simon43

Lol, I remember having to climb onto the tin roof of my Thai GF's house in Isaan in order to check my email with my mobile phone......

Pathetic! This is not Kansas..... Don''t you have more important matters to moan about?

Bugger! why did I waste 15 years of my career designing and building them?....

No... Globalstar operates on L-band, about 1.6 GHz. The satellites are about 1,400 km above the Earth (Starlink is about 450 km). Globalstar does put out a strong signal, but your mobile phone does not! I'd hazard that getting a reliable connection in a car/room with the dinky antenna on your mobile phone is unlikely 🙂 To give you an idea, I can receive the Globalstar satellite signal strongly using a 12-element, external Yagi antenna pointing straight at the satellite! Sticking a 12-element yagi antenna onto your mobile phone means that you can't easily put it in your pocket lol....

You can't strip them of their UK nationality unless they are dual nationals and hold the passport from another country..

But no agreement yet with Starlink.....

As one of the online courses that I teach, I'm currently teaching Chemistry to some young students in China. I use the Glencoe text book from National Geographic. It seems a popular and well-written course book.

Any journalist working in an active war zone is fully aware that they could be killed at any moment..... It's their choice to be there...

[quote] ... The pickup truck was in the left lane but suddenly moved to the centre and turned into a factory. ... [/quote] Hitting a rather-solid factory never ends well for motorcycle riders.....

It was difficult to buy pad Thai in Lannemezan.... 🙂 @ JBranche, no I take no medications apart from a natural mucus thinner for my lungs. So no contra-indications (or whatever they're called). 2 BusyB, I've made a 'base' in Luang Prabang but I'm due to return to Myanmar (Shan State) in a few weeks for a new teaching job and to continue my charity work. But my UK passport is full! Rather than wait the 2 months for the UK embassy to sort out a new passport, I will fly back to the London passpor toffice and use their premium service to get a new passport in 4 hours (they already confirmed that someone living overseas can do this). An expensive trip, but a quick trip, 'cos the kids in Taunggyi don't have a teacher right now... 🙂

All the Thais in that photo seem very happy, and the farang guy just about manages a thin smile. His financial woes seem 100% down to his dishonest wife and his own naivity... BTW, I'm not claiming innocence of these types of matters. Yonks ago I 'bought' 2 rai of land in north Phuket, using my money but the chanote in my Thai wife's name. She borrowed money from a shark to find her gambling and forfeited the land... Been there done that, ain't bachelor life wonderful now? (well it is for me!)

Conscription? This scenario reminds me that the Myanmar junta conscripts young Burmese men to fight for them against their own countrymen. In the UK, it would be the same scenario, because the enemy of the people in the UK is the UK government.

So it's now OK to tell crowds to cut the the throats of 'disgusting Nazi fascists'? That makes it OK does it?

Don't pay up until you have control of the property...

[quote] ... $5000 a month but cant afford the 800k baht for an extension? ... [/quote] You misread my post. Of course I can afford the 800k 🙂 (I used to have an Elite visa). It's a case of "I have the money but I do not agree to place it in a Thai bank account". Basically, (and some might not understand my motives etc), I like to have as little as possible to do with officialdom, banks, paperwork etc. I'm not a criminal, I simply believe that there is not one government on this Earth that is not full of crooks, jobsworths and so on. I like to live my life my way, without providing photos, rental contracts and other such documents to anyone, unless I absolutely have to. I can think of no more enjoyable passtime than riding my offrode motorbike in the Lao hills, or swimming in a mountain stream in Shan State, without some official butting his/ner nose into my private life. Every country 'improves' over the years by introducing technology to catch scammers or to know who you are and where you are..... I don't like to be part of that 🙂 Many years ago I lived in Andorra, with its banking secrecy laws and I followed the 5-flags theory which stood me well for decades. As I grow older, I prefer to retreat from government 'spying', and Laos (yes communist Laos) and Burma suit me fine for that purpose.

