listenup

Hi guys,

I would like to remove a Thai Director from my company.

Has anyone got any ideas on how I could do this? Will it mean shutting down the company if the Director refuses and starting fresh?

I would really appreciate any advice.

Thanks,

Chris

Hi all,

Has anybody been to Tokyo and bought a lap-top? Any advice?

I want to up-grade my lap-top and with a visit to Tokyo next month, I would like your opinions on whether buying in Tokyo will be cheaper than Bangkok.

Thanks in advance.

Chris

We are currently looking for an experienced Copywriter to join our Internet Marketing Company based in central Bangkok.

The Copywriter is responsible for creating and tailoring written content for online marketing programs. Serving as the agency's content specialist, the Copywriter collaborates with numerous internal departments to produce professionally written materials that meet clients' marketing objectives and deliver measurable results.

Requirements for this position include:

- Bachelor's Degree in English, journalism, communications or similar related field/experience

- Several years experience, preferably in an agency environment.

- Experience writing for on-line environment required.

- Proven ability to translate clients' business goals into written content.

- Excellent project management skills and the ability to meet deadlines.

- Excellent written/verbal communication skills.

- Detail-oriented and strong organization skills.

- Ability to demonstrate good judgment.

- Strong interpersonal skills and presentation skills.

- Ability to work independently and in a team environment.

- Professional demeanour and the ability to build and maintain supportive relationships.

Duties for the position include but are not limited to:

- Works closely with internal teams to develop high-quality copy; obtain background information, identify goals of project, provide input on creative briefs and ensure writing assignments follow corporate brand standards including voice, tone and style.

- Conducts research as needed for assigned writing projects.

- Collaborates with creative team and project manager during initial design phase and throughout project to ensure copy and design are consistent.

Please PM me if you are interested to discuss further.

Have you guys thought about GPRS? Running GPRS via a little USB widget off the mobile. I use it when I am in Loei and works great and is even faster than dial up when I'm in my apartment in Bangkok.

It's also cheaper, although this could vary due to my apartment block making a profit from my land phone calls.

I'm not sure if you mean building your own home page - i.e web site or setting up a home page in your browser?

Either way, 2 great products from google can help with both:

http://www.google.co.uk/ig LEt's you create a custom Google home page, with links and tools.

pages.google.com let's you create your own home page easily and can host it on there server.

Hope this helps!

5 easy steps.

1. Hire Thai-Chinese staff, they are on average more motivated and less "arai gor dai".

2. Spend a lot of time being "demonstrably" nice and understanding and generous, it doesnt matter if you really are, its appearances that count. Tips - buy breakfast for everyone once in a while (its cheap for the mileage you get), bring key execs out for lunch, publicly remember someone's birthday, remember, food and good humour are great tools in this culture.

3. Never raise your voice, but be firm on your requirements. You do so by communicating endlessly, and repeating yourself a lot. Smile when you are serious, and keep silent and sigh heavily when you are angry, they will get it.

4. Never take sides in their in-fighting, never get involved in gossip. Always let them know that you are above all the pettiness, and let them come to you for arbitration.

5. Reward good performance publicly, and use someone else to convey your unhappiness personally.

Once you acquire the "pu yai" status, they will move the earth for you, because in Thailand, people work for their leaders, and not companies.

Excellent 5 steps!

I hope you don't mind me adding 2 more...

6. Create a fun working environment

7. Join in with the staff's work load - It can be hard if you are busy, but try and spend 30 mins each day with a member of staff and get involved with what they are doing. This gives you 30 minute personal time with this person and will also earn you a lot of respect showing you are willing to graft/chip in with the jobs.

I've been managing staff in Thailand for a year now and I'm sure that if you follow the above 7 points, you will see a huge improvement.

Happy new year my happy hammers! lol

Thanks for some great advice, especially those highlighting the serious problems she has. The main reason for posting was to get some "out side the box" advice as it's not always clear when you are in side that box. Does that make sense?

Anyway, after reading the advice I do have a plan:

I will take Mazo's (many thanks!) great advice and take her to the doctor at Bumregrad. I go home at xmas so she will head up to Udon and spend time with her family. If I don't see an improvement by then I have no option to leave her. I just need to sort out work issues now, which is not easy. Maybe take a month off to see if she visits my office, I can always work in a starbucks somewhere.

Once again, thanks for the advice and the PM's I have received. There are some great people on this forum, (with its fair share of idiots!).

Mods – Please close this thread.

couchsurfing.com - You will love it!

