Big A

ED visa is a good option is you are interested (1) also in learning Thai, if you keep getting non-O visas or tourist visas and do not mind doing visa runs they may cost you a little less in one year so for those not interested in Thai and on a tighter budget it can be a better option.

For some 1000 USD (including everything) is too much so they prefer the above mentioned ways of staying in the country. So I guess it depends on a person, we have been much criticized by those who believe we are charging too much for 180 quality lessons ( you can ask our students, we actually know how to teach Thai) offering them for 29,500 Baht but (2) let me know if there is a school that offers the same amount of lessons and does it cheaper than the Walen school.

Those who joined our school are happily learing Thai and are not having any visa problems as we are making sure everything is well taken care of. So far we have 100% record, nobody was refused a visa through our school. Hope we will have more people responding to this post.

Walen School, Mac

*1 As opposed to staying in the country under the pretence of studying?

*2 Sorry to pull, your chair from under you, Mac, but Bangkok Grace Poly (Lad Prao 112) offers 80 hours of Thai teaching for B6,000

Not really sure what the point of the op is...are you asking so that you can try to violate Thai law and bring in more than you are allowed duty free? otherwise, why even have a need to ask? the main rules are what... 200 fags (1 carton) and 1 litre of alcohol (1 bottle) duty-free. if you bring in more without declaring it and get caught by any of the law enforcement agencies patrolling the airport it's your own fault.

I agree 101%, Jonnie. Anyone who brings in more than the legal limit is asking for a slap on the knuckles. No bones about that!!

However, I DO have bones about officials (either bogus or real [wanting to line their own pockets]) scamming money from unsuspecting travellers once they have passed through the proper channels.

OK, if this is for real, surely politeness and good manners would be paramount in securing travellers' thoughts about the LoS.

Oi vey.................these 2 are for the high jump!!

They can still stick their parks where the sun doesn't shine.

Also, the use of aircraft for security and other related missions should be shared among the army, navy, air force and police.

...and Sgt Nop's bicycle!!

Sometimes the BiBs do do a good job. I feel sorry for the copper who copped it.

New avatar, Lite?

The robbers continued on for about four kilometres, then stopped to change the tyre and resumed their escape.

That's impressive!

Indeed that's something to rival Michael Schumacher's Ferrari pit crew:

Nonsense!! A full Ferrari pit team can change all 4 tyres in 15 seconds. Funny that. I was sitting at a red light in Belfast a load of years back, and not only had the thieving wee bastards had my 4 hubcaps, they also had the spare tyre out of the boot, my windscreen wipers and my briefcase on the front passenger seat all in under 10 seconds!!

BEAT THAT, SCHUMACHER!!

Quick, Somchai. Polish that new BMW in the showroom. The police are a coming, and their pockets are stuffed with cash!!

I really do wish the king a very long and happy life.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!

These days you can't walk the streets for farang bodies falling on you from high rises!! I wonder if this was another 'suicide'? Poor man! What a way to end this world.

He really should give up smoking!!!!

The word ‘ก็’ is pronounced very short in a falling tone. It has no direct translation and probably not only one meaning but it is used a lot and has the task of not only making the sentence sound better but also giving the meaning that you want to express by what you say. Sometimes it replaces other words just because it sounds better and the sentence can still be understood. It also helps to separate two sentences that are combined into one (see example 36). When ‘ก็’ is said at the beginning of a sentence, it is usually to soften the reply or to express a thought or idea or an uncertain answer as in:

Q. How many temples did you visit ?

A. ก็……ประมาณสิบ → Well....about ten.

or

Q. Is it nice ?

A. ก็……อร่อย → Well.....it's nice.

Below are many examples of different uses of ก็

Examples 1-2:

Q. เอาไหม? → Do you want ?

A. ก็……ไม่เอา → Well.....I don't want.

If you say only "ไม่เอา" then you are very direct and decisive that you "Don't want. Full stop" You definitely "Don't want". But if you add ‘ก็’ at the beginning of what you are saying, then it is like you say:

Well, I'm not so sure about it. I think I don't want, ... but..."

อะไรที่ไม่ดีก็ไม่เอา → I don't want anything which is not good.

Example 3 :

ผมเป็นนักเรียน แม่ผมก็เป็นนักเรียน → I am a student. My mother too is a student.

Here we have two sentences combined together:

1). I am a student

2). My mother is a student.

1+2) I am a student and my mother is a student too.

When we make one sentence, the ‘ก็’ replaces the and and the too.

