EVENKEEL

10 minutes ago, CharlieH said:

Unless its private land, the legal age limit!

 

Otherwise its not insured, totally illegal and frankly very irresponsible, encouraging someone at a young age to not only break the law but putting them in harms way, in z worst case scenario, ruins their life!

I did start the kid on private land in the US. In my view it's more irresponsible to let a kid get a license and turn them loose on the road with no experience. 

At what age do you tell the kid to get behind the wheel and drive around? 

Yesterday while cruising around exploring neighborhoods I pulled over and the 13 yr old got behind the wheel. Big road in an affluent multi village area, not many cars, lots of speed bumps. While in the US the kid has already started driving there down country roads.

Next will be manual transmission training. Being competent driving  a stick shift is a valuable life lesson.

36 minutes ago, KhaoHom said:

 

I disagree. Some of the best schools and most competitive schools in the nation are in fact public schools.

 

Mor plai is standard for students to sort themselves out into various tracks. The basics of which are math/ science versus arts. They may also be shifted into classes by ability ( /1, /2 ...)

 

A huge issue that I had with many teachers was them incorporating art into their lessons. Thai students and all students love little art projects and they will waste unless amounts of time with it. Drawing a pretty picture or assembling some sort of project... How does one evaluate the English skills involved in that? Usually it has nothing to do with English.

 

Most likely Health is now being taught in English not to expand use of English, but because there are just so few teachers available to teach subjects in Thailand.

 

I believe that one of the reasons that there are so many foreign English teachers is that they simply do not have enough teachers with ANY English ability to teach the subject.

 

To your point I see a number of jobs and vacancies advertised for health and art teachers in English

You're correct in some elite gov schools for secondary students. 

My kid spends countless hours on stupid art projects for science and health. 

22 minutes ago, fredwiggy said:

I agree that there might be better schools here that actually teach things they need, along with learning English which can give them a better lifestyle if they choose to move to the west, but in the end, no matter what you've learned and how much you make, you're still going to be living here, which isn't a good place for girls especially.

 

Look at what they end up with and how much they make even if they choose to go to university. Many end up going back to their village with a degree which isn't earning them anything, which does happen everywhere, and their jobs here will still only earn them a fraction of what they will make in the west. Then what is their choices of a partner in life? Someone who looks at women as second class already, is a lot more likely to leave after a child is born, and will more likely not help in the support of that child. A bad choice in the west at least has them mandatory paying child support. They have a much better chance of finding someone who will be a better partner than here. 

My kid goes to school with a healthy mixture of kid's economic backgrounds. You have seriously rich parents, successful hardworking parents. Much different from the parents of gov schools where the father is missing. My kid's world is made up mostly of associating with the upper class kids and parents.

When she visits her Isaan roots, she is very aware of her privileged life. Had I not moved she would only know the Isaan life and what she sees on TV. Her only choice for a husband would be.....well you know...exactly what you described. 

33 minutes ago, fredwiggy said:

I have a friend here that runs a very good English school in Sisaket province. His students normally do pretty well if they take his classes along with what's  taught in their primary school, which isn't much. Those that have English speaking parents, especially those who are native English speakers, do the best, as they are also learning at home. The best time to learn another language is ages 5-7, but the schools aren't doing well enough for the students to learn.

 

My daughter's school here in the village does very little. My daughter of course speaks English better than any of the teachers at her school, and the only thing she's actually learning there that will have an impact on her future is math, as whatever she learns will be put on the back burner once we move to the US. They hand her papers where she has to fill in the blanks on sentences, and she does pretty well because she's again, also learning at home. Her friends she goes to school with know almost no English, even though they've been in class 3 years.

 

My friend hires all  kinds of people from a few different countries, especially Cameroon the US and England. They have strong accents, which isn't easy for a student to learn along with the English itself. He had me helping out in camps because I'm a native English speaker, and he just wanted me to talk to the students so they know how to pronounce words. The camps themselves get students involved, but they're only a day or two and the students go home to parents that speak no English so their learning stops as soon as they leave his school. One student he had, who had an English speaking father,is 17 and cannot speak much English at all, which means his father isn't helping at home, and his primary school is doing nothing. These kids go home after school and they speak nothing but Thai to their friends and family, which doesn't help as consistency is the only way.

Subjecting your kid to a gov school is on you. There's EP schools which are not crazy expensive where math and science is taught in English and Thai. Also health is now in English also. My only concern is wasting time with social and history as it's mainly about doing art projects. Here in M 4 they decide which route to take regarding the hard classes.

All but a few expats in Thailand are most likely unable to repatriate to home country due to lack of money. Maybe when you left you were flush but if you sold your home and used that money to build a life in Thailand, it's doubtful whether you could return without help from family. 

Since Covid, rents in the US has gone crazy high. Which is probably one of the biggest obstacles for an expat to return home.

While life in places like Pattaya are not ideal, it certainly is the lesser of evils in regard to survival. 

This has zero to do with road safety and just another money maker for agents and driving schools.