I’ve read a few threads of men needing advice with there relationships and have been impressed with the advice some of you have posted.

Firstly, I feel ashamed I have to ask for advice on a public forum. However, I have none else to turn to that would understand. I would have asked my mates back home, but they would just say “leave her man, it will be ok”. I could also have asked my family for advice, but I don’t want to worry them.

Here goes:

I met my girlfriend a year ago, put her into Beauty school which lasted a year and has just finished. Over the last 6 months things have been getting bad, really bad. She argues with me in public, has tried killing herself either by drinking bleach or attempting to jump of the balcony, has punched me full blown in the face and has also said some very nasty things. We mostly argue over the littlest of things like me asking what she wants for dinner or I say no if she wants me to buy her something. I would guess we have 3 big arguments per week, the other times we get along ok, apart from my social life has stopped. She threatens that she will do something stupid if I go out, so instead we have an argument and I normally just sit on my PC. I’m too scared to go out in case she does something stupid.

So, you are probably thinking “get out of there” … If only it was that easy.

I wanted to wait until she had left school until I did something about it, as I know she could not support herself without me, she also doesn’t know anyone in Bangkok.

The biggest hurdle is that her hair is falling out, big time. She has got some dieses that the doctors can not cure, it’s just a matter of waiting until it gets better. I have tried to help, taking her to 3 doctors in Bangkok and a specialist in Singapore. But they all say the same, nothing they can do. To be honest, I feel sorry for her. She feels that she is no longer beautiful, which I can completely understand.

She has also said that she will hunt me down if I leave her, which will be easy as she knows where I work. She said that if I brake up with her she will make sure I’m on TV (Don’t know exactly what she meant by this but I’m sure you get the idea.)

I care for her, as I would anyone I have spent a year with. But I do know that it’s not going to last so I want out. I just want to be happy and enjoy life.

Any thought on how I can handle this?

Hi all,

Sometimes I get fed up with working on my lap top in my apartment or office, especially with the goreous sunny days we have been having latley.

Can any recommend a nice spot where I can get connected to the net, needs to be outside so I can sit in the sun. Maybe a starbucks that has an outside seating area?

I'm in Bangkok.

Cheers!

My advice is to get ready when TV hits the internet... it won't be long!

Why did Google just buy utube for $1.6billion?? Because they know it's coming.

I forgot to add, if you want to start a directory PM me and I'll point you to a site that gives you free software.

If you need any other info, just PM me.

Directories are sites that include info on other sites.

If you want to write the content your self, start a blog. Trust me, blogs are taking over the web!

They are great with search engines as they are generally up-dated often, which search engines like.

Type in blogspot in google for google's own blog software. It's very easy to use and they host it for you and you don't even need a domain name! All for free!

If you are a little more serious and have a little programming knowledge, check out "word press" this blogging software allows you to add tags.

I took a flight with air asia to Udon Thani. Like Soju said, they have a little booth their that sell tickets to the friendship bridge.

I booked the evening flight and read that the bridge shuts before I could make it, but that turned out to be crap. This was my first overland boader crossing and was amazed how easy it was.

Also, I ran around bangkok for a day searching for US dollars to pay for my visa, but then asked when I arrived if I could have paid in Baht and they said no problem.

Enjoy!

Thats easy (If the men are Thai)!

Football shirt: Liverpool, Chelsea or Man U

About Us

We provide Search Engine Optimisation and Marketing to a world wide client base as well as working on our own portfolio of web sites. It's our goal to get sites on the first page of the major search engines, which ultimately increase visitors resulting in more sales. Our aim is to provide our clients with the best possible service and results. We're a small firm, with only 3 people in-house. Our office is located in Soi Chidlom, 5 minutes walk from Chidlom BTS, in a serviced office with great views of the city.

Who We're Seeking

A few questions to begin with:

• Do you hate being bored?

• Do you love to try new things every day?

• Do you ever stare at a website and think, "Man, they could do this sooooo much better?"

• Have you ever wondered why sometimes terrible websites rank higher than great ones in the search engines?

• Are you ready to accept an incredible amount of personal responsibility for the success of a small business?

• Can you handle long hours when necessary, travel to strange and exotic convention centers, and test the limits of your creativity?

If you have answered yes to the above, congratulations - we like you already.

We're looking for someone to join our team, to brainstorm creative solutions to tough projects, dig in when hours of tedious research or challenging reports are called for, and occasionally even laugh at our dumb jokes. Sure, skills are important. If you've got a writing or marketing background then great. If you've heard of and even have experience in the field of SEO or search marketing, fantastic. But, more than anything, we want someone who's willing to learn, to work hard, to try new things, to advance their career, and to have a great time doing it.