Examples 4-5 :

Q. คุณหิวไหม? → Are you hungry ?

A. ก็หิว → Yes I'm hungry.

The way you pause after the ‘ก็’ may change the answer. Before we had an answer saying:

ก็…..อร่อย → Well... it's nice (the ‘ก็’ includes hesitation)

But in: ก็หิว → Yes, I'm hungry the ‘ก็’ includes affirmation - Yes, I am.

Q. จะไปกินไหม → Shall we go to eat ?

A. ก็ไปถ้ามีรถ → We'll go if we have a car. (We'll go, but only if we have a car)

Example 6 :

Q. เขาอยู่หรือยัง → Is he (still) there or not ? ("yang" is "Yet" but... "ru yang" is "or not ?")

A. ก็อยู่ or เดี่ยวนี้ก็อยู่ or ตอนนี้ก็อยู่ → Yes, he is still there (now)

Examples 7-8 :

Person A: ผู้หญิงนี้สวย → This girl is beautiful.

Person B: ผู้หญิงนี้ก็สวย → This girl is beautiful too (pointing at another girl)

อะไรเขาซื้อก็ถูก → Anything he buys is cheap. (‘ก็’ replaces the 'is')

Example 9 :

Here is another version of the previous sentence:

Person A: เสื้อนี้ถูก → This dress is cheap.

Person B: เสื้อนี้ก็ไม่แพง → This dress is not expensive either (pointing at another dress)

Example 10 :

Man: ผมไม่มีรถ → I have no car

Woman: ดิฉันก็ไม่มี → I don't have (one/a car) either. (‘ก็’ replaces the 'either')

Example 11 :

Person A: ที่นอนมีดอกไม้ → There are flowers there.

Person B: ที่นี้ก็มี → Here there are too.

Example 12 :

When someone is saying something about someone, and you want to say that "you too" then:

Woman: ดิฉันเป็นครู → I am a teacher.

Man: ผมก็เหมือนกัน → Me also (the same).

Example 13-14 :

เมื่อไหร่จะเสร็จ? → When it will be ready/finished ?

สองวันก็เสร็จ → In two days (finished/ready) or สองวันจะเสร็จ

คุณจะไปเมื่อไหร่? → When you will go ? (The จะ can be omitted).

อีกสองวันก็ไป → In (more) two days (will) go

Example 15 :

In this sentence ก็ replaces the ‘but’:

ผมมาก็ไม่อยู่ → I came but (he/she) was not (there).

Example 16 :

ผมไปซื้อก็ไม่สวย → I went to buy it, but it was not beautiful.

Example 17 :

Q. When will you come ?

A. กินก็มา → I'll finish eating and I'll come.

Example 18 :

ถ้ากินก็ไม่หิว → If you eat, you will not be hungry. (If……, then….)

Example 19 :

เขาเขียนอะไรก็ไม่รู้ → I don't know what he wrote/writes

Examples 20-23 :

กินก่อนแล้วก็เล่นได้ → Eat first, then you can play.

ผมไปวัดแล้วก็จะกลับบ้าน → I'm going to the temple and then I will return home.

กินเสร็จแล้วก็ไป → I will go after I finish eating or I will eat and then I will go.

Notice: The two words ‘แล้วก็’ are translated as "and then". This is a very frequently used expression. But as you can see from the last sentence, a Thai sentence can be translated in many ways, because of the Thai habit of omitting words while speaking. In this sentence we know that we are talking about the future but we don't know who is eating and who will go. It can be translated also as:

Let me finish to eat and then you can go.

We will finish to eat and then we shall go.

I will wait till you finish to eat and then I will go.

Example 24 :

คิดว่าเขาไม่มาแต่เขาก็มา → I thought that he would not come, but he came.

Example 25 :

เมื่อไหร่ก็ว่าง → Anytime I’m not busy.

Example 26 :

บางครั้งก็ไป → Sometimes I go.

Examples 27-29 :

เมื่อไหร่ก็ได้ → Any time will do

เขาอาจจะมาก็ได้ → He might come.

อาทิตย์หน้าก็ได้ → Next week will be fine.

Examples 30-33 :

Notice the structure of these sentences:

เขาหล่อก็ไม่หล่อ รวยก็ไม่รวย → He is not handsome and not rich.

Or: Handsome he is not (and) rich he is not (either).

More examples with the same use:

กินก็กินเยอะ → When I eat, I eat a lot.

