elVagabundo

Jingthing, hope this helps!

DirtyDan, I'd suggest giving it another go (during the day time). The injera was quite good, and did not resemble nor taste anything like a pancake.

Went to their new location for lunch and the food is still delicious! The new restaurant is right off of the 3rd floor elevator. It is a bit smaller than their prior location, but more brightly lit and a bit more welcoming.

A friend and I each ordered a Vegetarian Sampler plate for 300B each and were totally stuffed, one split between multiple people would serve as a nice snack though. Food arrived in a timely manner for Thailand (25minutes or so after ordering).

Great place for Ethiopian food and a great place for Vegetarians and meat lovers alike.

My only note would be that the place seems to turn into a club at night, so it's probably best to go for lunch, unless you would like to have a "real cultural experience" .

I was very sad to find a few weeks back that my favorite and, admittedly, the ONLY Ethiopian restaurant in BKK, Habesha (on soi 3), had not only been closed down, but entirely gutted. When I went to have dinner there back in June the whole ground floor where the restaurant had been was just... gone. No "we moved sign", nothing.

So you can imagine my happiness when I was walking through the area yesterday and found that it has reopened, across the street!! It is now located on the 3rd floor of a building directly across from Nana Square (on soi 3, the one with the Pizza Company, Burger King, Market on the basement floor).

I haven't tried their food at this new location yet, but will do so soon and will be sure to report back. Hopefully their food is still just as delicious!

While it has a gimmicky name, SUPERAntiSpyware (http://www.superantispyware.com/) is fantastic and free. It's been able to clean all the computers that I've had to fix up. Give it a try before wiping the drive!

Best of Luck!

PLEASE do NOT spend a very large sum of money and 3-4 years of your life to become a teacher in Thailand....

1) Most people who teach here do so for a short while and then move on. It is not something many people make a real career out of.

2) As other posters have already stated, it will take a very long time just to even make your money back.

3) Unless you have already spent time here teaching, you really have no idea what you are getting yourself into. Why spend years and $$$ on something you don't even know if you will like???? Get a degree in something that interests you, something that you might be able to turn into a career where you are from.... Thailand should really be more of a vacation, gap year, or last resort...

4) It really doesn't matter what your degree is in to teach here. All that matters is that you have one. If you really are determined to do this, follow your interests and study history anyways... it won't matter too much what your undergraduate degree is in.

5) I don't know how old you are, but I know that my interests going into University were TOTALLY different from those when I graduated. Don't base your future off of something you MIGHT be interested in doing.

I guess I'm just trying to say that you should follow your heart, but make sure your feet are firmly planted on the ground.

Definitely spend some time in Thailand (and do some work here too!) before you make a decision like this. After some time, it could turn out that you hate teaching... or it could be that you love teaching, but that you don't like teaching in Thailand... Lots of possibilities...

I think if you feel confident with yourself, you don't care i others stare. I agree with Tywais, other countries they stare much more, especially India. I remember eating porridge one morning in a restaurant where 50 people were staring at me non stop for 15 minutes but smiling. Now, I might not be so smiley back. I wonder why that is? Different attitude, I suppose.

Have to say though, this sounds horrifying lol.

Thank you everyone for your quick responses! Definitely seems like I'm not alone in this and that (thankfully) this isn't entirely in my head. Now if I can just take the next step and, as many of you wrote, not be bothered by it.

Hi All,

I'm trying to check myself (and my Social Anxiety) to see how much of my worries are in my head and how many are actually somewhat justified.

Question is pretty simply... For those non-Thai (especially "white") Thaivisa members, do Thai people stare at you a lot? I mean, can you go to a public place without someone's eyes on you?

Public places being: -Walking down the street. Going to and shopping at the store. At the park.... etc.

Back home, I could just tell myself that I was just making it up and people couldn't care less about me... But here, well... I can't help but feel like I shine like a white light.

Thanks ahead of time!

Are we missing a couple of zeros? 1186 beggars! Or is this Pattaya alone?

i don't see so much beggars in thailand compared to europe and america..

I'm not saying that homeless person=beggar, but I'm fairly sure that more than the fair share of the homeless population does eke out a living through begging. I also recognize that the Thai population is VERY different from that of the USA. All this being said, I guess I'm just trying to say that 1186 seems like a real low ball.

You can definitely get a job in Thailand with just a 4-year degree! As others have already stated, I would really recommend he try it out first to see if it is his cup of tea, before investing lots of time and money in a certificate.

