teddy_bare

P.S. My preference is to ride a motorcyle without a helmet and do so whenever I can get away with it..........Chownah

your wife and children must be very proud of having such a responsible husband /father.

an accident (possibly with an overloaded out of control pickup) could leave you a drooling catheterised vegetable for your family to look after.

there is a big difference between living an exciting life and living a stupid life.

....and if imagining that you might run over the body of a stupid person who falls out of a pickup truck is too much for you to handle then I would prefer that you go to some safer more risk aversive culture and leave the riskier ones for those who prefer to manage their own risk.

a crass statement , indefensible !

First I was dumb and now I'm crass. I can always tell when I've made a good case for my point of view because some people start calling me names because they can't come up with a good arguement against me....never mind them just politely posting their own point of view and just letting us dumb crassnicks express our views in quiet dignity.

And by the way....I agree, there is a big difference between living an exciting life and a stupid life....I prefer the exciting life...seems like those who want the gov't to take on the responsibilty for thier lives want a stupid life....but that is just my view and is probably crass and dumb like all the other indefensible stuff I've posted here.

Chownah

The problem is letting people decide for themselves affects other people, obviously! Regulating some actions stops abuse and putting other people in danger. My counterpoint to yours was pointing this out. In my country they used to shove children up chimneys to clean them. Regulation and enforcement was the only reason they stopped. Bosses etc insist their workers travel this way as it's cheaper not a freaking life choice.

I think its a bad law. I think it should be up to the individual whether they want to ride in the back or not. If they want to prohibit someone from the back it should be children although I'm not advocating for this but at least it makes more sense in that children don't usually have the ability to estimate risks well enough to make the decision by themselves perhaps. If someone rides in the back of a pickup they are only endangering themselves and no one else...so why make it illegal. If you think society has enough smarts to determine what risks you should be allowed to take then be ready for alcohol to be outlawed....it is way more dangerous than riding in the back of pickup.

A weight limit seems to make better sense and have more to do with safety.

Chownah

To my knowledge, there is a law covering the 'securing of the vehicle load'. If this is so, then why not have the same to secure the human load. Are you suggesting that a 50kg human missle launched from the back of a Pick Up wouldn't be a concern to other road users? As for making the choice of the individual, think about it. Who are mostly carried around in the back of Pick-ups? ......................... Workers. Do you think they are going to say to the Boss, 'Thanks, but no thanks'?

Perhaps you are one of those Bosses?

Yours is the dumbest post i have read today, still it's only 6pm.

Actually paulsmithson,if your trying to teach someone a new language your not supposed to use their own native language to communicate with them.

My old man pointed this out to me.I am sure many of the teachers here aren't supposed to speak any Thai to the kids,or so i have heard anyway...?

Yes, that is a prevailing theory and may well be correct (I have my doubts). However, getting started in reality is a different story.

Also, and more importantly, having an understanding of the student's first language certainly helps one to understand why they make the mistakes they do and how to help them to correct the mistakes. This is something I have come to realise in my 4 years teaching here in Thailand. When you understand some of their language you can more effectively help them bridge the gap to their second language.

This is why I am a proponent of helping those serious and dedicated people who are doing this job for the right reasons of whom there are many. They are here on the ground making a real effort for the one intangible reward in teaching, helping the students. They have developed a working relationship with Thais and Thai language and culture. They are an asset to the education community in Thailand. Helping these people to reach the necessary standards of the profession of teaching or be acknowledged for already reaching said standards will benefit everyone.

Having the standards is also important as it helps to weed out all the people who would like to do the job for all the wrong reasons.

Absolutely, whilst serving in the British Army my German teacher retaught the whole class English grammer before teaching one word of German. That would have been impossible had her English language skills had been anything but excellent. How many teachers of English in Thailand can confess to having more than average Thai Language skills let alone written skill? i have taught myself to read and write Thai, but it would have been impossible without the help of fairly decent English speaking Thais who could explain common rules and exceptions.

I agreed the thai government has every right to demand standards. who knows one day after there are no more foreigners in their country maybe they will take a look at some of they own practices. BTW All countries demonise the enemy. Why should Thailand be any different. Shame as i will probably leave a perfectly good g/f because it's too difficult to live here. Who wins?

