USslugga

I've been living in Thailand for nearly 7 years now.  I've been all over Thailand. 

-Chiang Mai

-Chiang Rai

-Phayao

-Nongkai

-Udon Thani

-Surat Thani

-Khao Sok

-Petchaburi

-Bangkok

-Samut Prakan

-Nakhon Nayok

-Pattaya

-Bangsaen

-SriRacha

-Chonburi

-Rayong

-Koh Larn

-Koh Chang

-Koh Samet

-Krabi

-Koh Samaeson

-Ayuttaya

-Kanchanaburi

And probably more places that I'm forgetting.  

So here comes the question:

As a long time resident of Thailand who's been almost everywhere, where should I go? 

I hate to use the term "hidden gem" but I'm sure there must be a couple wise geezers amongst you who have some nice locations that most people have never heard of.  

Basically, I need an idea on where my girlfriend and I can go over New Years.  Hopefully somewhere new and exciting (but still in Thailand). 

17 minutes ago, Adam219 said:

I flew in from BKK 2 weeks ago (21st sept). no insurance requirement. In fact, there were no requirements at all, just a valid passport. 

 

Was asked by airline about onward travel, told them i would exit by bus. All good.

Great, thanks for the update!

5 hours ago, funkykyle said:

Sorry to bring this up again, I am on he exact same boat as you, into my 3rd waiver, which is about to expire in March. Were you able to get the 4th waiver from your school/KSP? 

Nope. I haven't yet, but I'm not due for my third for another 6-7 months I think. 

But I've been assured by my school that when that time comes, at the very least I can get another 2 years if I just show I enrolled in the St. Theresa program. 

So they said I could pay the initial fee (like 25,000 or something) and just not show up to any of the classes if I want to get another 2 year waiver.  But obviously this is not a long term solution...

Any more solid info on if I need covid insurance?

I'm planning on taking a holiday to Vietnam in about 3 weeks. 

On this website, it says you need health insurance that covers covid with a minimum coverage of $10,000.

https://vietnam.travel/things-to-do/information-travellers-novel-coronavirus-vietnam

But the site posted above says it's not required anymore?

Has anybody been to Vietnam recently that can comment?

On 9/11/2022 at 12:29 PM, Photoguy21 said:

Sorry to hear that but it sounds pretty normal. Is there a DTAC shop near you? If so go in and ask the question and dont leave until you get an answer.

Sorry, I'm a bit confused. Isn't DTAC a phone shop?  What do they have to do with the Teacher's Council of Thailand?

On 9/7/2022 at 3:44 PM, Photoguy21 said:

If you dont contact them and find out you will never know.

I emailed them twice (using the email they provided on their website) with no response either time.

On 8/28/2022 at 3:03 PM, 2009 said:

How many waivers have you had?

I'm on my third one now.  I believe it will end in March or April?

On 8/28/2022 at 3:01 PM, 2009 said:

Yes, you will be eligible for the test with the PGCEi.

 

If you fail a test your resit it.

Can I see this in writing somewhere?  I know this used to be the case in the past but I saw more recent documents saying now the PGCEi won't work anymore.

On 8/28/2022 at 2:52 PM, Callmeishmael said:

I realize that this post wont be particularly helpful in terms of answering the OPs question, but it may help to explain why a clear answer cannot be made.  A few weeks ago a AF poster posted this:

 

The key words here are "draft" and "yet to be determined".  In other words, you cannot get the answer because no-one knows the answer, even the TCT themselves! 

 

 

 

Well if they can't even come to an agreement, then surely they can give another extension for the teachers who are coming up to the end of their last temporary teaching license!

That would be the sensible thing to do but this is Thailand after all...

Does anyone know if the PGCEi is a suitable program for getting a permanent teaching license?  My friend just completed it and it was entirely online, and ended up costing around 200k baht.

However, I'm not sure if completion of the PGCEi gives him eligibility to take the licensure exam from the Teacher's Council of Thailand. 

If he is able to take the exam, but fails said exam, not sure what happens then either.  

Does anybody know?

57 minutes ago, cyril sneer said:

It might be that this is now the only course that's accepted without having to do this new test everyone fails.

 

Someone I met has enrolled on this (or very similar) and are paying something like 350,000 baht to do it.

 

The St Roberts Group course is still accepted, but still need to take the test after completing.

Hmmm, your friend must be doing something else, then.  The entire 1.5 year course for the St. Theresa course is something like 75K baht. 

But unfortunately, the test is still required after completion of the St. Theresa course.  Their website says this: "Upon completion of the program, you will be eligible to take the licensure exam from the Teacher’s Council of Thailand. After successfully passing the exam you will be granted the official/permanent teaching license."

