kuma
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Posts posted by kuma
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I'm visiting from the USA and need rental/hotel for 30-90 days somewhere that is centrally located. If you have a rental or can recommend an extended stay hotel I would appreciate it very much.
I arrive late April.
Thank-you!
as long as u dont feed the members here with details about ur budget and the expected amenities, its not very much likely you will get a helpful reply
as it happens, i am planning to possibly move to a new place shortly but for a number of reasons i was planning on keeping this one also and sub-letting it as such for people who are looking for longer (30+) stays. it is very well located - soi 22 at the top of the soi. has satellite, direct phone service with high speed internet (not sure if i will keep that live - could have problems with bills
)as i say i am not 100% sure i will go this route or if your timing may be a little premature but feel free to pm me say about april 15 to chk if you have not made plans by then.
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I rode the buses for a couple years on a regular basis, Every time I entered one I carried my own glass breaker and was fully prepared to use it. Thankfully I never experienced a bus accident first hand but I have seen to many to count and so many are just preventable by simple maintenance and basic safety standards. May God or gods have mercy on these poor unfortunate souls who burned alive today in this tragedy and may someone please lay down the law once and for all concerning the safety standards of public transportation in Thailand which are possibly the worst in the world by volume.
Where did you buy the glass breaker?
surfed "emergency escape tool" in automotive, as a start - may be some available locally.
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LMFAO
Bangkok, According to Conan StevensPossibly the world's biggest action hero literally, Australian actor, scriptwriter, bodybuilder, former professional wrestler and self-confessed genius Conan Stevens stands at 213cm tall (7ft ¼") and weighs 143kg. Tiger Tales gets a Conan's-eye view of Bangkok.
read more....
http://www.tigertales.sg/features/2007/feb/buzz.html
Self Praise is no recommendation Miss K.Hall...
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ooops last post ws actually by me, posted it incorrectly, here is a repeat
yes i agree. i chatted with a few others and everyone, incl me, thinks that learning her own language to a higher degree should preceed any real extensive english study.
i have found a guy that teaches english out of his home on soi 23, he is a thai man that seems to have a good thing going - not sure how effective his classes are - any comments please let me know, the entrance is in an alley down 23 right where there is an ice cream shop, forget the name but they have a large purple sign - maybe it starts with a 'B". he is popular with the bg set, esp the soi cowboy girls - of which mine is one.
anyway i am takling her to see him today as he says he would be able to give her remedial classes, he wants to see her to assess her needs. i would like to find out if anyone knows how effective he is or if anyone KNOWS OF OTHER PLACES WHERE SHE MIGHT GET THIS TEACHING DONE. sorry wanted to use caps to try and get readers attention in case anyone knows.
later
yes i agree. i chatted with a few others and everyone, incl me, thinks that learning her own language to a higher degree should preceed any real extensive english study.i have found a guy that teaches english out of his home on soi 23, he is a thai man that seems to have a good thing going - not sure how effective his classes are - any comments please let me know, the entrance is in an alley down 23 right where there is an ice cream shop, forget the name but they have a large purple sign - maybe it starts with a 'B". he is popular with the bg set, esp the soi cowboy girls - of which mine is one.
anyway i am takling her to see him today as he says he would be able to give her remedial classes, he wants to see her to assess her needs. i would like to find out if anyone knows how effective he is or if anyone KNOWS OF OTHER PLACES WHERE SHE MIGHT GET THIS TEACHING DONE. sorry wanted to use caps to try and get readers attention in case anyone knows.
later
So as it turns out I took my gf to the prakhanong I english center to sign up for the Mattayom 3 but they were able to confirm what I had anyway suspected, she is really functionally illiterate. She does not have a good enough grasp of Thai to be able to read and write at the level needed to complete the course.I can't imagine not be able to read or write properly
Give her all the help she need's to learn Thai, and good on you
RAZZ
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yes i agree. i chatted with a few others and everyone, incl me, thinks that learning her own language to a higher degree should preceed any real extensive english study.
i have found a guy that teaches english out of his home on soi 23, he is a thai man that seems to have a good thing going - not sure how effective his classes are - any comments please let me know, the entrance is in an alley down 23 right where there is an ice cream shop, forget the name but they have a large purple sign - maybe it starts with a 'B". he is popular with the bg set, esp the soi cowboy girls - of which mine is one.
anyway i am takling her to see him today as he says he would be able to give her remedial classes, he wants to see her to assess her needs. i would like to find out if anyone knows how effective he is or if anyone KNOWS OF OTHER PLACES WHERE SHE MIGHT GET THIS TEACHING DONE. sorry wanted to use caps to try and get readers attention in case anyone knows.
later
So as it turns out I took my gf to the prakhanong I english center to sign up for the Mattayom 3 but they were able to confirm what I had anyway suspected, she is really functionally illiterate. She does not have a good enough grasp of Thai to be able to read and write at the level needed to complete the course.I can't imagine not be able to read or write properly
Give her all the help she need's to learn Thai, and good on you
RAZZ
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i finally went to the dr after fighting a persistent lung problem for 2 weeks (shortness of breath, flem, coughing etc)
same problem i had about 7 months ago for a few weeks.
she says i have a bit of asthma and now need to use a symbicort turbohaler twice a day - it seems forever - to help keep it under control.
great. hate to think that leavin bkk is a good ideea as i do enjoy life here but it may come to that.
and a contradictory report from the local authorities - who to believe?maybe your own nose and lungs?
