alexd

Hello All-

I am trying to arrange help for my father who has Alzheimer's back in the US. I want to send a helper from Thailand to live with my Mom and him. I see plenty of opportunities for Au Pairs, but nothing for caregivers for the elderly and sick. Does anyone have any advice on how to go about this, agencies to contact, visa advice, etc, etc?

Many Thanks....

AlexD

Our company makes custom size futon mattresses. <snip>.

That's a non-standard width. You would be hard pushed to find such a thing anywhere, let alone LOS. However, this being Thailand, there's a better chance of a custom-made solution.

The widest mattresses I have come across are in the bigger than King-size beds at the Novotel Suvarnabhumi airport. Unless these oversized mattresses were imported, they may have been locally manufactured. I would be interested in finding a custom mattress maker as I am 6'4" and even a California King leaves little room for the wife! Getting a custom made bed frame to fit would be the easy part.

Has anyone here sent their kids to American School of Bangkok? How is it?

It's had a very spotty and colorful reputation over the years. I have worked with several teachers who have said that the ownership are completely insane. Teachers are generally the best people to ask regarding their experiences at a school. If the teachers are generally happy, then chances are it's a well run place, and the students are likely to get a reasonable education.

One of the more interesting stories about the place is that the owner's husband, many years ago, was the Thai ambassador to the Netherlands (I think it was) and he tried to sell the embassy to the Dutch government, even though he had absolutely no right to do so. He was recalled to Thailand immediately!

Soi Klang Racquet Club on Sukhumvit Soi 49 is excellent value. They have two lap pools, a decent weight room, tennis courts, badminton courts, racquet ball courts, etc, etc, and are just about to open a rock climbing area. The yearly fee is 15 thousand, but it has to be paid in full.

I find it to be a comfortable place to work out, and comparatively speaking, a good price.

I am not sure this is the appropriate place to criticize schools, but I'll offer a couple of bland statements. I worked there a few years back, and it ran very much as a business. The veneer was very shiny, but if you had a look beyond the curtain, as it were, things were very shocking indeed.

The staff morale was horrible, management meanspirited, and so on.

HOwever, I have heard through the grapevine that it is much better now, and perhaps it is.

It is the only school where I broke contract. I pulled a runner, and am to this day glad that I did.....

Some of the international schools will actually publish their salary scales on-line. I know that Ruam Rudee International School does so. I don't know the website address, but if you google "Ruam Rudee International School", it will surely turn up. It is not at the very top end of international schools in Bangkok, but they are well established, have been here for years and years, and recruit from overseas.

I have a master's degree in teaching with a teaching cert from the US. I am also a local hire, which means I make a lower salary, don't get many of the perks of overseas hires, and so on. I have worked at some crap schools that paid around 60 K per month. THis was four years ago, so perhaps the salaries have increased. I now take home 108,000 baht per month. I supplement my income by some private tuition, which pays 1,200 baht per hour. I am able to take home usually about 140,000 per month, and can easily save 50 - 60 K per month. If I were living back in the US, working as a full time teacher, it would be impossible to save this kind of money. I find my life very comfortable here on the salary I make, and I'm able to save plenty of cash for old age.

Regarding the salaries at the top schools, obviously they make much more. They also earn that money. Teachers at schools such as ISB jump through flaming hoops, have endless meetings, and so on. I could get hired at a bigger school and make more, I am quite sure. But I prefer the relative low stress where I currently teach. I'm on my fourth year there, and there is still a smile on my face, so I am very, very content.

Good luck with your move to Thailand.....

AlexD

Hi guys,

I'm moving again and this time in an unfurnished house in Nonthaburi. So far I always bought my furniture in MBK but I guess thats absolutely not the right place to buy furniture. The selection is small and the prices so so.

I'm used to go to places like IKEA in Germany or other big furniture and household item places but never came across anything similar in my 2 years I've been living in Thailand.

We need a bed, fridge and washing machine for now. Where would you buy it in Bangkok or the Bkk area?

Any suggestions where it would make sense to buy such stuff would be awesome!

Hey Freitag-

If you are after IKEA type stuff, check out Bangkok Futon at www.bangkokfuton.com. They sell handcrafted futons. Their

furniture is expensive, but excellent quality.

Early Learning Centre (ELC)......Plenty of support, sane management, good pay.

The restaurant has closed. After being open for a couple of years, they just never could turn a profit. Finally, they got tired of losing money and regretfullly closed....

I still go over the the owner's house from time to time for her coffee roasting ritual - it's so cool.....

I tried this in the food forum with no luck so retrying here.

There used to be an absolutely fantastic Ethiopian restaurant on Soi Nana.

Alas, it is gone.

Does anyone happen to know if it moved elsewhere? Or did they leave LOS altogether?

Their food was well worth traveling for. used to be the highlight of my every trip into Bangkok............

Can you find futon mattress in bangkok ?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Maybe in one of the Central stores...

Try Chidlom or Bang Na first... they seem to have a farily extensive range of all home goods.

For a futon mattress, try Bangkok Futon, their email address is www.bangkokfuton.com. It's locally made and looks to be very good quality.

AlexD

Bangkok

I looked all over Bangkok for a futon - all I could find were crap sofa-beds. THe closest things to futons were cheap metal frame jobs at Index - ugly and looked like they'd last 6 months.

Finally, I stumbled on a flier for Bangkok Futon when I was shopping at Villa. I called and asked where their showroom was. It turns out they don't have a showroom, but they bought a futon over to my condo and set it up for me so I could check it out. It's just a Thai woman and her husband who run it - the guy is mad about futons. Their website is www.bangkokfuton.com.

Anyway, they obviously took great pride in their futon. I ended up buying it. It was 29,600 though. I guess they've gone up in price since then.

I am incredibly happy with my purchase. It is extremely comfortable, versatile, and very beautiful. Unfortunatley, it did not come with the model on the website.

For anyone looking for a futon, I can definitely recommend Bangkok Futon - I am very satisfied.

Alex D

Bangkok