ungcas

As someone had mentioned above, you can asked them what they want.

It also depends on how good of an employee that person is and/or how close to you they are. My wife said that in a situation similar to yours (loyal employee for over 30 years), we would give a them either cash or a 1-2 Salung bracelet/anklet with is 5-10K. One thing I am sure of though is that Thais always appreciate money or gold, espcially when it is coming from their Boss.

The top right section of my razr hd became loose after 2 months of use. I never dropped it. After reading several different forums on the net, I discovered that I am not the only one. Whenever I touch that part of the phone, I can hear a slight creeking sound. I must say that I like the kevlar back though.

Sent from my XT910 using Thaivisa Connect App

You are so lucky. Last november, I made the mistake of buying a Motorola razr hd. What a big mistake.

They promised an unlocked boot loader and ICS within 3-4 months, but so far, they have not delivered. Besides, having a slim body, everything else is inferior to the S2. I can't wait to get the new S3 next month.

Sent from my XT910 using Thaivisa Connect App

I Have played a few different online rpgs and the ping has never really been ak issue. Battlenet is quite reliable, and even though with US time zones, I find it easier to find people to play with.

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I've been playing since day 1. It took me 90 mins before I was able to log in, but after that everything was smooth sailing for me. I played a good 6 hours that day without any issues. The next 2 days went quite smoothly as well, but then there was a maintenance, and after that I kept getting disconnected. I thought it was happening to everyone, but after some reading on the forums, I discovered that it was caused by one of the barb skills (whirlwind with heal rune). So, all in all, it has been a good experience so far. Do not listen to all those kids complaining in the forums. The last online game I played was Runes of Magic, and although that was a true Mmorpg, this experience is far superior. If anyone wants to join me, I am a lvl 54 barb on the American server. Name is Swordstance.

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They needed a survey to figure that out?

Seriously. Next, they are going to tell us that kajority of Blackberry users are of that age group as well.

1. What level are you at?

I would say advance. I can understand most conversations I engage or listen to. My goal is to be able to understand the news and read the newspaper. I would say that I am able to grasp about 50-70% of it depending on the topic.

2. Can you read and write Thai?

I can read Thai fluently and at a good speed. I only have trouble with Thai names and big words. I can write just as well, although I haven't done any writing in the last 5 months so I'm probably a bit rusty. I think that, like most people learning Thai, I struggle with words that use special/uncommon stop consonants.

3. How long have you been learning for?

I studied for 1 year at Piammitr Language school(which I highly recommend).

4. How did you learn?

The school I studied at uses a very common system, called the "Union System" Some complain that their system is a bit outdated, but I really believe that anyone with 8-12 months of time will get out of there feeling fairly confident when speaking/listening to Thais, provided they do the homework and follow the teacher's advice. I say this because I have met quite a few students who struggled throughout the course, only to find out they weren't putting much effort into learning once they were outside the classroom. I did try to self-learn using material I found off the internet and a book written by Poomsan Becker(sorry for spelling). I really liked the book, but I found that they way the book teaches Thai writing just didn't work for me.

I stopped after 1 year because I went through just about the whole course, minus the business and Thai history course. Right now I am reading Thai books translated from English novels. I find myself understanding 80%+ at first read. The most difficult thing is the amount of new words I see all the time. So what I do is have a dictionary besides me and just check up the words that I don't know. I found this to be a great way to learn new words.

5. What other languages could you speak before Thai?

My first language is Cantonese which I can still understand fairly fluently. The next would be english obviously.

Horrible news. I'm actually working near that area today, but haven't heard anything about it until now.

Im getting it from the us and i have a constant speed of a full 12mb down (the max of my line) I love news servers torrents don't even come close. Yes i pay a little bit but you know you will get what you download and you don't have to worry about someone turning his computer off.

Which usenetprovider do you use? Usenet is so much better than torrents, you always get full speed. For torrents it's a different story, if there are no seeds in Thailand and the torrent is a few gig you'll be downloading for a few days.

I'm using usenetserver. I recently switched from newshosting to get SSL, but it turned out great because I'm now paying 10USD instead of 14.95USD with SSL unlimited. On my 8MB true connection I get 5+MB during off peak hours. During peak hours it can drop as low as 2MB. I still use Torrent occasionally for hard to get Chinese movies since they are not posted on usenet.

Thanks for the heads up. I went there last time and found some great books for learning Thai/Chinese. Gonna make another trip there tomorrow to pick up some more books to beef up my Thai reading.

I tried that route when I first arrived in Bangkok, but found that this method didn't work well for me. I found the way that the alphabet system was explained, although good, it was a bit confusing to me. Another issue I had with self-learning was forcing my self to study/practice/doing homework at a consistent rate.

I eventually went to study at a language school and after just a few days I felted I achieved so much more than studying alone.

If you want more books on learning Thai, you could try the book store on the top floor of Chamchuri Square. They have a good choices of dictionaries and books for learning Thai.