Maybe the long term plan by the government is to replace native English speaking teachers with the untapped and soon to be unemployed Guest Relations Officers. You know the ones who have dedicated their bodies and souls to entertaining the other farang visitors to the LOS. This solves a few problems in one and will add valuable and much needed vocabolary to the studious thai students. Instead of the "Hello" and "Welcome" level the new teachers could add the "Magic BIG Four", Commonly known as the 4 principles of attraction. sayings like "Where you come from?", "How old are you?", "You like me?" and the closer "I take you home tonight, ok?"

To be honest if i was a young student i would much perfer and respect a fellow local who has thru years of hard work and dedication mastered the English Language. A true success story of poorly educated girls who had climbed up the ladder of success to become ambassors and the teachers of the great nation. The existing Thai teachers would welcome the intregration of this mix of different levels and backgrounds combined with the pride of working with fellow nationals. Equal wages and status and the refreshing oral ability of these enthusiastic individuals would all contribute to the harmony and enichment of the educational environment.

Just my thoughts

I am really happy to see this. I meet so many people here under fake degrees and many admitt it to me like it is some kind of joke. Get those people out of here.

But maybe if they are good teacher without a degree (there are some) Maybe the system can work out that they keep said job while attending at a local uni here that offers English classes.

For me I have a degree in Family and Marriage consoling. With only a BA I can't do crap with it back in the US. I can do lots of low level paperwork jobs for child services etc or work phones some place. While I could obtain a Dr. in my field and with 10 years of experience have the potential to make 100k a year I don't wish to persue this line of work. SO I can get an MS in my field 3 years of experience and get 30k a year. Or get some entry level job at get 20-25k a year. I said I would rather try teaching before I commit to studying more or begin my climb of the ladder. So making 25k a month before tutoring etc is great, I found out I love it and I plan to get my TEFL. After living here for a few years I will return home with my soon to be wife (She has a BA in English and a Inter. TEFL MS degree and is bilingual) will return home and I will get a job at a university and brush up on my spanish. Then get a teaching cert if I want to do teaching in a non university setting. After the kids grow up I can return with a Masters and years of experience and get a comfy job at an international school.

Is that like Counceling?

You are typical of the Elitist snobs that exist in the world. Why not do someting you are qualified to do?

Secondly, you were teaching BEFORE you did the TEFL, which makes you even more unsuitable and criminal.

God help Thailand if you elitist left wing nutters ever get over here in number.

This is a comma by the way ,,,,,,, we put them in sentences, espescially long, meandering gibbering wrecks of sentence like yours. We also put full stops at the end..... Usually!

We don't ususally pull people up for crap English on here, but as yours is so dreadful, and you have set yourself up as better than most TEFL teachers here, thought I better redden a few of your worse remarks. Most of your sentences need totally re-writing BTW, I suggest you get an ape to proof read your next post. Your English here wouldn't get you a high school leaving certificate, believe me.

I love pedantic word Nazis like you who are more interested in tripping someone up, than trying to understand the meaning to the words. All communication is a way of conveying messages, thoughts, feelings and theories. The method and the correctness of the method is not important in this type of Forum. We are not at school or in a test environment. YOUR WORST MISTAKE WAS TO TRY TO CORRECT HIM and then to make a spelling mistake yourself. Your own stupidity and arrogance is starting to show. If you still have not worked out which word you got wrong then please reply and i will tell. Alternatively, you can do a sneaky edit. DO you understand?

Ok you see skinny Thais. My father in law exists on nam prik. It must be nutrition that keeps them thin, can't be just metabolic.

It is definitely not metabolic for Thais in general.

Look at all the "tubby "fast food" children in the Thai schools today...................

Mainly in the cities.

Out in the countryside the are still on sensible diets.

MacDonalds, KFC and the like have a lot to answer for.

My Thai doctor told me many Thais have sky high cholestrol levels due to the thai way of cooking. So skinny they may be but they are stockpiling problems for later.