I'm sure they're great! 

But I'm more concerned about whether Teachers' Council of Thailand will accept it and give me a permanent teachers license or not (upon completion of the program).

2 hours ago, The Hammer2021 said:

Try the British Council

Does completion of their course lead to a permanent teaching license? 

This is why I'm frustrated with this whole thing.  It's not easy to find information about what courses will or will not lead to a permanent teaching license.

3 hours ago, kingstonkid said:

Op do you have a bachelor's degree in a teaching profession or are you looking for the Teachers test

I have a bachelor's degree, but it's not in education.  It's in business. If there's a way to bypass all the courses and go directly to the teachers test (leading to the permanent teaching license), that would be ideal.

Hey guys, 

I could really use some help...

My final temporary teaching license expires in April of 2023. So now I gotta figure out how to get my permanent teaching license.  

But I feel like pulling my hair out!!!

I can't get clear information about how to do it.  

My school told me the only institution in Thailand that offers a path to a permanent teaching license is St. Theresa International College in Nakorn Nayok. I don't think that's correct. How could there only be one option in all of Thailand???

And I definitely don't want to go this route because I live more than 2 hours away.  So it would be a nightmare getting to and from St. Theresa every Saturday (for 1.5 years!)

What are my other options? 

Ideally I'd like something completely online.  But I could probably make it work if the university is in Chonburi or Bangkok, too. 

Yeah, forgot to update the thread here, but I contacted my bank, and apparently I had a 30,000 baht daily spending limit set on my card that I was unaware of.  My online purchase was over that limit so they declined my purchase.  But it was a simple phone call conversation with my bank to increase the spending limit up to 100,000 baht. 

And if nobody knows how to fix this, maybe I can try to transfer money from my Krungthai account to paypal.  Not sure how to do it though.  On the phone app under payments and transfers, there is no paypal option.

I have an account with Krungthai and have used my Krungthai Shop Smart card to make online purchases in the past (2 weeks ago it worked), but now when I try it it says my card was declined.  What gives?  Why did it work 2 weeks ago on lazada but now on a different site it gets declined?  Does it matter if the online retailer is based in Thailand or not?

Any ideas on how to fix this, fellas?

No you don't have to be Thai.  I'm American and I was able to sign up and purchase a small amount of bitcoin.  I did it like a year ago though so I can't remember the exact process. I think I had to take a selfie with my passport.

But to answer your question, no, you don't have to be Thai.

Does anyone else happen to know if the Yaowarat shops are still open these days?  I don't want to go all the way there just to find it closed because of covid...

Thanks for the reply Meechai. And thanks for the info about the purity of one ounce coins vs purity.  Makes sense. 

Are the regular gold shops in Yaowarat open during this time?  I don't live in Bangkok (about 2 hours away), but I've heard the Hua Seng Heng gold shop is one of the best in Thailand. 

I might try to make my way to that shop and see what they have to offer (assuming they're still open...)

25 minutes ago, KhunBENQ said:

Of the three you mention here the Australian Maple Leaf is the only 999.9 pure.

American Eagle and Krugerrand are 916⅔ (22 Carat). So both are less pure than Thai gold.

In the past when I dealt with such, the Krugerrand was by far the most popular and easy buy/sell. NOT in Thailand. They sit calm in the safe for even worse times than now.

Thanks for the info. I don't know why I thought all the standard one ounce coins were all 999.9 pure.  Thanks for the clarification. 

What are my best options here in Thailand then? I'm not looking to make a quick buck flipping the gold. 

I'm looking to buy and hold for at least a few years (probably).

And I was hoping for coins because I could easily fit a couple in a wallet and not draw too much suspicion if I was travelling, but I haven't seen any Thai gold coins on the websites I've seen.  Just bars and jewelry. 

Hey y'all.

I'm having trouble finding if this is even possible here in Thailand.  Hopefully some of you can help me:

Can I buy some gold coins (99.99 % purity) here? 

I know Thailand has their own gold which is 96.5% pure or whatever, but I'm not interested in that.

If I end up leaving Thailand I don't want a headache selling Thai gold so I'd rather get something that is accepted worldwide like Kruggerands, Canadian Maples, American Eagles or any other 1 ounce gold coins. 

Are there any gold shops that you know of that will sell me some standard 1 oz coins (99% purity)?  Thanks

And actually, I set the title of this post as "jungle survival training", but I'd be open to any survival training here.  Maybe one would be set on an island as opposed to deep in the jungle.

Hey guys,  

I just watched an episode of Survivorman and that got me inspired.  I would like to take a survival course here in Thailand.  Does anyone know of any good ones?  I'm talking about courses that teach you how to build fires, build shelters, find clean drinking water, etc.