Now, if your friend doesn't know a chalk board from a white board, it would probably be a good idea to take a basic TEFL course and get his hands on some teaching books (ie Learning Teaching by Jim Scrivener) so that he can at least have some basic techniques and tools in his belt.

Unless your friend is loaded, DO NOT go straight for a CELTA. While it is the most widely accepted certificate and does lead to slightly higher paying jobs in BKK, paying $2,000+ USD without knowing if you'll even like teaching is a bit silly.

Tell your friend to go and get his feet wet. If he likes it, then he can go take a swim in the metaphorical deep end.

Best of luck!

"The general consensus I hear is as follows: Thailand is no longer what it used to be, the Thais have grown up and the tourist industry has gotten out of hand. Many Thais are simply fed up with foreigners, in fact a lot of them don't want us there. All they want is our money, and that's why they put up with us. In truth they don't respect us. They don't want us learning their language, taking their jobs, etc."

I haven't been here too long, but I've been here longer than some. Here's my $0.02.

Thailand ain't a third world country mate. It's middle income and the people act as such.

I remember on my first night here, I was taken out to a restaurant for dinner. We sat down and had just got our drinks, when I saw a REALLY nice new American SUV pullup with tinted windows. I nearly choked on my beer. My friends asked me what was wrong and I motioned over to the SUV worriedly. Oh boy, they just laughed and laughed. You see, all my experience prior to here was in the "third world". The only people driving SUV's like the one described in the places I've been are corrupt politicians and/or Narcos.

I know this is definite generalization, but most/many Thais have nice cars and homes. Even out in the Isaan. People have nice new tract homes, a motorbike and a car/truck in the driveway and there are Big Cs and Tescos galore. Heck, out where I am currently most people don't even have kitchens in their houses. They don't cook. They just get takeout. They do just fine on their own without needing foreigners' money and you can be sure, just as in the USA or Europe, that some Thais won't take too kindly to foreigners taking their jobs.

Now, I'm not a huge fan of Thais, but I don't find them all that unfriendly. Just think of their attitude towards you as being the same as that of an American towards a foreign tourist in the USA. They know that tourists bring in money, but they aren't particularly interested in them. They have their own lives to be concerned with. Just because cities like New York bring in TONS of money from tourism doesn't mean that New Yorker's lives revolve around tourist. At the worst, they'll heckle them or try to rip them off, but most of the time they just "nothing" them (ignoring them completely) or they'll just give a friendly hello/make small talk.

If you are looking to live life cheaply, at a slightly slower pace, and not to have to give up much of any modern amenities, than this is the place for you. If you are looking for the "place lost in time" sort of feel, you've arrived about 30 years too late.

Thanks again all! I'm happy to report that I'm on my way out the door!

This whole experience, along with the responses to this post and others, has gotten me thinking though.

Why is it that there are no websites where one can post reviews of Teaching Jobs?

http://www.ajarn.com/ajarn-street/articles/i-work-for-the-school-from-hell/

This article seems to state that Thai laws are such that thaivisa or other websites/forums would get sued for negative reviews of schools... Is this true?

This libel law, as discussed in the article, also seems to suggest that any negative review MUST be investigated, while positive reviews (no matter if they are deceptive or not) should be left alone? What??

I don't have any interest in name shaming my school... Perhaps there are others that would love working there. To each their own. It just seems a little odd that I should not at least be able to give future/prospective employees a heads up as to the true (and unadvertised) working conditions so that they can know what to expect going in and not get blindsided.

Thanks for the replies and support! Will definitely get out of here ASAP (and it feels really good to type that!).

Hello all,
The title really states my question fairly clearly. I've been working for a school the past month and it hasn't been at all what I expected (posted about this previously). Long story short, I was promised curriculum, lesson plans, etc, but nothing was given to me. I'm expected to come up with my own lesson plans "from my culture".
On top of that, my boss closely micromanages all my classes. They constantly tell me everything that they feel I do wrong (in front of the students) and take over the class speaking in Thai and broken English.... all while reminding me to "smile". I'm pretty done.

I realized a few days back that while I was shown a contract before I started, they still haven't had me sign a darn thing (something about the head office being backed up). Furthermore, they didn't give me a work permit.

So, moral obligations to the students and boss aside, can I just walk?

Thanks!

