CindyB

Buy him another tablet to keep at your place.

You can't be serious.

Very much so. If tablets are not tolerated at school, and there's no other way of transporting the tablet between the two places, it's a practical solution.

I know some people are more interested in crying about 'the principle' than entertaining a pragmatic way around a situation, but I don't believe in making life any harder than it needs to be.

Can the mother give the tablet to the office on Friday mornings and then you pick it up Friday afternoon? Can you give it to the office on Monday morning and the mother pick it up Monday afternoon? Being a teacher both here and in the States, it's difficult to have any of these things in any classroom for any reason whatsoever. Your son probably will not use the tablet in class. However, there would probably be the cry of "unfair!" by the other students and their parents in the class. This keeps the teacher totally out of the picture, retaining their authority. The teacher's position is validated, the son has the tablet back, the transfer is made, and no one is shamed in the least. Re: why the teacher searched the backpack, I wonder if another student was aware of the tablet in the backpack (for whatever reason), and told the teacher (for whatever reason). The scenario may not be as "evil" as you might think. The main questionable thing is keeping the tablet for a month.

I think that the Department of Disease Control should inform the general public that it is a well known fact that the Aedes mosquito is remarkably territorial and confines itself to certain suburbs of Bangkok only and that the rest of the Country has no need to concern itself...........................

This mosquito is also in Phuket, and Krabi, and Phang Nga provinces in the south. They can be identified by the white joints on their legs. Three years I nearly died from Dengue Shock Syndrome. My husband had an hemmorhagic form that proceded into Bell's Palsy which led to a severe reaction to the prednisone administered for that, requiring an 8 month recovery. I think you need to research a bit better before stating that the Aedes mosquito is only in certain suburbs of Bangkok.

The issue is to allow for a smooth transition. This British intensive course may be a good beginning. The teachers need to be able to speak English that is comprehensible to a native English speaking tourist whose first language is English. I realize that is a redundant statement, but I know some some Europeans, Philipinos, Singaporeans and others consider themselves native English speakers even though English is not their first language. This would be especially imperative earlier in the English learning process. I submitted a null vote in the survey becase it was a simple yes/no vote with no ability to post a caveat.

I have an older Galaxy Geo with four bands I use here in Thailand. When in the States, I stop at the T-Mobile and get a SIM to use for that trip. We go for about 7 weeks once every year and a half, so I don't need that number active forever. I forward the phone number from our Skype account, and that is the number I give out to most people. That way, they can contact us when we're in Thailand also. The key is having a four-band phone. It will NOT work with Verizon. I have a separate Verizon phone I take back with me just in case. They're a "special" (read that "pain in the neck") carrier. I hope this has been of some help to you.

Christians pray to an invisible God, as do Moslems.

What difference does it make what religeon you are as long as YOU believe and don't interfere with other religeons.

My wife and son rarely pray and they are nominally Buddhist.

As for me, I am am retired Christian yet every time I open a bottle of whisky I offer the first capful to the spirits of the land where we live as a token of thanks.

Would you call that praying? If so, what religeon would you call it?

That would be animism.

I have a Canon MP287, have had it for years, complete with the extra tanks. I have to have the black cartridge changed, due to the print heads, about every 4 tank refills, the color cartridge about once a year. This is a fantastic machine. I don't know if it has wifi capabilities, but I don't use that feature anyway even with a laptop. When we're away for more than a week, I leave something in the scanner bed and have the neighbor, who also cares for the dogs and cat, run a color copy once a week and we have no problems with the works gumming up.

I recomend any of the Canons with scanner and inktanks.

As you use a laptop it may be worth conisering a wireless one.

I may, as an American, misunderstand the term "child lock." We had a couple of cars in the States which had child locks on the doors. This meant that, if the switch was in the lock position, the child (or anyone else for that matter) couldn't open the door from the inside. It had to be opened from the outside. This way children couldn't open the door and fall out of a moving vehicle. Maybe, in this instance, "child lock" means what I would consider to be a child safety seat.

Child locks? So you can't open your door from the inside? You're stuck in the taxi until the driver lets you out? Many taxis I've been in in BKK have no way to open the back windows. This is for our safety?

read it again

Child locks? So you can't open your door from the inside? You're stuck in the taxi until the driver lets you out? Many taxis I've been in in BKK have no way to open the back windows. This is for our safety?