For years, I have been one of these (apparently) 'low-life farangs', paying an agent to bribe the bank and immigration officials so that I can obtain an annual 'retirement' visa extension. I don't have $25,000 and even if I did, common sense tells me that I could make better use of it than sticking into a visa account for no other purpose. Over the years (23 to be precise), I have flitted between Thailand, Laos and Burma (Myanmar). In the early days it was easy to get a 'B' visa when I had a visa for my hotel business in Phuket, Elite visa when I had too much money, or simply back-to-back tourist visas. Thailand suited me as a 'base' between my work. But visa rules (and banking rules) change. Next month, my retirement extension expires, and with the recent issues about Bangkok Bank, I'm not extending it this time. To be honest, especially as I get older, I'm not happy to use the 'bribe-the-IO' agent route. Apart from my previous hotel businesses, I've never worked as a teacher in Thailand. I'm too old (they say), but apparently not too old to teach in Laos or Burma, and apparently good enough as an educator to be paid a six-figure (THB) monthly salary. Ho-hom So over the last 2 weeks, I've moved myself and my ham radio gear back to Luang Prabang in Laos, where I used to be the director of the international school. My annual visa in Laos needed no money in the bank, no documents, just my passport and photos. I've drained my Bangkok Bank account to a minimum and now send my monthly pension and teaching income (since I'm starting a new in-class teaching job in Burma, my monthly income sources will total more than $5,000, not bad for a cheap-Charlie!), from Wise to my Lao bank account. I like Thailand very much, as I like the other countries, but times change, rules change and so each must do what he/she thinks fit to have a happy and affordable life.

ChatGPT is getting lots of practice at creating these pathetic topics....

Yes! I often use them to store small metal washers, nuts and screws.....

Well yes, that's true but I was trying to be tactful by not mentioning that!! 🙂

[quote] ... Was supposed to teach secondary science, but was given a classroom of 5-year-olds. Left after the first week. I only stayed that long as they promised to move me up to the original secondary position. ... [/quote] In my case, my first teaching experience in Burma was not teaching teens, but singing songs to a class of 4 year olds! This was somewhat of a surprise, especially at 53 years old 🙂 I vowed to resign after that first lesson, but then reconsidered. The pay was very good, in USD cash, tax-free, the kids were fun (you need to be a father to understand this), and the job was easy but also very important. I was helping youngsters not only to read/write English, but more importantly to speak English with a good accent. I was 'promoted' soon to teach homeroom (English - Phonics, Maths, Science) to grade 2. I've basically stayed teaching KG and primary for 15 years now because it's easy for me, since I'm educated!, from an academic family, excellent and clear Oxford accent and slightly eccentric (some would say very eccentric) in my manner, which goes down great with young kids. I can of course teach older students, but it gives me a headache when some smart student asks a difficult question. I learnt early on not to concern or anger myself with the strange habits of other teachers, such as laziness or incompetence, or the daily tasks of gate duty and so on. My task is to help all my students to learn, so that their future life can be improved, or their thirst for knowledge satisfied. If other teachers think it's weird to see an old man of 66 years teaching KG classes, I really don't give a flying f *ck 🙂 The kids love my lessons (in-class and online), they are learning, and I'm banking a wad of $$$....

Yep, nothing wrong with her experiences - the norm for many Asian schools.....

Perhaps, but it's illegal 🙂

Actually, USD in Luang Prabang is NOT preferred and not legal! Every bill must be paid in Lao kip 🙂 It's been like that for yonks... (Greetings from Luang Prabang)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E3gKWtBbwdw I shared the link here because I've never heard so much moaning from a so-called teacher 🙂 I actually watched the whole video because I couldn't believe how bad she is 🙂 Granted that this is in Cambodia, but most of her complaints apply also to schools in Thailand, Burma etc etc. Watch and enjoy.

It's a completely rubbish story, totally fake! I use Tukcom shops a lot, bought a used iphone 2 weeks ago. Always polite staff, never any issues from any of the stores.