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I agree 100% percent with you. It's the same as hiring a builder and asking him to build you a house without first hiring an architect and engineer. The builder wouldn't know where to start. A teacher is not an educational scientist and should not be expected to develop his own curriculum. Unfortunately this is often the case though in Thailand with foreign teachers asked to teach English, hence the abysmal results.

Yeaa. A kindred spirit. Perhaps I am still a bit sane.

I agree 100% percent with you. It's the same as hiring a builder and asking him to build you a house without first hiring an architect and engineer. The builder wouldn't know where to start. A teacher is not an educational scientist and should not be expected to develop his own curriculum. Unfortunately this is often the case though in Thailand with foreign teachers asked to teach English, hence the abysmal results.

This is Thailand, builders build like that every day.

OP. What years do you teach. Prathom or Mattayom?

Yes, yes they do . lol
Mines a bit mixed, but mostly Prathom.

" Give me a text and some sort of guideline/timeline of what I should be teaching and I can do it. I feel quite confident in my ability to adapt texts and lesson plans to the needs of my students. I can handle behavior management and over the past year or two have learned many "best practices" from other teachers and books in terms of teaching techniques and strategies."

Welcome to the Windmill Fighting Club !!

Being a teacher in Thailand can be pretty much difficult. What age group do you teach? How "good" ( actually I mean bad) is their English? Do they even understand your slang? Do you know that Thai students never tell you that they didn't get you?

If they don't understand basic English, teach them basic English. Start with stuff that has something to do with them and their environment. Teach them different ways how to introduce yourself, favorite school subjects, foods, sports, etc..

I guess many of us went through that and there's no "do this" , or "do that" advice which works for everybody. Please keep in mind that they won't listen to you, if you don't create lessons where they learn and have fun.

This might sound much easier than it actually is. You'll find plenty of teaching material online. Please check websites such as busyteacher ( you only have to register to be able to download worksheets), or boggles world, etc................

​ Let's take your statement here:

" I feel like a race car driver who has all of a sudden been asked to build their own car. I'm perfectly capable of driving it, tuning it up and doing minor servicing... but building the whole thing? Forget about it."

Using your example, you're not capable of tuning your race car up, or doing minor servicing, if the race car would be a school now.

There're certain things that make somebody to a teacher. You'll need psychological skills, as well as knowledge how to deal with 55 kids in a classroom without a fan.

Non functioning copy machines and no internet is sometimes the norm. You might have to run an English camp alone, where nobody will tell you anything, where you'll have only one day time to prepare all for 999 kids...

Once you've understood that, you might be able to tune your sports car, in this case give good lessons to students, based on their knowledge.

​ How could you have learned how to solve behavioral problems from "other teachers", if you didn't teach these kids?

Please don't see my post as criticism, it's just the truth and you're really not alone in the Land of Smiles.

Wish you some good ideas to find the right way to build your own race car. - alt=wai2.gif width=20 height=20>

No offense taken lostinisaan. I really appreciate you taking the time to reply with such an honest, but strangely encouraging response. It was a good reminder that, for better or for worse, this is a path well traveled. It's nice to know I'm not alone. Thanks for the tips on the websites as well. I will definitely check them out.

Hello all,
I started a new teaching job in BKK last month. I was told originally that there would be lesson plans, syllabus, etc. and that I would only need to adjust them for my students needs, prepare materials and execute them. Unfortunately this is not the case and the school really doesn't have much of anything besides students.

My boss told me, with a smile of course, in response to my questioning in regards to the missing textbooks, that I should just be creative and figure out what the students want/need as I go along (and to be sure it was fun).

Give me a text and some sort of guideline/timeline of what I should be teaching and I can do it. I feel quite confident in my ability to adapt texts and lesson plans to the needs of my students. I can handle behavior management and over the past year or two have learned many "best practices" from other teachers and books in terms of teaching techniques and strategies.

But right now... well, I feel like a deer in the headlights.
I've been getting by the past few weeks, but I feel like my boss has pretty much just asked me to BS my way through the semester.
I don't consider myself to be in the BS business, but in the teaching business.

The Admin was even kind enough to tell me that "previous teachers with NO EXPERIENCE just smiled and said, 'no problem!'". Well no S*** they did. I bet they just had a great time BSing their way through it.

I feel like a race car driver who has all of a sudden been asked to build their own car. I'm perfectly capable of driving it, tuning it up and doing minor servicing... but building the whole thing? Forget about it.

