CrunchWrapSupreme

On 9/1/2021 at 2:52 PM, patongphil said:

Lots of land going up for sale around the village.

Apparently unemployment means loans cannot be paid and with hungry sharks circling the only possible source of monies is the family land!!

Can confirm. Out here in Issan, the wife and I saw a vacant house on a pretty decent plot of land. Right on the main road. Eventually a for sale sign popped up, and we soon had dreams of our own little garden and opening up a shop. But soon the for sale sign disappeared. Then she heard through the gravevine the selling price. 300k baht, or $9000 USD. Man. I actually had that cash a few years ago. If you do, now's the time to snap up some property.

On 9/2/2021 at 11:41 AM, Andycoops said:

People just can't afford to pay the monthly amount anymore so are having them repossessed.

Indeed. My motorbike is nearby done being paid off. Every month my wife sends the finance lady the transfer receipt. She's got her on Line. Right away she gets a confirmation. Why so quickly, my wife asked? Because we're one of the few still paying, she replied.

Someone else asked about finance companies. There often is none with the motorbike dealerships, because they're so small. The dealerships themselves handle finance and do repos.

We found this out when we went to buy our car. We thought the years of making good payments on the motorbike boosted my wife's credit, but since it was through the dealer and not a real finance company, they did not. Hah. Luckily, the banks are desperate for business and blasting out car loans now, so it wasn't a prob.

16 hours ago, RichardColeman said:

Another kick in the balls for the freedom and democracy index

They really got to want it. Speaking as a teacher, I can honestly relate and say there isn't much you can do, if the student or those you try to help aren't interested or participate. For this reason we wasted 20 years in Afghanistan.

I had to get some of the evil CP fish food today. There was just no avoiding it. My fish are now infused with communism. ????????????????????????

Great timing for these daily Covid cases to be supposedly falling.

My moo ban and Thai coworkers say the same. We've got vacation time coming next month, yet they're still postponing any travel plans.

On 9/1/2021 at 1:04 PM, Jillie Norman said:

I have a friend teaching Chinese Students and according to her, Chinese pay less compare to Taiwanese and Japanese. Despite of this, she treats all classes equally fun.

Hehe, yes indeed. I've had some real Cheap Charlies, compared with what they expect from the teaching.

The other day I had some exec from an Asian investment bank needing help with her public speaking, for the presentations she must do to close their multi billion dollar deals. For this important skill she chose the notoriously cheapest teaching platform, and for our enlightening session I got a whole five US dollars. Other times I get students in need of IELTS test prep, who I must kindly inform they're not going to get the same level of what such prep usually commands, around $30/hr.

While to be fair, and not perpetuate the stereotype, in a past life I did sales for a small, Asian family business in the US for many years. They were quite generous, paying out bonuses, throwing parties, and putting us up in hotels for trade shows. Then that industry took a dive, leaving me crawling into retail, then back to university, and now I'm in the LOS teaching.

6 hours ago, majhiggins said:

many don't realize that the envelope with 5000-10,000 baht that you present to the admissions official at a reputable public school for your child to get in is even a bribe. 

I know of a certain Issan govt school exactly like this. Admins even bragged about it, that this meant their school was so good. Yet it was much the same as most govt schools, with kids usually sitting in class, goofing off all day, and getting a score for this. Meanwhile teachers were rarely around, in the office or off attending "meetings". Parents really were paying for just a prestigious name on that diploma.

Samut Prakan was mentioned earlier. I can confirm they are indeed one of the worst offices. They enjoy being in an area with many private and intl schools, and factories with foreign workers, and take full advantage of this by making the visa process as difficult as possible. The flummoxed employers are forced into forking faciliative funds for their foreigners. I finally was flabbergasted and fled, fortunately to a place far away. F!

One of the many reasons I quit teaching in BKK, the monthly transportation expenses. They eat into your salary quite a bit.

If you're not at an intl school with a six figure baht salary, the best you can hope for is a private school making 60-70k. Then there's your BKK condo, then there's the transport.

I had colleagues with a commute consisting of a lengthy moto taxi trip from way down a Sukhumvit soi, then the BTS ride, then a songthaew down the road from the BTS, then another moto taxi to the school. On days they're running late or caught in the rain, then they hop in a taxi. It really adds up.

The shop in my moo ban has the purple LED UV lights. I thought they were trying to get a little nightclub vibe going, since we still can't go to any. They said they're for checking counterfeit currency and lottery tickets.

Well, I had my dog's help, but I'm the trainer. ???????? We went hunting for rats in the irrigation canals.

18 hours ago, youreavinalaff said:

Then the poor exchange rates given by PayPal. It amounts to between $5 and $7 an hour.

That's correct. The pay rate is $10/hr, but that hour's usually not fully productive, with about 50-75% of it filled with pay talk time, resulting in that pay rate. My hours used to be filled a months back, not so now with the Chinese platform refugees. I was getting $600, yet can still be happy with a $400-500 monthly take. I also got my regular job.

My primary concern is my $250 car payment. My moo ban is stunned by the farang going into his room everyday, talking on his computer, and has a new car sitting in his driveway for it. ????????

