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mr_hippo

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Posts posted by mr_hippo

    Thai Immigration Cracks Down On Foreign Teachers

    in Thailand News

    Posted

    I went to a grammar school in the North West of England. I am just on the right side of sixty. Not many people who were in my year went onto university - about 3%. I think that percentage was roughly the same nationwide. I cannot believe that a high proportion of the top 3% of Brits around my age are here in Thailand. A number of them trip themselves up, one went to the same school and was in the same year as an England international goalkeeper - despite a five year difference in ages!

    There are other tertiary qualifications that are similar in status to a BA but these are not recognised in Thailand. As well as the BA, I can put 24 post nominal letters after my name and that does not include 'military rank(Rtd)! but without the BA I could not teach here - I know there are cases of people without who teach. I have also known people with an armful of qualifications who cannot teach. Forget the old adage 'Those who can do, those that can't teach' Would David Beckham make a good football coach? He knows what he does but can he explain to others how he does it?

    What do you need to teach? You need something in your head, something in your hands but most of all you need it in your heart. Look at other teacher's forums, bad spelling and grammar (we are not teaching now so we do not have to be correct - I find it twice as hard to write bad English), simple grammar questions - How do I use an apostrophe?, What is the correct use of xxx? If you don't know simple grammar, how can you teach it?

    What is the solution to getting the undesirables (with or without degrees) and keeping the desirables (with or without degrees)? I wish I knew!

    Food Poisoning

    in Health and Medicine

    Posted

    Take antibiotics only if advised by a doctor, people take too many antibiotics; your body will build up a resistance to antibiotics and when you really need them, they will be about as effective as a packet of M&Ms

    Buscopan is not a miracle drug but it will help with stomach cramps and discomfort. Please do not give yourself, or let any unqualified person give you, an intramuscular injection. Not very effective in the early stages of diarrhoea.

    Most pharmacies stock ORS - oral rehydration salts - could be useful to keep a few packets at home or make your own. Two simple recipes - 300ml warm water, 1 teaspoon of sugar and 1 teaspoon of salt (the warm water will help the salt and sugar to dissolve quicker), alternatively - one can of 7up, allow it to go flat and add a teaspoon of salt.

    If symptoms persist over 24 hours - see a doctor.

    Copy-rights/name Of Shop.

    in Jobs, Economy, Banking, Business, Investments

    Posted

    I would say that you are running a big risk there have been quite a few cases where the owner of the registered mark has sued and won. A butcher's shop in Birkenhead, England specialised in sausages and renamed his shop 'Sausages R Us' and he was successfully sued by 'Toys R Us" for trademark infringement, You could possibly run foul of the law with a similar sounding name e.g. 'Hee Ess Pee Enn'

    Payment With Postal Stamps

    in General Topics

    Posted

    Taxi drivers in Bangkok are also required by Thai law 7.11 to accept those little silver stamps you get for purchases in the 7-11 stores.

    PB, I am very annoyed, the taxi driver who has just dropped me off had the nerve to refuse 2 postage stamps, an almost full card of 7-11 silver stamps and a 10% Central discount voucher. He wanted cash! What can I do?

    Payment With Postal Stamps

    in General Topics

    Posted

    Postage stamps in the UK are not legal tender. If a shopkeeper is willing to accept stamps as part (or whole) payment, he can do so but this does not make it legal tender By the same token, I can offer to pay my publican in sacks of horse manure for a couple of pints. There is no law stating that "in England they are legal tender and buy (sic) law must be accepted as payment for goods or services if offered" as you suggest. If you offered to pay your 99p bus fare in 1 & 2p coins you may be refused. If you see that latest super-dooper computer in you local computer shop mis-priced at £9-99 and not £999-99, you do not have a legal right to buy it at that price.

    Legal Tender in the United Kingdom is defined as a " means of payment that should not be refused by a creditor in satisfaction of a debt."

    Legal tender is in a somewhat confused state in the United Kingdom, and has been for many years, possibly for the entire existence of the Union.