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i finally went to the dr after fighting a persistent lung problem for 2 weeks 9shortness of breath, flem, coughing etc)
same problem i had about 7 months ago for a few weeks.
she says i have a bit of asthma and now need to use a symbicort turbohaler twice a day - it seems forever - to help keep it under control.
great. hate to think that leavin bkk is a good ideea as i do enjoy life here but it may come to that.
and a contradictory report from the local authorities - who to believe?maybe your own nose and lungs?
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thank you
and this is the man who thinks he can run the country. in thai this is behaviour that we call 'len khai khong' which means children playing buy and sell. you pretend to sell, then at the end of the day the 'goods' goes back to the first person..and next day they start the same game all overshin corp was a private entity...its a business...was never a 'national asset' the owners chose to sell it for a profit (thats what businesses exist for) temasek happened to buy it. end of story.
now move on. geee. makes us thais look like fools.
I see your point, but it's important to remember, that the businesses Shin operates are almost entirely government granted concessions. Government granted concessions, carry with them rules to abide. Shin clearly did not with ITV and Shin's satellite arm. Satellites are not private. They require permissions to use bandwidth, and in exchange for these permissions obligations are often incurred. Shin's satellites were also used by the AThai military and it's not unreasonable for them to be peeved that the military satellites are now under the control of a foreign power. Clearly the time to address these issues was as they arose, but they do need addressing still.
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If they were not aware of the gamble then they would be fools of the highest order
They were 100% aware of what they were trying to do - and of the potential downside, they just came to the conclusion that thaksin had the place under his thumb and everyone sufficiently cowed, but guess what...
Ummmm where is Margaret Thatcher these days?Still living, I'm afraid.
but unfortunately, without power. Otherways, she knew how to take care of Sonthi: the same way she took care of Argentina junta in the Falklands.
just like she took care of the UK manufacturing industry, 85% disappeared, did more damage than Hitler ever did in WW11 and what's more even ugglier than him
There have bee 11 World Wars?
Having said that, I can tell you the feeling here in Singapore is that Thailand has turned into a true banana republic.
This little island cannot afford to make too any enemies, especially not where they have huge investments, so saying that they were aware of the wrongs of the Shin deal is ludicrous - Singapore would not jeopardise countless billions in investment for a short-term shady deal.
(As for Malaysia battling Thailoand in defense of Singapore?
Mate, they'd be the first ones to cross the causeway if it ever came to that - - - - not that it would, of course) -
so many years ago elements of the us gov were trying to stop the sale of global crossing to "the chinese"......... (see below)
However, the Global Crossing buyout by Hutchison Whampoa is drawing fire from inside Capitol Hill. At issue is the role of billionaire Li Ka-Shing, Hong Kong's most well-known businessman, whose companies make up 15 percent of the market capitalization of the Hong Kong stock market.
Li Ka-Shing's empire includes Hutchison Whampoa, Chinese ports, telecom, energy assets and the Panama Canal.
Rep. Dana Rohrabacher, a California Republican, has sent letters to President Bush, the attorney general, the Department of Defense and the investigative arm of Congress demanding an inquiry into the plan, according to Al Santoli, national security adviser to Rohrabacher.
"The purchase of Global Crossing by Li Ka-Shing is another step as his role of a stalker for the People's Republic of China," stated Santoli.
Rep. Rohrabacher claims Li's close connections to the Chinese government should disqualify him from owning Global Crossing's network. Li Ka-Shing's ownership also raises national security issues. Global is a major bidder for U.S. Defense communications contracts.