I had mine and my thai G/f's level checked. mine was just over the recommended upper limit of 200. Her's was 285!!! The same doctor told me not to worry as his was over 300!!!!

So tuk tuk drivers don't want to pass on the extra costs to the tourists! How noble of them.

What is the new one way route now then?

About time the road rules were tightened up, I drive about 50,000 km a year in Thailand and some of the stupid drivers are beyond belief… all the death and carnage must have a massive toll on Thailands health service (Government hospitals) and workforce.

A radical rethink of drivers is required as vehicle ownership in Thailand has grown dramatically over the past 10 years

Helmets that are sold in places like Tesco at 99 baht are just a joke.

Good to see that courts are NOW going to cancel the licenses of drink drivers..it should have happened years ago;(plus they should be made to pay all costs & realistic compensation to accident victims)

People who drive when banned or with no insurance should be given prison terms, as they clearly have no moral responsibility…that is the key word missing from Thailand…Responsibility.

IMO a very good start to the road laws …now get serious on the wreak-less drivers & totally brain dead baht bus drivers

Interestingly, i was reading up on world life expectancy rates awhile back. I was checking some facts about Iraq as i work there. I also check Thailand's as it's where i live most of the year.

Amazingly the report said if there were a reduction of Male victim road deaths to Zero, the Life Expectancy Rate would be raised by 10 YEARS!!

Not saying the helmet enforcement will result in less deaths, but it'll make cleaning up brains a bit easier. Local helmet standards are truly following the Spirit of the Law, not the letter.

This thread has been really helpful. I have been in LOS for about 4 years and started with the "why do thais do this, that and the other", and would complain if my rice came 20 minutes before the main food (so read complained a lot). then as the years passed i mellowed to the point i just didn't care.

i asked my Thai g/f (a simple girl who has never been to the pole) about the face thing. her view was that people knew when they were right or wrong and it was their choice to either hide behind the concept or inwardly admit they were wrong and subsequently change their ways. i explained some people would abuse that to their advantage. Her answer was again simple yet important. Karma would complete the circle for them.

hard to argue faith, so i asked her if i was right to correct thai people or ask "why"when i got the "sorry we can not do"or "ï don't"know" type answer. She said i was wrong and would lose respect, and get less help than before. She also pointed out that many people who worked in a job were not qualified or didn't know about what they were selling. I guess we have all experienced that whilst shopping.

So i have never really got my head around it, but feel i am nearer to understanding it after reading this thread.

Whether i actually care more is debatable. My previous ideas about starting a western style business have been shelved for the multiple reasons posted on other threads in this forum. I will continue you live here and continue to try to adapt my learned behaviour to fit my adopted home.

I do find many of the commenters on Thai Visa need to take the Western Stick out of the bum and chill out a bit. I imagine the Pakistani community in the UK has the equivilant BRIT VISA and complain like mad about the rules and regs and the intolerance of the locals to their way of thinking and behaviours.

LOL Imagine the locals reading BRIT VISA, undoubtably they would think the "Cheeky Monkeys" coming to this country and .......... ........ ....... .......!

Anyway i am off down to the phone company to see if there are any phone lines available in my Moo Baan. Wish me luck

Most abusers have been victims at one time. i am not condoning what he did, but jeeze, you guys with your "Holier than thou" attitudes. you make these people sound like out and out loners. The truth is uglier, abuse is commonly commited by brothers, uncles, fathers and step-fathers to their own relatives. So the monster you detest so much could be related to you.

I see most committer are familiar with Pattaya, the town of good virtue. Grow up guys

Brighton a.k.a. Skidrow on Sea. Cambridge? I'm telling you mate Bournemouth, it's farkin ace especially with the summer coming up and those southern ladies are oh sooooooooooo lovely. Good luck in whatever you choose.

b'mouth is a very good night out and many job opportunities. they have a teaching hospital so loads of lovely young nurses.

I have just read every posting on this thread and each one brought a smile to my face. I have one experience of the North East and it was exactly as described many times in this forum.