I have a question re: the 15% maximum interest rate. Is it per day, per week, per month, per year? I hope the wording in the law is much more clear than the wording in the article. Our neighbor is paying the local loan shark 10 or 12% per month which, according to this article, could be quite legal.

If it's going to happen, the police need to patrol. This would require the purchase of patrol cars/decent patrol motorcycles (as opposed to scooters). Checkpoints are ineffective for this.

Our hospital clinic gives an itemized list, with the exception of the breakdown of which medicine cost which amount. It seems impossible for them to break it down. So, if you get more than one prescription at a particular visit, you'll not know how much each different prescription costs. Maybe they can deal with this specific issue . . .

Do you know if there are fault lines in or very close to Thailand? Where are they?

Thankxx

Here is a link to a good map and some explanation. The date on the map seems 1985, but it seems the best I can find.

http://www.dmr.go.th/main.php?filename=fault_En

Recyclers are always appropriating copper cable - maybe this has some value to them. If PEA could provide a couple of supervisors, could the recyclers remove dead cable? Their "pay" would be what they get from the recycling? Relatively cheap for PEA (the cost of a couple of supervisors) and the poles could be cleaned up.

I wonder how it works in real life if a tsunami should come.Equipment have been purchased (very expensive) but education of local staff,test and maintenance is rearly seen around here.

I'm not sure where you live. We live in Thachatchai, very northern end of Phuket Island. A 4 meter wave came onshore from the strait between Phuket and Phang Nga in 2004. When the 8.6 and 8.4 quakes hit the Ache area about 3 (?) years ago, there was a voluntary evacuation. Our village overhead speakers came on, I tuned into BBC (the quickest and most accurate reporting of things like this), got together a team of 8 that was staying with us along with all of our most important documents and headed to the evacuation point. Phuket Airport was closed. My husband made a second trip back to gather those who had no transportation. The situation was followed closely on Thai TV, and about 30 minutes before we would have had an all-clear to return home from the first quake, the second hit. Another several hours out of the house. Things seemed to work quite well here, even though we have no warning sirens. No one panicked. In tourist areas, you would need hotel and other staff to CALMLY ask people to head to high ground. Many resorts re-built in Khao Lak have vertical evacuation plans - I would assume deeper footings in construction - so you evacuate to the top floor or roof. I feel quite secure living here. I have neighbors who care and would bust down the door or break windows, or whatever to warn us to get out if need be.

Being a Southern California native, I know the necessity of individual earthquake preparedness along with the ability to help friends and neighbors. We need just a bit more of this education in the tsunami and earthquake prone areas. The purpose is not to produce fear, but to produce confidence in preparedness and knowing what to do in an emergency. I know, a tall order here, but well worth looking into.

Well, why on earth would one write the English pronunciation for the word? Surely an oral exam is a better option.

But then how would one cheat?

Do you have any idea of how long it would take to administer an oral exam to a class of 30, let alone a university class of (probably) more than 150? A group of 23 6th graders, identifying 15 vocabulary and using each word in a sentence, took 2.5 hours.

this is such a non topic.

How much did the menu say it would cost?? didnt bother to check then tough. Same as getting in tuk tuk and not setting a price.

Is it a scam - yes, when you have a job interview and discuss your salary, do you honestly say what you think you are worth to the company, or the absolute MAX you think they will pay.

And besides - they never complained about the food, seafood is expensive and if it was decent there is a seafood restaurant here in Phuket I go to that has prices that match this. Better location than BKK i suspect, but it is not WAY over the top.

And if you get taken to place because your taxi driver suggests it - you get what you deserve.

There is a thing called the internet - do some research.

I'm in Phuket, not BKK, but here most seafood is priced per 100 grams, not kilogram. I know nothing of this restaurant or its menu. HOWEVER, Westerners are accustomed to paying per kilogram or pound, not per 100 grams. The shrimp at my local restaurant states the price as 300 baht. If you didn't realize that's for 100 grams, you may be finding yourself paying 100 USD for a kilogram of shrimp. I believe it's just a ploy to get big money from foreigners, sad to say.

Nearly every Monday we head to Central Festival for a movie and lunch. We tend to park in the Home Works parking lot. Going over the pedestrian bridge I always look down the underpass; force of habit from when they were taking 3 (maybe more?) years to build it. Every single week I've seen a saleng parked in whichever of the three lanes are not being used at the time. So, I guess salengs can use the underpass for parking

Silly food/drink prices with no alternatives (like in Suvarnabhumi) at a dismal worn out airport.

