richard10365

Just to add a bit to what Chicog said, .......I have a car stereo with Bluetooth capability. When I connect my cell phone to my car stereo via Bluetooth, all the sound of my phone comes out of my car stereo speakers. My cell phone is an Android based phone so I installed an internet radio app and stream radio stations from the USA as I drive around Chiang Mai. It's definitely worth investing in this technology to listen to the music that you like while driving around town.

I appreciate the proactive observations; but l am not suggesting Masters from a Thai university and it's not that the value is diminished because it's from Thailand.

I could successfully argue the same about Australian universities (and extrapolating from there, most universities around the world). A Masters in Urban Planning was $46,000 three years ago; for every available job, there are more than 100 cookie cutter graduates.

To my mind it is about the relevance of the subject matter, hence sustainability. A certificate in that subject with a credit to other related subjects is my suggestion. A graduate will be able to instantly apply what they have learned or seek a Masters if they have the urge.

No market whatsoever in what you are suggesting. A 'certificate'? and what's that? Something of zero value validated at what level? You are possibly confusing with short courses at professional level which have a direct application.

I just took a free online globalization course with Georgetown University via EdX.org. It was a great course and I got a certificate for the course. There are plenty of great courses online that are free. For me, I'm attracted to this type of learning because it compliments my MBA degree. I learned a lot from this course and will likely take more courses like this in the future.

Don't confuse what you did (which IMHO adds little to a previously gained MBA) to the marketability of international courses and their relevance to employability. Also IMHO, if you have an MBA the courses which you should be following are professional qualifications maybe in accounting, not la-dah-globalisation which is likely a step back from doing an MBA....or maybe the MBA didn't get you on a decent enough ladder?

Most universities in Thailand have marketable international programs. Many are joint degree programs with overseas universities. For Thai students, these are great programs because the are in English and cover what they need to gain meaningful employment not only in Thailand but also in Asean.

For westerners it's a different story as labor restrictions often limit their opportunities. However, returning to their home country may improve their opportunities. Although, if the student was not a good student and learned very little then going back likely will not help either.

I appreciate the proactive observations; but l am not suggesting Masters from a Thai university and it's not that the value is diminished because it's from Thailand.

I could successfully argue the same about Australian universities (and extrapolating from there, most universities around the world). A Masters in Urban Planning was $46,000 three years ago; for every available job, there are more than 100 cookie cutter graduates.

To my mind it is about the relevance of the subject matter, hence sustainability. A certificate in that subject with a credit to other related subjects is my suggestion. A graduate will be able to instantly apply what they have learned or seek a Masters if they have the urge.

No market whatsoever in what you are suggesting. A 'certificate'? and what's that? Something of zero value validated at what level? You are possibly confusing with short courses at professional level which have a direct application.

I think to understand the AEC you need a degree in international business. It's complicated. It's an "economic" community so economic and business terminology was used when designing the AEC. It was designed by business experts and not politicians. This is why everyone is confused.

The 2008 AEC Blueprint (click here to download) is a road-map of objectives to the end goal of economic integration consisting of 4 main characteristics: (1) A single market and production base (2) A highly competitive economic region (3) A region of equitable economic development (4) A region fully integrated into the global economy.

It does not matter in the slightest amount what your definition of these characteristics are because ASEAN has defined them in the AEC Blueprint. It also does not matter what objectives you think ASEAN should include in order to reach economic integration because ASEAN has already listed them in the AEC Blueprint. Finally, it really doesn't matter if you believe or don't believe ASEAN will accomplish these objectives because the Action Points listed in the AEC Blueprint give ASEAN a way to measure itself and that alone determines the level of success or failure of the end goal of economic integration.

The characteristic that matters the most to people is the Single Market and Production Base. This particular characteristic has five core elements that impact people directly: (1) Free flow of goods (2) Free flow of services (3) Free flow of investment (4) Freer flow of capital (5) Free flow of skilled labor.

