Loz

Oh, I've missed this!

Agreed.

"Airsoft" toys are to be used in private areas.

THe other stuff ain't legal but let's face it. THey wouldn't sell them if people were getting searched.

I've helped girls translate bf's emails and helped them write back. I figure the guys know what "Caveat emptor" means and even if they don't. It's fun to help the girls talk shit. They take the few lines I give them and spin them out to sometimes 3 or four guys while I am still in the internet shop (20mins tops) and they have 2-3 convo's going at the same time. You can read them sometimes and see the response from the guy which suggests he is in this mode...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_IBgk05iL3Y

As for cheaper. It seems easier to get robbed here with little recourse in the the practical application of the law than it does back on your home turf. It happen, sure, but I think the percentages are favouring picking a partner from your own country.

Anyway, none of my business really. Sorry if any offence caused. Boring if we were all the same and all that pish.

GH,

I think it is best to learn a variety of modes of Thai expression. I can switch between Isaan/Laos mix, Korat accented and what you probably mean by educated central Thai.

The difference between Goo ja doi mueng and Kaprajao ja katerb naa tan has been discussed for comic effect in my classroom. Kids like teaching about what they know and if I get them using English to explain what is polite and where I can use what phrases they have fun and learn English almost incidentally.

Kopra khun maak na krapom!

does the S2 do everything a 4s does (and faster?)

I might be having one of those.

Can we expand the scope of this thread to what is a REALISTIC Iphone 4s competitor?

I have an LG 350 Optimus ME. It is less than a year old and works ok but I have concerns that the GPS function might be a little weak. If I buy a new phone I will use it for my Sat Nav back in the UK. This saves having two units and leaving one in the car which apparently commonly results in theft and window damage.

Any helpful ideas?

Maybe they point and stare because they overhear a seemingly normal ageing gentleman talking to a mature but younger woman in baby speak and think it's a little odd that a man would come out in public with a woman who he can't speak with but is obviously boning.

Eddie Murphy did a great sketch about this 20 odd years ago...

When I read other's posts on this forum, it would seem the thing about Thailand that is so great is that the women are poor and desperate. That seems the over whelming theme of Thai Visa.

Hard to argue with exactly what you said and how you said it.

+1

...and if she was from anywhere else, I would feel proud to have her as my gf

Nothing is more telling than this extract from your original post...

I get you.

I came here 6 years ago as a do gooder. Gave up the corporate life for a teaching life. Started out thinking it would be rewarding fun and take a fraction of the time. Like being semi retired. and it did indeed start like that. Then, as is my way, I got sucked in by it all. Started a Masters Degree in it (finish next week) and started working up the ladder. Long hours, frustration, great kids but lame co-workers. Add to that, the stigma attached to having black skin and it is just not enjoyable. If I am gonna work this hard I need more co-operation and/or more reward.

Thankfully I didn't burn my bridges so I am going home where I can live in a nice home, with polite neighbours. have time with my parents who are not getting any younger. Go shopping without being gawped at. Drive a nice car and happily pay more for my petrol. Get a job with a healthy salary that will afford me more security for the future. Maybe my rose tinted specs will crack on arrival but I doubt it.

Nothing wrong with having enough. I had had enough of blighty so I tried this. Now I am ready to go back and enjoy the 21st century in all its modern tolerant glory.

the girl probably found it hard to explain Thalassemia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thalassemia http://www.thalassemia.or.th/

I live in Korat. I chose korat for its provincial profile to understand real thai people not just bangkokians. I can now report back after 6years that there are some very decent and curious people (just had a round of golf and made 3 new golfing buddies to play with later in the week) and there are some very ignorant people and I mean ignorant of the fact that nudging their friend to look at me and then laugh or say ooiieeee!! DAM MAK LUAY!! or KORT DAM LUAY is not polite or welcoming. Also there are women who when walking around a corner and seeing a black man feel the need to jump and scream and clutch their friend as though the confronting the grim reaper. These people make life here less pleasant. The fact that being black here is akin to being the owner of a taliban retail outlet housed on ground zero makes me feel a bit cheesed off quite often.

These I not bar encounters as I visit one bar about 6 times a year for about an hour to talk to a farang friend who comes into town to "mingle". Its not THAT sort of bar either. I don't go out at night maybe because I am almost forty and not into the loud music, maybe because I would rather read or watch movies or use the internet. Maybe in bangkok people are less shocked my black English people but I invite you to visit the mall in Korat and experience it for yourself. I imagine it is akin to England around the period William Garrow was making a name for himself at the Old Bailey.

Gents,

I should maybe point out that I don't have troubles like the friend of the original poster and I have some great thai friends who are not leeches. I have golfing friends, dining buddies, even some friends at work. I simple point out that the girl in the OP was a con artist. FACT. It is no reflection of who I hang out with. The only reasonable inference you could draw from my post was that I am not a very tolerant person. I accept that. Hence, adios.

^^Loz, I'd agree with you if those changes COULD be instituted. As it happens, many Thai schools *require* multiple choice tests....

I've no problem with "some" tests of that nature when properly constructed but, I have seen some horribly constructed test questions usually along the lines of:

Q1 What was the first thing the man did in the story?

a sit down

b take out his mag

c start w*anking

d take out his tissues.

Q 2 After the man sat down what kind of mag did he start w*anking to?

You can see how the answer to Q1 becomes all but obvious and this happens again and again!! Only a complete twunting baffoon could fail most of these tests!

Fortunately we teach a few to keep the numbers in check.

long con, short con. Its just a con.

Golden rule remains, don't spend anything you are not prepared to write off.

people here have different values in relation to things and personal relationships. It is very clear that they favor the former over the latter. If you are happy to empty your wallet to maintain a "relationship" you'll be happy here. If you are looking for some kind of reciprocity in a relationship, you will be disappointed.

