CindyB

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.

"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?

"The change would help teachers look after their students more closely, he said after chairing a key ministry meeting that discussed various measures under the latest education reform proposals, including the setting-up of a "Superboard" to implement the latest education reform."

This would assume that teachers are in the classrooms with the students at all times.

I thought the name on the door was supposed to match the name of the driver?

I can't speak for all countries, but there is no colour blindness test in Australia. An eyesight test yes, which makes sense. I've been driving for nigh on 55 years and not once has being colour blind caused me any problems driving.

Color blindness should be no issue since in the international traffic system the top light is always red, the middle always yellow, the bottom always green. With vertical signals, red is to the left, yellow in the middle, green to the right. Colorblind people can tell which light is lit. However, if we start spinning traffic signals here, that may be another issue . . .

Fly to Kuala Lumpur via Air Asia. Nomad Su Casa hotel is 2 blocks from the Thai embassy, book two nights. Turn in your paperwork one morning, pick up the next afternoon. Take an evening flight out. Explore Kuala Lumpur while you're there. This is our normal place to get visas in Asia.

Songkla is on the east coast of the isthmus, not the west.

So what about the EXISTING PORT named Songkhla.. It is a containerport as good as any other port.......

Glegolo

If they are orphans following the 2004 Tsunami, they should be at least 10 years old and some of them are still in kindergarten???

I agree - that would be P4. Maybe they need to re-market their advertising to garner donations for orphans (and abandoned children) in general, adding that some of their students were orphaned by the tsunami. It would sit better in the international community they approach for grants and donations.

Doesn't Martial law invalidate most tourist insurance policies? Will the insurance policies be valid under article 44?

It is true that most tourist insurance policies are invalidated because of Martial Law. This would be enough to discourage a great portion of those booking holidays here. Good question about article 44.

Probably way off topic, but in the American School System we are taught to gather facts from ALL sources, compile them, compare and contrast them, and try and draw a consensus. This is how the Western mind works. To speak with Yingluk and Abhiset would have fit into the paramaters. Speaking with the current government is also necessary, along with collecting information from the "average person on the street." A statement of how the international community understands things should or should not have been said, but now everyone has the opportunity to consider how the Western mindset sees things. Asian mindset is quite different. Let's all take this as a learning opportunity and try to figure out what reality is. It means that diplomats, both Asian and Western, will have to refrain from being offended by somewhat blunt statements, but isn't that what they're supposed to do anyway? Whether we like it or not, no country on this planet is isolated from every other country.

The AED stuff is great (I'm trained in their use), but let's first have basic first aid. A man fell onto his right arm and hip yesterday. First thing the locals around him did was grab the arm he fell on and started yanking him up. Hello, ask him first. Maybe he broke something? Then, with his middle finger obviously sprianed they proced to pop all his fingers, as in Thai massage. Tears running down his face. I got ice for it - they're totally unsure of how to reduce swelling. A year ago a first grader having a 15-minute grand mal seizure, school staff gets out the tiger balm and massages her all the way through a FIFTEEN MINUTE GRAND MAL SEIZURE! My training says after 5 minutes get them to hospital ASAP. Elevating sprains is another foreign concept. Huge goose egg on the head from a good bump - apply tiger balm. The cure-all. I love tiger balm - good stuff - but sometimes you need something else. O.K., my rant is over . . .

I volunteer at the local public school, which is a 5-minute bicycle ride from my home. I have a very goofy schedule, split shifts, etc. That schedule seems to change monthly. I'm present 5 minutes before class begins and leave at the end of class. One afternoon I have two classes in a row Just have to move classrooms. If they want me at school 8 a.m. until 4 p.m. the four days a week I volunteer, they would have to start paying me a LOT and give me a desk to work from and some supplies to work with, too. Our current arrangement works well for all of us.

They're forgetting to figure in the 2 weeks every term the teachers are all in the conference room preparing the documents for review. God forbid that they would keep their records up on a weekly or even monthly basis!

Thailand GPA System

Grade Description

Thai Grade Grade Points

A Excellent 4.00

A- Very Good 3.75

B+ Very Good 3.50

B Good 3.00

C+ Fairly Good 2.50

C Fair 2.00

D+ Poor 1.50

D Very Poor 1.00

F Failure 0.00

AU Audit

I Incomplete

W Withdrawal

WF Withdrawal because of Failure

Beyond this, two schools I'm familiar with use a weighted 80% classwork/20% test system. Missing work is not calculated into the grade.

80-100% = 4

75-80% = 3.5

70-75% = 3

65-70% = 2.5

60-65% = 2

55-60% = 1.5

50-55% = 1

45-50% = 0.5

< 45% = 0

My high school in the States, mid-70s, gave an F for less than 82%. Teaching in the States last decade we had a 90-80-70-60 system most of the time. They should work more in line with the Land Transport Office when you're tested for a driver's license. Isn't it less than 45/50 correct and you fail?

Is it correct which Dengue you shouldn't eat Aspirin?

No asprin, no ibuprofen (Neurofen). Only paracetamol (Tylenol).

Two years ago had a very bad case: dengue shock syndrome. While awaiting my blood test on the morning of day 3, blood pressure dropped to 62/47, must have gone lower because I wasn't blacking out then, and then about 30 minutes later, just as they were getting me hooked up to an IV in the ER, nearly passed out (I'm not afraid of needles). Was in hospital for 3 days at Mission in Phuket, but only about 20,000 baht to get out, all-inclusive, not 120,000. Took me 5 weeks to get back any energy. Let's just say I had an exceptionally bad case, not too many like it. One key is you must keep hydrated to prevent organ failure. I've known this for decades, and set the alarm on my phone for every 2 hours to drink at least 1/2 liter of water or juice. Had no appetite. You're probably over the worst of it now, but maybe someone else will learn from my experience.

Got my 5-year renewal on a 5-year license today in Phuket. Needed Certificate of Residency (no medical certificate required at Immigration this time), the standard copies of passport pages, and the Land Transport Office didn't want the medical certificate either. Had to watch a 1 hour video of a bunch of the laws from B.E. 2522 and 2535, and was out the door with the new license in about 2.5 hours and 665 baht poorer. My question is why did I even get the medical certificate? Rules change every time. VERY IMPORTANT: IN PHUKET YOU HAVE TO ARRIVE AT 8 A.M. OR COME THE NEXT DAY. At least this time it was only 2 trips to the other end of the island rather than the 4 or 5 from the first and second licenses LOL!

"So, this is an ongoing problem that needs to be resolved, as it can lead to a shortage of English teachers and guides," he said during his weekly TV programme.

How about enforcing the schools to adhere to the law and providing work permits instead of keeping teachers semi-illegal.

You are exactly right, JesseFrank. I personally know of 2 schools who say they don't know how and if they did can't find the paperwork they would have to submit for a volunteer English teacher to go out-of-country at his/her own expense, purchase a B visa at his/her own expense, and purchase a work permit at his/her own expense. The epitome of Thainess . . .