MrBrad

Go to Wikipedia dot com and search for Thai Provinces. All provinces are listed. Then click onto any province and you will find a list of administrative sub-divisions. For example: Chiang Mai is subdivided into 24 districts (Amphoe). The districts are further subdivided into 204 subdistricts (Tambon) and 1915 villages (Muban).

Click around on these and you can get a better idea of the system.

In April I stayed at the Kaw Kwang Beach Resort for 1,000 baht a night for 2 people. Very comfortable, nice dining area, pool, fridge in the room, a/c, tv, etc. See their site: http://www.lanta-kawkwangresort.com/

Also check their location on wikimapia: http://www.wikimapia.org/#lat=7.6448353&am...amp;m=a&v=2

Very popular with northern Europeans. Quiet, yet close enough to other resorts and restaurants.

Remember that Thai people can pronounce every English sound, and those of us who did not have Thai as our first language can learn to speak every Thai sound also. We are born with the same equipment as everyone else in the world. So, with a little practice--sometimes a lot of practice--your students can and will speak good English.

We need to teach only the sounds that do not occur in Thai language. Bs, Ds, Ms, Ks, Ws, and the like should already be there. No need to waste time on these. Thais can say the F with no problem, but the V is often said as a W. Please teach them that a V is never a W, but rather exactly the same as an F, only the F has no vibration in the throat; turn on the vibration and you have an instant and perfect V. The same is true with S and Z, i.e., S is voiceless but the Z uses the vocal chords...the vibration in the throat. Don't change the position of the tongue, teeth, or lips; just turn on and off the motor in the thoat.

Initial Rs in English require a rounding of the lips as in making a W. Maybe that's why write and wren begin with a W. The final R is a different sound. Most of us also know that in Thai the final L becomes an N sound. Students need to know that we do not change the final L sound in English.

Perhaps the most difficult is the TH. Actually there are 2 TH sounds in English. The TH in thank you is not the same as the TH in the. One is voiced and the other is not voiced (like F and V, and S and Z). Being aware of this ourselves will help our students to speak better. For the TH to be spoken correctly one's tongue must quickly dart between our teeth. This is very strange behavior for the Thais. I used to take a small mirror to class and have the students check out for themselves if they were sticking their tongues out correctly. Actually our ears will quickly tell us when their tongues do not go between their teeth...we don't have to actually see them doing it incorrectly. Ask the students to practice a few TH words in the mirror in the bathroom at home with the door shut if they have to; it's good for a laugh, but they might actually find themselves doing it.

These are a few of the techniques that I found worked well with my students. On the very first day of class--regardless of whether I was teaching young kids or adults--I would start out with a quick review of English sounds. It's by far easier to learn something right from the start than it is to unlearn what you've been doing wrong for so long.

Proper phonetics is essential to sounding like a native. And when the student is complimented on his or her good English, the student will always respond, "It's not that I'm such a good student; I had an excellent English teacher."

As Sr. Soruco, my Spanish professor, used to say, "You can learn to speak good Spanish or bad Spanish. Good Spanish is better." The same is true for English. [And Thai, for that matter.]

This reminds me of the time I was teaching a class of M2 (8th grade / 13 years old) students. To start the day a bit differently I asked the class, "How are you today?" Because they keyed into the last word of the question I heard a bunch of responses to the effect that today is Wednesday. So I asked them to listen closely as I repeated the question.

It took a couple more repeats before one of the students replied, "Fine, thank you, and you?"

At a temple that I used to visit from time to time, I would see the novices or temple boys using coconut shells to polish the floor. They would stand with one foot on a piece of shell underfoot and with some well-rehearsed quick-step motions skate their way along the planks, leaving the floor shiny as glass. Coconut oil is the answer in this case.

There once was a girl from Madras

Who had a magnificent ass.

Not round and pink,

as you might think,

but grey, had long ears,

and ate grass.

Kasem Bakery [19 Ratchawong Road on the left side just north of Chiang Moi Road] has a good selection of imported foods. They seem to have things that the larger, chain stores don't handle. Maybe they would be able to get what you want. And it's always better to try to support the locally-owned merchant if possible. English is spoken there.

Loi Khro Clinic did me wrong also, many years ago. A cortizone injection in the elbow went wrong, and I went looking elsewhere.