I'm not posting because I need to be told to quit or anything of the sort (I'm staying for other reasons)... I'm posting because I hope someone can give me a reality check (though it may hurt) and to check if I'm still sane.

Does not being able to teach without guidelines make me a terrible teacher?
Is there a difference between building your own curriculum and teaching?

Thank you!

Cont'd :/ (wouldn't allow me to post with all the quotes together).

actually in the west this is the proper way to do things. you either goto your co-workers supervisor and the supervisor speaks to your co-worker or has a meeting with you all where you can then speak directly to your co-worker critically at an employee, group or private meeting according to the nature of the problem.

confronting a co-worker directly and telling them how to do their jobs can be done if you have a solid relationship, but in most cases it's not a good idea.

i'm not sure why they keep reporting to the direct supervisor's boss though. usually you bring problems to the next higher level and don't try to 'climb the ladder' so to speak. by doing so you are undercutting the immediate supervisors authority implying they are part of the problem or are not handling the issue properly. could also be an attempt to get on the higher bosses radar for promotion or other reasons.

especially in thailand going over the supervisors head would be a 'loss of face' and damaging to your career. could be why they are not correcting the problem.

This last point is key (see below).

Alrighty... This is my third attempt at a response (kept getting auto-logged out and the auto save didn't work ). I'll try to keep this concise.

I originally posted trying to get some insight regarding Thai relationship norms in the work place and definitely received that. I purposefully had left out identifiable details, but after all y'all's help I guess I owe you at least a few.

I tracked my friend down after work and found out additional info (and that I had bungled their story)

1) May IS their direct supervisor.
2) The person who has been talking with my friend regarding the issue is the co-worker.

The real thorn in the relationship, as stated in Fey's post, seems to be that they went over May's head.

My friend apparently has a great relationship with the boss and, due to the general incompetence of May, has been going directly to the boss with questions regarding their work. The co-worker that has been talking with my friend in regard to the conflict told them that they shouldn't be talking to the boss (despite their good relationship) and strongly suggested that they should instead ask May the question, who will then ask person B, who will then ask the boss, who will then tell person B the answer, who tells May, who then answers my friend.

I'm still not quite sure as to what to tell my friend. Confront or not confront? Just deal with it?
I guess one really just has to make the best of a situation though, especially when one is the odd man out. Can either go around grumbling and hating for the rest of the contract, or push through it and see if ya can't have a decent time and make some nice memories while you're at it.

In terms of concrete advice that might allow my friend to begin to smooth things over and treat others like human beings, I think Mr. Toad as the right idea .

Alrighty that's all for tonight.. I think in the future I'll just take a page from wow64 lol.

OP tell you friend to go jump off a balcony and figure his own crap out.

Thanks again everyone!

Cont'd...

You cant fix that which you dont know is broken.

Ask "May" what the problem is and why she is telling others and not you. How can you learn or progress, or fix an issue that you are not made aware of.

That's silly western logic. It's useless here, most of the time.

May sees him as the problem and/or stumbling block. He won't learn anything by confronting her directly. She'll deny everything.

He should talk to May's friends, or co-workers, to find out what she really wants. And also watch what May does, not what she says.

He'll be surprised when he finds out the truth. My guess would be jealousy, an accidental slight, or a loss of face.

Hrmm, to confront or not to confront..

....

Jeez, imagine putting up with this crapola, tell your friend to grow a pair and tell them to stick their poxy job up their jacksy.

How desperate are some people to stay here for a pittance and put up with such petulant behaviour?

Year/multi-year contracts my friend.

Holy cow... was hoping for one or two response but 30+ . Thanks everyone for your input and sorry for taking a while to respond myself!

In your culture this would probably seem cowardly, but this is not your culture. Thais, never wishing to offend, either to save your face, or because they are two faced schemers, almost always express their grievances through intermediaries. Sometimes this helps the situation but often it does not. I would encourage your friend to take the information that his supervisors say "May" said and confront him/her with it in as benign a setting as can be managed. Do not be confrontational but seek understanding. Find common ground. Good luck to you and/or your friend.

At the end of the day your friend is the only farang in a Thai office, he will have to make certain changes if he wants to fit in.

Craighj

The last point is well put.

Hello all,
I don't want to or mean to start a Thai bashing post, I'm really hoping someone can help me better understand Thai culture/society since I'm going to be here for a while.