    To summarise:

    English notes, issued by the Bank of England (and in times gone by occasionally the Treasury), are legal tender only in England, Wales, the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man. This is because under the Currency and Bank Notes Act 1954 (before decimalisation of the currency, when each pound was worth significantly more than it is now), Bank of England notes were only legal tender in Scotland for values under £5. Now, the lowest denomination note that they issue is the £5 note.

    Scottish notes, as issued by the Royal Bank of Scotland, the Bank of Scotland, and the Clydesdale Bank, are not legal tender anywhere, including Scotland.

    Notes from Northern Ireland, similar to Scottish notes, are not legal tender anywhere including Northern Ireland itself.

    Coins, of all denominations, are legal tender all over the United Kingdom, with certain caveats.

    1p and 2p coins are legal tender up to the value of 20p;

    5p and 10p coins are legal tender up to the value of £5;

    20p and 50p coins are legal tender up to the value of £10; and

    £1, £2, £5 (rare and commemorative) and gold coins of the realm are legal tender to any denomination.

    Confusing?

    Well, not as much as it appears. For a start, nobody really knows this: it's not well publicised (and hence enforced). I've had a great deal of trouble finding out specifics on this. Also, and more importantly, the status of legal tender isn't as important as it appears.

    Let me explain this a bit further. You may pay for your goods or services with cash; you may however pay by other means, such as with a Visa card, a cheque, Switch, or with a large bag of chickens, if the payment method is accepted. Therefore the legal tender status of that crisp twenty in your hand is not nearly as important as whether the person you wish to give it to will accept it as payment.

    It should be noted that although it is a rarity, it's is not at all unheard of for Scottish and Northern Irish notes to be refused as payment in England (and no doubt other parts of the UK too). In this situation, alas, you have no legal basis to rely on, and will have to use diplomacy or legal tender instead.

    --------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Citations:

    Scottish law online: http://www.scottishlaw.org.uk/lawscotland/banks.html

    Scottish Currency: http://www.saor-alba.fsnet.co.uk/currency.htm

    Philately and Numismatics: http://www.cartref.demon.co.uk/eng/collect.htm

    Bank of England: http://www.bankofengland.co.uk/banknotes/legaltender.htm

    Scottish Banks: http://www.scotbanks.org.uk/

    Source - http://everything2.com/index.pl?node=legal%20tender

    Riding A Bicycle In Bangkok...

    in Bangkok

    Posted

    I cycle in Bangkok on a regular basis and so far have encountered no problems. Of course the traffic can be a bit mad at times but if you are experienced then there should be no problems. I now work next to a BTS station so there is no point in cycling to work now but in the last 2 schools I worked I did. One school was a 26km round trip and the other was a 40km round trip. I used to take a taxi one day a week to take in a weeks supply of fresh clothes - shirts ties, underwear and socks (dirty clothes - I took them home every night in my backpack.)

    How long is your daily commute?

    A face mask in my opinion will be more of a hindrance than a help, it will not filter out the very fine particles and the speed that you can achieve on the city roads are not that high that you will be doing any deep breathing - you may get a slight sore throat - nothing more than that!

    If you are thinking of buying a good bike then I can recommend Probike near Lumpini Park.

    If you need any more help then you can always pm me.

    Will The Wife Get Any Thing...?

    in General Topics

    Posted

    If you are a Man and drawing a UK state Pension ( over 65 years of age ) and Married

    to a Thai lady, and you both live in Thailand , what would happen if the man dies ..? Would

    The Thai wife be entitled to any thing relating to the pension..?

    Thanks ......... WW

    This link seems to answer the question pretty well - There's no mention (and why should there be?) of the nationality of your spouse.

    http://www.thepensionservice.gov.uk/serps/who-m3.asp

    A very interesting question by the OP....anyone with experience?

    What happens when the man dies? Please re-read my earlier posting.

    Serious And Disturbing Email

    in General Topics

    Posted

    Please do not close this thread, why end a good soap-opera part way through the season? This one ought to be called 'The cop, the girl and the loser in Podunk, USA'. You have had your 15 minutes of fame, a lot of advice and many shoulders to cry on. You have had people on this site believing this puerile drivel. If your situation is true and I do mean if, only you know the full facts, only you know how the participants will react and only you can do something about it!

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