Heh, I've been in Cambly debates way too many times and don't care to again. I'll just say, yeah it sucks. The pay is <deleted>. No support, frequent technical issues. However, upside is the flexibility. Just grab whichever hours you want to work. Zero lesson prep. No scoring or progress reports to do, or homework to give. Usually better students, as I've said, many older professionals and great conversations. As for the downtime waiting for students, heh, I was sitting in front of my computer anyway after work, reading news, watching YouTube, which I can still do with that time and now get paid for it as students show up.

Yet I'm by no means defending or shilling for them, they're much a necessary evil. I've put in apps to the other platforms, including that big European one with much better pay, which I have the qualifications, and even a reference for. But they and others were already full even before the Chinese platform refugees, and thus now seem impossible.

My govt school out in the Issan sticks has been getting ready for something. Renovations, new gear being installed, director busy in his office, more meetings. Wouldn't doubt a reopening is imminent.

18 minutes ago, koele2 said:

If a vaccine is only 50% effective, it’s not a vaccine, it’s vitamin C.  Thais know their govt bought lots of sinovac to please the Chinese, not for the good of public health.  

The warehouses of some school districts in America are filled with unused books. They're no longer up to snuff for whatever reason, the curriculum's been changed, whatever. But the important thing is someone got a nice kickback for those orders. It's an old story.

Me, my wife, and other fam members are waiting for the call for the vaccine. Health officials came and took a copy of my passport and their ID cards nearly two weeks ago, and were told it should be any day now. My coworkers and others in nearby villages have had theirs.

Her phone's been ringing, and we get anxious each time. Yet the calls have been trying to sell bloody car insurance.

4 hours ago, youreavinalaff said:

Regardless of what you teach, what platform you use and how you connect with the student on internet, if the kids are in China there will be problems.

I only occasionally get Chinese kids. Most of my students are teens and adults from other Asian & European countries, and Brazil. My problem isn't with the students, but with all the teachers coming in from the Chinese platforms, who in need of work are now grabbing my students, haha.

20 hours ago, simon43 said:

because I made the smart move to get out of online ESL teaching and specialise in online Science lessons, in English

Hehe, definitely not the first time us lowly ESL teachers have heard "you should be teaching a subject". I'm a bit old now to backtrack and get a BA or credential in something else. I really do like English. It was my favorite subject as a kid. I loved to read and was always complemented on my writing.

The pro to teaching a subject is, as you've said, you can specialize in it, establish a niche, and possibly make more money. Yet the downside is that is you ever need to go looking for a job, or more private students, finding one in need of math, science, music, whatever, is up to luck, while you'll always find someone in need of English.

I've also found that, especially with adult students who are more advanced, I'm no longer just teaching English. I'm also doing a lot of counseling and life coaching. Many times I'm asked to draw upon the experience I've had with my career path and the places I've worked, to help them along their journeys. They've asked me about how to ask for promotions or transfers, how to travel in search of new work, job interview tips, how to deal with difficult coworkers or bosses. There's also much conversational skill to be taught beyond simply the language itself, such as with proper turn taking, showing an interest in those you talk to, staying positive, avoiding conflict, finding common ground. It sounds like common sense, but for many it isn't. I used to actually be much worse at this sort of thing myself, but have grown from the experiences I've had, and am now happy to help others with it.

Ah, the many mysteries of the Far East...

3 hours ago, jerrymahoney said:

keep my insanity intact

They're stepping it up here. The returned bar girls having been doing more scowling, more barking at their dear grandparents, more stomping around and leaving in a huff, more classic Thai passive aggression. There's talk of them marrying their Thai BFs to bring their families much needed sin sod money. Having once had money thrown at them every night, being sold for what I hear are paltry sums are quite a blow to their egos. I can only imagine what those marriages will be like. At least they won't be in my moo ban.

Heh, 12 baht a share. Companies are hurting. There's blood in the water. The vultures are circling. It's fire sale time. Gee, why lift the restrictions, when there's more deals to be had?

16 minutes ago, jesimps said:

After several months of bar mongering I met my missus at a local restaurant where she worked as a temporary waitress/cook.

That's the same path I took. Had my fun after having arrived, then popped into a random small restuarant down a Sukhumvit soi. Causally chatted up a waitress. Got her Line ID like it was nothing, I'd already gotten so many. Cute, but not a stunner, which really is the way to go if you're expecting an LTR. Though at the time I wasn't expecting much of it. Then over time we just kept talking and talking, then I moved far away and we kept talking. I was surprised she wanted to stay in touch, then wanted to come see me. All these other chicks I had in progress were flaky, just wanted to mess around, or began shamelessly hitting me up for cash, which she never did. So we ended up living together, then later got married. Lucky she's a hard worker, and for awhile we had a successful little business going, which Covid's put a stop to unfortunately. I believe she'll go far when I take her back to the States.

1 hour ago, thaibeachlovers said:

I'm glad you realise that "luck" was involved.

Yup. I definitely lost the height game. Purely luck. In about 6th grade I noticed that I just stopped growing. In the US and most other Western countries the ladies all want 6'+. Ridiculous when this is largely the exception. Totally superficial also. Being seen next to that big guy is quite the status symbol, regardless of how much of a jerk he might be. Which usually winds up being the case when seeking others with superficial priorities. I solved that problem coming to a country where most of the chicks are 5'. ???? Now I seem to have gotten lucky with my wife.