I called my g/f from Iraq today. She was in the Korat area shopping with her mum. She has recently told them about me so i had to say "Sawadee Krap Khun Mae" down the line. After the call i got busy arranging a visit to meet her family on my next rotation out of this hel_l hole. i called her again later and i could hear the chaos of children in the background and the food being prepared. My only thought was how i missed Thailand. After living there for the past 4 years, coming away just to earn cash was a necessary evil.

On days like these i am reminded how lucky and blessed i am to have the opportunity to live in Paradise. How unfortunate and ironic i have to work in hel_l to live there.

NB The Issan threads seem so polite and position compared to most of the others. The tourist centred ones seem to bring out the worst in all folk.

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I've never been short-measured myself (or not that I know!) but have twice had charge cards cloned at petrol stations in Phuket. A bloody nuisance, since they were UK cards of which replacements can only be sent to my UK address.

So, yes, any 'cleaning up' of gas stations would suit me.

I have seen a couple of posters say the same about UK banks not posting replacement cards to Thailand. Barclays was going to send them to my Bkk address thru the normal post til i told them the potential dangers of that. They then sent them by DHL at no cost to me. Sweet.

Never been diddled at the pumps. just know roughly how much you need and check the pump. i always get out of the car and walk around. I love the smell of gasoline

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I seem to be suffering from it the opposite way.

My barclay connect card is constantly locked out of ATM in Thailand cos the Fraud Team in the UK flag it up. I have spend 1000's of Baht on phone calls to the UK having it reinstated. Even when i point out the billing address is in Thailand the Fraud Team just say Thailand is on a hot spot list for bank card fraud.

Btw alot of fraud is carried out by family members, room mates, family friends. My ex thai g/f was extremely protective of her bankcards/id card, whereas other thais i have observerd seem rather naive about the security of such items. Look to your close associates first, then check when you were last drunk, then investigate if your partner is buying stuff for (:D/friends

Bank card fraud has only effected me once in UK with 2 fraudulent fuel purchases. I called Barclays and they reimbrused me without question. I then asked why they were not even arguing over it. The customer service advisor said "They'd had hundreds of similar calls since that months' bills had been sent out". So Banks are well aware of it.

I am sure someone will blame Taksin for my opening problem, cos he would benefit from my mobile phone call charges.

Some posters on TV really need to lighten up and get laid or get high or get dead. Peiss be upon them!

[

In America anyone can own a gun as long as they are not a criminal.

Can they become a criminal after they have a gun?????

the thai contributors are quiet today

But if any come online, can they translate

Som num na?

Seems fitting to this thread.

Over confidence by the under qualified

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Brighton Arriving around the end of Feb (start March)

Work (20-50 hours p.w morning/daytime only -broad experience - good ethics- no driving licence)

Accomodation (cheap, simple, I can live in any conditions, but I seek quiet)

ready?

Go!

(please??)

Google recruitment agencies in Brighton. I recommend Blue Arrow. They have all sorts of jobs. That area is famous for old peoples homes, maybe a job helping them retain their dignity.

Good luck, i don't evny you going back to the UK. Seems ppl are trying to left it at the mo

The OP may very well be correct. I can't help but think however, that an immigration official prevously only issued a "yes" stamp will now have both a "yes" and a "no" stamp and the authority to use either at his/her disgression. It will likely spice things up a bit. Must be on our best behavior which should go without saying.

the 1,2,3 are not a way of monitoring your visa usage.

they are a reverse countdown to the opportunity to take bribes.

Otherwise what's the point of getting a government job.

Taksin was extremely unlucky to have been accused in a country of abusers.

No offence

I can't be bothered to go through the whole rigmarole on yet another thread (54 is it now SRJ?) on the subject. Do go back through the earlier threads - amongst the dross, there is some good info (I hope I've contributed things worthwhile).

But...

...there were articles in the local press a month or so ago stating that the junta would be specifically reviewing whether to continue or abort the programme over the next two months. I'm still getting my regular emails from TE, and continuing to use their various services without any hassles, but would advise anyone else thinking of joining at this moment to wait until there is some definitive answer from the government.

i recently emailled them asking specifically about the visa regulation changes and how they would effect their service. Their answer was, it won't. So i guess since i have it in writing it must be true?!?!?

