new2here

I teach at a university and all dismissals/terminations are handled as per the universities campus wide HR policy - which for the most part is the same for Thai staff and non-Thai staff with minor exception (things like reporting to Labour of termination of a foreigner). Individual departments are not allowed to create their own nor deviate from the university established policy.

Like Scott, our policy lays out offenses, if proven, mandate immediate dismissal .. most of these causes are also crimes as defined by Thai law... A few are not, but most are..  If a teacher is suspect of one of these offenses, they are placed on inactive duty (which is fully paid and still accrues seniority, vacation and sick time).  An investigation is done, and the employee is appointed an independent "advisor" (who essentially acts as their defense lawyer) from the HR department as well who may sit in on all meetings, check/verify evidence, investigate, call witnesses etc.. A panel is held of 5 administrators and for a termination to be upheld a vote must be 3 or more of the five. 
For lesser accused offenses, the process is much less structured, but still has an investigation process, but no advisor appointed to you.  After the investigation, the panel recommends a punishment which is from a range prescribed by the university. The proposed punishment then goes to the Dean of your Faculty for his/her approval, then to the Associate President for Administration.  You may appeal any finding.

 

For purely performance related dismissals (note that this is different from contract non-renewals) those follow a similar tract as the above, but take more time as the department must prove to the Dean that your performance is not up to prescribed standards.  These dismissals DO require that the department must have given you at least one prior formal notice, AND a second notice which also requires the department to draft for you a Performance Improvement Plan or PIP. If you don't follow the PIP, then they can move to dismissal, but not unless they've given you the first written warning, and second step of doing a PIP for you.

 

For non-renewals, they are required to notify you at least 30 calendar days prior to your contract end for contracts of 6 months, but less than one year. Contracts that are one year or more, require they give you 60 days prior notice. They must also tell you the reason: such as lack of funding, etc..  They can't use the contract non-renewal process as a means to sidestep the performance dismissal process in that if they serve you with a 30/60 day non-renewal notice, the department can't then turn around and file (with HR) an open position announcement for the exact same position (as defined by HR classification code) that you held and are now not being renewed.

 

Overall, I've found at the university level, dismissal, supervision, hiring, etc are all handled quite transparently and they have a pretty well thought out process.

 

I teach at the University level (and periodically am asked to "sub" for an absent native speaking teacher at our associated Demonstration School).. Here's my take...

 

I think that the respect you, as the teacher will "get" (I personally prefer the term "earn") will be based in large part, by you, and how you act, speak, behave, dress, interact with your students ... yes, I DO think some of the respect will be very dependent on the student and there will be some (a small percentage in my experience) who are just plain disrespectful regardless of your (the teacher) actions and the like... So you can be picture perfect and some will just never take to you.. that's life and how it is..

 

But.. I do think that with some careful, purposeful planning on the teachers part, you can craft a personality and reputation that earns a very level of respect.  As to the Thai teachers... For me, when I started, I was the first foreigner in my department but our faculty has a few.. So I wasn't "new per se", but most of the senior instructional staff had limited day-to-day exposure to a foreign teacher..  How I positioned myself from day one was as a "resource" for the senior staff... in other-words I tried to align myself as someone who was here to help them and not compete with them.

 

If I were you, I'd file anyway.. As noted, you may have overpaid and eligible for a refund.  As an aside, I tend to get a small refund each year and I've always received my refund (via paper cheque) in fairly short order.. The other upside to filing is that I recall is that MoL (Labour) now requires proof of tax compliance for renewal of a WP..  So, filing might also help you IF you have a WP or will renew a WP.

 

 

I myself know several colleagues who teach at public high schools (M1-M6 level) and thus teachers fall under OBEC regulations in respect to teacher credentials..  All have had zero issues with receive their second waiver letter (2x2 =4yrs) near effortlessly ... and a few have received a third.. but in each case (those who applied for a third) each one was asked for some kind of proof that they were advancing toward meeting the requirements for a full 5-year license.. As I recall reading from TCT's own material there is a statutory limit of three letters (3x2 = 6yrs) ... but as all things in Thailand, I am less than confident that this is a hard-and-fast rule and can't be imposed or not, with varying levels of discretion.