50 Baht for a lukewarm coke from the "fridge".

Time for 7/11 to move in !!!

Happy to avoid it.

Lets hope for a magic turn when terminal 2 opens.

There is a 7-11 at DMK. Got water there in January before a flight back home to Phuket. Main hallway in departures (I guess that's what you would call it) farther down than the KFC.

No point in creating new laws if they are not going to be enforced. I'm sure there are a plethora of existing laws that are applicable but they are ignored by one and all especially those whose job it is to enforce them.

This is the bottom line isn't it, what's the good of more laws on the statute books when that's all there are ?

Enforcement is the answer but it just doesn't happen. Forget new laws and concentrate on getting BIB to do their job.

Now back to the real world !

My husband had a discussion with a Highway Police officer. They have three cars for the whole province. The local police have 2 trucks and a car. How are they ever going to enforce traffic law properly? I'm not excusing their lack of enforcement. Maybe pay for little lights on their motorscooters (you see this in Bangkok) and give them a per diem for using their own motorscooter for enforcement? The trick will be to get the offenders to pull over to be cited. That may be where the standard road checkpoints can be used. Three officers each at two checkpoints at the main intersections leading to the patrolled stretch. The officer cruising could just radio ahead to the checkpoints to stop a particular vehicle. Maybe even have his motorcycle equipped with a dash cam 7 officers could, in theory, with just one motorcycle and drop-off of two teams by the truck, catch a lot of moving violations. No payment on-the-spot. Have to go to the local station where the officers are from to pay the fine, within 10 days. I would like to see it attempted for a while.

Well if you spend a few thousand baht for a blueprint for a standard home and foundation in California you would be light years from where you are now.

As a native Southern California, I believe this would be good advice. The trick would be to find a 'contractor' willing to build to standard.

Bangkok would not fare well in any earthquake close to magnitude 7.0 because it is essentially built on a drained swamp. One only need look at what the 6.9 magnitude Loma Prieta earthquake did to the Marina district of San Francisco to recognize that no structures could be built to withstand that kind of earthquake due to the ground layer of the city. Fortunately, Bangkok does not have the earthquake frequency of San Francisco.

The problem that Bangkok and the whole alluvial system around it would have is liquefaction, where the soil would basically turn into quick sand. Same principle would apply to any reclaimed land.

How many farangs have designed their own homes in the provinces to withstand even a 6 pointer?

It really depends on the 6 pointer. Remember Kobe Japan lost 4500 people in a 6.8 with everything built for quake resistance. But the 6.3 in Chiang Rai last year claimed only one life while the construction was for the most part is typical Thai handyman style.

A side to side quake with shallow depth (like Kobe) can cause surprising damage.

That being said, I assume most houses built for farangs here have no special and anti-quake consideration. but they may have more rebar and concrete thickness. How many of us know how to build for a quake anyhow.

Please remember that the Richter scale is logarithmic, and a 7.0 quake would be 10 times greater in intensity than a 6.0 quake. So, the difference from Kobe's 6.8 and Chiang Rai's 6.3 is more pronounced than might be otherwise assumed. I'm unaware of how deep each of those two quakes were, but the deeper the quake, the less the magnitude, even though the intensity might be the same. I would think that the traditional wood-framed houses would fare much better, as long as the footings are adequate, than the concrete with brick fill construction that is now common - more flexibility in a strong quake.

"Meanwhile, Santi Pawai, Director of Tourism and Sports Authority of Thailand, Phuket Office told The Phuket News, “Tourists who need help at the aiport can contact the Tourist Assisstance Centre and the officer there will cooperate with the police."

This center is located on the arrivals floor, between the domestic and international baggage claim areas. To access that area you need a security clearance badge. I've thought for a long time (ever since this centre was built) that it should be in the outer waiting area so anyone could access it.

Sarasin Bridge consists of three different bridges: one walking bridge, one 2-lane north-bound bridge and one 2-lane south-bound bridge. You cannot jump into oncoming traffic - would have to fly over water and clear two concrete barricades. Even though I live at the southern foot of the bridge I missed this event - must have been out running errands or something. I do know a pick-up truck was ghost-driving south in the northbound lanes about 2 km south of the bridge last week and slammed into a super-cheap delivery truck and there were fatalities. That people died in this/these events is tragic. But, can't we be a bit more precise in the reporting?