Diablo Bob

A few months back, the Chiangmai forum had a similar topic. The OP had claimed (Joke) that one was opening up in town and attached some promotional material.



Another way to look at a Hooters in Thailand.

Thanks for the ideas about kit cars or conversions, I am hoping while I am waiting for my friend to arrive someone might find a late model used convertible for sale. Dieblo, just wondering how much the kit like that costs and what are all the types of cars it will work on?

The body kit is around $5000. This particular kit only fits the Datsun 240, 260 or 280Z. Without figuring the donar car into the equation, with engine mods, chassis mods and interior, I would be out less the $15000. The price of the donar can range from $1000 to $6000 for the condition that I am looking for, which is basically a good engine and something for the kit to attach to when installed.

Sports car.. difficult. But most pick-up trucks and Jeep-like vehicles are built on a strong ladder frame, so easy to rip the roof off and still have something that's drivable.

Very true Winnie. On the conversion kit I am looking at, before you take off the roof, stiffeners need to be installed underneath the car. Most Factory convertibles use a box frame, but my kit uses a uni-body doner (Datsun 240Z-280Z).

I want the same thing, but rather than look for a convertible, I was going to do a kit conversion.

Not having any luck finding the doner car though......

There is a far better product in the market (and we've been installing this at many projects around Thailand for years) which performs far better and gives you complete peace-of-mind. Just PM me and I shall not only clue you in, but covert you.

CPVC by chance? If so, excellent product and simple to install.

Try the Thai style, as LJW say's a Satay is pretty much a Satay.

The Thai Sweet Sour cucumbers are awesome.....

The problem I see is that inasmuch as he will be working on construction project revisions, you are looking at AutoCad drawings (Most likely) which tend to be quite large. Even drawings in PDF format tend to be large....

The problem I always have is losing the dam_n signal and having the download start again. Nothing more frustrating then getting 15mb downloaded and having the signal drop.

If your friend can get his drawings/data uploaded to an FTP site, then he can use a download manager which even if the signal drops it will continue the download.

For the connection, DTAC and AIS are both relativly reliable,just purchase a DONGLE and off he goes.

I am still looking for good soul,with a house and a small garden,not more than one other male dog who gives a good home to my dog.

thank you

Any particular color of dog you prefer not to have your dog associate with? What size house? I won't even address the garden.....

I actually like the train from Bangkok to Pattaya, not fast, but scenic and cheap (33 Baht)

Well, I just got an eye opener.....

I am exploring a new position in China, and was looking at the cost of an International School education for my children. NIS (Nanjing International School) is charging $26,000 USD per year per child!

I won't be complaining about the cost of NIS in Chiangmai anymore.....

Bob,

As for our kids tuition, I've never really batted an eye at the cost... Just the opposite.... I'm not "rich" but we live comfortably here. In reply of mine to our parent advisory committee, I stated that I wouldn't mind some more for tuition IF IT GOES TO TEACHER RETENTION INCENTIVES first and foremost.

Scott, I agree with you, I would gladly pay more for my kids education especially if I knew that it was going to the teachers.

But I do have a problem accepting a $75000 bill for 3 kids to go to school. Assuming that the Nanjing school is paying their teachers around $48,000/yr. and there is only 20 kids to a class, I only see a $2250 contribution to the salary of the teacher. If I end up taking the position, the family will stay in Chiangmai and my kids will continue on at NIS.

We've lived overseas for our jobs for years, and our kids' schooling has generally cost between $12,000 and $20,000 per year.

Was that 12-20K per child?

Well, I just got an eye opener.....

I am exploring a new position in China, and was looking at the cost of an International School education for my children. NIS (Nanjing International School) is charging $26,000 USD per year per child!

I won't be complaining about the cost of NIS in Chiangmai anymore.....

Sure it grows on trees. The locals in this isolated Thai village near Lamphun found just such a tree and paraded it through the streets.

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hehe, Good find Ian,

These people are obviously celebrating a discovery of the extremely rare plant species Farangus nagorius.

So rare in fact, this tree is now extinct in the US, but can be still be found in some Western countries.

Its very existance has been the topic of much debate and speculation amongst the northern Thais, who believe it was freely offered as marriage dowry in the late 60's and 70's.

As it takes a good 50 years to reach full maturity, it is usually tended to by 60+ year old farangs who closely gaurd the species until which time it can be cut down and used in mateing rituals for attracting 20-30 year old Thai females.

