sylvafern

Thats right, each to their own. But just remember this is their country, this is how they express their affection for children. If you do not like it at all, stay home till they are older.

Actually, it's my son's country too not just "theirs" - he was born here and is a Thai citizen with a Thai passport so I don't think I'll be moving to Afganistan any time soon!

Like I said (twice already, I think) the well intentioned appropriate gestures of affection are fine. However, a complete stranger coming and kissing my child on the lips (to give another example) is not. You're lucky you haven't had the type of contact I've experienced with your own children. It's not just me that's bothered by this sort of thing ... I have at least three friends with young children who have had their kids taken out of their pushchairs when their backs were turned for a moment ... luckily for them the people who did it had innocent intentions. However, one friend was followed on Silom Road one day by a strange woman who attempted to snatch her baby from the push chair. When she realised the baby was strapped in and she couldn't get him out, the woman ran away.

I don't really think there is an answer to this problem .... staying at home would be impossible and a great shame if it came to that. I think the only way to deal with it is to just try and be polite and make an effort improve my Thai so I can better explain the reasons why I'd rather he wasn't touched.

Try ISB and Harrow in the north of Bangkok which I'm pretty sure have summer camps .... for links to all int'l schools in Thailand go to the ISAT website (International Schools Association of Thailand) ... you might be able to find out more info by going directly to the schools' websites. Good luck.

I took the seatran ferry last year and the prices were about the same as lom said .... we arrived 5 minutes before the ferry was due to depart and got on fine.

The Aquarium is definately one of the better (if not best) places in BKK to take kids to even if it is 10 or 20 times the cost of Dusit Zoo. Went to both in the same week a couple of months ago and my son loved both. And yes, I agree with others that the bookshop is great .... definately the best selection of kids books that I've come across in BKK (better than the one at Emporium).

Sony Service Centre in The Mall Ngam Wong Wan (Bangkok) have a visable price list for fixing different types of products and any time I've had something fixed it usually falls within the lower end of the range (e.g. a video camera costs between 500-1500 baht, I think). They speak English, too which helps.

I've had the same problem as others with DHL .... parcel took 3 or 4 days to arrive in the country but then got 'stuck' in customs for about 40 days ... all the time storage fee was building up until the amount I owed was way more than the value of the present (mostly packaged food items). Was a few years ago now and a bit fuzzy on the details but in the end wrote lots of complaint emails (incl to head office in US, I think) and managed to get parcel without paying storage fee, but still had to pay customs. Always advise people to send by normal post now which is usually way more efficient and quick too (often parcels arrive in 4-5 days).

Lots of international schools do English Summer Camps during July and August .... maybe you could try contacting some and offer your services .... money can be quite good and most employ outside teachers as few of their staff want to be working during their holidays. Good way to get your feet in the door and a way of making money until you can get a more permanent job.

It's fine when people are looking and waving just because they genuinely like kids but most often it's because of his skin colour that they're interested. Only my friends with half-Thai or farang children seem to have this problem (or maybe it's that my Thai friends with children don't see it as a problem). When he's just with me, most people think he's full-farang and make the assumption that I can't understand Thai so openly talk about him ... e.g. tell their children "Look Farang! Go and kiss the farang baby", etc (like they've never seen a farang before even though they're shopping in Central!). It's also when I've specifically asked somebody to leave him alone that it really grates me ... e.g. today at the vets one of the vet nurses kept trying to pick him up ... I told her not to about 5 times (and also tried to teach my son to say 'mai ao') but still she wouldn't give up so I had to walk away. The problem is that he is now beginning to get upset about it and become very clingy. At least that's better than openly going with strangers, I guess. What the people who are doing this don't understand is that it teaches kids to be comfortable with strangers picking them up and touching them which could lead to something terrible happening if some weirdo passes by one day.