This will be a big boost of income for driving schools. I got my MC license at a school in Pattaya area, cost was 1000 thb for 3 days school. First day was spent taking driving test in English till I could pass 100%. Then you have the plank test which you have to drive real slow which makes it hard for the inexperienced. The last day included taking the written test on computer at the school. Armed with the school's paperwork you can go to land office and do the usual color and reaction tests.

I think the car license cost like 5000 thb. 

The Ole lady paid 15k for her son.

Iran seeing the build up of US assets in the Gulf region could help them in their decision making. 

43 minutes ago, jerrymahoney said:

As regards criticizing Trump, this from John Bolton:

The two no longer speak, so Mr. Bolton said he had no idea what Mr. Trump would decide. He was not sure if Mr. Trump knew himself. But in his experience, Mr. Bolton said, Mr. Trump was “frantic and agitated” in national security crises.

“He talks to a lot of people and he’s looking for somebody who will say the magic words,” Mr. Bolton said. “He’ll hear something and he’ll decide, ‘That’s right, that’s what I believe.’ Which lasts until he has the next conversation.”

A person who is willing to hear alternatives is open to suggestions and different perspectives. They are receptive to considering options beyond the initial idea or plan. This willingness can be expressed in various ways, such as actively seeking out feedback, showing curiosity about other approaches, or being willing to adjust their course of action based on new information. 

I'm thinking a trip to T-21 for some ice cream and window shopping.

Funny how the term Lavish can have so many meanings. 

2 hours ago, frank83628 said:

Is that you on the left

Never could do the no socks thing. Feet always sweaty. But thanks for the memories.

29 minutes ago, quake said:

 Come on now.

No porkies. have a look. 

 

I'm the real deal, a regular bell ringer.

2 minutes ago, roo860 said:

'Slacks' 😅😅😅

Of course slacks, I'm not an ex day laborer like most of the miscreants about.

Oh, perhaps you prefer "trousers" 555555

20 minutes ago, Lewie London said:

Right, listen up you lot, let me tell you somethin’ about this dodgy mangosteen history, yeah, absolute fruit-based fairy tale this one. Apparently, back around 1850, Queen Victoria, yeah, old frosty knickers herself, heard about this fruit from over ‘ere in Southeast Asia, all juicy and exotic like, and reckoned she wanted a go. Didn’t fancy a pineapple, didn’t want a mango, papaya, nah, she’s got her royal bloomers in a twist over a mangosteen, of all things. The “queen of fruits” they used to call it. What a hefty load of cobblers. Bit of purple fruit, white mush inside, tastes alright, but hardly worth a diplomatic mission is it?

 

And get this, the story goes that she was so desperate for a nibble of this little purple marvel that she offered some big-shot reward, knighthood or a bag of gold or some such nonsense, to anyone who could bring her one back fresh. Fresh! This is Victorian times we’re talkin’ about, no bloody DHL, no FedEx, no Aldi's freezer section. What’s she thinkin’? Sendin’ some poor sailor off in a wooden boat with a basket of fruit, expectin’ it to survive a months-long voyage with no refrigeration, only wrapped in horse sh*t to preserve it like it’s clingfilm from Waitrose. Madness.

 

No one’s got any proof she actually said it, mind you. Just one of them pub stories blokes tell after three pints when they’re tryin’ to sound clever about fruit. Probably started by some geezer in a Bangkok bar with a half-eaten mangosteen in one hand and a go-go tart in the other’, “Did you know, mate…” Meanwhile, Queen Vic’s wuz sittin’ back in Buckingham Palace wonderin’ what’s for tea, not plannin’ tropical fruit expeditions like some Victorian Indiana Jones. So Queen Victoria weren’t sendin’ out battleships for fruit salads. 

 

That’s the problem with people these days, hear a nice story about a royal and suddenly they’re all David bloody Attenborough. So yeah, good fruit, nice bite, decent on a hot day, but let’s not rewrite history over it, alright. Mangosteens, tasty, yes. Life changing? Only if you’ve never had three scoops of chocolate ice cream with extra chocolate sauce before.

Let's hear what Neville has to say.

1 hour ago, SAFETY FIRST said:

I reckon you've confused us all by posting this topic.

It's actually a broken red heart and a white heart. 

 

Red broken heart used by Woke and the LGBTQ communities. 

 

The red broken heart emoji (💔) primarily signifies sadness, heartbreak, or loss, often in the context of romantic relationships or other situations involving emotional pain. It can be used to express grief after a breakup, missing someone, or general feelings of disappointment. While often sincere, it can also be used playfully to exaggerate frustration or fondness. 

 

You've learned to copy and paste. Good for you. 

4 minutes ago, Lacessit said:

Can't you see one is a whole heart, and one is broken?

 

Time to visit SpecSavers.

As harrisfan stated blue=like, red=love. Thanks anyway.

30 minutes ago, CharlieH said:

There are numerous coloured hearts out there with all different meanings, white, grey, red, pink, purple and so on.

 

Ask ChatGPT, and you can get the full run down.

Here on AN there are two colors,  red and blue. I just figured the answer to be easy.

2 minutes ago, Harrisfan said:

Love red

Like blue

OK I'll go with that. Now explain what a broken heart signifies whilst responding to a post? I don't get it.