• Free flow of goods: This is pretty straight forward and deals with importing and exporting products in and out of all the ASEAN countries. It deals with tariffs, non-tariff barriers, rules of origin, trade facilitation, customs integration, and standards and technical barriers to trade.
• Free flow of services: This is extremely misunderstood by the politicians. Most associate it with 8 professions that can move freely between ASEAN countries. While this is part of it, it is not the entire story. Trade in services is governed by the ASEAN Framework Agreement in Services (AFAS) which is modeled after the General Agreement in Trade in Services (GATS) from the World Trade Organization (WTO). Countries trade one of twelve service sectors in which are 4 modes of supplying a service to a final consumer: (1) Cross-border supply (2) Consumption abroad (3) Commercial presence (4) Presence of natural persons. These 12 service sectors and 4 modes cover every job that foreigner can enter a country and get paid to do. This is the untold story that ASEAN politicians don't understand and are unable to explain to their citizens. When a country trades in services it means they are removing restrictions that prevent foreigners from entering the country and working. To date, hundreds of jobs across ASEAN have been liberalized in preparation for the AEC in 2015. ASEAN has posted all of the liberalization measures online free for anyone to download and review.
• Free flow of investment: This deals mostly with protecting Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in 5 production type industries (1) manufacturing (2) agriculture (3) fishery (4) forestry (5) mining and quarrying sectors as well as services incidental to these sectors.
• Freer flow of capital: This deals with capital markets across ASEAN. In this instance, capital refers to how business raise money to continue or expand their operations such as with stocks or bonds.
• Free flow of skilled labor: This has nothing to do with hiring high skilled workers but everything to do with entering another ASEAN country faster.

This information is what business need to know in order to be able to make decisions. For example, for most products, tariffs have been eliminated and now may be a good time to export to a city on the other side of a border where there is less competition and where the tariff free market makes shipping affordable. A different business may invite foreigners to bid on a joint venture opportunity in order to raise more capital to make improvements on plant and equipment needed to increase their competitiveness. Still others may want to invest in a neighboring ASEAN country with a wholly owned subsidiary or joint venture to help establish different supply chains in a new market. One thing to keep in mind, there are provisions in the trade agreements that allow foreign investment to bring in foreign labor as I mentioned above describing trade in services.

Based on the news story there will be new economic zones to attract more business. So if I was a factory owner producing a product this might mean a new competitor is moving into my market which I'm already competing in and I could lose my market share. Or, worse case scenario, the tax holiday that will be offered for foreign business to set up in these new economic zones may lower their cost of doing business and thus their prices of the products or services and this may put me out of business all together.

If I'm a factory owner and I want to lower my cost of doing business (because of new business competition) I may consider closing my business in my country and reopening it in the neighboring country in which the cost of doing business is considerably less. This means I would fire all my employees.

These are the 2015 realities facing all ASEAN countries. This is what people need to know.

I follow what you say......I think........since it is written down and available for review.

However, the point I was trying to make is that despite what is written in the Blueprint, what is happening in reality is that each country is protecting its own interests. So in fact, come implementation day, there won't be actually be free flow of anything.

Try buying a car in Malaysia for instance and driving it up to Thailand to use, without paying any Thai tax. Ok, that's a simplistic example, but every single country has looked at where there maybe some detrimental effect on them and has, or will, introduce an "opt out", or introduced sufficient bureaucratic nonsense to negate any supposed change.

Nope, I'd even take a bet that 1 year later, five years later, maybe ten years later, the Blueprint will still be there, but free flow of anything will remain a pipe dream.

Sorry to be negative and in any case it'll be interesting to see what changes, if anything.

I agree that for some things, countries need to rewrite some of their domestic regulations but this applies more to trade in services than trade in goods. In fact, as of 2010, duties were eliminated on 99.2% of tariff lines for ASEAN-6 (Thailand, Indonesia, Philippines, Malaysia, Singapore and Brunei) and the CLMV (Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, and Vietnam) states have reduced tariffs to 0-5% for 97.52 of their tariff lines. To me, that sounds like it's flowing pretty well. I forgot to mention the AEC Blueprint comes with a timeline and ASEAN is doing pretty good on reaching their objectives on time.