Global Crossing recently lost a $400 million U.S. defense contract to provide secure communications for the U.S. military. The contract remains a major part of the controversy surrounding the bankrupt telecommunications giant, which also reportedly controls 20 percent of all the fiber-optic cable leaving the United States.
so how many of the people barking about thailand now were on the same horse when america did this?? global crossing was far less startegic to the us than taksins assets he sold are to thailand, but did everyone lose it about the banana republic of the usa (if they did chooose to block the sale...in the end they realized the company was of little staregic value anyway in the grand scheme of things) and the death of foreign investment blah blah blah
oh and lets not forget this other gem out of the us...Chinese investment ignited political controversy last year when a state-owned oil company, CNOOC, sought to purchase Unocal, a second-tier U.S. oil company. The bid ultimately collapsed amid furious congressional opposition.
and i do not want to pick on just the us, many european countries, asian ones, even my own have done similar things in the past, and will do them again in the furture.
it was noted in this forum that indeed s'pore pushed its luck wrt the deal they made with a sitting PM that was flouting some rules and changing others to suit his purposes solely - and if they did not know that then shame on them. given the behaviour of those in power at the time and the obvious conflicts of interest absolutely thailand should be taking another look at this - and at the same time have a chuckle over all the humpty dumpties out there saying the world as thailand knows it will collapse, hahaha give me a break.
sure their could be some more diplomatic language, but the speaker being quoted here is not a diplomat or a politician.
The Singapore company has some responsibility to shoulder, I mean they hold the company through a number of questionable entities to evade the 51% rule, helping Taksin to avoid taxes etc..I mean buying such a huge company directly from the prime minister of said country. They must have known there would be questions when Taksins time ended, knew that there were rules they were circumnavigating in terms of ownership etc.. They took a risk, it looks like it won't be paying off.
For Thailand they simply need to follow through on their own rules, perhaps limit foreign ownership of telecomms/energy etc... to 25% or so.
When Thaksin came to power the foreign holdings limit on telco's was 49.5%
One of his first major self-help measures was to drop that to 25% immediately after Orange had put in the money to vreate CP Orange here.
Immediately before the sale of Shin, he reversed it back up to 49.5%
Vested interest? Abuse of position and authority?
Absolutely !
I am a reader. I would like to read some documentation supporting your claim. could you please provide some links? thank you.
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So as it turns out I took my gf to the prakhanong I english center to sign up for the Mattayom 3 but they were able to confirm what I had anyway suspected, she is really functionally illiterate. She does not have a good enough grasp of Thai to be able to read and write at the level needed to complete the course.
I suspect that is not unusual, especially for girls from poor rural families.
I am looking to find a Thai language teacher that she can spend some time getting some tutoring to bring her up to a level where she can go to these classes. If anyone knows of someone please let me know here or PM if you wish.
At the school they said they thought she would be better served by learning english instead of thai because thai is so difficult to learn. Now I am wondering is that really the case? Could it be that upgrading herself in her native language would be tougher that learning english from scratch?? Any opinions out there? Or perhaps they just prefer she be enrolled at thier english school, since they cannot help us with my gf thai?? They did try to find me a language teacher to help tutor but said they were not able to find one....
By all means, get her the education instead of finding work. I believe even Pizza Company requires M6. Without it, maid and massage are the two main options. M6 and/or a vocational degree are needed to earn a "decent" living.I know someone who did the Sunday classes – it was at Ekkamai. Though what she was learning really appeared to be quite basic; she would show me her homework sometimes and I was shocked at the level. If you are around Ekkamai on a Sunday afternoon you can see all the girls (yes, it is mostly girls) in their school outfits, though I am not sure where the school is exactly. I think it was very cheap – I am sure she could not afford the 3,000 mentioned by another poster as her salary was something like 7,000 a month.
You can have her attend other private classes during the week – English and computer skills are the two most important.
Dunno about that, my Thai wife just passed her high school equivelent and I couldn't help her a bit on the maths side, it was pretty advanced and I was always an A grade student at Maths. The English was disgraceful however, She showed me her test results and half the answers she had got correct the teacher had marked as incorrect, really basic stuff - I don't know if the teahcer just marked it wrong, I would guess they use standardised tests with constant answers, if so its no wonder the level of English here is so terrible if even the answers to the test are incorrect (please note there were correct answers in the selection, but they were considered incorrect).
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Actually here is an update on my last post. I decided to try again at Prakhanong based on the post below and this time we did indeed find a school that offers the chance for Thais to upgrade thier primary school - to get Mattayom 3 (lower secondary) and later Mattayom 6 (upper secondary)
The place is called the "I English Center". You can call them at 02 391 4810. To get there go to Phrakhanong BTS Station and exit on the "odd soi" side of Sukhumvit (I can never keep NSEW straight in my head here) and walk in the direction of On Nut Station. At the base of the escalator up to the station, at the far end closest to On Nut, there you will find the school, it is a small frontage, very non descript (after spending so much time chasing all the big schools thinking they had programs there, they still may but we had no luck getting a positive answer).
The program they offer is 3500B to get your Mattayom 3. Here is the thing that I find difficult. The pprogram is one day a week (sunday) for 2 hours - lasting 2 years!! Ouch. I understand that many Thais doing this are working - usually 6 days and as such they can only hope to do it this way, but I am wondering if there are any schools that offer something a bit more accelerated - say 3 days a week for 4 or more hours over 8 months or something along those lines. If anyone knows of such a program could they please reference it.
