbia, now used as a generic worldwide) - they're great for URL shorteners (think t.co, which Twitter uses to shorten links).

We felt it in the Krabi / Ao Nang area. Very minor jarring, felt the office table move for about 5 seconds and didn't have a logical explanation for it.

Dual-pricing in Thailand is very real, and unfortunately it's all too common. Don't pay more just because you're a tourist - here's where to go instead.

http://www.oneweirdglobe.com/go-instead-5-awesome-places-thailand-arent-dual-priced/

A few years ago, taxi drivers in Seoul threatened - and executed - a one-day strike. No taxis were supposed to go out that day - most of the taxi companies took part, but a few owner-operated ones went out.

The result? Traffic flowed smoother, there were fewer taxis parked / double-parked in places that blocked the flow of traffic, buses arrived faster since taxis weren't using the bus only lanes. Most expats I talked to (and a few Koreans) actually enjoyed the lack of taxis.

Bye bye van taxis. The free market is speaking.

Sounds like a viral video on Youtube just waiting to be made. Those overpasses would be a perfect vantage point.

You guys are forgetting the most unbelievable part of this story:

A parking fine?!?! This guy's fine was probably the first one to be levied in Ao Nang in *months*, if not *years*.

Snarkiness aside, it's probably a 10,000 kip note from Laos. Worth about $1.25 in Laos, and considering changing Lao money outside of Laos is difficult, it wouldn't surprise me if the former owner thought of it as a bookmark. If the writing is curvier than your typical Thai and the note is blue, it's Lao.

Should start with the disclaimer that I know nothing of the legal requirements of Thailand, or of your specific situation or child(ren).

Homeschooled 'all the way' (1st-12th grade in the US). My parents were Christian, so I used a Christian series of textbooks that look and feel so old-school nowadays... If we spent more than 2 hours a day on our 'formal' homeschooling education, something was usually wrong. There's also something to be said about allowing time to pursue their own pursuits - and you'll be amazed what you can learn from cooking, playing with Legos, building stuff with hammer and nail (or power tools, when they're older)...

The homeschooling requirements in the US are different for each state, so if you'll be heading back to the US see what's needed as records go for your state. Note the 'qualified teacher' is not necessary in every state.

I'm unsure if there's a complete series of textbooks or curriculum in the secular world, so I'd suggest researching for that. Teaching your child(ren) to be self-sufficient and the discipline to work on their own will help you out immensely. They may not be ready for that at 5 years old, so tailor it to their ability...

Since you're an expat - and a parent - you've probably found yourself the subject of plenty of unwanted 'advice'. In much the same way, I'd encourage you to ignore the naysayers - these days you can do the entire homeschooling experience online, or with textbooks, from basically anywhere in the world. For better or worse, your relatives are probably more interested in 'fitting in' and are more comfortable with the 'Thainess' you're probably looking to avoid...

Finally, a yearly standardized exam should be part of the routine, whether it's required by Thai law or not. It'll help formalize what will otherwise feel as informal or formal as you make it. Best of luck =)

Is math not a required subject for headline writers?

3 / 17 = 17.6%.

No way this will go forward - and no way this'll be policed with any effectiveness either.

Just went to one of these shops in Krabi - assuming they're similar across the country there will be a few around. They'll take your green book and get the new sticker for you - the place nearest even ripped off the old one and applied the new one. Insurance, new license plates, the whole nine yards - easy to work with, and a pleasant surprise for once.

No mention of the country's biggest tourist attraction?

The auto-start videos are a turn-off, but I guess those wouldn't exist in a print version.

Good English - perhaps they finally hired a native speaker to do the final edit.

Good pictures, both as background and as spotlight.

I'd have changed a few things, but overall a very good job.

A-

FWIW, we've had very little issue with taxis around Khon Kaen, save the two older bus terminals. If you're arriving at terminal #3 (the new one several kilometers out of town), you'll pay a 40 baht fee on top of the metered fare, but that applies to everyone.

I'd hesitate to say 'Khon Kaen' and 'tourism' in the same sentence - partially because we don't see them and partially because there's very little infrastructure set up to assist them. Most likely the MICE events are bringing in people that would be seeking a taxi to take them around town.

I just published a post about getting your bus tickets from Green Bus online. Great for traveling around the Chiang Mai and northern Thailand.

http://www.oneweirdglobe.com/2014/03/complete-guide-buying-green-bus-tickets-online/

For anyone unfamiliar with the area, it's where Huay Kaew and Nimmanhaemin meet (GPS: 18.801869,98.967657). Google Maps is still showing it as Huay Kaew Plaza (anyone here remember that? When did that go away?), but it's on the northwest corner. Coming by songthaew, just say 'Rincome' for the intersection. It's about a kilometer from the northwest corner of the square, and there are plenty of songthaews waiting to take people to their next destination.