For trade in services, each country liberalizes where they feel foreign labor can best benefit the country. Some countries, like Thailand, are liberalizing slower in some sectors. Other countries, like Cambodia have extremely liberal policies in most sectors. This is how trade in services works in the WTO and ASEAN is also following this framework. There are always restrictions on foreigners coming into a country. Even developed countries have restrictions so don't expect to have a border-less region in ASEAN. However, as I mentioned before, liberalization agreements need to be followed up with domestic changes to existing laws. This is where some ASEAN countries are lagging.

The use of the AEC Blueprint was designed to start in 2008 and ends in 2015. It wasn't designed to go past that. However, ASEAN is not turning out the lights and going home on December 31st. They are already working on post 2015 plans to integrate deeper. 2015 is only the end of the beginning.

I think to understand the AEC you need a degree in international business. It's complicated. It's an "economic" community so economic and business terminology was used when designing the AEC. It was designed by business experts and not politicians. This is why everyone is confused.

The 2008 AEC Blueprint (click here to download) is a road-map of objectives to the end goal of economic integration consisting of 4 main characteristics: (1) A single market and production base (2) A highly competitive economic region (3) A region of equitable economic development (4) A region fully integrated into the global economy.

It does not matter in the slightest amount what your definition of these characteristics are because ASEAN has defined them in the AEC Blueprint. It also does not matter what objectives you think ASEAN should include in order to reach economic integration because ASEAN has already listed them in the AEC Blueprint. Finally, it really doesn't matter if you believe or don't believe ASEAN will accomplish these objectives because the Action Points listed in the AEC Blueprint give ASEAN a way to measure itself and that alone determines the level of success or failure of the end goal of economic integration.

The characteristic that matters the most to people is the Single Market and Production Base. This particular characteristic has five core elements that impact people directly: (1) Free flow of goods (2) Free flow of services (3) Free flow of investment (4) Freer flow of capital (5) Free flow of skilled labor.

1. Free flow of goods: This is pretty straight forward and deals with importing and exporting products in and out of all the ASEAN countries. It deals with tariffs, non-tariff barriers, rules of origin, trade facilitation, customs integration, and standards and technical barriers to trade.
2. Free flow of services: This is extremely misunderstood by the politicians. Most associate it with 8 professions that can move freely between ASEAN countries. While this is part of it, it is not the entire story. Trade in services is governed by the ASEAN Framework Agreement in Services (AFAS) which is modeled after the General Agreement in Trade in Services (GATS) from the World Trade Organization (WTO). Countries trade one of twelve service sectors in which are 4 modes of supplying a service to a final consumer: (1) Cross-border supply (2) Consumption abroad (3) Commercial presence (4) Presence of natural persons. These 12 service sectors and 4 modes cover every job that foreigner can enter a country and get paid to do. This is the untold story that ASEAN politicians don't understand and are unable to explain to their citizens. When a country trades in services it means they are removing restrictions that prevent foreigners from entering the country and working. To date, hundreds of jobs across ASEAN have been liberalized in preparation for the AEC in 2015. ASEAN has posted all of the liberalization measures online free for anyone to download and review.
3. Free flow of investment: This deals mostly with protecting Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in 5 production type industries (1) manufacturing (2) agriculture (3) fishery (4) forestry (5) mining and quarrying sectors as well as services incidental to these sectors.
4. Freer flow of capital: This deals with capital markets across ASEAN. In this instance, capital refers to how business raise money to continue or expand their operations such as with stocks or bonds.
5. Free flow of skilled labor: This has nothing to do with hiring high skilled workers but everything to do with entering another ASEAN country faster.

This information is what business need to know in order to be able to make decisions. For example, for most products, tariffs have been eliminated and now may be a good time to export to a city on the other side of a border where there is less competition and where the tariff free market makes shipping affordable. A different business may invite foreigners to bid on a joint venture opportunity in order to raise more capital to make improvements on plant and equipment needed to increase their competitiveness. Still others may want to invest in a neighboring ASEAN country with a wholly owned subsidiary or joint venture to help establish different supply chains in a new market. One thing to keep in mind, there are provisions in the trade agreements that allow foreign investment to bring in foreign labor as I mentioned above describing trade in services.