 

However, as teaching (legally) at a OBEC regulated school does require TCT licensing, and MoL (Labour) will require your license/waiver from TCT, IF your long term goal is to teact in an OBEC regulated school, I personally wouldn't want to go beyond my 2nd waiver (end of 4 years) unless I had reasonably solid documentation that you can show TCT that you will have everything needed to qualify for full licensing before the end of the 3rd waiver (end of 6 years).

Price not withstanding, I do think that there is some long term value to be had in buying near mass transit like the new Blue line.. I don't that in and of itself is foolish.. What does give me some pause is the pricing.. I think given there appears to be an market imbalance, I think if you can find a good value in a unit that is ideally located-- then that would be a great buy.

 

Long term, I do think units that are at, near or convenient to one of the new or soon-to-be-opened mass transit lines (or car park-and-ride units) will be a solid buy and I'd doubt that buyers would go underwater long term.. A buyer may not see massive value appreciation especially on the short-term due to apparent supply/demand imbalance, but as that supply is absorbed and the imbalance corrects, I suspect buyers will some some modest level of gains.

Slightly off topic.. I have had an Amex gold charge and Everyday (credit) both US issued for sometime.. the gold charge for well over a decade and the ED card for around 5 years.

I wanted a Thai-issued Amex (I work here with a valid WP) so I stopped by Amex’s office in the SP Building and applied..

While I had to meet the monthly minimum income test for a Thai issued card, they were able to use my US issued cards payment and cardholder history to function as a “credit referral” which made my approval quite easy.

I understand (but haven’t actually done it yet) that something similar may exist with Citi and their Thai-issued cards/application process and Citis’ US card operations.



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I was on this flight, not the person sitting on the carousel. The airport personnel should've informed all the waiting travellers the situation. Maybe even provided us with complimentary bottles of water. 
My question is how can it take so long to transfer luggage from a plane to the carousel ? Had the luggage cart broken down ? Had the conveyor belt packed up ? 

I’ll bet the issue was with the reclaim belt itself. Normally for a widebody aircraft, bags are unloaded in 2 parts; a front “string” and a rear “string”. The cans in the front hold are loaded on one string of dollies attached to one tug, and the cans in the rear are loaded onto the other.

Which bags/flights, will use which reclaim belt is usually something that’s worked out and planned in advance; like gate assignments based on expected arrival time and the number of bags expected (ergo the amount of time the belt will be occupied)

I’ll bet there was a mechanical issue with that specific belt and either a) no other belt could be used without also requiring many other flights belt assignments to be moved as well... or... b) they (AoTs engineering staff) didn’t think the issue would take that long to resolve .... or lastly, c) there was simply no thought about the customer impact.

The AoT controls reclaim belt assignments- not the carriers.

so she cuts 2 pages out of her passport and complains when she gets detained.

I agree. In these days where security is, rightly or wrongly, a hot topic in many parts of the world and there is more transnational crime, I think having, using or traveling on an altered passport is just a bad move and if/when discovered, will be hard to just “explain away”


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The authorities have indeed acted decisively, but decisively is not necessarily legally.
 
Peaceful protest is a right within a democracy.

I am also a firm believer in the right to peacefully protest... that said... I ALSO think that if said protest impedes the public’s “right-of-way” (like blocking public roads or access to buildings) or obstructs otherwise legal commerce (blocking ports, terminals, railways etc.) then that’s something different and not what I’d support.




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I found my position by the “drop in” method. I do know that it was posted internally at the universities HR department, but I was told about it by someone I know whose spouse taught in my department at that point in time. I went to the faculty to apply but told that the department could hire me until I had gone through HR first.

All faculty jobs must be run through the campus-wide HR department. So I had to start at HR and do the full paper application, present my credentials (they were verified) etc... only after that was done was I finally I was approved to be interviewed by the Associate Dean of my faculty.

Only hourly “staff” jobs like clerical, maintenance and the like may bypass HR and be advertised and filled wholly within the department where the position exists.

From what I can gather, getting jobs in mid to upper tier academics here really is a hands-on adventure and less of an online search per se...


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I agree with the above. At this point, I suspect that Customs knows there’s something “a miss” with the stated declared value and what they see...