Thailand for beginners 1:01

The love of money is the root of all evil.

Anyone argue with that?

improve Thailand you say?

Hmm...

How about taking the money they are going to spend on ipads for students and instead spend it on sending kids to classes where they will learn the following:

Teachers don't know everything in the 21st Century and learning should be led by example

Teachers and learners should be co-constructors of knowledge

learners job is to learn how to learn, not to rote memorize as that is not a valuable life skill

Teachers job is to inspire and facilitate learning

Then I agree, put seat belts in taxi's so at least customers can choose to wear it or not. Good idea.

Introduce real road safety classes in schools

Offer cycle proficiency classes in schools that teach awareness of hazards on the road (yes, I'm tired of kids thinking its funny to walk infront of the teachers car and finding out the hard way that I am happy to test my insurance cover if they are happy to try my patience.)

Send any teacher who offers only multiple choice tests on a proper testing course. If they continue to offer only multi choice tests, only allow them to teach youth offenders.

Introduce the role of "animal control" and give jobs to people to catch dogs sleeping or wandering in the road unsupervised. Take them to the pound where they can be reclaimed for a fee and course in pet management and ownership responsibilities.

Dog licenses would fund the cost of the dog catchers.

Thai culture test for teachers to be extended for anyone with a one year visa being renewed. First year you go free, second year you have to take the course and pass the test. Might make some a little more educated and others a little more agreeable.

But as I said in another post...

yes, but just cos they sleep with you, they don't have to be completely stupid.

Misplaced,

May I ask where you went to school here? It might be helpful to people with kids.

Congrats to you, Loz. You can't win all the battles but if you win most of them you are doing okay. I have the greatest respect for teachers who actually want to teach the children how to learn... rather than just repeat things from rote. The children who WANT to learn are the hope for the future of Thailand... or any country for that matter. My daughter and her husband are both teachers in Canada where the focus is in actual learning and not just memorizing.

Thanks, Ian

Ps. I thought I saw you in the Mall Korat today. Impossible, right?

Darunsikalai School for Innovative learning is hands down the most progressive school I have found in Thailand (both these are in Bangkok but I live in the north east so travel quite a bit). They use a constructionist approach (learner centered) and combine that with a bi-lingual project based learning program (as I have been implementing in my English Program) They study with thai and foreign teachers and the first question they (students) are asked at the beginning of term is, What do you want to learn? Kids lead the projects and teachers facilitate.

Very good post, thank you

I'm all for the constructionist approach but open environments' don't necessarily help the children when the doors to tertiary education and the workplace call.

Our eldest went to Steiner - and bombed dramatically when she had to enter a 'mainstream' international school . . . our youngest went to Montessori and struggled a bit in placement exams for 'mainstream' international school.

I firmly believe that true education is a balance of nature and nurture.

The kids are fine now, but it wasn't easy. Sometimes we (I include myself - though Montessori was my wife's choice) tend to think too much of the child's psychological well-being in terms of traditional learning being damaging.

Balance . . .

Thank you.

Interestingly this is not the first time I have heard this observation of such schools. I think it depends on one's expectations of "schooling". If you want to go into the thai tertiary education system, I would say, why waste your time with anything other that state silliness? You will learn how to pass multi choice/guess questions just as they use in thai universities. If you want to go to western Uni's I would say have a tutor (special class) just for prep for entrance tests. I have had kids leave our English Program with a good blend of my values and the "system". They have gone to the top 5 unis in Thailand and are doing well. They still question things more than most but they have a foot in both camps. The mainstream for passing exams, and the real world for what THEY want to know for themselves. This is the difference I feel is the greatest accomplishment of teaching here. Getting kids interested in learning for their own ends.

For mainstream good-life in Thailand for people with the budget, I guess the American School of Bangkok is great starting point. I should point out that I am English, not American. So, I should give a shout out to Harrow international school too. But we only know them because they are the testing centre for Cambridge KET and other certs. Its a new relationship and I'm still finding out about them.

Kids make it rewarding, Thai staff drain that reward away without even trying.

I've done my bit now. Someone else's turn.

never known of farang paying for jobs other than blow.

Thai's do it all the time and for the most lowly jobs too. Moving near or into a major city is charged by the km up here in Korat, unless you have a "close" relationship with a director at a school. I notice it is mostly women who move. WOnder what that connection could be. SHould I mention, single women? I guess it's obvious really.

THIS IS THAILAND.

Around Korat there are some good courses.

Rooks ( Korat Country Club) on the 304 to Pak tong chai from Korat is a good if short 18 holes.

Mountain Creek is a great 27 holes down the highway 2 to BKK. Its 40km from town.

Voyage is equally resplendent and on the other side of the same highway.

couple of rinky dink courses on the army and air force base but not worth travelling for.

Thai relationships between older men and younger women seem to be much more transactional than between similar age couples. But this seems to me largely due to blokes coming here and getting twunt-struck with the first duski-skinned maiden that opens her honey pot to them.

Thinking with the little head get's you into this trouble so think with the big head to get out and or stay out.

I enjoy meaningful conversation too much to ever date a Thai so, I'm going back home to give the idea of a lasting relationship a chance. Horses for courses. Lots of guys have tried it the old fashioned way that I still aspire to, and they've been burnt. So they come here and enjoy a long term lease with terms well defined and accepted at both ends. Many a chap are content with this. I congratulate them on finding what works. If you are looking for some kind of equality in a relationship however, this is much harder to find in Thailand for a foreign chap, IMHO. I confess, after month three, I stopped looking. that was almost 6 years ago.