simon43

Of course I mean "in Myanmar"!!

I get my state pension paid every 4 weeks into my Wise account, 792 pounds. My last payment was on 22nd August. But I just received 60 pounds from them....... paid into my Wise account. No idea of course what this payment refers to. Hopefully I'll get 792 pounds later this month...

It helps to identify me as a non-local. I laos don't wear my full-face helmet, so that the soldiers can see that I'm not a local. Every little thing helps to minimise the risk 🙂

Yes, a 4-hour wait, but I have 2 online lessons to teach in that time period. I'll try to find a quiet spot away from the druggies 🙂

Good 'cos I'm flying through there tomorrow night!

Thanks. I booked a private transfer since I can't be asked to fight on the public transport system! I'm flying with British Airways and I sent them an email to say that I currently have my arm in a sling (rotator cuff injury), and would it be possible to get some assistance in boarding the plane and with my small, lightweight hand luggage to put it in the overhead locker. Their reply was akin to "computer says no...." If I need some help then I'll have to ask the airport staff when I'm checking in - they can't forewarn them No, they can't help me with my bags because of Health & Safety concerns for their cabin staff (what!?) Wonderful BA.....

I use an app called Speedify that can combine as many different kind of internet connections that one has. I will use the allocated primary connection, but automatically combine others if the bandwidth/speed is lacking, or 'fall-back' to a 2nd or 3rd connection if the primary drops out. The internet is usually fast enough for a single internet connection to suffice, but the nice military guys have a habit of switching off mobile networks as they please, so Speedify is a useful app. I typically use the hotel wifi for one connection, ethernet to mobile phone #1, USB tether to mobile #2, wi-fi dongle to mobile #3 and mobile #4 is connected by writing the binary 1s and 0s on a piece of paper and pushing that into the SIM card slot 🙂 It IS complicated, which is one of many reasons why foreign teachers avoid Myanmar. I like a challenge and have got used to these problems 🙂

Stable electricity?? (Rolls on floor with side-splitting laughter...) Typically only 2-3 hours per day, but I'm used to that. I take a solar charger, 12v DC to 220v AC inverter, 12v battery charger and buy the car battery and solar panel locally. Easy peasy! The internet connection is reliable (if you have 4 mobile phones, each with a sim card from a different network - I do!)

No! There is a tube strike on that day...... That's why I asked for possible alternative transport. I might book an expensive private transfer since I cannot afford to miss my train to Peterborough.

I have to get from Heathrow to St. Pancras on Thursday morning. Any suggestions how to do that? Thanks. (I have already booked trains from Peterborough to Gatwosk via Croydon for my return flight).

Given the high cost of Stilton Cheese in Laos/Thailand/Myanmar, forget the drugs and bring back as much Stilton as I can carry.....

I've ordered a bumper-size new British passport which should hopefully see me good until my demise.... As for comments that I change my mind a lot, you only think that because you're not party to my personal plans, which have always been to teach in Myanmar where possible, with breaks between terms in Thailand/Laos. As one can understand, the situation in Myanmar is not easy to predict (think the earthquake in March when I was teaching in Mandalay - luckily on holiday in CM at the time). I'm so sorry that I haven't shared all details with the forum!

Not any more! Remember that most British services don't give a flying feck any more. You can't add pages to a UK passport...

All very logical in fact! My passport has not expired at all. It is almost full! I was looking for a UK flag to put on my motorbike once I returned to Myanmar, since when traveling in rural regions the soldiers occasionally like to shoot at locals on motorbikes for no reason. My trips into Laos is to establish my retirement 'base' in Luang Prabang' since I cannot stay in Myanmar if I'm not employed (there is no retirement visa available). At some time in the future, I will want to stop teaching in-class and so I can return to my base in Laos. Also, I need to store my radio ham gear in Laos since I can't take it into Myanmar right now. I have no desire to put 800,000 THB into a Thai bank 🙂 See? It's not so confusing at all!

Yes, but the business visa is 'tied' to my employer and I haven't worked at this school before.

