BlackArtemis

Only been charged differently once in Chiang Mai, Doi Suthep, one time of many visits.

I have been to both Mandalay, Fabrique, most of the Thai clubs in fact, Night safari, the zoo, national parks/ camping etc.

Mostly I go to warm up. Only 5 more months till I am back in CM and my wife and I are really looking forward to Warm Up!

And yo, Gotlost: Not every bar serves every type of liquor, If I want to drink something different that night I have no qualms about corkage fees. I would think the opposite of people who bring in something nicer than "El Toro" haha.

These posts are great!

My wife was tutoring a university girl in English. (A nursing student)

The student brought up that her teacher constantly says "Kia" and has no idea what it means.

After going back and forth and trying to find the context she realized the teacher was saying "Clear?" as in "Are we clear, everyone understand everything?"

So this has become a big joke between us. My wife will say something and then "Kia?"

sometimes I reply, No, Hyundai.

I haven't flown China, only EVA and Thai (when they still offered BKK to JFK).

Personally I think EVA has slipped dramatically. I flew their middle class from BKK to EWR last year and they no longer offered hot towels and other toiletries, their outlet couldn't power my 15" laptop. When i flew Thai Air, their economy was the same size as EVA's middle class and they had outlets that could power a 15" laptop.

My Prof who brought me over on a semester abroad has switched from EVA to China when he brings 30 kids to Thailand each year and likes them very much.

Seems plausible to me. A bunch of young girls here in the states near me were pulling bank teller scams like this and similar stories like this crop up now and then from grocery stores.

I mentally add things up as I shop just so I know what to expect to pay.

My sister in law divorced with a 4 year old and she got into a relationship and eventually married a thai/chinese guy. He treats my niece better than her real father ever did and even states he is the father.

Both my sister in law and brother in law come from well to do and highly educated families though. I would not see this as the norm.

I only read half of the thread, but, is your fiance asking for the sinsod because of family pressure?

Remember guys, the wife may not want anything to do with it, but culturally she has to please her parents.

I paid no sinsod for my wedding. My wife's family does not believe in it. Her sister was the same.

My own observation is that sinsod seems to be most popular in Issan areas.

I agree that most of the time the topics are nonsense. But yes Thai's do make comments about dark girls with farang. And if you happen to date a paler girl be prepared to answer the same dam_n questions every time. "You are farang, why do you date a pale girl? Farangs only like dark girls"

I have had quite a few instances of guys trying to hit on my wife in Warm Up (a big Thai college student club in Chiang Mai).

Depending on how crude/rude they are and my mood the backlash they get is different, but it never fails to make them look like a deer in the headlights when I interject and tell them to get lost.

usually the convos are "You're cute, do you have a boyfriend?" and many times this happens when I am making my way back to the bathroom. But then there are the cocky bastars who say "Once your done with the farang you should come with me" those guys and the guys who don't skitter off after my wife tells them she doesn't want them are the ones who get an ear full.

And on a final point, just because some people speak ill doesn't mean th whole lot of them do and it is not a valid reason to not try and learn the language if you plan on living in Thailand for a long period of time.

Always sad when a fellow human dies.

To be honest, and not to be rude, I wasn't surprised when I red the headline. My first thoughts swung right back to all the thuggish behavior surrounding the gay pride parades months earlier. IF there was something shady behind all of this I wouldn't be surprised with any connections to that thuggish behavior.

But in the end a life was lost and that is always sad for those close.

P.S. Ignore that "conservative Christian BS... Obvious troll is Obvious....

PB: I believe we are way beyond that point. There are many situations where once students reach about P.5 they begin to see that their English is better than their Thai teachers. Granted these are students who study EP, NP, Private Tutor, have help at home, and etc. Also I want to state that there are many Thai English teachers who are proficent and even try to go out of their way to improve their English.

When i last worked, my school tried something new, they hired recent English grads instead of recent Education grads for Thai teacher positions in the EP program. There were good and bad results, but it was a HUGE shock to the entire sstem, rather encouraging really, that they went against the norm in hiring.

What was required of me was

15hrs of teaching

In by 7:50am I could leave at 3pm, but if you stayed one or two days past that to talk to parents, it was very smiled upon. So you could plan these days and then tell your students what days parents could meet with you.

1.5hr lunch break, just be back 5 mins before class starts

You didn't have to be in your classroom when it was a Thai subject, but you should be on campus and easily reached. Ie, outside or in a quiet area.

Reading books etc is all fine and dandy, but personally I think grading papers and making lesson plans was much easier since it meant less work at home.

Depending on what was going on, you might have to prepare students for some sort of competition.

Other than sports day, family night, and parent orientation. I might have had 1 or 2 other weekend days per year.

Sports day would take up an ungodly amount of time, to practice running... Family Night, well that took up atleast 30hrs of teaching time in 2nd semester, which combined with sports day meant it was always a last minute rush to pack in everything before March. I found it easier to have students work on props etc during recess. They enjoyed coloring in the cooler rooms (3rd and 5th grade).

