foolforlove

Anyone have good experiences with finding temporary work (i.e. office clerical, etc etc) with an agency?

I know Manpower, but what others are there in BKK?

thanks

probably before i moved into my apt, the building sprayed some toxic stuff in the room... but slowly over time (ie 18 months), there have been an increasing number of roaches. especially in the last 5 months or so.

i dont much like sprays or bug bombs, just gets poison everywhere.

can anyone recommend a product --- perhaps a poison bait they would eat? or a trap of some kind?

ive looked at a few stores but the range of product choices had been limited..... any recommendation for a store with a wide selection?

thanks

in america, at halloween, people open "haunted houses" with actors playing ghosts etc.

is there anything like this in bkk?

has anyone used and can recommend a business english and/or business writing course book?

thanks!

I went to the Immigration office in BKK today off Sathorn.

Went upstairs to the "address verification office"(or whatever its called, room 206).

Filled out the form. Checked the box for DRIVERS LIC.

The woman taking the form was curious if I wanted it for car and/or motorcycle and then wrote that in on the form (why immigration would want to know or care?).

Then said they would mail me a letter and that letter's safe arrival is my proof of address. And it could take up to one month!!!

The real kicker is...she asked for 50 baht fee for the postage. I pulled out two 20-baht notes and started fishing for the 10 baht coin, and then she said "oh thats good enough".

me: ok so do I get a receipt? (she goes pale) "receipt?" (ive never given any money to a govt office for anything and not gotten a receipt).

she: well we dont have receipts (oh really?) but we have written it in this ledger see? and if you dont get the letter, just come back and reference todays date and this entry number in the ledger.

"uh huh." Im guessing that 50-baht (discounted to 40) was actually someones lunch money....

I'm looking for a coloring book to use with lower level students learning English.

Something where they could color in the pictures (the "fun part") and the we could label items in the pictures with English and Thai vocabulary. Effectively making our own Picture Dictionary.

I tried Language Media Books (siam square) and didnt really find anything. I even talked to the staff and they pointed at some shelves but nothing really there (to be fair they seemed to be taking inventory, so perhaps things were not on the shelves they expected to be there).

Anyway.

Any other stores to try in BKK? and/or specific books?

thanks

I want to get a good eye exam (test for glaucoma etc) plus update the strength of my prescriptions for both contact lenses and glasses.

where is a good place?

is this just a matter of going to that department in the hospital (e.g. Bumrungrad)... or is there a better/best alternative?

thanks

I have a favorite dress shirt.

but one of the buttons got eaten in the wash, or something like that.

can anyone recommend a shop in BKK to help with replacing the missing button?

actually the buttons arent that great (two hole variety), so if it means replacing all the buttons with something better, thats fine.

i just want to find a reputable place with a wide selection of buttons...

thanks

there is a camera store in MBK. Its on the 2nd floor, not too far from Tokyu. I think its the only camera store on the 2nd floor.

anyway, i have had good experiences shopping there for a variety of camera types and camcorders.

anyone have any experience or advice on a law firm in Bangkok that does wills?

specifically, a will that would cover assets in thailand.

any information on costs for this service? i've heard prices like 20,000-30,000 baht, but this seems ridiculously high.

i would have expected it to be 10,000 or less.....

thanks

I just did this with BofA's online banking and the NYC bangkok bank branch.

very easy to setup.

i got the amount of the two small deposits you bualuang phone. went through the prompts to get down to hear information on international transfers. the automated system told me the amount in US$ and Thai Baht.

i dont know what the fees are for these transfers.

Mark

Anyone with success using Bank of America method of transfer money from other US banks to Bangkok Bank? With the following steps:

1) Setup external link from your US banks account with Bangkok Bank (New York Branch) routing number: 026008691 and Bangkok Bank Thailand

bank account number. Usually they make two small deposits ( less than $1) to verify the account ownership.

2) Bangkok Bank New York branch will credit to Bangkok Bangkok Thailand account with a flat fee of $5

3) Bangkok bank Thailand do the foreign currency exchange with fee from B200 to B500

Questions:

1) How to obtain the info for the two small deposits, call Bualuang 1333 or have to go the the bank?

