way2muchcoffee

I know a head teacher there. She is highly experienced and says good things about the school. It is a British Curriculum 2nd tier int'l school. Decent reputation and they are legitimately striving to become top tier.

Very sad. Condolences to the family and friends of the dead, and we'll hope the injured recover quickly.

It is criminal the way the bus companies here schedule routes for drivers. To be sure the guy shouldn't have fallen asleep, if that's what happened, but what is he supposed to do? Smoke yabaa to stay awake? Energy drinks only go so far. At that time of night it is also possible that he swerved to avoid an oncoming drunk driver and lost control. We'll never know. The police will place the blame squarely on the driver. He's dead and won't kick up a fuss.

Salesmen are the 'whores of industry and business'.

I say take it slow. If you think the pros are strong enough and in plenty then suggest you share an apartment together. You pay for the apartment. She takes care of her family and contributes to household expenses in a split that is fair based on your individual incomes. By living together you will find out how compatible you really are, or are not.

Another piece of 'free advice'. Limit your dealings with other Thai women. This is a big one. It is not common for Thai men to have Thai female friends who they see individually, unless there is something more than friendship going on. Usually these kind of cross-gender friendship interactions in Thai society occur in groups, not as individuals.

Try these things. See how it works. Marriage is serious and should not be entered into quickly. I lived with my Thai wife for 6 years before we got married. Yes, it took that long for me to truly feel comfortable with the decision. We've now been married for one and a half years. The relationship is stronger than ever and we are now contemplating having children.

it don't matter what you do,

or how incredibly nice, polite, well dressed and a s s licking you are,

you will never be given respect from thai bosses.

its that simple................................................

Grossly inaccurate. Having worked full or part time for 12 schools/companies in Thailand I can tell you that your assertion is simply untrue.

By the account of most teachers I know here, the Thai system does pretty well with primary education. It is secondary and tertiary schooling that needs serious improvement.

I should clarify. I might consider sending my child to a government school for the first 3 years of primary education. After that I would change schools. I think as a parent you would be in a position of keeping your child grounded.

^ Yep, same. 2,000 to 5,000 with the atm cards.

I've been working as a teacher in Thailand for the last 7 years. There is no way would I send my child to a government school, unless it was Triam Udom or something similar. Most Thai schools lack necessary resources like decent textbooks, good teachers, proper curriculum, competitive and fair grading, science labs, and the list goes on and on and on.

Moreover, as a Westerner, I am not in a position to provide the necessary contacts for my child to be given opportunities for real success in Thailand. Call it snobbery, but in my view it is just the reality of the Thai education and employment systems. I would want my child to have opportunities and I believe that sending them to a local government school would, in almost all cases, be starting them out in life with a very serious, and possibly insurmountable handicap.

I agree. If you want to be treated as a professional, act professionally.

I have a simple dual B.S. in Physics and Mathematics, with a further year of grad school, but no other degree. When I arrived in Thailand 7 years ago I earned 35,000 bt/month at my job. Through hard work, integrity, honesty, motivation, and perseverance I now find myself earning more than double my starting salary. With some private lessons added in it comes to almost triple my initial salary. It is really not that difficult. Suit up, do the best you can do, keep your eyes and ears open, demonstrate loyalty and fidelity to employers. Opportunities will arise and respect will be given. I've found that the most significant changes and improvements to the education system here are made in the classroom, and at low-level management.

I teach math and physics. I work for a private Thai school in BKK. At the school I am earning about 80k, but make another 20k on private lessons. Life is pretty good. It isn't luxurious, but the wife and I are quite comfortable. It's nice to have a job that provides 2.5 months holiday every year.

7 years and counting...

a farang bar owner once was asked how many succeded of the many he saw happen. he replied none or thereabouts. too bad he didnt meet you then he could have said one worked out

Of course the bar owner would only see the girls who came back because their marriages didn't work out. Any marriage that did, the girl wouldn't be around to report on the success.

It's the same on forums. Only the failed relationships get reported and discussed.

I have chosen a career that necessitates a modest lifestyle, wherever in the world I work. Living in Thailand I earn about 85% of what I would earn in the US. The difference is that my rent here takes up about 15% of my income for a 2-bedroom townhouse in BKK, whereas in the US rent for the same type of housing would run to 50% or more of my total income, with zero opportunities for ownership. So it seems I am in the fortunate position of making relatively decent money, for the career I have chosen, and I am living in the location that I most desire. It is now time for me to look more seriously into retirement plans, tighten the belt a bit, and make the necessary sacrifices to gain better financial security for myself and my family. I have about 26 years left before retiring. I teach mathematics and physics.

1) Go out more often, together. Day trips, temple carnivals, restaurants, movies, shopping, sight seeing, picnics, etc.

2) Take holidays frequently, together. Make them romantic getaways.

3) Accept that the family is part of your lives and that won't change. Join them. Learn the language. Interact.