But, like Todd said, don't give up, and don't discouraged. It does get easier.

Looking for a school recommendation from some knowledgable folks here. I've looked through this long chain and still unsure about what the best options might be. I will probably take the top few recommendations and try some test classes and see what's a good fit.

I'm one of those farangs with schizophrenic Thai skills. I KNOW a lot of Thai...in theory...but just need to unlock the fluency.

Lived here for several years now. I've picked up a lot osmotically - but my Thai skills are a very mixed bag:

- Vocab - Large. Better than a lot of dek nawk and look kreung friends.

- Pronunciation - Horrible. Especially the tones. (I never formally studied Thai - never learned the tone rules. It shows.)

- Reading - In very short doses (e.g. a billboard) it's second nature, almost like English. But anything more text heavy (like a page of a newspaper) and my brain freezes up. Could probably read the kind of book they sell at 7-11 but would be nice to be able to read real literature eventually.

- Writing - Can kind of write simple Thai - and do on a regular basis - but don't know how to spell a lot of everyday words. Never learned step by step like a language student - and not knowing the tone rules is probably holding me back here too.

- Listening comprehension - Pretty good. But can improve.

- Conversation - Very mixed. In theory should be able to hold a decent conversation with anyone. In practice - it varies. A lot.

In terms of skills to learn my priorities are:

- Big push to improve my pronunciation

- Big push to converse more fluidly and with more confidence

- Shape up reading and writing skills in the process

- Learn the tone rules once and for all (this is maybe one of the earliest step to get out of the way)

Any recommendations on schools or maybe even specific teachers who might be a good fit? Somewhere in Bangkok. Don't mind hard work, fast paced. In fact I'd prefer a place or person who's a hardcore serious teacher. Cheaper is strongly preferred - but won't sacrifice quality just because of price. Education visa strongly preferred - but open to learning options where visa is not an option.

Anyone who's gone through a similar learning process have any advice? Are there courses out there that will work? Do I need to do it all with a private tutor? Crash course for a while with a private tutor to fill in the gaps and speed through the beginning levels of a school's offering and then go into group classes at a higher level? Are there any schools that are better at teaching intermediate and advanced levels?

I highly recommend Piammitr Language School. I was a former student there and actually encountered another student similar to what you've described. He knew a lot a vocabulary and is able to to converse quite well, but not so great in the reading and writing. He was mainly interested in Listening/Speaking so he took a couple of months there, and in the end he was extremely satisfied. Actually, for the second month he only studied for 2 weeks, and the school allowed him to pay only half-month (he was quite happy with that)

If you have trouble with the tones and pronunciations I would recommend you sit in on the first 3 classes of level 1. (this was actually my first exposure to the school. they let me sit in for 1 week, free of charge. i knew quite a bit of Thai going in but never learned the vowels and tones. after the first 3 days it really opened my eyes and helped me pronounce a lot of words correctly, which at first I was pronouncing them close, but not properly.

Learning to read/write is a 2 month process, but from what you've described you need more of a refreshment on both so I would suggest you take a private 1 month course because you probably don't need to spend the full 2 months learning to ready and write. But if you have the time, it is not a bad thing, since some people don't like to rush.

If you study in the afternoons there are less students than in the morning. I was able to get 1 on 1 teacher time for a few months this way, but pay normal prices.

You can talk to Khruu Lek(the manager) to let you observer some different classes to see what you like the best.

If you have any questions feel free to PM me. I've been through the whole course so I can tell you just about all aspects of the school/system.

So sad. No man is worth killing yourself over. (Or no woman, for that matter)

Death never solves anything. But in any event, may she rest in peace. A truly sad story in deed.

There are a lot of HTC resellers here in Bangkok. I bought mine at MBK mall and got them to knock off 1500. You said that you will be here next month. If that is the case, have you given any thought to the HTC HD3(HD7).

But, if you are know what you are getting into, you will be extremely satisified with this phone.

You can add Tables(European Restaurant inside Grand Hyatt Hotel) to that list. A dinner for 2(2 mains, 2 apps and 2 non-alcoholic drinks) cost me nearly 7000 Baht. The worst part is that the food is meh...

Im looking for a good school in Bangkok that teach beginners.

In the beginning of this thread Piammitr school is highly recommended . Is it still up to date , I tried to mail them but no reply.

60 hours for 6700 baht looks like a good deal?

http://www.piammitrschool.com/

I'm surprised they have not replied to your email. I see the manager at the front desk always taking care of this kind of stuff. Perhaps the email is wrong? You can also check their facebook page out .

This is the school I have been attending for the last 7 months and I highly recommend it. It is conveniently located close to Nana BTS station. The building is very new with air conditioned rooms and clean bathrooms.

Also the price is actually 5500 which afaik is the cheapest in Bangkok. The 6700 you saw is for the 3 month competency preparation test.

If you have any questions or need a guid you can PM me.

I suggest you come in and check the place for yourself. You can even set in for 1 week to see if you like it, before you actually pay.