2) Any transfer amount limit?

It seems like a cheaper alternative than SWIFT wire transfer if you do regular transfer. Anyone that have done this can shed some light?

Thanks.

It really depends on the the personality of the manager working at that branch. And their impression of you.

I think it helps if you show up in business attire (ie shirt and tie) and make a good appearance.

I think also sometimes they are sticklers on the WP if they are afraid of helping you (ie they don't feel they know enough English to complete the transaction).

I had an account from Kaisokorn (that my employer opened for me).

I went to Bangkok Bank, and they seemed like they were not interested in opening up an account for me because I didnt have a work permit. The manager finally said to me "how can you live in Thailand for 2 years and not have a bank account?" To which I pulled out the Kaisokorn passbook and said "I do but its at your competitor". He looked at the lower level employee and said "open the account!". No more questions asked.

Everytime I have dealt with a bank, I bring a letter from my apartment building's office (on their letterhead), written in Thai. It says basically "to whom it may concern, Mr. Joe Smith lives at our building since (date) and his address is 123/4 Soi Suan".

This letter has been useful in many situations to convince banks (and other places) that I am not some fly by night person here for 2 weeks, but here for the long haul. To get this letter, I just went to the office and said I needed something to show to a bank to prove my address. They knew exactly what I wanted and had a template for such a need as this and whipped out the letter in a few minutes.

Depends on where you live. In the UK all the above are yours by right if you enter into a Civil Partnership.

Doesn't matter where you live if you won't/can't tell anyone else.

If, as some posters say, this is no one else's business and wish everyone would keep it to themselves, then I doubt they will be declaring a Civil Partnership.

I think a critical point is being missed in this thread.

Many of the responses here equate (focus) on "gay = sex act/bedroom".

But "gay" is a much bigger concept than the gender of the person you want to have an orgasm with.

Is the person you love still the one you love, even when you aren't in the middle of a sex act?

If you are a boy, and fall in love with boys, this has effects on almost every part of your life. It touches on who you want to

bring to an office party; who you want to bring home to meet your family; who you want to take a vacation with; etc.

For example, you work at job that offers health insurance to you and your "spouse". If you are boy-girl, thats wonderful. If you are boy-boy, then no health insurance for him. Hello? is that fair? smell the coffee. you are being cheated. because your straight colleagues are getting paid more (subsided spouse insurance) than you are. and in fact, you as an unmarried employee are paying for that subsidy. so not only are you getting less, you are paying for this colleague's privilege to have a spouse covered.

Another example. Your boyfriend gets sick and goes in the hospital. You want to visit him. But the hospital says "oh he is so ill, we only allow family members to see him". His relatives say "oh he and Joe are just friends" "they are just roommates". so you don't get to see him when he needs you most? ouch.

Worst case. Your boyfriend gets hit by the bus and dies. Now what? the motorcycle, house, and everything in it you have together, they are whose? you are now co-owner with his relatives, for at least the portion of the items you can prove you paid for (got the receipts?).

For those that say their straight friends/co-workers don't go around saying "I'm straight". Uh, yes, they DO. My straight male friends say it all the time! I know which ones like girls with short hair, or long legs, dark skin, light skin, etc. (In fact, if you've ever watched a "nature show" on TV, you know that all creatures display colorations and mating dances to advertise their interests and attract a partner. To do hide and do otherwise is actually against the natural order).

Yes there are circumstances where "coming out" is not advised, where people make reasoned choices about risks/benefits.

But to make blanket statements about privacy and too personal is to deny the many dimensions that the gender of the person you love interacts with all areas of your life. In fact, I think its safe to say that this approach does damage to yourself, because it re-enforces that your same-gender relationships aren't valid or good in the shadow of the tsunami of values/beliefs thrust on you by the overwhelmingly heterosexual world.