So... since you don’t have genuine documentation, you can’t rally produce anything and “doubling down” really means willfully producing falsified/fraudulent papers to circumvent law.. which, given the value of the thing your taking about, to me, isn’t a worthwhile risk-v-reward situation.

I think a “refused delivery consignee” is your only and best bet at this point. I’m not sure what fees, penalties or the like MAY be involved with a “RTS” return-to-sender shipment, but it’s my opinion that whatever it may be, it still better than trying your luck with what will end up being fraudulent documents.


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Yet, no Income Tax on self employed Thais...

I suspect that if you were to look at the aggregate taxes/VAT paid through a persons natural consumer spending (on items and services that are subject to VAT- and remembering that there are some things that are VAT-exempt) and compare that value to what might be collected via that same persons true “earned” income (less the statutory personal exemptions, etc) that, when referring to those on the lower/est end of the salary range, that VAT ends up being a far bigger revenue generator as opposed to an income-based tax which would really only tax a very small net income figure after all deductions are taken.

I do think that those who are taxed on their income largely because they work for a “main stream” type of employer or job where salaries are paid in a manner that is inside the traditional tax reporting/collecting process, do get a somewhat raw deal... but I don’t think that this also means the self-employed get a totally free-ride from taxation either.


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So they're really cracking down... she should be suspended immediately pending the investigation which if correct will mean sacking .... not could!

Thais cabin crew are represented by a union and as such most all aspects of their job are covered by a collective bargaining agreement.

A part of that CBA is the discipline process - and that is a progressive process that has “steps”. Most all proven infractions have an associated step or level/point type of assessment assigned to it.. a few major infractions (and most are also violations of law, major safety or major security breaches) are so-called cardinal offenses that, if proven, are subject to dismissal for cause, without going through any of the previous progressive steps.

.... so I think the “may” result in part, comes from the fact that what happens to her is subject to several variables and not just one linear thought itself.

If this is proven, I’d be very surprised if she isn’t given a dismissal order or if given a dismissal, that any review/arbitration entity would overrule in her favor and order reinstatement.


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I’m a gun owner and gun user (sport/target shooting) and a strong supporter of constitutional rights (as opposed to laws/statues)...

That said... I am finding it ever more difficult to square my support for the “right” to bear arms... and what appears to be an ever increasing frequency so-called mass shootings... and the impact on families and communities.

Part of me thinks that having something like universal background checks before buying (regardless of the sales channel), having gun possession prohibited for those who have been convicted of X crimes and those that have been properly diagnosed with X types of mental disorders is both good and the right thing to do..

.... but... I am also equally uneasy if you will.. about the notion of “give-an-inch, take-a-foot” in that by allowing even what I or others think of as “common sense” gun “controls” or “restrictions” to become law, then “opens the door” and makes it easier for future and further restrictions... and again because we’re talking about one of the few constitutionally defined rights, I am cautious about anything that effects it.


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At the end of the day, these kinds of cases really are somewhat abuse of “privilege” so-to-speak... whole crew, like all passengers, are subject to customs inspection- they do tend to occupy a position of “implicit trust”.....

 

So, when violations like this* occur, I tend to favor punishment that is in the harsher end of the spectrum as well as loss of said position of trust (ie dismissal for cause)

 

(I am making an assumed position that the FA is in fact guilty and note that no such determination has been factually made at present time)

 

I have close friends who are airline employees and among them there is a tacit understanding that violating said rules like these - along with others like abuse of staff travel benefits - almost always leads to dismissal for cause, and along with it away goes your accrued pension, benefits, seniority and the like.

 

I think the accused FA in this case deserves both the assumption of innocence and the right to explain the matter... but, IF found to be a violation of either national customs law and/or company policy, then I am in favor of separation for cause.

 

 

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Not sure if you realize, but the thai cost of the medical care IS the cost of the treatment. The service that is "substantially underwritten by public funds" is the 30 baht gold card scheme, not the hospital bills. Charging people way above what the base cost is , is simply to make profits. I don't think anyone would ever suggest public services should be in the business of making profits.