Based on the news story there will be new economic zones to attract more business. So if I was a factory owner producing a product this might mean a new competitor is moving into my market which I'm already competing in and I could lose my market share. Or, worse case scenario, the tax holiday that will be offered for foreign business to set up in these new economic zones may lower their cost of doing business and thus their prices of the products or services and this may put me out of business all together.

If I'm a factory owner and I want to lower my cost of doing business (because of new business competition) I may consider closing my business in my country and reopening it in the neighboring country in which the cost of doing business is considerably less. This means I would fire all my employees.

These are the 2015 realities facing all ASEAN countries. This is what people need to know.

As long as they are paid a fair wage then it is a good idea. If the are forced to do it for free then it is like a subsidy that distorts free trade.

International MBA is a good degree for that. I think a TOEFL of 550 or IELTS 5.5 is ok for an MBA. A TOEFL 600 or IELTS 6.0 is better. There are Thai companies looking for English speaking Thai employees.

What Masters degrees pay off the best in Thailand ?

In the West there are many with History masters or Art masters degrees and I wonder what good they do when you are looking for a job in the real world ?

I think if you're Thai and don't have the hurdles foreigners have when working here, there are probably many masters degrees that would be beneficial.

If you are not Thai but plan to live in Thailand then something like TESOL would probably help ensure constant employment while you're here. Degrees in education also seem popular. Master's degrees help to gain employment in universities if there are shortages of university instructors. If this were your goal then the following information might be helpful.

In 2012, there were 16,999 foreign students studying in international degree producing programs in Thailand. The top 10 programs in Thailand in 2012 were (1) Business Administration (2) Thai Language (3) International Business (4) Thai for communication (5) Marketing (6) International Business Management (7) Communicative Thai Language for Foreigners (8) English Language (9) Management and (10) Business English. Of the 16,999 foreigners studying in Thailand in 2012, 6,512 (38.31%) were enrolled in these programs. However they don't indicate how many Thai people are studying these same classes. Over half of the classes listed deal with business subjects and the other half are language related either English or Thai. (SOURCE)

A masters in history may be helpful if you're looking to teach in an international K-12 program as well as a masters in Art.

Other's who read this forum may have additional information I don't have. I hope this helps.

Is this story an opinion? I can't tell because no source given for how they conclude exports are down. However, when I look at the Bank of Thailand's website (Click here), overall export trade volume is generally up. I'm more inclined to believe a story if there is a source to back up the claim.

I don't understand what you're saying. According to your link, trade in absolute non-inflation adjusted dollars has been flat since the end of 2011.

Worse, imports almost equal exports barely giving Thailand a positive balance of trade.

I see no growth for almost 3 years. That's the same as going backwards.

Sorry, you're right. I did find a better source which I'll post when I get to my computer.

This chart is better. (Here)

Is this story an opinion? I can't tell because no source given for how they conclude exports are down. However, when I look at the Bank of Thailand's website (Click here), overall export trade volume is generally up. I'm more inclined to believe a story if there is a source to back up the claim.

I don't understand what you're saying. According to your link, trade in absolute non-inflation adjusted dollars has been flat since the end of 2011.

Worse, imports almost equal exports barely giving Thailand a positive balance of trade.

I see no growth for almost 3 years. That's the same as going backwards.

Is this story an opinion? I can't tell because no source given for how they conclude exports are down. However, when I look at the Bank of Thailand's website (Click here), overall export trade volume is generally up. I'm more inclined to believe a story if there is a source to back up the claim.

While their enrollment will go up for sure, their graduation ratio will go down....unless they lower the standard and start acting like a diploma mill.

Keep in mind that this rule only applies to the so called "Thai language Schools."

If you know how international diplomats talk, then you would realize without reading the story, the headline is false.

Actually, I've heard reports of the 5 star hotels in Chiang Mai mostly booked.

This is the beginning of the high season - if hotels are at 100% they are fully booked - if they are at 80% or 90% they may at times still be fully booked, but it represents a 10 to 20% drop in customers.....

I don't think you can depend on what traditionally was the high season in the past. As I mentioned before, the university academic calendar changed in ASEAN. There will be December Christmas holidays and summer vacation starting in June. I expect K-12 schools to change their schedule in the future because parents will demand it so they can all travel at the same time. Right now it is only the universities.