I have a 16 month old son who's half-Thai (but very light-skinned) who is constantly grabbed, touched, kissed, pointed at, talked about, etc, etc when we're out in public, e.g. shopping. I don't mind if it's just a wave, a game of peek-a-boo, or a comment on how cute he is .... but when he's grabbed, touched, taken out of his push-chair when my back is turned, or is being mobbed by people taking photos of him on their phones it really stresses me out, especially when I've already specifically told someone not to do it (shop assistants are the worst!). Sometimes, in my limited Thai, I attempt to explain the concept of stranger danger, but other times I literally push the person away or keep walking at the same pace and run them over with the push chair (and then feel bad cos they weren't to know they were the 20th person that day to maul him). How do others cope with it? Does it drive you crazy or do you just accept it as part of the culture here?

There's a a course thru ABAC that qualifies you to teach primary / secondary ... abut 30,000+ baht a semester, I think. Know a few who are on the course .... hours are something like 6-9pm most nights plus weekends. Not too sure of the other details, but know that it's mostly (if not all) foreigners in the program.

Over 100,000 a month for a good int'l school plus benefits (flights, housing, etc) .. but you better apply now or you will miss out. Most of the good schools are already in the interviewing stage for jobs starting in Aug/Sept. Check out the TES website (jobs section) for current vacancies and a forum similar to this where you can find out about particular schools (mostly british curriculum tho').

Not sure about US/Canada but the first time I took my boyfriend to New Zealand we had to do a lot of stuff to prove our relationship was genuine ... show photos, letters addressed to both of us at our residence(!), rental contract, have letters from his parents, my mother, sister, etc verifying it, a detailed summary of our relationship including date we met, where, how long living together, my work contract, pay slips, his bank details with proof of funds (which I'd transeferred from my account into his for a couple of days just for that reason) etc, etc. At the time he was a student in a college so was able to provide 'proof' of a need to return to Thailand. After about 4 weeks his application was accepted on the condition that we paid a $3000 NZ bond (almost 70,000 baht at the time) which we didn't get back until a week after we got back. Luckily my work advanced me the money otherwise we never would have been able to go. All this was just for a 2 week holiday. The next time it was a bit easier (no bond or letters needed) but we still needed to provide things like letter from his boss with time off, our son's birth certificate, etc. Good luck getting the visa .... I suggest you start the application process as early as possible!!

I've been in Thailand a long time (about 8 years) and in a permanent relationship with a Thai guy for 5+ years (with one kid) and I've never contributed in any way to his family .... and have never been asked to or expected to. In our situation I earn more than him even though we have the same level of qualifications - but that's just the way it goes with expat salaries compared to Thai ones, so I guess you can say I 'support' him in that way but I don't see how that equates to 'paying for it'. I have lots of female friends in relationships with Thai guys and none of them have ever contributed to the families or been expected to do so .... unlike most of the farang men I work with who have thai girlfriends/wives!

As well as looking in the TES (best place) look at the individual schools' websites as most will list vacancies. You can also send your CV on the off chance they will have something .... that's how I got my current job and it's in one of the 'good' int'l schools.

You could try looking on the TES website for more info .... they have a 'staffroom' section with forums similar to this .... go to the teaching overseas section and you might be able to find people already living in Taiwan that could give you info (and maybe even someone working at the same school). Hope this helps.

Normally, Thai men and ladies do not really appreciated pale skin with freckles.

???????

I don't know many Thai men/women that want to be 'dum' - most aspire to be as pale as possible, hence the many TV/magazine ads for skin whitening products.

Take the compliments for what they are and enjoy them ... because once you start to understand more Thai you will realise that strangers on the street will comment on your "nom yai", and shop assistants in clothes stores will discuss how "ouan" you are ... right in front of your face - making the assumption you don't understand what they are saying.

Does anyone know of a good place to hold a staff party for 100-150 people. About 60% farang, 40% Thai; equal numbers of males/females; all ages 20's to 60's (most in 30's). Should have good music (preferably live), a dance floor, a stage (or similar) for a few speeches, good food (probably buffet style - Thai and/or international). Max. budget = 100,000 to include all food, drink, venue, etc. Needs to be in Sukhumvit/Silom area, riverside, or North bangkok (e.g. Lat Prao, Don Muang, etc).