webworldly

Bina......thank you for your reply. I like the approach that your husband took to choosing flip flops.....so much more pragmatic than others who spend too many days and/or dollars shopping for the perfect snowy weather footwear.

He and I share the opinion that snow is 'sueay'.......and also the inability to drive well in the snow.

CHEERS!

D

Hey sbk & Patsycat.......I appreciate your replies. Google Translate wasn't as happy with "freaking" (เลว), but it did take a try at "snow angels" (ทูตสวรรค์หิมะ). No worries, I saw her today and instead of taking the risk that saying "it tickles your skin" would be get translated into something that would get me deported, we exchanged first names instead.

CHEERS!

D

I will tell you what I did when my sister in law asked me. I have one of those non-frost free fridges where the freezer builds up and you have to push the button to defrost it. I opened the freezer door, pointed at the buildup of ice and said "Its like that". She laughed but if you think about it, its true.

You're right! ........but I'm worried that when she tries to understand what playing outside when there's lots of snow is like, she'll climb into her freezer.

Are there a few Thai words (I study Thai, but my vocabulary is still very limited) that you would use to describe the overall experience of the first time you played in the snow and felt it falling on your skin? Words like "magical" or "tickled" might be inappropriate because their context in English is not exactly the same as in Thai. Any suggestions?

CHEERS!

D

Hi sbk......thank you for your reply. I should have done a better job of communicating why I started this thread, so hopefully a bit of additional information will help to improve it.

There is a Thai woman who I speak with about once a week when I visit where she works. In the course of a recent conversation she mentioned that she had never seen snow, and asked what is was like. Since I am not the greatest communicator, I thought...."hey, I wonder if this is the sort of question that is well suited for the 'Ladies In Thailand' subforum", so I posted it here hoping to receive some replies that would help me not to just tell her about snow.....but to do so using a description that was from a Thai woman's perspective. Originally I had intended to post this thread in the "General Topics" subforum, but I decided to try posting it here instead, since the perspective of those offering replies would be closer to the perspective of the person I wanted to communicate the information to.

sbk....I am open to your advice.......and if you think we should move this thread to the "General Topics" subforum, please do. I just want to have some information for the next time I see my friend.

CHEERS!

D

Hey ya'll

I am hoping to hear the Thai women's perspective regarding your first time seeing snow and actually being (or playing) outside when there was a lot of snow. Mostly, I am curious about:

1. How do you describe snow to your friends who have never experienced it in person?
2. If you were to tell your Thai friend that "snow is like....", or "being in the snow is like.......", how would you finish the sentence?
3. Was there anything particularly surprising to you that was different than what you had expected snow would be like?
4. Is there anything special that you did in the snow that you would recommend to your Thai friend before she experienced snow for the first time?
5. What was your favorite thing about it.......and your least favorite?

Ugggh.....just like a man, I turn everything into a list. Hopefully you will still reply.

CHEERS!

D

Hi ayayay.....thank you for your input, which further reinforces the need to both separate the cleaning duties from some of the other requirements, and to carefully consider the total compensation.

It's almost funny to think how problematic it would have been had I tried to hire and retain a staff based on my original "all in one" job description.

CHEERS!

D

Hey Paangjang.....I appreciate the specificity of your numbers, and I think you've done well to crystallize the consensus of the other contributors, i.e. dividing the duties between two separate positions, at a total monthly cost of between 22k-30k baht.

Thank you!

CHEERS!

D

I think it is great that simon43 shared, in such a "stream of consciousness" style, the thought process that led to his premise. For me as a reader, these are the (too rare) gems that create the most value for this particular sub-forum.

What if you start with an already established business - "massages for early arriving passengers" - and then enhance it with your particular abundant resource - Orchids?

1. Could there be a niche massage style that includes gently brushing the skin with orchids ("orchid tickle therapy" or "orchid skin sensitization therapy")?
2. Or some sort of "Five Sense Orchid Therapy" that would include the sight (orchid filled massage room), smell (orchid filled massage room), sound (?), touch (orchid skin sensitization...i.e. tickle), and taste (this is an interesting one https://www.google.com/search?q=edible+orchids )?

I don't know how helpful those ideas might be, but if nothing else, maybe they will help you continue your creative thinking about how to convert your resources into opportunities.

CHEERS!

D

Thank you for the recent additional feedback. After synthesizing the tips....I've decided to hire several different, non-degreed, Fillipinas, and then make all them my girlfriends. Easy!

