mstevens

10% more for foreigners?  So Thais would pay, for example, 30 baht for a fare and I would have to pay 33 baht?  I see no reason to raise my blood pressure over a few baht!  Now if it was 10 x more (as in the case of national parks) then it would be a different story!

Employers in Thailand can let you go for any reason or even no reason - but they have to pay severance pay as required by law.

The Labour Department office at Din Daeng is very helpful to people in your situation.  Drop by and have a chat with them.  Do NOT sign any documents or anything the school may try and coerce or trick you in to signing.

Good luck, and let us know how it goes!

Unfortunately your friend has let this go for quite a long time because these situations don't end up in court overnight.  It takes some time for the situation to get to court and for a judgment to be made.

I know this might not help your friend, but the thing to do in a situation like this is to go back to the finance company when you start getting the letters warning that you are behind on payments and to explain that you are unable to meet the current payments and request that the payment schedule be amended so that the loan is paid back over a longer period of time.  Inevitably this will mean the total cost of the loan will increase, but it makes it more manageable.  So where perhaps someone was previously paying, say, 50% of their monthly income in repayments, the new term might see that drop to 25% of their income and be much more manageable.

I can but wish your friend the best in getting it resolved.

5 hours ago, cat handler said:

The way i see it you have a couple of obvious options.

 

1. Take her for a holiday to somewhere like Vietnam or the Philippines, then one night while she’s a sleep take her passport, sneak out the hotel, go to the airport and fly home.

2. Wait until your lease expires, find another place to rent then one night sneak out and move all your stuff while she’s sleeping. 

You would seriously abandon a Thai lady in a foreign country, flee from her and leave her there alone?  Utterly appalling that someone would think of doing that.

A couple of tricks that work for me when I have either nasty cough or cold is to take Manuka honey and Apple Cider Vinegar.

A teaspoon of Manuka Honey - should be UMF 10 or higher, taken straight, three times a day - can really help, especially if you start taking it just as you feel a tickle in the throat coming on.  A few times I have felt something coming on and have taken Manuka honey and it has never developed in to a full blown cough or cold.

A tablespoon of Apple cider vinegar (needs to be a good one with "the mother") in water taken three times daily can ward off coughs or colds quickly.

These remedies have worked for me.  Unfortunately Manuka honey is not so easy to find in Thailand and when you do it can be pricey.  Apple Cider Vinegar can be found in international supermarkets.

2 hours ago, attrayant said:

 

I'm curious as to where your memories of the average foreign English teacher in Thailand came from.  Did you do a survey?

I am talking first-hand experience.  I taught for a period, first in a language institute where over a period of time I met about 50 foreign teachers working for the same chain, and later in a government high school where there were a dozen of us.  I knew plenty of teachers but don't have any contact with any of them since I left Thailand.  In the old days when I first taught up there, there were some real oddballs (we're talking 1999 / 2000).

6 hours ago, ozmeldo said:

To the OPs first point, most teachers have never held real jobs and this is part of the issue in general with foreign teachers. They lack not only teaching skills, but have a poor command of English. Futher, no basic workplace skills and socialization. Lack of responsibility and zero work ethic. That's why they are here. They are unemployable back home. This is not a rant. I've met, worked with fifty teachers, at best 6-8 were worth a damn. Half I wouldn't pay 20k.

Is it really still like that these days?  I remember a long time ago that the average foreigner teaching English in Thailand was not always the most impressively dressed nor the most well-spoken person you're likely to meet, but I thought things had changed somewhat since then.  I was under the impression that for some years now you needed a lot more than white skin and the ability to tie a necktie to teach in Thailand.  I could, of course, be out of touch......but I really did think things had improved.

21 hours ago, hydraides said:

1)How did teachers on here find the transition from a normal job in the UK to teaching English in thailand (How hard was the beginning)

Compared to Australia, teaching in Thailand was a breeze.  Much less demanding and generally a relaxing work environment.  I found the Thai staff to be very pleasant and generally inquisitive about the foreign contingent.

21 hours ago, hydraides said:

2) How hard is it now you've done it for a while?

I no longer do it as I left Thailand.  After a while it becomes fairly easy, or at least that is how I found it.

21 hours ago, hydraides said:

 

3) How do you find the working hours and the outside of class workload (Are you inundated with marking etc and have to take home?) .....(The 7.30 am start turns me off because I like to gym in the morning) 

I like to get up early (and get to return home early) so the hours were ideal for me.  But factor in that this is from someone who is generally up by 6:00 AM.

21 hours ago, hydraides said:

4) Do you find yourself thinking about tomorrows classes a lot during the evening?

I did a little in the early days but sooner got over that.  At the end of the day, it's just not healthy to take your work home with you, irrespective of what job you're doing.