I had almost the full month of Oct. off, paid. And from Mid March to Mid May off, paid. I could be anywhere and do anything in the world that I wanted. I would travel stateside each October and come back to a paycheck in the bank.

This was at a Gov't school in Chiang Mai, I got about 7k or so less than some private schools in the area, but I felt my freedoms well made up for it.

Everyone is going to have a different experience. it was crazy sometimes and tempers flared at work of administration ideas etc. But now looking back on it, I miss it all.

I had a very different experience and i worked at a Government school. hel_l, I got more paid days off than the private schools. (2.5 months+ total) Sure I had to train kids for competitions etc, but that's the norm.

I am going to assume the post is legit and just say that if you are treated like that, it's time to find a new school. If you continualy get treated like that at each new job, it's time to do some self reflection.

Don't worry, they'll send letters home about the dirty heathens forcing them out and how they need more money to be a light on the hill, also a few more fortuners, MU7's and gas the fuel them....

I don't see anything suspect with the title, I believe it's the subtitle, the subtle jab, that might peak some ire.

Guess what? People have specs, only wanting an Asian girl is just as judgmental as preferring pale.

I prefer pale Asian girls, so I dated, and eventually married a pale Asian girl. :shrug:

I came to Thailand to study and after I returned home to the US, I didn't find many white girls attractive anymore :shrug:

different strokes for different folks.

Yeah, I realized my post came off as a bit of a #$%#.

I think my problem is that I am still thinking with a western mentality when it comes to work.

Here in the US, trying to get an education job, or many others for that matter, with an online degree still puts you at a disadvantage.

While Thailand is hiring a much more international clientele and there is strong notion as to why you would pursue and online degree.

It may also be that since here in the US, online degrees are often mentally connected with Shoddy commercials at 3am asking if you are tired of sitting on the couch.

I still wonder how the degrees will be weighed at a prominent international school.

Sorry for sticking my foot in my mouth

This may or may not be related.

But I did a semester abroad with my University and CMU.

I had a wonderful time in the Thai classrooms, I can't say that these will be the same professors I had. However each day my conversational Thai grew quite a bit.

Saw a C3 vette with origonal engine and a early 70's Chevelle as well.

Seen M5's etc but as amazing as they perform they don't do much for me. I love the sight and sound of old detroit iron best, even if some do require a K turn on a 4 lane highway!

Appleman ? so why are you still here ? I couldnt disagree with you more >

I believe his indicates sarcasm.

I will check it out when I return in July.

Though I like pale Thai girls, I like em short too

I was in Chiang Mai last year.I wasn't impressed.Prices are to high.I believe the reason to many farangs,they ruin the area.

Absolute ridiculous statement.....prices too high (as others have said) compared to what? I can go to Thai bars behind Carrefour, I pay 45bht for a large bottle of Leo and get free live thai bands (many playing western music)....I can go to many street carts and markets out of town and get fantastic food for 25-30bht a dish.

Too many farangs? In town, yes tourists, but out of the centre? No.

Did you actually get more than 100 yards from Loi Kroh road?

You obviously have no idea what living in Chiang Mai is like!

Exactly, I only went to Warm Up and other CMU student hang outs. often I would be one of less than 5 Farangs there.

Eating behind CMU meant there was TONS of cheap and great food.

If you befriend Thais or get into a good relationship with a Thai you will see and experience an entirely different Chiang Mai.

My 1 month tefl class in Phuket was enough of the backpacker world for me...

For me, and probably for a family, I find it nice that the prostitution is less in your face.

Yes you can drive around at night and find spots with girls hanging out etc, but it's tame to other places.

Ahh yes, the death metal rooster!

the difference starts at 7sec in.

HAve you read about the young farang guys pulling the same stunt on older Thai women? Mooching etc etc and then running?

My favorite is 3rd grade. Old enough to formulate their own ideas and be creative. In a decent EP program most of them should have decent enough English to be able to do a lot of fun things.

The biggest problem I had was trying to get them to raise their hand when they wanted to answer.

They lose this when they get older, I had the same group of kids for 5th grade 2 years later and it was like pulling teeth to get them to participate, the fear of being wrong in front of their peers became the 600lb Gorilla in the room.

Currently studying state side so I can teach 6th-8th grade Biology and Earth and Space Science. It will be a far cry from a Thai government school haha.

The best case is to pack it up and return home for a few years. Yeah it kinda sucks to be out of Thailand, but you get a degree that is from a western country and isn't an Online degree.

2 years and counting till I'm done doing this...

NIce one BlackArtemis, good luck with it. But my wife is due in 10 weeks with a wee baby girl so need to keep working full time.

Congrats on that!

Mine wants to get her masters here before trying again :/

In your situation online is the way to go, you can even do classes when rocking your baby girl to sleep and let the wife have some well deserved rest haha!

Good luck in all.

The best case is to pack it up and return home for a few years. Yeah it kinda sucks to be out of Thailand, but you get a degree that is from a western country and isn't an Online degree.

2 years and counting till I'm done doing this...