Nice tree...... Did you notice the size of the speakers on the pick up truck?

On the topic of NIS teacher turn over, I'd like to share something.

It seems that some of the teachers that NIS are recruiting this year do not hold internationally recognised teaching qualifications. They have started recruiting ESL teachers from Thai schools to be international school homeroom teachers.

Another highly doubtfull rumor. The new priciple (is bringing/has teachers following) him from the International School in Bangkok and probably more importantly, WHY would NIS jeopardize their WASC accredidation by having non-certified teachers? For NIS to acquire a work permit for a teacher their paperwork includes their certifications!

I think that they call those air conditioners here in Thailand. Some models also have air filters.

You might look at EMT, the rigid tubing used for electrical conduit. Should be able to get Ls and Tees for it too. At the big supply houses Global etc.

Excellent idea, and with the EMT connectors the frame can be dis-assembled. All you need is a hack saw and a screw driver to put the frame together. Don't remember the price of the EMT but the connectors were around 9 Baht each a few years ago.

I was at the NIS parent-teacher meeting mentioned by Scotbeve and this is what I learned:

• There will be an exceptionally large turnover of teachers and students at the end of this school year.

• Overall, NIS still has the best record of teacher retention. As of the 2010/2011 school year, the average tenure of teachers at NIS was 6.5 years, which is very impressive.

• There will be many new students joining NIS, including Israelis, Lebanese, New Zealanders.

• In spite of the new intake, overall student numbers are expected to remain constant due to the departure of a large number of Koreans. Apparently an influential Korean parent decided to switch to CMIS and many Koreans followed. Diversity of the student population will improve.

• Several Advanced Placement (AP) courses will be introduced next school year for Grades 11 and 12 with more coming the year after.

• A significant investment is being made in computer hardware, software and internet backbone to improve administration, IT services and intra-school as well as teacher/parent and school/parent communications. The system will be partially up and running during the first 2011/2012 term and completely on line by the second term of 2011/2012.

• A new principal has been hired, a Canadian with a pretty impressive (on paper anyway) resumé. I understand he has twenty years teaching experience, teacher evaluation and training experience and is currently a principal at an international school in Bangkok.

My kids are in high school, so I'm more aware of the situation there. While some good teachers are leaving, so are some not-so-good ones. Crucially, many good teachers are staying and some of my favorites continue to express great confidence in the school.

I had a lengthy meeting with the school manager, the daughter of the owner and came away impressed with her enthusiasm, commitment and genuine concern for the students and the school community. I understand that they have the resources to continue to invest in the school's future, though can claim no special knowledge.

In the end, as Mapguy says, the parents and home environment, even the amount of healthy nutrition and sleep our kids get are more important than the school. To some extent, as far as I'm concerned, the remit of teachers and schools is a little like that of doctors: Firstly, Do No Harm. Our kids are in constant danger of having their intelligence and humanity educated out of them. Emerson said "Children are not things to be moulded, but people to be unfolded." I believe that NIS, whether consciously or not, is less in breach of this dictum than many other schools.

Having said that, if my kids were younger and I were arriving in CM today, I'd take a serious look at Panyaden. It looks good on paper, but I have no idea what the reality is. As a matter of interest, I'd love to hear from people who do know more about this fascinating school.

Thakkar,

Thanks for your informative reply. As I've stated earlier, NIS has done a good job preparing my daughter for uni. I've seen many entire classes slide downhill when a teacher leaves... Especially in elementary grades.... The kids genuinely love some of their teachers and are devastated when they leave. As an administrator, I would try to retain this type of family closeness and put a bit more retention incentive in place. There is a high rate of teachers departing - this is definitely a concern. The other concern is the high population of Korean students leaving. Correct me if I'm wrong, but were the Korean students not the bulk of the school population? Are there any Korean representatives that are reading this whom would like to contribute to these comments?

Scott, the exact same thing happened around 5 years ago, the Koreans were offered a deal by Prem, pretty much 90% left and enrolled there, but almost all were back in a few years. This goes down to the amount of discount their companies get on the enrollment and tuition. In the case of Prem they had offered a great deal. No enrollment fee and they undercut the NIS tuition fee by 10%. It wasn't until the second year when they had to pay the full fee at Prem did they decide to return to NIS.