I'm not advocating that people be "activists"(whatever that means!), but at least examine that gay is more than who you have sex with.

hello....

i'm going to Koh Chang with my boyfriend...

neither of us have ever been there.

i looked at the utopia-asia website, and two places are listed to stay.

1) aana resort/spa -- it seems very high end, several thousand baht per night

2) kb bungalows -- which gets varied descriptions when i read about it in different guide books

can anyone recommend somewhere? or has stayed at either of these two places?

generally, we are quiet and keep to ourselves. dont need to be near any bar or anything like that.

beautiful scenery, beaches, and nature are important.

thanks

i had similar questions about cutting hair a few months ago. my thai teacher taught me "lem"(เล็ม).

i usually say something like "lem nitnoi".

and in the two places i get haircuts, this works well and they understand.

I had never seen the word เล็ม before this post even in my 60-baht per haircut place (with air conditioning, by the way). So, I decided to see what I could find. My wife said that yes, it was possible to use the word เล็ม in connection with cutting the hair but it was not part of her active vocabulary.

The RID does make reference to hair and more:

"เล็ม ก. เย็บริมชายผ้า เช่น เล็มผ้า; ตัดแต่ริมหรือปลายทีละน้อย เช่น เล็มผม, เลือกเก็บหรือเด็ดทีละน้อย เช่น เล็มยอดกระถิน, เลือก เก็บแต่ผลที่เห็นว่าสุกหรือใช้ได้ เช่น เล็มมะม่วง, กัดกินทีละน้อย เช่น เด็กเล็มขนม แกะเล็มหญ้า, และเล็ม ก็ว่า."

" 'Lem' (verb) to sew around the edge or border of a piece of cloth; to cut only around the edges or the ends a little bit at a time, for example, to trim hair; to pick at or pluck a little bit at a time, for example, to pick the upper leaves of a popinac tree; to harvest ripened fruit or fruit that is ready to eat, for example, to carefully pick ripe mangos; to nibble a little bit at a time, for example, a child nibbles around a cookie; the term is also used for sheep nibbling at grass."

A wonderful book for any student of Thai is "คำคล้องจอง" ("Words in Harmony") subtitled, "เสน่ห์ของภาษาไทย" ("The Charm of the Thai Language"), a 210 baht paperback. Here the word "เล็ม" is shown in the combination, "เล็มล่า" (lem[M]-laa[F]) as:

"ก. (กลอน) แสวงหาหญ้าได้ที่ละน้อย"

"verb. (poetic) to forage and graze for grass a little clump at a time"

Lexitron has "แทะเล็ม [táe-lem] [V] nibble; gnaw ; bite; nip; peck; munch." Finally, the Domnern-Sathienpong dictionary has the term "และเล็ม", as "to nibble, to browse, to flirt (with)." This last meaning my wife was familiar with.

Have any of you heard these or other usages? Thanks, folks, for bringing up this word.

has anyone found an excellent map or book or website for deciphering how to get from A-to-B with BKK city buses?

I have been looking for canned chicken. Chunks of chicken, not a spread.

I am tired of tuna.

I want to be able to buy canned chicken and make a sandwich (without having to cook it).

thanks

you can try Power Zone in Prachasongkro Soi 23.

a day pass costs about 150 baht.

includes locker and towel.

its mixture of free weights and machines.

no pool, no aerobics classes..nothing like that.

Hi folks.

I'm in BKK from Wednesday onwards for about 10 days.

Are there any good gym/fitness facilities in the Ratchapisek or surrounding areas which I can and just turn up and use? If so, how much for a session of about an hour?

Any info would be most helpful.

Many thanks.

AjarnJohn

thanks. i already got the book. it looks wonderful.

after all the positive messages above about Qatar Airlines, I must say that I have flown Qatar once and it was, hands down, the worst experience I have ever had with an airline ever.

my trip was from BKK to Yemen, via Doha.