Requirements

Make sure you've got all of the below (they're important):

• A ###### good sense of humor

• Experience in the fields of marketing, advertising, Internet services, journalism or another related niche

• A very high level of proficiency using the web - surfing, searching, blogging, etc.

• Proficiency with MS Office, OpenOffice, or equivalent

• Confidence using Windows-based PCs

• Excellent reading, writing and oral English skills.

The following aren't required, but if you have one or many of these traits, it will be greatly appreciated:

• Professional writing experience

• Experience in marketing, advertising, journalism, or web development

• Knowledge of HTML, CSS and web standards, and/or experience using web development/content management systems

• Design/artistic skills - photography, Photoshop, logo design, web design, video editing

• Knowledge of what terms like Web 2.0, SEO, SEM, PPC, SERPs, AJAX, and RSS mean

Job Description

The following are a rough description of some of the tasks you'll be facing. These aren't fixed tasks - generally speaking, no two days will be the same, but this should give you a relatively good idea of the demands we'll place on you to start:

• Writing - From creatives to blogging to reviews, and more, your writing skills will be the most heavily used asset in your day-to-day tasks

• Keyword Research - brainstorming and researching popular and effective keywords for clients' campaigns using online tools

• Site Reviews - examining the usability, user friendliness, accessibility, search engine standards compliance, and other metrics of websites

• Competitive Analysis - comparing and contrasting players in an online niche

• Brainstorming - helping the team develop viral content for the web

• Editing & Proofing Reports & Documents

• Link Building - searching the web for sites that can help boost the popularity of a client or project via links

You won't be expected to have mastery or experience in any of the tasks above, but a willingness and propensity to learn is required. We'll show you the ins and outs of everything we expect from you and deliver the training necessary to become an expert. We do require the following, as well:

• Work hours 9am to 6pm, Monday to Friday.

• No dress code unless we have clients visiting the office (we'll give you the heads up)

Compensation

First 3 months (contractual engagement):

• 50,000B per month - paid on 27th

If, at the end of 3 months, both parties are happy with the other (mutual admiration):

• 50,000B per month, taxes withheld - paid on the 27th

• Annual bonuses (based on company and individual performance)

• 3 weeks paid holiday/sick days per annum

• For conferences or other travel, all expenses are covered and a per diem for incidental expenditures provided

• Bi-annual performance reviews and opportunities for pay increases/advancement

Application Process

Please follow the steps below VERY CAREFULLY to make your application the best it can be:

1. DO NOT send any attachments. Include all of the following in the body of your email

2. Cover letter telling us who you are, where you've been, what you've done, and why you'd like to work with us.

3. Resume - include job experience, education, skills, and contact information

4. References - at least 1 professional or academic reference, plus 1 personal reference (names, organizations and phone number)

5. Writing Sample - If you have a good sample of your writing from a previous job, a blog post online, a paper from school, or something you wrote just for us, we'd love to see it

6. Send the details via my PM

7. Deadline for applications will be November 14th

Thanks for your interest - we know that finding a job is a tough process and (all too frequently) a disheartening one. We really do appreciate your effort and applications and wish you the best of luck.

I must have the wrong airline. My work mate books with a certain airline from bangkok to hongkong monthly and swears it's the cheapest. I will ask him on Tuesday and let you know. sorry about that.

My (admittedly) limited understanding is that money used by a foreigner to buy a property in Thailand has to be seen to be brought in from overseas, so in that sense it's not possible to get a mortgage from a Thailand bank.

A way around this has been developed by Bangkok Bank in that they allow farang to apply for mortgages from their one Singapore branch - you are borrowing the cash, but it is coming into thailand from another country, so circumvents the rules.

But I've not heard of anyone actually getting one of these loans yet. My understanding is that take up is minimal to date.

Other wiser people will know more.

I was told this today from my BKK branch and waiting for a call back from the Singapore office. I will post an update as soon as I recieve the call.

I can see myself being one of their first customers :-)

Hi guys,

Does anyone know of any companies or banks that offer mortages to forigners?

I have a company, steady income, deposit and work permit.

cheers,

chris

Thanks for the replies.

I have tried Pantip along with Toys R Us and 3 big department stores.

Haven't tried MBK yet so will give it a go!

Cheers!

Thanks GH for the excellent info!

I need 2 leads for my x box, the power cable along with the cable that goes into the TV.

Anyone know where I can get them from in BKK?

Thanks in advance!