I do know that the popular principal of NIS for more than a decade, Mr. John, was demoted to "Head of Academic Personell" (the spelling used on their website) this year and will be leaving the school after graduation ceremonies in June and return to the States.

For a long time, NIS had a core of long-term teachers who have deep roots in Chiang Mai. The school was sold -- due to a financial crisis brought about by the actions of its previous owner -- in 2001 to a wealthy BKK oil executive, who installed his then 27-year-old daughter as the manager and built a beautiful new campus.

Things went well at first, but then the often absent daughter began to make controversial decisions without consultation with the administrative staff, etc, etc. Typical story of hi-so Thai meets (then refuses to meet) frank-speaking Westerners ... not a happy recipe.

Some of the long-term teachers began to leave in about 2006, and it is my understanding the situation came to a climax last fall when Mr. John was demoted. He and the assistant principal resigned, possibly along with a number of teachers.

For better or worse, it is truly the end of an era as Mr. John leaves.

Also, Mr. Andrew ("asst. principal") has given his notice. Mr. John 16yrs. and Mr. Andrew 13 yrs. - several other core teachers are leaving. I was able to attend a few parent /"management" meetings and from my biz background noted it was just that... business... Soooooo, us "shareholders" gave a few ultimatums which obviously, have not been powerful enough. I will strongly consider my son returning or not to NIS. It's truly a shame as the school prepared my daughter very well for college / uni.

I have a relative associated with NIS, when I read Scotts reply, I shipped it for comment, here is what just returned:

"From High School:

Andrew is going to CMIS...has always wanted to be at CMIS...

2 teachers are leaving because of new baby and turned in resignation in August 2010... return to US

2 teachers are leaving because in Dec. they interviewed in Mexico and got jobs... their decision is based on what went on with John and Andrew and the new principles attitude

1 teacher is leaving because she doesn't like teaching HS computer

From Elementary:

1 teacher is leaving because of family (she lost both parents in the past year and wants to be closer to family) return to Canada

1 teacher is leaving because he did PYP in his student teaching and would like to get certification with it...has to go to PYP school - will go to Phenom Phen

1 teacher is leaving because she wants to eventually teach in Australia and they have more need for ECE teachers and she needs to get some experience in that area... going to teach kindergarten at CMIS

From ECC:

1 is leaving because she wants to get a degree to teach a higher grade...not day care

1 is leaving but only came here for one year to give her Thai/Canadian daughter time to know grandparents and her heritage... Ms. Carrie

And for your information CMIS is in no better shape than we are except they are 'the premier' school. They have two principals...primary and secondary... and the head. The board wants to fire the head but the primary principal (who is great) has one more year and told the board if they fired him this year she would leave and not return. They can't have that because Andrew is the new secondary and losing the only existing primary and replacing the head would be catastrophic. The owners at CMIS are playing the same games as NIS. The church refuses to buy the land for CMIS to build their new school...so their fees went up drastically so they can begin to save money to buy the land and build the new school.

NO...neither CMIS or NIS are on solid ground at the time. Matter of fact...NONE OF THE INTERNATIONAL SCHOOLS IN CHIANGMAI can brag much. Prem has had to lay off teachers... APIS has had a big disertion of staff... I'd say the Germans are probably the best set... sauerkraut!

Well, what's a parent to do?

there is an entire compound of these things that was just built in Silom beside the hospital. they are double-stacked in some parts of the site. it looks like a maze of offices, and it is connected with steel walkways. the trend is picking up steam not only in Thailand but in the desert southwest in the US. Vegas has 167,000 homes empty now. people want to live well for cheap. you can certainly insulate them. what is the problem? very easy to secure and cost-effective. if you need to be led around by the hand, no- this isn't for you. if you have vision and can innovate- then yes.

Looking at the pictures, did you notice that even the swimming pool is a container...... While I wouldn't make these structures a permanent home, just think, a small beach front property, great place to spend a little time at a lot less money.

The retail price for a converted container here in Afghanistan is less the $15,000 of which $3000 is the actual container cost. To convert a container takes a good crew less than a week. Looking at the bottom photo, this would take 3-4 weeks worth of work. Setting the containers is a one day task, hooking up the utilities a few more days at the most.