Thank you very much to impulse, thaicbr, thailgold, and Will2011 for their replies. My key takeaways included the need for the employer to:

1. hire a bit more broadly, but quickly identify and reward the best performers with pay hikes
2. strongly consider splitting the job description into at least two distinct jobs....paying specific attention to the requirement that most concierge qualified candidates will have for not doing bedroom and bathroom cleaning.
3. embrace the concept that non-Thai employers must adapt to Thai team members, not the other way around

Great stuff.....thank you for all the help!

CHEERS!

D

kyb789 & ntotbkk....thank you both for your feedback. 12k baht sounds like it would be at the extreme low end, but as several others (most recently varun) have suggested, "this one position" may need to morph into "these several positions".

CHEERS!

D

I am mostly responding to give this post a "bump".....in hopes that @Sheryl sees it.

But in an effort to add value to the thread while we await a definitive reply.......according to MIMS Thailand (registration may be required):

http://www.mims.com/THAILAND/Home/GatewaySubscription/?generic=cycloserine

......two different brands of D-Cycloserine are available in Thailand

1. Cycloserine Meiji
2. Hawon Cycloserine

These are both Category D drugs according to the Thai FDA, and the big question that remains for Sheryl is, "Can these be purchased at independent pharmacies, or only at a hospital?".

CHEERS!

D

Spoonman, thank you for including a specific salary. Rgs2001uk, I definitely acknowledge your premise that the job I described does not match up well with the vast majority Bangkok's workforce. Point taken. Robenroute, thank you for mentioning the specific salary, and for reminding me that "permanent" here has a "same same, but different" meaning as it does elsewhere.

As for ShopBoy, I'm not sure I understand how a moth could fill the position. Are you referencing the robotic kind....such as this:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-22393858

And, thank you to the 73 people who emailed me their application for the job. (kidding)

Clearly, I must continue to refine (or rethink) the job description...so any additional responses are still greatly appreciated.

CHEERS!

D

I sure will appreciate hearing what you think the monthly salary would be for the following position. As you can see, it is a combination of personal assistant, maid, and concierge.

Description of duties:

1. Comfortable speaking whatever English they know, but not required to be anywhere near fluent

2. Knowledgeable regarding getting around Bangkok

3. Comfortable working one-on-one with English speaking foreigners for several hours each day

4. Willing to do 2 hours per day of cleaning (including one bathroom and one bedroom)

5. Comfortable standing or walking for up to six hours each day

How hard do you think it will be to hire a permanent team of 15 of these people in Bangkok?

Is there one particular requirement on my list that you think will be especially hard to find?

CHEERS!

D

Hey Grawburg.....I saw Mentos Air (plenty of stock....and though I did not take notice of which flavors, I definitely saw the one packaged with black background and white letters) at this Villa Market location:

Villa market JP Co.,Ltd. 2 Sukhumvit Rd., Klongtoei, Klongtoei, Bangkok 10110 Tel. 02-656-9071-4 Fax. 02-656-9070

I hope that helps....and I hope they never stop replenishing their inventory. I can relate to your predicament, as I love the "5" brand of chewing gum and would be less happy (at least for a short while) without it.

CHEERS!

D

Hey Mrjlh & Ackybang......both of your recommendations are helpful to me, since the question of "fix or replace" is the first step that will determine all that follow. Ackybang's detailed instruction addresses my original question as to the likely scope of repairing the leaky tank, whereas if the direction ends up being more in line with Mrjlh's suggestion to replace it, then I suppose I will be considering something like this:

500 liter tank, 3990 baht From HomePro in Bangkok:

http://www.directtoshop.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?urlRequestType=Base&catalogId=10051&categoryId=&productId=94311&errorViewName=ProductDisplayErrorView&urlLangId=&langId=-1&top_category=&parent_category_rn=&storeId=10001

Whatever the outcome, the help from both of you is greatly appreciated. I'll let you know how it turns out (if I am involved in the resolution).

CHEERS!

D

Greetings!

I was at a charity animal shelter today in Bangkok and they have a water tank on the 5th level that has a leak. This creates a ridiculous amount of work for the staff (or the volunteers) each day as they have to mop the floor to clean up the water (they have placed several containers under it to capture the leaked water, but they are understaffed and inevitably the water spills all over the floor).

I would love to donate the repair (I would make arrangements with a handy - fixit person directly and pay them with my own money so the women at the shelter do not have to worry about the process), but I am not sure I can afford to do it. Is such a repair likely, or even possibly, going to turn into a huge (in terms of time or money) repair job? Aside from the money, is this the type of repair that could somehow go really wrong and end up with the owner of the shelter being mad?

