Parvis

I have not yet applied for my retirement extension under the "new" rules. However my method to transfer 65k+/month is as follows - without any apparent problems. I transfer from BofA to Bkk Bank.

1) I wire-transfer in US$ and transmittance shows as FTT - cost is $45 each transfer

2) Initially I tried to transfer in Thai Baht from US - with verrrry poor exchange rates

3) My scheduled retirement extension will be in 2 weeks - so we shall see.

1 hour ago, Happy Grumpy said:

 

But she might need to take care of her parents and cannot work. Very sad. The crops they were depending on just died too from drought. Flooding season soon and the house foundation needs replacing or it will collapse. Jing. 

 

 

10-15k baht a month should see them fine. Up to you. 

No 'parents' involved anymore. House is quite comfortable - but could use improving - especially if I were to consider it my 'part time' home.

I realize 25k is pushing a little - however in this is a new motorcycle payment for 3000/month. But I would feel more comfortable if I knew exactly how the money is spend. I tend to be frugal (but not stingy). 

1 hour ago, 4MyEgo said:

Have you ever tried to raise kids in Thailand, live a comfortable life, not excessive, 8,000 baht a month as an allowance for the GF. I give about the same to the wife, i.e. 9,000 baht a month, with that money she will give the 3 kids 30 baht each for school pocket money as the school provides them with meals, the balance goes to veggies at the local markets and maybe a meal for her parents every now and again.

 

The cost for each child per school term (2 terms) is 5,000 baht, then you have uniforms, books, bags, and summer class which is about 2,500 baht per head. 

 

Car, house, bike paid for, electricity, water, house insurance, car insurance registrations, services/maintenance for car/bike, dentists, food, I would say 20,000 baht a month is ok for her, not over the top, for a single lady and 2 kids going to school, 25,000 would be more appropriate, but if I wasn't living with the lady, I would be requesting photos of receipts to see where the outgoings are actually going 4Myego if I had any concerns, as I am paying for it, nothing to do with trust, its a 1 + 1 thing, and if she doesn't have a problem with that, then its all good, if she arks up, then one should pull on the collar for a while until the she learns who is truly master, that is if she doesn't already know 555

For me - it has never been a question of - What I can afford - but rather has been a question of what is a reasonable budget for a Thai Lady with 2 children - upcountry.

From what I understand now - a budget of 25,000 baht/month is a 'livable budget' (all inclusive) without exorbitant/unreasonable 'wants'.

"Soon" - I may get an Internet connection upcountry also - which therefore means I could spend more time upcountry and would have the opportunity to more closely inspect 'the receipts for the outgoing' (trust - but - verify).

42 minutes ago, al007 said:

I have lived in Issan for 9 years, my total expenditure is around 120,000 pm,( excluding medical) my wife has a couple of children who do not live with us, I mention this to show I live at the higher end and my opinion is based on that

 

A lot depends on your own circumstances on what you choose to pay

 

A factory worker around here gets about 12,000 per month

 

20,000 is certainly more than survival-able on, but then if you can afford it 25,000 would make a big difference, some friends who are only here part of the year give 30,000 per month

 

If I ever split from my wife and today I am very happy I would expect to pay 30,000 per month min

 

When I die I have told my wife she will have to probably live on 75,000 per month, she owns the house I built and paid for, we also have a car paid for

 

I hope my comments are helpful

 

I find some of the comments unhelpful and distasteful, on this thread, and I wish you luck, obviously by enquiring you are a reasonable man

 

Good Luck

I am an old man (76) - an old fool as SOME may point out. I have considered "not helping" - but - would that make me happier?  Absolutely not - I can make a difference for the children - with money, inspiration, positive guidance - they have yet undeveloped future potential. The boy will be with me shortly - in Bangkok - during his 'end of term' vacation. To see him develop into a responsible young man - will give me satisfaction.

I appreciate all the feed back - my objective was to understand better and provide reasonably.

34 minutes ago, 55Jay said:

Has she told you it takes X amount, or suggested a figure and you're trying to verify?

 

Or are you providing money already and being told more is needed (and want to verify).

 

I'm not be cheeky, this is a very common situation.  If any of the above is the case, would you mind revealing how much?   I live right up where you are referring to, although Korat is a big place.

Well - more particulars

She lives with her children ALONE - no other next of kin. NO housing expense other than utilities etc. (house was inherited from her mother - reasonably nice and livable).