กินเหล้าก็ไม่กิน บุหรี่ก็ไม่สูบ → He doesn't drink (alcohol) and doesn't smoke (cigarettes).

Example 34 :

พันบาทก็แล้วกัน → 1,000 Baht is enough or Let's close the deal on 1,000 Baht.

It is difficult to translate ‘ก็แล้วกัน’ but it has the meaning of : Let's get over with it and agree on this matter.

Example 35 :

คุณให้เท่าไหร่ก็ได้ → How much you give will be fine. (Whatever you give is fine with me)

Example 36 :

หนังสือแบบนี้ที่บ้านก็มี → I have a book like this at home A book like this (also) I have at home

Time to close up shop on this thread, eh?

Yeah, but you must stay overnight in Ranong as the AA flight gets in at 4.15pm and leaves at 4.45pm, leaving it an impossibility to do a visa run and return on the same day.

Is possible to make a one day visa run from Ranong to Myanmar by boat,or there are problems to do that for the Myanmar situation?Thank's Ponn

So far, all is quiet and OK in Ranong/Burma.

You can easily do a visa run to Burma by boat from Ranong in 1 - 1.5 hours all in. But what I am emphasising is that if you fly down to Ranong from BKK, you CANNOT do a visa run that day. Immigration closes at 5pm. OK, you may get stamped out, but you will not get stamped back in until the next day.

Yeah, for example

<deleted> OFF W*NKERS (by The Exploited, a UK punk band)

The Thais who wear or carry swastikas probably mean no harm, it's just an eye-catching logo / symbol to them and they probably enjoy the attention they get. Human nature.

At first, that's what I thought. To them it's a 'cool' logo. But on hindsight, if they have heard of Hitler, surely they must have heard of the holocaust and the death camps?

Or maybe it's a sign of rebellion to authority? I also laugh when I see people walking around with Che Guevara and old USSR flags T shirts . They love the king AND support communism? Hmmmmmmm.

I have thought of the same thing, but will the Thai consulate in Dublin accept applications from Northern Ireland, or will they refer us to the mainland consulates?

May the killer(s) rot in hel_l for all eternity.

Yeah, but you must stay overnight in Ranong as the AA flight gets in at 4.15pm and leaves at 4.45pm, leaving it an impossibility to do a visa run and return on the same day.

However, I have found the Ranong Imm. staff to be very friendly and helpful.

Nice one!

Maybe the moderators will start a special section on friendly/unfriendly embassies/consulates (which can be updated hourly) as was discussed a few weeks ago?

BANGKOK: -- Only seven of BMA's 60 'green roads' have safe air, probe finds

Now there's a surprise!!

UK

UK: population c 60 million

Thailand: population c 60 million

Quote:The United Kingdom has a very good record for road safety compared with most other EU countries. In 2004 it had one of the lowest road death rates in the EU, at 5.6 per 100,000 population.

Quote: For the past 5 years, 2002-2006, some 66,300 people died in road traffic accidents in Thailand or an average of 13,260 deaths per annum. Some 5.0 million people were injured, some of them severely.

PS I don't have a glad to bet with, nor does my wife. It's not her glad. Perhaps it's not my glad but your glad?

UK=5.6 per 100,000 @ 60,000,000= 3,360 per annum

Thailand=13,260

Or

UK=5.6 per 100,000 population

Thailand=22.1 per 100,000 population

(just to compare apples with apples).

d.

And I think these Thai numbers are way too low.

76 provinces, I give each province a death per day and that is a minimum.

More like at least 30 000 a year.

Crazy stunts here happen around you in a matter of every few minutes, not hours, days or even weeks as I am used to. The pattern of deaths surely follows that curve.

I agree, Tony, but we'll probably be bombarded by the 'If you don't like it.....'brigade!! and 'I suppose there are no accidents in your country' lot.

^^

Sad, but true.

Condolences to all families.

WHEN, OH WHEN, OH WHEN will these people ever learn to drive!

I bet your glad they don't have vehicle accidents in the country where you come from.

UK

UK: population c 60 million

Thailand: population c 60 million

Quote:The United Kingdom has a very good record for road safety compared with most other EU countries. In 2004 it had one of the lowest road death rates in the EU, at 5.6 per 100,000 population.

Quote: For the past 5 years, 2002-2006, some 66,300 people died in road traffic accidents in Thailand or an average of 13,260 deaths per annum. Some 5.0 million people were injured, some of them severely.

PS I don't have a glad to bet with, nor does my wife. It's not her glad. Perhaps it's not my glad but your glad?