Good point! At the time I was in Thailand with plenty of spare pages in my passport. Then I made 2 unexpected trips to Laos (3.5 passport pages) and a trip into Myanmar (2 pages). That left my passport with less than 2 spare pages. I could apply for a passport by post, but then a 'cry for help' from a school in Shan State who had no foreign teacher to teach 'Global Perspectives' (lol - that will be interesting to teach in Myanmar!!). So suddenly I needed this new passport.

Er, read my OP - you cannot just collect a new passport from Bangkok, you have to apply with relevant documents, then wait up to 2 months...

Thanks to the woeful lack of speed (about 2 months) of getting a new British passport by post from an overseas location, I need to make a lightning dash trip back to the UK tomorrow to collect my new passport in person! My current passport is full, not expired, and soon I need to travel into Myanmar again, where they take great pleasure, (as does Laos) of sticking full-page visa stickers in one's passport..... There is no 'pay extra for a faster service' from overseas embassies, but there is a 'pay extra, get your new passport in 4 hours' service if I present my ugly mug at a passport office in the UK. I've managed to get a BA flight from Bangkok to London (via Doha), then jump on a train to Peterborough (the London passport office had no available appointment times). present my ugly mug, do an online class with one of my Chinese students while I wait for my new passport, back on the train to Gatwick and a flight back to Bangkok on Turkmenistan Airways (which gets good reviews). Then off to Myanmar next week if my business visa comes through... What should I bring back from Peterborough/London to Laos/Myanmar?? Suggestions 🙂

Why doesn't the UK government condisider the overseas military bases? There is Ascension Island, The Falklands and the bases on Cyprus.

Absolutely not good enough! I can read/write Thai (MA from Chula), and I therefore know that the Thai text that most/all AI apps create has grammatical errors. I can read Burmese and I know that ChatGPT or Google Translate etc doesn't produce perfect text in Burmese. So I pay a small amount for a native speaker to do my translations.

I create short stories with pictures for children in Myanmar, to help them to learn to read English. I use an app called Scrively which creates the story and images, based on my initial input. As with other AI apps, one needs to edit and tweak the created output, in order to ensure the correct style and (in my case), using words and phrases that are matched to the language abilities of these young students. When I'm happy with the little story book, I get a native Burmese person to translate it (my Burmese language skills are at the basic level at the moment!). Then I edit the produced pdfs to add the Burmese text as well, finally producing a bilingual book with a non-contentious but relevant storyline, such as 'The Old Fisherman at Inle Lake' and so on. Traditional stories, those with a moral etc. Finally, the audio of the story is linked into my IOS/Android app so that the student can listen to the words/story spoken by a highly-educated British man with a clear (RP) accent (that's me lol!!).

Yes! Bear in mind that unlike Syria, Afghanistan etc, neither the local civilian population nor the police/military want to kill foreigners! The only risk is if you are in the wrong place when shooting/bombing happens. The police/military won't let me enter unsafe regions anyway. In 13 years of teaching in Myanmar I have never found myself in an unsafe situation. But of course our governments do need to issue a general travel warning, just in case someone stands on a landmine.... My last job was in Mandalay, ended just before the big earthquake. My new job in Taunggyi carries minimal earthquake risk and minimal risk from fighting because Taunggyi is atop a 1,400m plateau and thus is a highly defensive position - the military have had a base in Taunggyi for a long time.

I think she was between a rock and a hard place in this matter. Remember that she was never in command of the police, the military, foreign affairs etc etc. Her government only had responsibility for some internal ministries, the military always had the real control. As for the Rohingya, if she condemned the genocide, then the military would have kicked her out immediately. If she put up some form of defence/excuse for the genocide, at least the Burmans (majority ethnic group) would still have her government in place. Terrible position to be placed in... As for me, back to Burma in a few weeks for a new teaching position in Shan State...

One of the few places where polio still exists is in backward, goat-shagging regions of Afghanistan and Pakistan, where Muslim village leaders deny access to nurses to enter villages to vaccinate the kids against polio because ....... (well I don't know why - perhaps these men have been brainwashed by Red Phoenix's posts....after all, if these men are sharing only 1 brain cell between them, then thats a possibility!)

[quote] ... We need minerals. ''' [/quote] Yes we need specific minerals to be healthy, but in the correct quantities - not too little and not too much. As for other minerals, anyone fancy mercury or lead minerals in their drinking water?