I do realize that.. my base point remains that when you speak of using a state-funded service, then I think there can be a good case made for those who have paid the underlying costs through normal taxation channels to pay a “tax-payer rate” or “subsidized” rate as opposed to those who essentially have not or do not pay taxes through similar channels.

Yes, the 30baht program is the price.. totally true... but... I also think that it’s fair for public hospitals, built with tax-payer funds, equipped with tax-payer funded hardware, that there is a rate table that reflect each patients tax-participation level.

I also agree that the essence of a public services should not be to generate profits like a traditional privately held, “for-profit” entity would be..... that said, I DO think it’s ok for some services (like heath care, transport services, etc) to be priced such that one of their missions, aside from the actual service delivery itself, is to ensure that revenues cover their operating costs, nett of state subsidies.


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As a whole I am against so-called two-tier pricing... but.... I DO think there is some merit when the service in question is one that is substantially underwritten by public funds as opposed to a service that is provided by a wholly privately run business.

Yes, I think it’s fair to note that pretty much anyone and everyone here - including those in class 2 or 3, all pay some amount of “taxes” if you will via their own natural spending and the VAT that is included... but... I do think that if you were to look at the typical Thai (such that this is) and a typical person in classes 2 and 3, I’d wonder if the Thai will end up paying more in taxes nett (in their lifetime), than a foreigner in class 2 or 3 (for the period that they are in the Kingdom)




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I’ve taken the trip both ways a few times in the newer carriages - when friends come to visit and want to try it.

I agree that it can be cost competitive when you factor in all the costs of air travel (like cost to/from the airports) but clearly on the time front, flying is still the way to go.

I think that if you can time it right and you’re the kind of person that can sleep on a train, then the overnight can be a decent option to not only get to Chiang Mai, but also eliminate one nights lodging expense as you’ll overnight on the train itself.

I’m not a drinker, so the beer-ban is moot for me, but I do think that they might do well by upgrading the dining options and experience onboard— essentially to match the nicer, newer physical carriages.

So, the way I see it, if you’ve got the time, like seeing the terrain and are ok sleeping on a moving train, I think it’s a good cost-effective and even time efficiency option.

The beds I’ve found to also be on the more firm side, but not so much so as to impede my sleep.


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The kiosk entry really does save time as anyone who needs more “questioning” is pre-selected by the program (thus the large X versus the large O on the thermal receipt) and they are then channeled to a secondary screening queue, while everyone else gets the minimal visual inspection/comparison of the thermal receipt to the actual passenger and a cursory questioning.

In the end, I think the time saving is had by anyone who doesn’t need or get a secondary inspection won’t be “caught behind” someone who does.


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If I recall, Thailand like several countries, has a restriction on the importation of BLANK credit cards, but not on printed cards for individual use (ie not a bulk shipment) themselves.

That said, a private carrier, like UPS, FedEx etc, is of course free to impose restrictions or limitations that exceed national standards, but not less-than national standard.

I routinely have replacement cards sent to me here in Bangkok by family in the US and a few times, sent directly by the card issuer themselves.

I’ve never had an issue nor have I had any of the shipments physically opened by Thai customs prior to delivery.

As recent example, my Apple Card arrived about 2 weeks ago from the US and it took 8 days from the date mailing out of the US and arrived here unopened/sealed.


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I find it hard to understand why they are under utilising their fleet so heavily. Take a look at any low cost operator in the world and a/c utilising is a lot higher. The Southwest model is only over 35 years old.
 
I have to agree on the number of THAI a/c one always sees parked up at BKK. 
 
One big question is how has Bangkok Airways lasted for over 50 years and grown. It couldn't possibly be down to good planning and management.

There’s a balance in that respect. You can’t just outright just add flights - thus adding capacity - as that *tends* to drive down fares.

That’s what US carriers have tended to do- they don’t reign in capacity growth and end up hurting themselves in the RASM (revenue per available seat mile)

I think any capacity increase from Smile will have to be planned conjunction with either TG mainline or other codeshare carriers as either O(rigin) or D(estination) feeder volume.