I have always enjoyed the buffet at the Grand Hyatt Erawan Hotel.

I highly recommend Piammitr Language School. http://www.piammitrschool.com/

I have been studying Thai there for the last 6 months and I am extremely satisfied with this school. The course is well organized and the teachers are all very friendly and experienced.

You spend the first 3 months learning basics such as pronunciation, basic vocabulary and sentence structures. At level 4 & 5 we were taught how to read and write and the system works really well. After completing level 5 I can read 95% of everything I encounter (its usually the stuff dealing with the King, Monks and Religion which gives me problems).

During my time there, I met a lot of people from different parts of the world and even some people from who have studied Thai at other schools and they all agreed that this school is better then their previous schools.

If you are interested, you can come in to observe free of charge for a week (thats what i did). They have group and private lessons in school, and can also arrange private lessons at your home if you like.

But, I agree with what other people have said, learning Thai takes time and you need to practice reading a lot and conversations with Thai people. I'm not at a fluent level yet but I can carry basic/intermediate conversations with Thai people and have no trouble asking for directions/shopping/going to restaurants, etc.. I have been told that I can read better than grade 4 Thai students which makes me feel quite satisfied. I hope this information is helpful to you.

that is a real sad thing...

but more sad, in Thailand almost all people not even know the roots

Having moved from Canada to Thailand nearly 3 years ago, usenet was very important to me. Its my method of choice to keep up with my tv shows.

I think the reds are basically peacefull, but Abhisit always changes his mind saying I will desolve parliament and organise elections, the putting all this on hold!

How can anyone trust him?

I would get violent too

Abhisit has to resign if he wants peace back in Thailand!

yep

It is a good idea, whoever mentioned a 7 day grace period for new joiners before they can post. Everyday we get new users(probably the same few people who have been banned) posting the same useless messages.

i have no problem with that. make it a week, make it secure, make it like it used to be.

definitely relieving to know something is being done about it. Reading Taksin's tweet messages, he's not the most liked person out there, don't let a few fool you, or them really.

I agree. Just like when you are sick and the doctor tells you to take the medicine for 5 days. You feel better after a couple of days and stop taking it but then a few days later you feel sick again.

Better to see it through fix the problem properly.

Central World Destroyed in Fire

UPDATE : 19 May 2010

Bangkok's largest shopping mall, the second largest in Asia, has been destroyed by fires.

Reports indicate that the fire, started by protesters shortly after their leaders' surrender, blazed on for hours.

Fire crews could not get on the scene and the department store's own fire crews were unable to stop the blaze.

http://www.thailandoutlook.tv/tan/ViewData...?DataID=1029544

I can see the smoke. Really horrible. Will take a lot of time and $$$ before it can reopen.

These so called "protestors" are just the scum of the earth.

UPDATE:

CRES Imposes Curfew In Bangkok, many provinces

The Centre for the Resolution of the Emergency Situation (CRES) has announced curfew in Bangkok and nearby cities and provinces in the North and Northeast earlier placed under emergency law.

People in areas under curfew are not allowed to leave their homes from 8pm to 6am, with immediate effect.

State authorities are allowed to perform their duties in the restricted areas to restore peace and order.

The curfew order was signed by Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva late this afternoon.

-- Source: Bangkok Post 2010-05-19

any more details on the curfew, where and what cannot ( other than in the street ) ?

I don't understand much about the Thai curfew, same as the western one ?

Let me make it real clear since you're rather slow to catch on to things here....It means: Stay the <deleted> OFF THE STREETS!

Hehehe

Many people are going to be injured and killed today. You hateful people who are gloating over this fiasco should be ashamed of yourselves. I'm especially disappointed with our liberal far left gay members who have demonstrated their hate and are doing their best to stir the pot. WHY?

Can I please ask you a question

tell me where I can read your thread on stopping Thai's drinkling at Songkran

More people are killed on the roads at Songkran than here

Or do they not matter ?????

Very good point. And just like during Songkran, they have a choice. Dont' drink so much your driving won't be impaired.

Leave the protest area peacefully, go home and you won't be in danger.

In both cases, these people are self-knowingly and self-willingly putting their own lives at risk. Nobody else to blame.

By putting up sign that say " Live Fire Zone " it means the government are using Psychological warfare tactics to frighten protesters from getting near the soldiers bunker.

LOL! Yeah, all psychological warfare tactics. The guns I see on the news are just for show, right? The issue here isn't the SIGNS being posted by the army; it's the REAL live fire being used to kill. And 70 people are dead already - not because they read a frightening sign.

Amnesty International aren't upset because there are signs saying "Live Fire Zone". They are upset because the area IS a Live Fire Zone. Are you okay Thaising?

Bye bye Abhisit.

It is very simple. Hands on your head and leave the protest zone. How difficult is that to understand? Its common sense, you don't even need any form of education for that.

If you want to cease fire, show some initiative yourself, instead of making countless demands.

You've had so many opportunities to plead your case.