She sugested I pay it now and coul come back later.

We left but Noi said she wanted to go straight home.

Koi said that she would have to go in a few hours as she was going to college.

She then said that she was not going to have sex as she had a boyfriend from America.

she asked me how much I was going to give her. I said I could not understand why she wanted money. I had brought her drinks bafined her and her friend taken her to the Blues facory etc.

Richard, and other visitors to Thailand,

if you are going to take a girl, always make it clear what you want and find out how much it's gonna cost. Some BG's will make any excuse to go home early, overcharge, change the plans, almost everything that is probably different from what you were thinking it was going to be like. Choose the girl, agreed a price/activities, timings take her home. If she changes anything previously agreed tell her the price changes with it. Seems harsh but you will avoid all the games and crap that goes with this kind of activity.

Well done for posting the issue as it makes others aware.

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The UK is a fine example of the 'success' of the war on drugs. Up until 1971 when the first 'Misuse of Drugs' act was passed into law it was possible for heroin addicts to register with their local Doctor and receive quality-controlled heroin and carry on with their lives. The number of registered addicts was around 10,000 and there was, effectively, no drug-fueled crime at all. In 1971 the license to prescribe heroin was withdrawn from local Doctors and confined to a very small number of specialised places. Nowadays there are reckoned to be several hundred thousand heroin users (exact figures are hard to come by as there's no registry) and the police report that the majority of petty crime is directly drug related - addicts committing burglary to get money etc. So criminalisation has increased the number of addicts many times, increased petty crime many times and allowed organised crime to set up distribution systems to keep the whole business going. You would have thought that the consequences of Prohibition in the US which allowed the Mafia to gain a major foothold would have taught governments around the world a lesson but apparently not.

What an excellent post, well reasoned and argued. However why just restrict it to heroin users , why not make it applicable to all drugs? I am not suggesting they should be free , but legalised so that less criminal activity would have to take place and they could be openly bought and sold. With proper education we would then live in a safer society .

You associate illegal drug use and petty crime. if someone is addicted to a drug, whether legal or otherwise wont they still commit crime to feed their habit? please answer.

Alcohol is legal yet ppl not allowed to drink it still manage to get hold of it, so how will it be any different with legalled drugs, again plz answer

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There is a need to build up a recurring clientle, something that requires foresight and planning, but most of all, a team (all island/nation) effort.

Foresight and planning to a thai mean the front aiming mark on a gun and something farangs get worked up about.

I know, I know a generalism, but think about what generalisms are and do. They allow ppl to fill in the gaps in their understanding by replacing the information with often seen behaviours, traits and national characteristics.

So if "the hat fits".........

Anyway, alot of farangs buy their Time Share BG's and have to come back to Phuket

Mate,

there are pcirks like him the world over. Revenge is a dish best served cold (and slowly).

Here's what you do. Buy a spray bottle (same as the ones for spraying water whilst ironing)(ask the wife what ironing is) Buy some brake fluid. Put the brack fluid in the spray bottle and spray his car at all available moments (casually as you are passing or from your balcony)

Wait about 3 months............... then check out his face as the paint on the pick up peels off!!

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As far as i know, some ladies will not wear their ring for various reasons. Most cos the ring is seen as valuable and they may be scared of having it stolen. Your right as in most countries its impolite to ask about a ladies martial situation, same here.

Hard one to answer about how to broach the subject. I have found the fun and excitement of courting normal thai girls (no offence to anyone with a bargirl, i just don't know of a better way to illustrate my point) very enjoyable.

I have found an excellent way to meet many people. Start to learn thai from a children's book, when you need help ask any thai girl you like and they will help. It's a great ice breaker and quite innocent (well that's up to you and the lady). If you really fancy someone, it is normal to have a friend tell them as it save face and seems the way they do it here.

Good luck

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and have some consideration for people less able than themselves?

Lucky

Its to toughen up the locals. Sorry you are getting involved. Enjoy the rest of what thailand has to offer cos it's lacks many things you'd expect.

Seasonal greetings

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