It is fair, IMHO, to say most graduates of international schools (of which Varee is not one, as noted above) who enroll in Thai universities enter the international programs of those universities. The competitive entrance exam process for admission into Thai universities is the challenge. They are not "taught to the test" as is done in top Thai schools. Some have noted an egregious example of this is the stress on exam preparation at the "Demonstration School" of Chiang Mai University, popular with CMU faculty. Those who enroll in the English-language programs of Thai schools encounter the same difficulty. All that is not to say that the undergraduate international program of a school like Chulalongkom University is a bad program. In fact, in many ways, it could be seen as better, just as the teaching-learning done in some international schools is very different and arguably more effective than the model followed in Thai (as well as Asian) schools generally. But that's another discussion for another day.

But, maybe, looking broadly at the motives and interests of posters on CM ThaiVisa over the years, I see less interest in Thai schools than in international schools. Pretty obvious since this is an overwhelmingly (Name more than ten Thai posters!) farang group. Next comes interest in schools with English programs (like Varee) with the general concern about cost. Some seem to be taken in by the glitz (aka swimming pool and friendliness) factors. Many just seem to be worried about the cost of schooling, which is certainly a valid concern.

Looking briefly at the cost of schooling there are three broad categories of school budgets that might be considered: operational costs, capital development costs, and profit.

If you look at operational costs, the really big nut is staff costs. Generally, I think it fair to say that 75-85% of operational costs are spent almost everywhere in decent schools on staff salaries and benefits. In this sense, if other factors are held even, a parent gets what he or she pays for. Salary levels vary significantly in Chiang Mai. I'll bet you a penny to a pound that the salaries and benefits that the faculty receive at PTIS are much higher than those of other international schools. Varee wouldn't even be in the picture. What does that get you? As should be obvious, the more you pay the better credentialed, better educated and more experienced the teachers will be. (I don't pay much attention to the argument that good credentials don't necessarily correlate with good teaching, meaning that someone who is poorly-credentialed might be much better. Sure, there are good, so-so and bad teachers, but let's just say I'd rather start looking for the best by, metaphorically, seeking certified mechanics rather than garage-trained mechanics to work on my airplane, thank you!

Capital development and the impact on overall expense of a school is a much trickier factor to generalize about because of the specific circumstances of each school. Is it a new school? Does it want to expand? Et cetera. Look at a few local examples of capital development costs.

A very modest plant (like Lanna) doesn't appear to have large capital costs. I presume that the school has recovered from the initial costs of its founding (an interesting story in itself). It might already, however, feel pressured to expand or improve facilities significantly if it becomes increasingly popular, nervousness about the local international school competition.

The problem of limited facilities has been wrestled with at CMIS (Chiang Mai International School) for some years. It has, in part, tried to deal with the problem with the help of its step-brother institution, Prince Royal's College. Now, with Payap and Prince Royal's College, a "win-win-win" deal has been developed. It isn't cheap or easy.

From its beginning some ten years ago, PTIS (formerly Prem) was a vision of its founder who saw a chance to make an educational dream come true financed by profit generated in part through auxiliary educational programs and surrounding real estate profits. An awesome physical plant was built, now a little worn at the edges. The auxiliary programs have not altogether worked out, but the mortgage has been paid.

APIS cost a lot to build. It is wearing around the edges but isn't being overtaken yet by the surrounding forest. NIS has spent some fairly big money recently on its early-years facilities.

Varee, again not an international school, has recently made an awesome capital investment in expansion. I'd ask who holds the paper and when they want to be paid.

That leaves the profit from the school for the owner as the last significant factor. Proprietary schools are a business more or less regulated by government and monitored by various accrediting agencies. Whether owned by an individual, a corporation or by an institution like a church, they are a business. Some are not-for-profit, might be carried by the parent institution as a loss on the institutional balance sheet, expected to break even, or maybe even be carried as a loss as a necessary or desirable service (e.g., a place to educate missionary's children). CMIS would be one of those. Most Chiang Mai international schools, however, must certainly hold their own and hopefully earn a profit for their owners. Not casting aspersions upon any individual owners locally, but it is of course a relevant concern to parents concerned with the quality of the education as well as their own personal budgets. If you happen to be a parent of a child in such a school, you really don't have a say, do you, so long as the educational laws are met, except to move on to another school? You are free to do so.

There is, of course, more to all this. Just one finishing note: What happens at home, the educational and socio-economic level of the parents is much more important in impacting a child than a school can hope to be.