We have an 'established' relationship for several years - but weekly money requests seem sometimes excessive (i.e. bills presented raise my suspicion - I read Thai unbeknown to her) and forever increasing.

I gave her 274 000 baht in 2016 (included motorcycle payments of 3000/month) -- 200 000 baht in 2015 -- 165 000 baht 2014

So therefore - what are my 'issues'

1 - my continued support are primarily because of her children (I am a sucker for children)

2 - I do not object to a reasonable support - just do not want to be a 'farang sucker'

3 - I have currently no plans to live near Khorat (and have 'certain' unverified suspicions)

Therefore any "guidance" to what should be a reasonable living expence amount - is highly appreciated.

What is the approximate, reasonable living expence range upcountry (small village near Khorat) - for:

1) Thai lady with 2 children (boy 13 + girl 5)

2) Food, utilities, schooling

3) Owns home (no rental etc) - transportation (motorcycle) paid by me

4) I live in Bangkok - visit occationally

Tx for your reply

I'm unclear on how the educational Visa works.

To clarify for myself...

To get an educational visa you have to apply to a school first, and that school has to have an accreditation to provide an educational visa?

However, there are other Thai language schools, that might be better, but you will not get an educational visa from them?

Essentially correct - however the Ed Visa is not issued by the School - the School only provides the necessary documents that you actually study. There are mainly 3 different categories of Schools.

1) "Longstanding established Schools" with typically accredited teachers who have taught Thai (and other languages) to foreigners for many years who started to give Ed Visa support TO STAY COMPETITIVE - at the advent of Ed Visas - since the demand for a "means of longer term stay" was/is so high.

Typically each class/module/term will be between 5-8 weeks (extendable to the next higher module).

2) "Newer Schools" (started with the advent of Ed Visas) for students whose PRIMARY INTEREST is to be able to stay in Thailand legally long-term. Typically these Schools will not have specific "session starting dates" but rather run on a continuous basis year round. In other words - on your specific starting date you may find yourself starting with page 40 or so rather than on page one.

3) "Professional Schools" - such as Universities - who are also able to provide Ed Visa Support if you are willing to sign up for an extended period (but Ed Visas is not their primary business).

I think we are going to need a lot more cheese to go with all this whine

"Why light a candle - if you can curse the darkness"

The English language seems to make you think. I'm afraid if I learn Thai I wont think anymore, and just yammer on and on unknowingly.

"I knowed nuf - but not nuf to hurt me none"

The difference in Thai-usage is mainly a question of the environment he/she is from.

An educated speaker with a PhD etc. will most certainly have a different command/usage/interest of their native language than the "Ladies" of the lower socio-economic spectrum of Thai-society - we farangs - tend to meet in bars.

Therefore, even if we ourselves are highly educated - our Thai usage MAY (probably) become "tainted" by our Thai-association.

We - ourselves - become products of our environment and will be judged according to our Thai-language usage - by native Thais.

It is not capitalism itself that "embraces commerce without morality" - but rather individuals without ethics - and having ethics implies having a moral compass.

How would you translate "Commerce without Morality" (Gandhi) in as close a meaning as possible.

Immigration and Dptmt of Ed are probably aware of the potential for abuse of Ed Visas - but do not appear to be concerned about it.

In a recent instance an individual at the "School" was informed he will no longer be able to get an Ed visa for Thai after 4 years - so he (non-native English speaker) changed to study English - at the same "School".

Transliteration is not only a "quick fix" - but also allows you to interact with Thai people immediately - assuming ofcourse - the "Basic Thai" you learn is of everyday value and usage.

The sooner you can interact with Thai people IN THE THAI LANGUAGE - the sooner you can start to communicate in Thai effectively.

You will learn like a child (just exponentially faster) - in "building blocks". Communication in a new language (or even your mothers tongue) takes practice - every day a little more "sticks" in your brain when you use it.

But if you are unable to read Thai-script you will eventually reach a plateau from where it appears there is no escape (unless you can read Thai literature,newspapers etc etc etc).

To learn BASIC Thai script reading skills - I am not aware of any better system than the "Maanii Reader" available for free - with sound - on the Internet.

As an "absolute beginner" it is perfectly reasonable to start learning Thai with "transliteration". This is still the fastest way to learn to communicate in BASIC Thai and with immedeately usable phrases.