December will turn into a travel month and then nothing until Songran. Then I expect the high season to run from June to August which would allow students and their families to be free to travel. Then nothing again until December. Then the process will repeat.

Of course, this is just my opinion but this is what happens in the west on the same academic calendar. Right now no one knows because this is the first year for the change.

Keep in mind, Thailand just switched it university schedule and might impact when Thai people go on holiday. In 2 weeks all universities in Thailand will have a Christmas/New Year holiday. Get ready to see a surge in tourism activity. The new high season will start in June after schools close for the summer. So everyone just calm down and enjoy the show.

Domestic tourism is part of tourism in Thailand. Everyone stop acting like Thailand will die without the farangs. You guys are giving yourself way more credit than you really deserve.

Sure the coup has an impact but so did all the democratic protest (where people were dying) that led up to the coup. Also the university schedule did not just change for Thailand, it changed for all of ASEAN. Add to that the rising incomes and growing middle class, additional low cost carriers, open skys is about to happen and people will be on the move.

Now things are stable and for the first time, tourism can have the impact it normally would have. Enjoy the hotel discounts everyone because next year, demand will be back to normal and prices will increase.....but no doubt, everyone on ThaiVisa will complain and find someone to blame for that too.

Relax everyone....everything will be ok.

Keep in mind, Thailand just switched it university schedule and might impact when Thai people go on holiday. In 2 weeks all universities in Thailand will have a Christmas/New Year holiday. Get ready to see a surge in tourism activity. The new high season will start in June after schools close for the summer. So everyone just calm down and enjoy the show.

Actually, I've heard reports of the 5 star hotels in Chiang Mai mostly booked.

While he cannot be a tour guide, he could have legally had a tourism agency (up to 49% equity) as joint venture with a Thai person and then paid the Thai to guide the tours. Of course he would have had to go through the process of legally setting up the business. For that, it's best to get a lawyer before the business starts rather than after.

Perhaps he thought differently because a Thai person could do in his country what he was doing in Thailand.....assuming they went through the process of legally starting a business in Kyrgyzstan .

Great White, I'm curious, why don't you want to get a degree?

Southeast Asia is going through an integration process. We are only at the very beginning of this process. ASEAN has been liberalizing restrictions on service jobs (in all 12 service sectors as defined by the WTO) for ASEAN citizens since 1995. This means that slowly, the entire labor force of the ASEAN countries will being merged into one. This includes all forms of teaching.

In 2012, the size of the ASEAN labor force (according to the World Bank) was 310 million people with an annual growth rate of 2% which would put the labor force this year at around 322 million people . Not everyone in the labor force wants to be an English teacher but there are a lot that do and they are going to a university to earn a degree so they can compete in the ASEAN labor market. The more ASEAN English teachers integrate into the English teaching market, the less the number of Western native English teachers the ASEAN countries will need.

It's only a matter of time before ASEAN education standards in all levels of education are integrated. This has already started with the ASEAN University Network (AUN).

I do not expect teaching qualifications to get any easier as ASEAN continues its integration process. Most likely ASEAN will have an agreed upon minimum standard in the future. If you are not qualified you may find yourself unemployed, just like many western English teachers are finding out now as Thailand's requirements are changing, .

A degree gives you options. Not having one limits your options to whatever is offered to you. Unless you're already rich, without a degree there is a good chance you, and whatever family you create in the future, will be poor for the rest of your life.

I do wish you the best of luck because moving into this labor market with no qualifications is risky.

Maybe if they dogs were taken care of and killed nicely like cows and pigs they would feel better about eating dog meat.

Since this is an opinionated story, I thought I would give my opinion too.

I think every country has it's fair share of problems. Look at the USA. OMG! What a violent country that is. Shootings in schools, drugs being legalized, gangs, rapes, crime, riots, free for all media and the glorification of the American warrior and that way of life are some of my concerns for the "leader of the free world." Its not the country I grew up in or spent 20 years defending. I don't even want to get into what I think of the American democratic process or how public opinion is controlled by the media such as Fox News and CNN. American's do love this type of society. If they didn't, they would change. They thrive on it so much they want the rest of the world to be just like them.