I was talking with a close friend and they told me about a situation they are having at work. It should be known upfront that their office is entirely Thai and my friend is the only foreigner. They have a co-worker (let's call them May) that they are supposed to work with closely. May is ALL smiles and has always come off as very friendly.

However, after working with May for a few months, my friend's direct supervisor arrives and let's it be known (privately) that May is not happy and has MANY problems with my friend. Apparently May went to my friends boss and complained at length about them, who in turn went and talked to the direct supervisor who in turn talked to my friend.

After receiving the complaint my friend was quite concerned, but the next day at work May was still VERY friendly and did not let on that anything was amiss, so they just let it go.... Until a week later when May again talked to the boss, who talked to the supervisor who talked to my friend and let them know, once again, that May was still very unhappy with them.

1) How do you try to fix a situation with a Thai co-worker if they won't talk about it with you?

2) My friend believes that the May-boss-supervisor-friend pipeline is all about saving face... But why would it be such a bad thing to let your co-worker know that there are some things you need to work out? Coming from the West this is really odd to me (and in my old job would be seen as a sign of weakness)... But I genuinely would like to understand their thought process/mentality.

Thanks!

Just to put a cap on my original post, we went to a Honda dealership with our "pile of papers" and drove away with a new bike . At first they didn't seem like they were going to take them (as the pile really isn't a Certificate of Residence), but our English speaking Thai friend that we brought along seemed to have pursaded them otherwise. Not sure how it will go over with the DLT.. hopefully our "luck" continues.

Thanks again for your input!

Thank you both for your responses!

We went back to Nakhon Phanom immigration today with our landlord. We printed out the form provided by ubonjoe (thank you) and brought along all of the other documentation (we thought was) required.

Upon arrival we gave the immigration officer (same one as yesterday) my gf's application forms, which the officer quickly shoved back at us. First she wanted the TM 30 form. Our landlord began speaking with the officer and they went back and forth talking and signing documents related to the TM 30. Each time we tried to give her the application form she told us, "No no no no no! Wrong form!".

Long, LONG, story short... my gf ended up with a thick pile of papers stapled to the back of a TM 30 (including a copy of her passport, a copy of our landlord's ID, etc). We figured that we would just give them the benefit of the doubt that the pile of papers handed to us actually was the "Certificate of Residence". However, we told them that she still need two copies, one to get her drivers' license and the other to purchase a motorcycle. They told us that she should just copy it and give the copy to whichever official or business needed it and to keep the original for herself. They never took her application, photos or money.

Can anyone shed some light on what happened? Did they give us the proper "Certificate of Residence"?

Only been here a few weeks, but geez.. We really need to learn Thai

Good evening all,
Thanks ahead of time for your help! My gf (citizen of USA) went to Nakhon Phanom's immigration today in an attempt to get a "Certificate of Residence" so that she can purchase a motorcycle. She had already filled out her application, but since we didn't have access to a printer we decided to just fill out the form once we got there (mistake?).

We thought that all she needed was her passport, TM6, photos, money and a copy of our rental agreement. However, after a very confusing (we don't speak any Thai ) and somewhat lengthy conversation with the immigration officer she was handed TM 30 forms and told to come back tomorrow with our landlord.

Is this all a misunderstanding? Should we print out the TM18 ahead of time and just try again tomorrow?

Also, what is a TM 30? From what I can find online it seems like something that Hotels are supposed to fill out, not tourists.

Thanks for your help! It is much appreciated

Thank you both for your quick responses! Much appreciated!

Good afternoon everyone,
Thank you in advance for your help!

I am a first timer here in Thailand and I have a double entry tourist visa. Browsing the web I am getting a bit of conflicting info on double entry tourist visas. Some information I've read indicates that the second entry on my visa only allows me to re-enter Thailand if I should decide to travel during my initial 60-90 days and has nothing to do with getting an addition 60-90 day stay. Others indicate that the 2nd entry is the equivalent of a second 60-90 day tourist visa.

As such, I just want to confirm that the following is correct:

-First entry: 15th of September, good for 60 days until 13th of November
-30 day extension would be good until December 13th.

-Visa run into Laos via Nakhon Phanom PRIOR to December 13.

-Enter back into Thailand the same day and receive my SECOND entry worth an ADDITIONAL 60 days.
-2nd entry good until approx. Feb. 10th or so.
-30 day extension would be good until March 10th or so.

Thanks again for your help clarifying all of this for me! It is very much appreciated.