Great synopsis, thank you Mapguy. Agree with everything you have written. Can you enlighten me about the entrance examination into the International programs...... does an International School graduate have an easier time or more difficult time? The way I read your synopsis you say that since the IS graduates are not rote schooled and schooled for this examination it is more difficult.

Where I work, the converted shipping container is both used for offices and housing. Here in Afghanistan is gets a lot hotter than Thailand, we hit 50+cC in the summer time and a -20C in the winter.

Insulating with Poly Urethane and paneling makes a decent finish. Use and wall mounted AC 12-20Btu for a 20' container.

You can go as wide as you want, BUT be carefull to leave the structural frame in place, that is what secures the roof and where you weld a splice plate to weatherproof the container/container connection.

I'm not allowed to tip, my wife thinks I am to generous, now when at a restaurant or bar she pays the bill and leaves the tip.

When it comes to the small bills and change, I give that to the kids. The youngest two accept any denomination, the oldest only likes bills with 3 digits.

I am intrigued to know why do so many people think that an NGO or charity in most cases exists only to do evil and ripoff their fat expense accounts ?

That they are 'in the way' most of the time and should never help, mind their own business and basically bugger off ?

Let me give you my take on NGO's, I can't relate any experience from Thailand, but I have been working side by side with them in Afghanistan, Iraq, Sudan & Somalia, and very few were good experiences.

First off, the NGO's that I have experience with specialized in projects involving US State Department (USAID) funding. To be qualified as an NGO, there can be no profit, the intent was/is for the funding to actually reach the target project by providing capitol improvements, hiring local labor and giving a community something (Experience, schools, clinics, agriculture etc) when the project ends that improves their lives. The intent is well founded and admirable, the implimentation is where the process failed.

Many (Not all) of the NGO's brought in Westerners at very high salaries, then staffed their offices with high salaried staff living in expensive accomodations. These NGO's would fly their Western employees off to Dubai on a monthly basis for R&R (All expenses paid). Everything was an expense....... nothing trickled down to the actual project. Louis Berger International (Not an NGO) was tasked with overseeing the Schools & Clinics program in Afghanistan. They distributed 25 million dollars to various NGO's to construct and staff 100 schools and clinics in various towns throughout Afghanistan. 1 1/2 years later when everything was all said and done, 1 school had actually been constructed and staffed and 1 school was 75% complete and ALL the money had been spent by the NGOs.

This happened in construction, similar horror stories come from the Agriculture NGO's, one group purchased farm equipment from John Deere to make the farmers lives easier. Admirable goal, but in the part of Afghanistan that it was suppose to work there is no supply of Diesel fuel and even more tragic the JD equipment had state of the art GPS for micro fertilisation. The instrumentation is hard enough to teach an educted Westerner try an Afghan farmer who has never gone to school, doesn't understand a fertization report nor has access to a laboratory to test the soil samples, we won't even talk about the problems is the sampling. This one tractor cost in Iowa almost 3/4 of a million dollars, how many reqular simple tractors could have been purchased for that lump of cash?

With all the bad, there were bright spots. The actual medical community has done an excellent job in training doctors. The womens NGO's again have had a really difficult time but have percerviered. It isn't all bad. But the bad is what I remember.

I just looked at the website of CMIS and i think it loooks really weak...

It not give you any clue about that school,besides that is an christian school ,but for an international school i would expect an better website then what they have come up sofar..

I did request some information from them if they reply i might visit that school too.

Prem school as i recall their price was even way more then the 180.000 that the NIS is charging

I don't know when you plan to visit any schools, but I would suggest that you do it before June 2 or 3. Even though the school might be open, many of your childs potential teachers will be leaving for the summer break I would think that you would want to meet the teachers, see their classrooms and not just see the architecture and talk with somebody who isn't a teacher.

I agree that NIS seems a good choice. I would like to see Art, Music, Drama, Athletics, Health and Foreign languages included in the curriculum though.

NIS does have all of the above mentioned courses in their curriculum.

Not according to the website.

I have 3 kids at NIS. The oldest 2 have art, music and PE as part of their regular school day. Now if they want to be involved in the orchestra that is a club activity the same as the swim team or track team.

If they wanted to learn Spanish or another foreign language that is probably either an elective subject or after school club, but I am not sure about that.