Even in the Schools (including the one mentioned above) who "claim" to not use any transliterations you will notice that ALL students -(as in every single one)- scribble their own versions of transliteration in their respective books.

Among the best reports of Language Schools in Pattaya will always be Pro Language. Should you be interested to become fluent eventually - then - to learn Thai script is an absolute necessity.

I actually found the "old fat farangs" who attend School are typically serious about their studies - since in most cases they have no need for an Ed Visa - therefore they attend "by choice - not need". The "young whipper-snappers" often (but not always) work here illegally and are not really interested to even attend School (and often don't - they just pay for the "free" Ed Visa).

I have heard good reports about "Pro Language" and personally can certainly recommend "Language Express".

The best School for your purpose is probably "Language Express" located in Mahatun Building next to Ploenchit BTS

1) They teach "usable" Thai from the beginning on.

2) You will learn to read and write

3) You will practice and be able to identify correct tones

4) They have classes in the range of hours/week you desire

5) They will help you get your Educational Visa

6) Class size tend to be "ideally small" - Students are motivated (not there for the Ed Visa only)

I suggest you visit and ask for a sample lesson.

Also read comments on website "womenlearningthai".

Please note - I am not associated with any School (just experience) and neither ask for - nor receive any commission.

59. เอ aeh (Midtone) [pronunciation of the Thai vowel, เ ]

From website Thai-language.com

In general - sounds like the same argument that was made on different postings some time ago - belittling the efforts of the Royal Institute for its inconsistencies etc. etc. etc. - according to some selfappointed "experts".

All systems - I believe - continue to evolve - hopefully for the benefit of all of us.

One of the "notable examples" that was given in the previous thread - was the many different romanized spellings of "ดินแดง" you may encounter - while travelling along the freeways.

1) Din Daeng - correct for English

2) Din Dang - correct for American English

3) Din Deng - correct for Spanish, Italian, German (they may prefer "a with umlaut").

But in Thai "ดินแดง" will always be pronounced correctly as "ดินแดง".

Perhaps Thai should be romanized - per ajarnyai - by a system yet to be developed - for the convenience of all of us native English speakers - without any inconsistencies for us perfect native English speakers.

P.S.

Ohhh - I forgot to mention - I am not a native English speaker (but I do know how to spell foreigners correctly - ajarnyai).

...you don't romanize Thai for Thai people, you do it for English speaking people, or am I wrong?

Ask yourself: is English the only language in the world written with a Roman-based alphabet?

No, not at all, but the road signs, signs for the toilets, food package labels etc. that are not written in Thai are written in English. In schools, the required foreign that uses the Roman alphabet is English. I pretty sure it's for English speaking people.

The difference in pronounciation of specific letters (and therefore words) in most languages using the "Roman Alphabet" is close enough to be mutualy understood "phonetically (auditory phonetics)". Whether you are English, German, Spanish etc. etc. etc. - the words "Inglaterra - Deutschland - Italia - Espana - Los Estados Unidos" etc. etc. etc. will be mutually understood (auditory phonetics) - without necessarily knowing the meaning thereof.

Therefore - to claim that romanized Thai is only directed at English speakers - I am pretty sure can only be claimed by an individual speaking only one language namely - English (and therefore have much to complain about).

No problem

1) Go to website "Thai-language.com"

2) Look up "tools"

3) Click on "Category 1"

4) Happy doodling - about 50 items

Yes ClaronO - I am surprised to see it - but you appear to be correct.

In theory, therefore, the "employee" - is considered a "contractor" (at least per USA laws). The School is not responsible to withhold any taxes including Social Security. The "Contractor" is responsible for all - and since a foreign "Contractor" is normally not even aware of "fair wages" (often not even qualified as teacher in his/her home-country) - he/she gets whatever minimum is possible - per School.

As one "Private School Director" put it - "Language Schools have always been a Cash-cow"

Any business with one or more employee must be registered with coverage provided for 15-60 years olds.

The Social Security law doesn't apply to institutions that fall under the Private Schools Act.

You don't really think that Farang-owned Schools are given a competitive edge over Thai-owned Schools by the Thai Government -???

There is no such thing as a "Private Schools Act" as it pertains to paid employees (foreign or domestic).

Don't keep the name of this school a secret - advertise it.

The ONLY way to stop corruption is to "shine a light on it".