But at least we did find a school and a program - no thanks to the ministry but thanks to this forum.
Does anyone know where exactly these schools are? We have beem trying to get my gf enrolled and it is the usual experience here - what takes 12 minutes at home takes days of frustration.We were at a school near Ekkami yesterday - a large school in a square off sukhumvit with a temple beside it and a large clinic beside it as well. They said they do not do classes there (someone said) and then told us to cross the street (at this point we are on the odd soi side of sukhumvit) and walk towards prakhanong. There we find two more large schools, one seems to be a university and one a school of sorts (technical maybe?) They also tell us they do not offer classes there and tell us to go backto the school we just came from. I saw one other school across from the mall at Ekami, it looked to be a "science university" so we did not try it.
Then I got on the net and have been thru site after site (ministry of education, office of the basic education commision, guidance.go.th, office of the non formal education commission etc etc) and when we do finally find a number that is working or is answered - I kid you not 80% of the numbers listed are either not in service or no one answers after days of trying - they can give us no useful info and at this point it is all up to her because i cannot speak enough thai to get what we need but every call ends with her having nothing
If anyone has some more specific info or a number it would be greatly appreciated.
Wow - thanks for all of the replies.
I'll go to Ekkamai & check out that school.
Cheers
Pedro
My wife did that. At that time, it was possible to fast track. She did 6 (7-12) in 3 years.
Sundays only and it was Phrakhanong station. She said many places do that (see, one at Ekkamai which is 10 mins walk from Phrakhanong is being suggested).
All people in the class were adults.
Monday to Friday she was doing courses in English, computers, typing, accounting (got a credit for completing it later in the studies).
Every day night school is different: it is meant to provide real knowledge (for competing for University) while the Sunday's one is more to cover maturity and life experience with diplomas needed for the job many already do. Or for something that requires HSC.
For example, (collectively) visiting an orphanage and writing an essay about it covers an exam in one subject (can't remember which one).
Nevertheless, she passed the tests and is now year 4. of marketing studies. I am happy she has done the school rather than 6-8K baht per month threadmill work.
Check with schools in your area, good chance they also do that, very likely there wil be no need to travel.
Many schools would enroll her but the classes may be held at other (more convenient) locations and only exams are at the school itself.
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Does anyone know where exactly these schools are? We have beem trying to get my gf enrolled and it is the usual experience here - what takes 12 minutes at home takes days of frustration.
We were at a school near Ekkami yesterday - a large school in a square off sukhumvit with a temple beside it and a large clinic beside it as well. They said they do not do classes there (someone said) and then told us to cross the street (at this point we are on the odd soi side of sukhumvit) and walk towards prakhanong. There we find two more large schools, one seems to be a university and one a school of sorts (technical maybe?) They also tell us they do not offer classes there and tell us to go backto the school we just came from. I saw one other school across from the mall at Ekami, it looked to be a "science university" so we did not try it.
Then I got on the net and have been thru site after site (ministry of education, office of the basic education commision, guidance.go.th, office of the non formal education commission etc etc) and when we do finally find a number that is working or is answered - I kid you not 80% of the numbers listed are either not in service or no one answers after days of trying - they can give us no useful info and at this point it is all up to her because i cannot speak enough thai to get what we need but every call ends with her having nothing
If anyone has some more specific info or a number it would be greatly appreciated.
Wow - thanks for all of the replies.
I'll go to Ekkamai & check out that school.
Cheers
Pedro
My wife did that. At that time, it was possible to fast track. She did 6 (7-12) in 3 years.
Sundays only and it was Phrakhanong station. She said many places do that (see, one at Ekkamai which is 10 mins walk from Phrakhanong is being suggested).
All people in the class were adults.
Monday to Friday she was doing courses in English, computers, typing, accounting (got a credit for completing it later in the studies).
Every day night school is different: it is meant to provide real knowledge (for competing for University) while the Sunday's one is more to cover maturity and life experience with diplomas needed for the job many already do. Or for something that requires HSC.
For example, (collectively) visiting an orphanage and writing an essay about it covers an exam in one subject (can't remember which one).
Nevertheless, she passed the tests and is now year 4. of marketing studies. I am happy she has done the school rather than 6-8K baht per month threadmill work.
Check with schools in your area, good chance they also do that, very likely there wil be no need to travel.
Many schools would enroll her but the classes may be held at other (more convenient) locations and only exams are at the school itself.
)
Canadian Tourist Visa For Thai Wife
in Visas and migration to other countries
Posted
How was your luck? I tried to get a tourist visa for my GF so we could go visit Canada and we (she) was flatly refused - they never even bothered to ask me into the room.
I hope you did better.