1. the plane was supposed to depart BKK at 830am. we didnt because of mechanical problem. Qatar kept pushing back the departure saying it would be a few hours. Finally, this lasted until mid-afternoon. they sent us to the Novotel at Suwanapum for a meal. expected departure that evening. well that didnt happen. stayed the night at the hotel there. in the morning, took off on the following day's 830am flight to Doha. Qatar at BKK at checkin said that i needed to get the boarding pass for the doha-yemen flight from the doha "transfer desk" because that leg of the trip was a code share flight with their "partner" yemeni airlines.

2. get to Doha, the transfer desk says they cant help me. why? because i have an e-ticket. and Yemeni Airlines cant handle e-tickets, only paper tickets. went round and round on this up the ladder of command at the transfer desk. bottom line, the Yemeni Airlines manager in Doha said "no way" because Qatar would not issue a letter guaranteeing payment. some kind of parnter code share they are. i watched my flight take off from doha without me with Qatar promising to put me on a qatar flight to yemen the NEXT morning.

3. so now the challenge was to get out of the Doha airport to the hotel qatar air arranged. since i had never planned on visiting qatar in this trip, i didnt have a visa. no problem (says the transfer desk) we'll take care of everything. after about 2+ hours, im still waiting. i catch the manager and ask whats up. he says "oh you are still here??". i dont know what he was thinking. they scurried around for another hour while i stewed. finally they come back and say "oh the problem is you dont have a ticket." how do you figure that? how did i get from bkk to doha without a ticket? we have no idea sir, but you dont have a ticket. we've looked everywhere. two more hours pass, finally someone somehow locates my eticket in the computer. i tell them "give me the eticket number, i want it". oh thats not necessary sir.."dont care, give it to me now". so i get the number, the visa is processed and im on my way for a night in doha.

4. next morning, qatar air says i have to be back at the airport at 530am. oh boy. get there. there is a special check in desk at the airport for customers with this type of situation (i think thats not a good sign). my flight is at 730am. although i am first in line, they cant (you guessed) find my boarding pass. the only one working at this counter must leave it, walk to the other side of the airport and come back looking for and/or trying to get boarding passes. why he is the only one working, who knows. there are many qatar air staff in the checkin area with nothing to do and looking board socializing with each other. he makes several trips to the backroom (each trip takes 10-15mins). finally says "oh you dont have a boarding pass because you dont have a ticket. we cant locate a ticket for you". so i pull out the eticket number (the number i would never ever possibly need and had to almost literally twist their arms to give it to me the previous day). this allows them to find the ticket and within 30 mins they manage to get a boarding pass into my hand just as the final boarding call at 7am is being announced for this 730am departure.

yes i did write a letter and complain. never heard anything back.

i have a M1 student (mattayom 1) who is exceptionally bright. he has even demonstrated ability to do some of the homework i give my M4 students (and is better than some of them).

i am looking for suggestions for materials to challenge him (he is certainly bored now).

for M4, i found and am using a book for reading/writing practice (ie, "graduating from sentences to paragraphs"), but this probably beyond him. the explanations of the assignments are too lengthly in english for him.

i am looking for something like: read a short passage (30 sentences) and then answer questions and/or write a short paragraph in response.

thanks

so... if you work at a school that is closed for a month (i.e., next month roughly) and then again for three months starting around February, what do you do with your time?

especially, say, if you'd like to have some sort of income during that time?

any recommendations of a store I can sell my used books to in BKK?

mixed bag of fiction plus reference books (ie, an extra japanese dictionary i dont need).

thanks

PB why is Guadalajara out? it has the reputation of being one of the gay-er cities in mexico.

also ive been to chile and can say i dont see what the attraction would be.

however argentina is another story completely. i think if i didnt live in thailand, my next choice would be buenos aires.

Richard, I now have 3 or 4 pensions, all with COLAs to protect me from inflation (but not from currency risk). The problem is not that I have to live on the inadequate salaries paid to TEFLers here and in other countries.

Jenny, gracias for the comments about Mexico. DF is out of the question, as is Guadalajara, but I'm thinking of Puerto Vallarta (since I'm gay), and Puerto Veracruz, and Tuxpan Ver. I'll check out Manzanillo, also.