Smile *does* have a quasi-business cabin, which is essentially what tends to be common on intra-Euro business class with a standard Y cabin seat in a 3-3 config, but with the middle seat blocked out. Not traditional C-cabin by along shot, but given Smiles typical stage length for domestic is probably in the 60-75 minute range and their intra-Asia stage length probably in the mid- 2hour range, I think it’s pretty competitive against what you’d find in C-class intro-Euro on similar stage lengths.


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".. further increase the capacity to 10.30 hours per aircraft per day, which will be the breaking point for Thai Smile." I would guess writer meant "break even point", but....
I dunno, 2 more hours in the air per day means 2 hours less time maintenance can be ignored. Just remember "a smile is just a frown turned upside down" as they'd tell us kids on the Mickey Mouse Club

Given Smiles fleet age, I doubt this is an issue, A and B checks aren’t all that labour intensive and be easily scheduled in to the natural aircraft rotation schedule. True, adding sectors will mean cycle-based maintenance will come due sooner, but to me that’s a good thing.

As I see it, upping their utilization rate seems to be prudent - especially since they’re mostly short haul.. and designed largely as a feeder for TG mainline, it’s far easier to add capacity on domestic short-haul as you usually don’t run into governmental restrictions/permits like is common with international operations. Look at Southwest who runs somewhere around 10+/-hrs per aircraft util rate.

https://www.swamedia.com/pages/corporate-fact-sheet


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I agree that if GRAB isnt legal, then that’s a valid issue and complaint by the red bus/car side... to that end, I’d agree with that position.

I also think - for the most part - *regulated* and fair competition is an overall good thing for the consumer. So I’m “pro-GRAB” to that end... but I DO think that it’s incumbent on the government to: a) make it legal under applicable law, to operate a GRAB-like option, and b) insure that the proper licensing, insuring etc of any GRAB-like business is in line with any current operations.


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Well, perhaps because they don't have to pay the airport fees for the stopover, plus the fuel costs of a second take off - I should imagine that take off and climb use a lot of fuel.

Nonstops tend to be priced premium to connections to reflect the fact that the carrier can’t utilize connection traffic to increase load factor.

On a connection, you have multiple options to “sell” each leg...

Ex: SIN-NRT-LAX vs SIN-LAX

That could be be sold not only as a SINLAX but also as a single SINNRT or NRTLAX sector. So, from a revenue perspective, nonstops have the fewest fare construction options as opposed to connections. Cargo sales options open up as well.

Yes, adding a stop does add costs and cut down on utilization rates, but there are also ways that adding a stop can potentially drive down costs too. It is possible to cut crew costs by cutting the trip down from what might be a 5-6day on a SINLAX with 15+ bodies (essentially double crewed), into perhaps a single 3day SINNRT and a separate line 3day NRTLAX.. and in doing so, you would could probably cut the staffing level down from 15 augmented to maybe in the more traditional 12 range.

Some operational issues might also come into play.. rather than catering and carrying F&B for 15 hours (essentially 3 meals, plus associated drink and snacks) from the origin point, you could carry only 1 meal required on a SINNRT sector and then reprovision in NRT for the NRTLAX sector with meals #2 and #3..


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I don’t think you can really raise salaries (in this case, by raising fares) and expect that to effectively fix service and related issues long term.

I DO think that you must have a fair, market-driven salary scale because if you don’t, you will find some element of “self-help” to artificially (and improperly/illegally) increase salaries.... I don’t condone self-help, but recognize that it tends to be more of an issue when the average salary doesn’t match the market levels if you will.

To that end, I don’t think simply raising fares will remove all acts of self-help... it think it will reduce it.. but to truly get a handle on it, that to me must be done via enforcement.

I think to date the governments process or method of enforcement really isn’t working.. so I think it’s time to change tactic.

I would focus less on the non-compliant drivers themselves and more on the cooperatives who hire them or allow them to lease vehicles.

I’d start imposing fines on the cooperatives and impounding vehicles owned by the cooperatives for defined periods of time ... In essence, let the cooperatives do the “enforcement” of the underlying drivers for you... you hit the cooperatives with sanctions, I’ll bet they’ll turn around and hit the underlying driver with the same or worse...

Plus, I think it’s easier to report violations - vehicle colors and vehicle plates are easier to record safely from a given distance and don’t require the reporter/passenger to be IN the taxi.






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