So Mr. Hasan Basar, be careful what you wish for because you may not like what you get. Remember, no country is perfect and they all have to find their own way.

You obviously spend a lot of time in the USA

What a bunch of half-truths.

Maybe you should stick to commenting on a country you've some experience in rather than only know via teevee.

Sent from my GT-I9500 using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

I have called universities in America and researched universities in Thailand. Chula and Sasin are the only Thai recognized universities. If you are a Thai they will accept you in Masters programs for foreigners to America but for a foreigner returning to America with a Thai degree you will meet with many obstacles. You can always choose to go to Webster University in Bangkok.

Hi Bakeman, Maybe you didn't speak with the right person in America or maybe they just didn't know or understand your question.

One of my classmates from Payap University in Chiang Mai is studying now at Harvard University. Another of my classmates is studying at the London School of Economics.

I too was curious if my degree would be accepted in the USA and so I emailed admissions at Harvard, UCLA and even Cambridge in the UK a few years back. They all said if the university is accredited by the government office that regulates education in the country where the university is located, then they would accept the degree as meeting the basic educational requirements such as a bachelor's degree. They still have to pass all other admissions requirements such as an interview or writing an essay.

There are many universities in Thailand that are also approved by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs for using their VA education benefits here. My bachelor's degree at Payap University was paid for by the VA as well as part of my masters degree.

Payap is also accredited by the U.S. Department of Education (US DOE) for being able to defer an existing school loan while you are a student at Payap. A foreign school participating in an US DOE program means either the student or the parent of that student can claim Payap on their US federal income taxes.

Webster University is as good as most schools in Thailand but their biggest benefit is that it is a branch of Webster University in the United States. When you graduate you will have a degree from the USA but the cost for that degree will be similar to what a degree cost in Thailand. You can also apply for FASFA if you're an American since they are part of Webster University in the USA. The tax rule applies here too.

Wilcopops, I highly doubt that my opinion or your rant on ThaiVisa will have any effect on the tiger conservation efforts in Thailand. Policy is made in Bangkok by Thai people who could give a rats ass what posters on ThaiVisa may think about the current policy. So if you really feel the need save the tiger, start in Bangkok and not ThaiVisa. ThaiVisa posters will just piss you off and aggravate your anger management issues as they do mine.

I like your information about having enough land for 2,000 tigers. I did not know that and think it would be a good idea. Although, I'm not convinced about parts of your second and third point. I really don't believe tigers have that much of an impact on the environment in Thailand other than being a threat to people. I think people, not tigers, have the biggest impact and the people's impact on the environment is why, I believe, if tigers were not in Thailand, nothing would change.

firstly Tiger conservation doesn't start in Bangkok - the conservation of wildlife is and international affair. You may also bw surprised to learn that Tigers are completely unaware of what country of governmental system they are in.

If you want to understand the impact tigers have on the environment then follow up my comment of trophic cascade, it will show you how it works; you arguing from a standpoint that has no basis in fact 9...and what made you think tigers lived in Africa?????)....... at present Thailand already has problems that arise from a lack of apex predators and if efforts succeed to increase the population to sustainable levels then even you I suspect would notice changes.

Your ideas on the interaction between people and tigers are naive to say the least -

as for being a threat to people - the only tigers that pose a significant threat to people are the ones in captivity.

My ideas on tigers are opinions. Tourist getting bitten by a tiger in captivity is an interesting story. It's in the same category as sky diving except the sky divers are better trained to risk their lives jumping from a plane than tourist taking photos with tigers. I really don't care about the tigers.

This is an example of the point I'm trying to make - or one of them at lest......your comparison with skydiving shows how little you are aware of the environmental problems both internationally and in Thailand - a skydiver has little to do with the environment...however the issue of zoos, wildlife in captivity and the way we accept practices that are detrimental to us and the planet ae raised by this incident. Questions about why we have these animals in captivity and whether or not its a good idea how how th general public are still largely unaware of the issues.

If you don't care about tigers why bother posting on something about which you neither know nor care about?

PS - for something to be an "opinion" it needs to be based on reasoned thought and evidence - I see little evidence of that in your comments.