12 hours ago, Nong Khai Man said:

They CANNOT Hold your Passport, It belongs to The U,K Government....

This is the official line, but in practice this is not always how things work and getting your passport back might not be as easy as saying it's HM property and smugly threatening to call the embassy.  There have been various reports over the years of people (ex-girlfriend / police / motorbike shop) holding someone's passport and real challenges for the passport holder getting it returned.

9 hours ago, tweedledee2 said:

Can you supply readers with the bank issuers name of the Visa credit card that has free medical coverage included with their free travel insurance?  

Here is a copy of the terms and conditions of the travel insurance with medical coverage that comes with my visa card.  https://www.bnz.co.nz/assets/credit-cards/pdfs/bnz-platinum-travel-insurance-policy.pdf

38 minutes ago, Bonobojt said:

Hey I think your getting confused with erectile dysfunction and Premature Ejaculation, they are different things, PE is when a guy cums too quickly during sex,  ED is a problem getting a hard penis

Sorry, that was a typo on my part.  My bad.  I meant premature ejaculation.

So with that in mind, my original post should have read: premature ejaculation is often mental and not physical, hence the most effective way to deal with it may not be through use of gels or any medicines but through counselling / hypnosis or similar therapy.  I can point you to someone in Bangkok who can assist if you wish to pursue that...drop me a private message if interested.

ED is often mental and not physical, hence the most effective way to deal with it may not be through use of gels or any medicines but through counselling / hypnosis or similar therapy.  I can point you to someone in Bangkok who can assist if you wish to pursue that...drop me a private message if interested.

I am yet to retire but if I was retired and my currency crashed I thought I would have one day a week (or two, if things got really bad) where I did almost nothing and had a very cheap day, where I did things such as read a book, watch some TV or go for a long walk....things that are free.  If you limit yourself to what you do on one day of the week to free activities and either don't eat out or eat on the street / in food courts, the other 6 days you might be able to live as if your currency was still however many percentage points stronger.  It seems to me that having a quiet / cheap day and living the other 6 days as you had would be better than reducing your standard of living / the things you do every day of the week.

12 hours ago, Peterw42 said:

Its hard enough to find Australian products on supermarket shelves, things like Tim Tam biscuits and allowrie butter are not even made in Australia, which would explain why they are not cheaper because of FTA.

You can get Tim Tams made in Australia in some Bangkok supermarkets for around 100 baht a pack (over $4AUD) or you can get the locally made version which doesn't taste as good but are cheap, about a third of the price.

12 hours ago, Thaidream said:

However, compared to living in the Us, Canada or Europe- Thailand is less expensive overall- especially housing .

Housing, public transport and street food are the only things I think of as being genuinely cheap in Bangkok.  If housing was to shoot up in price then the entire equation would change.....with a bit of luck that won't happen any time soon.

1 minute ago, pest said:

Same same

For years i only took 10,000 now i seem to be hitting the 20,000 button more often

Also the 20,000 button wasnt available a couple of years ago

The 20,000 baht withdrawal option was available in the '90s.  Maybe you mean a couple of decades ago, not years ago?

Leaving Thailand to get a new visa and return might be a hassle, but will it be any different moving from country to country?  In most countries in the region you're going to need a visa and even in those you're not in you will have to leave within 90 days.  Yes, the whole visa run merry-go-round is a hassle, but you might find you're better off staying in Thailand just visiting neighbouring countries when you have to.  I imagine it could be cheaper to get a condo long-term in Thailand than it would using hotels or being on short-stay contracts in other countries.

15 hours ago, jonwilly said:

Malwrebytes will get rid of Malware has Free and paid for Pro editions,  Memory Clean and Disk Doctor are 2 cheap if not free cleaners.

 

john

I installed this and it immediately picked up and removed a couple of pesky bits of malware that had been annoying me - so many thanks for the recommendation!

21 hours ago, thaibeachlovers said:

but but but- the Thais are the same now as they were when you arrived, so perhaps it is you that has changed.

I would strongly disagree with this comment.  People change - it's natural - and by this I mean the general feeling or consensus of feeling as a nation can change.  People in my homeland of Australia are much more stressed, concerned about money and parochial than ever.  Where once we ranked as amongst the friendliest people in the world and were very welcoming, now the pressures of modern day life have made your average Australian more concerned with themselves and less hospitable, welcoming and generally less caring of others, particularly so in Sydney.  And so it is with Thais....I think many struggle with the pressures of modern day life and a rapidly changing society that can make them less welcoming towards and even less tolerant of foreigners.  It would be easy to therefore say that societies all over the world are less welcoming of outsiders but I don't think that would be true.  When I visited Eastern Europe in the early '90s most people I came across were not that welcoming of outsiders but friends who make it to Poland, Czech and other parts of Eastern Europe tell me how welcoming the locals are these days.