4) Build a small vacation house in another part of Thailand.

5) Travel overseas: HK, Singapore, Laos, Viet Nam, Philippines, Cambo, China, Japan, Korea, NZ, Bali, Malaysia.

6) Set limits, but be reasonable. If 1 am is too late, move it to midnight. If it's every night that she's watching TV with family, suggest that 2 or 3 nights per week are yours.

7) Have family outings. Take everyone out. This will help further positive family relations.

Well said

CRAP !

1 to 7 should already have been happening - she is not interested. She has everything she wants and no longer needs to do anything else.

Another one one trying to apply Western value/thinking to a multicultural relationship. When in Oz she did as the Romans do - now the OP must do the same in Thailand (or move on).

No need to be so high and mighty Chaimai. It is unbecoming.

I think you are on to something anyway. I suspect she is just bored, as teacup suggested. This means that the husband needs to find exciting things for them to do. Make things more interesting. Travel. Nights on the town. If they are sitting out in the boonies in the village, and the husband hangs out all day doing nothing, it only makes sense that the wife will fall into the village ways she grew up with. IME village life is communal. There is very little 'private time'. The private time is achieved by doing things together - away from the village.

^ I disagree. If things started to go sour in my marriage I would fight tooth and nail to identify the problems, and go to extreme lengths to fix them. I believe that divorce should be the very last option, and would try everything under the sun to preserve the marriage first.

There is too much advice like: Get a divorce, find a mia noi/gik, throw everyone out.

This is childish advice. Who gets a divorce over TV watching? Anyone willing to throw away a 5-year marriage over this problem could never be a suitable husband or father to anyone.

There are many things you can do to help preserve this relationship.

1) Go out more often, together. Day trips, temple carnivals, restaurants, movies, shopping, sight seeing, picnics, etc.

2) Take holidays frequently, together. Make them romantic getaways.

3) Accept that the family is part of your lives and that won't change. Join them. Learn the language. Interact.

4) Build a small vacation house in another part of Thailand.

5) Travel overseas: HK, Singapore, Laos, Viet Nam, Philippines, Cambo, China, Japan, Korea, NZ, Bali, Malaysia.

6) Set limits, but be reasonable. If 1 am is too late, move it to midnight. If it's every night that she's watching TV with family, suggest that 2 or 3 nights per week are yours.

7) Have family outings. Take everyone out. This will help further positive family relations.

And these are just a few of the things that could be done.

I agree with Dakhar. The 30 baht scheme was never workable. It was a populist policy designed to secure votes from a historically disenfranchised population. Even 200 bt wouldn't be enough if the scheme were to include expensive surgeries/treatments/medicines. This government simply doesn't have the resources to subsidize such a scheme to the level it would require. Passing the costs along to hospitals and doctors isn't the solution. Taxes?

Regarding the OP. I feel great sympathy for you and your wife. The story is an outrage.

I work at a university that has supposedly international standards but it doesn't in a large way.

This is what everyone says, then later we find out that they are working somewhere nobody has every heard of, deep in Isaan. Perhaps state which BBA program you work for?

I would strongly advise against this. Legal troubles could arise. Losing the job is also quite possible.

Actually it could have been much worse if there had been someone eating Durrian too. That would have been the full experience.

The dried squid is worse IMO.

It's because the ones that can give back choose to solidify their family foundations rather than that of their alma mater. I already paid my tuition the first time around (in cash, not with loans -many that go unpaid- unlike an awful lot of folks), I'm not going to give them a gratuity on top of that... especially not one to pay for the tuition for those (or whose families) who didn't work hard enough or care enough to pay for college.

Yep. And that attitude strongly supports the point that Geriatric was making.

Anyone here ever see "Fear and loathing in Las Vegas" ??? The Hunter S. Thompson movie made from the book ??

Those are the kind of savage burns I'd pull on any hotel that tried to screw me over paying for a broken glass. Yeah. they'd have to call the fire department just to break down the door to the room since I screwed all the furniture to the door.

And of course add other touches like doing a "top shelf"

Obviously you are destined to spend out your days institutionalized or incarcerated.

Okay. I didn't intentionally cut a relevant previous post in order to make a point. Apologies if it looked that way. As far as education being a prerequisite for voting, well that's just plain nonsense.

I will give the dotcom an open invitation to come up to our village to say that. Along with the one that called them idiots. To repeat their comments.

I will even arrange to have an ambulance standing by.

Actually your statement supports the notion of 'rural idiots'. Any person willing to engage in violence for being called an idiot is exactly that - an idiot. I don't subscribe to the notion of rural folk being idiots simply because they are rural. There are plenty of idiots in the city. There are plenty of clever villagers who simply haven't been given the same opportunities in life as the typical city dweller.

If someone is paying for a room that runs around 1500 bt or less per night then they should expect to pay for everything they break. If they are paying 3500 bt/night or higher then the rate should cover incidental breakages.