Here is all I know:

1. the tank is approximately 2 meters (height) x 1 meter (width)
2. the outside of the water tank feels like ceramic (?)
3. I don't know if it is a water "heater" tank or just a tank with unheated water but when I was emptying the containers underneath the tank (they capture the leaked water), the water in the containers was not heated at all
4. the leak is from the bottom of the tank, and there may be more than one hole causing the leak
5. there is a balcony (outdoors) that is about 4 meters from the tank that could be used to empty the tank before the repair
6. sometimes there are animals that must be in the room with the tank so the repair can not leave any dangerous chemicals exposed (e.g. glue for the holes, etc.)

I wish I could tell you more....but that's all I know based on what I saw while I was cleaning that room and emptying the containers full of leaked water. Based on such limited information, is there anything you can advise regarding the repair process and / or the kind of repair person I need to find?

For what it's worth, the owner of the shelter and the volunteers there work their asses off caring for their animals. I would love it if somehow I could help them in this tiny way.

CHEERS!

D

Hey somchaismith.....I agree with kwaiimomo that you provided great info. Thank you very much!

CHEERS!

D

Hey somchaismith.....thank you very much for your input.

Of your two suggestions, I think Thai Ultraman would be better for the person I have in mind, since this is going to be a gift for an American adult comic fan. I Googled to learn more about Ultraman, and I am a bit confused. I saw a lot of material regarding Japanese versions and live Thai versions, but other than than the poster that you posted, I don't see any references to a print comic book series version of Thai Ultraman.

Do you, or anyone else reading this, know if there is an ongoing print version of the Thai Ultraman comic book....and where to buy it in Thailand?

CHEERS!

D

Ultraman is Thai,

Greetings comic book fans.

What's a distinctively Thai original comic book (no Manga) you'd recommend to a farang adult who is an English language superhero comic book fan? Extra gratitude for the name and location of a place in Bangkok where it can be purchased.

CHEERS!

D

Hey chrispbacon....I arrived at this thread eager to peruse an abundance of replies, and excited to discover and ultimately experience many of the activities that I may have missed in my 6 years here in BKK.

I'm still hoping it happens....and maybe my own list (short and unexciting as it is) will get the ball rolling. Here goes:

1. Stroll, slowly and deliberately, through the Nana (Little Arabia) area and observe (and be observed as part of) the wonderful mix of cultures and ethnicities. Extra points for engaging in conversation as often as the opportunity arises (while taking common sense precautions as you do).
2. Embark on a street food buffet....seeking out, purchasing, and consuming as much variety as you can. Extra points for including anything you previously would have sworn never to eat.
3. Take a free Thai language class (pre-booking is suggested) in order to more deeply experience and appreciate....even for just an hour.....a bit of your host country's beautiful language. The investment of an hour of your time will be repaid many times over throughout the rest of your day by the responses from Thai people when you make the effort to speak even a few words of Thai.

Doing all of the above will only use up about 2 hours of your "1 day in BKK". Lot's of time left for whatever else makes it on to your list. And later, when you reflect on your time in Bangkok, I would bet that you'll be glad you did them.

CHEERS!

D

Hey expatsupreme.....I'm not sure how much help this will be, since I have not tried it myself and can't point you toward a place to buy pure nutritional yeast.....but I have seen "Marmite" and "Vegemite" for sale at Villa Market, Sukhumvit Soi 11, Bangkok.

Not 100% yeast, but yeast is the main ingredient in both products.......and many Aussies swear by it.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vegemite

CHEERS!

D

Hey merlotaholic....I can't help with the printed magazines, but I thought you might like to know about the free audio (podcast) versions of the Harvard Business Review. You can download them for free.....and you can "subscribe" so that you automatically receive each new episode.

https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/hbr-ideacast/id152022135

Or.....you can access the same content directly from the HBR website (also free):

Audio versions:

http://blogs.hbr.org/ideacast/

Video versions:

http://blogs.hbr.org/video/

I hope that helps you......and thumbs up on your desire to "not limit your curiosity". :-)

CHEERS!

D

Hi Louis.....one option would be to list it for sale on the website, "Craigslist", which is one of the most popular in the world for this purpose.

Here is the link to the main page for Bangkok:

http://bangkok.craigslist.co.th/

And here is the direct link to begin the process of listing your Asus laptop for sale:

https://post.craigslist.org/k/KAae4u6W4hG6BkkXjzSgog/JC0yV?s=cat

I hope that helps....and good luck to you for a fast, lucrative sale!

CHEERS!

D

Hi :-)

Have you or someone you know tried the bicycle share service "punpunbikeshare"? If so....how was the experience?

http://www.punpunbikeshare.com/?page_id=87

CHEERS!

D