Thaiboxer

Interesting post there. I know one thing teachers don't make and that is a decent salary!

Non-lethal weapons can be found in street markets and even more so in the famous Jatujak Market of Bangkok. Buying them shouldn't be a problem, as many street vendors get away with selling lethal weapons (knives/swords for example). Carrying them is another issue and I would imagine it's illegal. Best to get a Thai friend or family member who can speak with the local cops and then translate, however many cops don't always know the law (true in the States).

Try duct tape; a piece over the mouth works wonders

The South is full of rubber farms, so I'm not surprised to find tires pretty cheap here. Four new Bridgestones cost me under 6,000 Baht. The last tires I had on the car probably lasted well over 50,000 kms.

Garro....not sure if that age rule is true, but it wouldn't surprise me in the least. Many job ads on ajarn.com will state that they want applicants no older than a certain age or between various ages. I've heard that the authorities are A LOT tougher when it comes to cracking down on illegal teachers in those countries as well. Like you, I also have a family here, so I'm in the teaching game for the long run. I guess we'll just have to take on a side job of political hoop jumping. I have a travel book on Thailand from the late 90's which says something along the lines of, "When civil servants get out the scissors for cutting the red tape, they cut it lengthwise".

As another poster said, qualified teachers would do way better financially to teach in other countries, such as Korea. The regulations that have popped up in the last few years, coupled with rising costs of living and pathetic salary levels have made the prospect of teaching here pretty grim. The old saying, "Beggars can't be choosers" comes to mind. If the schools here want people to work for bum wages, go through all the relentless paperwork/scrutiny by the government and put up with the majority of Thai students, there had better be some other incentives (like good salaries for example). For years, it was pretty easy to land a teaching job with no qualifications, and yet for all that time, the number of people who can communicate in English has grown. Perhaps it's better to have substandard teachers who are native speakers willing to give it a go than to have nobody at all.

Some of those old cars (example: post #50) are pretty good-looking even today. Those older cars from the mid 60's through the 70's were REAL cars. They were made of tough metal and had REAL engines...usually inline-6's or V-8's. I believe the 1965-66 Chrysler Imperial is even banned from the Demolition Derby events in the States due to its carshworthiness!

Best way to go is by word of mouth from trusted Thai family or friends. Many of the guys who own small shops are pretty good with cars (even if their staff are not). It shouldn't be hard to get them to go with you...just agree on the price for their time. If at all possible, get this mechanic to put the car up on a lift or at least for him to get underneath. Lots of the problems can be spotted from there. Good luck!

I remember Jolt Cola as a kid...tried it a couple times and it kept me WIDE awake with lots of energy on those days. At least Jolt tastes better than Red Bull.

If you want weight, go for an 80's era Mercedes...say a 400 or 500 series sedan. My mother had a secondhand one years ago...it weighed 4,500lbs, yet it could go pretty quick with its turbocharged V-6 diesel engine.

The Red Bull on sale here is stronger than what they sell in the USA. I tried a can of it in the States...didn't make me fee any more energized, plus it tasted a bit like bubble gum. I've never drunk any of those energy drinks here and prefer to stay away from them.

Some poor farmer was killed a few years back while asleep in his hammock. A coconut fell and cracked his skull open.

The 18-wheelers would be nice...too bad they're not easy to park at the mall!

If you're looking to spend 120K Baht, we're in the same boat! I'm also a teacher and a new, 4-door pickup seems like a pipe dream. There are actually quite a few cars around for that price and even for far less than that. If you don't mind driving something old/simple, you could find a decent car and maybe spend a couple thousand Baht for a tune-up. Labor is cheap here, which is to our advantage. A guy I work with from England bought a used car for 300K Baht (Ford Focus). He didn't even bother having it checked over by a mechanic; he figured if anything went bad, he'd just have it fixed. Couldn't do that in the West, repair costs are a nightmare over there!

Another thing to consider is that when an engine is reassembled, it must be done in a dirt free environment. Even a tiny speck of dirt on a cylinder wall can wreak havoc. Some of the shops I've seen here are far from clean! As said before, there's also the ridge left over from where the piston rings never made it, and that must be removed to give the cylinder even dimensions.

I've had a couple run-in's with the Thai cops while out driving, but nothing serious. One time, the license plate on my car fell off the front end and I got stopped for that. After pretending not to speak any Thai, the policeman's superior spoke to me in English and told me to just get a new plate. No fine, and they sent me on my way with a smile.

As for the New Orleans police, they're known for corruption and they're also some of the lowest paid city cops in the USA.

Given that labor is cheap here, it may be worth it to have a secondhand engine opened up by a good mechanic and checked over....not just a visual inspection, but with proper guages (caliper guages, etc).

You're right in saying that most people in the world don't speak English, so they'd better get with the program!

A British guy I once worked with told me how teachers are "leaving in droves" from the schools in England. My British coworkers have told me how the system had done a complete 180 from when they went to school. Back in the day, English teachers could dish out all sorts of punishments to bad kids, but nowadays the teachers have NO power and the kids have all the power they want to abuse teachers.

A similar situation exists in my country (USA). Kids can get away with nearly everything while teachers have to put up with it or lose their jobs; perhaps even go to jail. I've taught in a couple Thai schools, private and public, and the kids can be a real handful. I never had any fear of being jumped by a gang of them or knifed as they would in the States, but burying the little buggers alive certainly crossed my mind!

I work with Thai adult students now who are MUCH better, but if I had to teach kids again, I'd stay well clear of the high schoolers.

Our old Toyota has not been dirt cheap due to frequent repairs on little things, plus it drinks A LOT of gas. Certainly couldn't afford to keep this thing running in the USA.

My father-in-law's Toyota Hilux Tiger D4D takes B5 with no trouble and that truck is a 2001 model. The B5 is a couple Baht/liter cheaper and performance/fuel consumption are basically the same. Perhaps Toyota might tell somebody not to use it as that's one less thing their warranty has to cover.

My older brother-in-law has put a 50/50 mixture of diesel/palm oil in his 2003 Ford Ranger (4WD) and it ran fine. On top of that, with the palm oil in the tank it smells like somebody's cooking.

If the car runs smoothly, then perhaps you can just deal with the oil consumption by adding a bit now and then. This is what I did with my old Honda until my father gave us his Dodge Caravan. Once the engine you have now gives out, you can then go for a secondhand engine. They're not too expensive and there is a place near the Bangna-Trat Expressway in Bangkok that has TONS of car parts, engines included.

I just kept the Honda going; couldn't afford major machine shop work like that in the USA. I had to add a quart of oil every two weeks or so, but other than that the car ran ok. I ended up selling it to a neighbor who owns a used car dealership...a year later and he couldn't resell it. I wonder why!

A similar thing happened to me years ago with a Honda Prelude. My engine overheated when the water pump stopped working. The vibration damper had broken off which also broke part of the crankshaft. The engine was repaired and to my knowledge, the piston rings were replaced. The thing began burning oil not too long after that. I learned that when cylinders wear, they don't rear in a round fashion, but rather in an ovular fashion. Piston rings are round, so even new ones won't seal the cylinders. To make the cylinders round again would require an engine machine shop to bore them out to a slightly larger diameter and then install bigger pistons/rings. This is a major job and your used vehicle may not be worth it. Perhaps a secondhand engine would be your best option. I have one of those in my old Toyota now and the thing burns no oil despite having a ton of kilometers on it.

How about a students' code of conduct? Be interesting to see one of those