I highly recommend the Savitri-Sharin Clinic at 95/2-3 Kochasarn Road Telephone 0-5327-5330. It is located along the outside of the moat on the east side, about a block before the southeast corner. Dr Sharin and his wife are both western-educated doctors; she handles many of the women's concerns. Almost every time I've been there there have also been a number of other farang. He's always been accurate and honest with me, and helped to remedy whatever I'd gone in to see him for. I've recommended him to several other foreigners, and they, too, were very satisfied. He's got a great personality besides. Hours are something like 9AM until noon, and 5 until 8 PM daily except closed Sunday evenings.

I agree with Ulysses. Stealing is wrong. But when one regularly (carelessly) leaves money in the pockets, it would seem to me that the wash lady could easily get the impression that money in such "small" amounts doesn't matter much to the owner of the pockets. You'd never miss a few hundred baht now and again. Such could be her thinking.

Knowing that this presents a temptation and continuing to allow it to happen--even purposefully setting her up--is only asking for trouble. A simple solution to prevent this kind of incident in the future may be to make sure your pockets are empty before laundry day.

I've sent gifts as well as ATM cards from Minneapolis to Chiang Mai with no problem...one week service. I will say though that I do not send such things to a home address, but rather to the address of a business (actually a government office). It seems to me that a business would experience fewer misrouted items. Maybe I have just been lucky.

Oh, let me add that this was by insured air mail at the US post office, not courier.

Why bother with places that don't provide any service?

For anything electronic, I would recommend Siam TV. Far fewer complaints about them than anyone else...

I agree completely and they are always my first choice for electronics. They unfortunately did not have what I was looking for at the time and my lack of patience bit me on the butt..

Live and learn, eh?

The location of this place, please?

Siam TV is in Electronic Plaza some 3+ blocks north of Wat Phra Sing on Singharat Road (the main north-south road in front of Wat Phra Sing).

A couple of years ago I paid to keep my friend out of the military. I'm embarrassed to say how much they got out of me. Had I paid BEFORE the day of the drawing it would have been much, much cheaper, so I'm told. But he felt sure that he would not draw the wrong color, so he took the risk. Of course I didn't know the cost of either "before" or "after." (Until "after.")

Well, after spending his day with the military getting his physical and playing army for a while, they wrapped up the day with the drawing. As mentioned in earlier posts, if they get enough volunteers, all others can go home supposedly. Also, if the quota is filled before your guy gets his chance to draw, I understand that your guy doesn't have to draw, or if he does, he still doesn't have to go...something like that.

With the fighting in the south of Thailand my friend was sure he'd be sent there...even from Chiang Mai. Moreover, he and his girlfriend were expecting their firstborn in a few months. He was to be sent to Phitsanulok for some 6 months training with no time off to visit Chiang Mai. So, I caved in and bought his way out.

His recruiting officer set the price at 53,000 baht. I paid it. I thought that all was well until the coup in September 06. Then is when I learned that he did not have his discharge papers, and there was talk of his recruiter being replaced by someone from Bangkok, and all this baksheesh was for nothing. In order to get the final document another 82,000 was required. All the big boys up and down the line had to get paid.

I've gotten over the hardship that it cost me quite some time ago now. My friend was able to return to his government job--which couldn't happen until the military had officially made him a free man again. And the baby is 1 1/2 years old and is a perfect child. So all's well once again.

I pass as a Thai on the phone, so I guess pretty fluent.

I like to talk, so being here for almost 20 yrs and not being able to talk to the vast majority of people would have driven me crazy by now.

Also speak Northern dialect.

Is there any place in Chiang Mai that teaches the northern dialect? How did you acquire it, Sally?

Two secretaries, a blonde and a brunette were riding down in the elevator from the top of their skyscraper when a handsome hunk gets on the elevator.

The ladies are checking him out when the brunette comments that he has dandruff. "Someone should give him some 'Head and Shoulders'."

The blonde looks at the brunette and asks "How do you give shoulders?"

People are often unreasonable, illogical and self-centered; forgive them anyway.

If you are kind, people may accuse you of selfish ulterior motives; be kind anyway.

If you are successful, you will win some false friends and some true enemies; succeed anyway.

If you are honest and frank, people may cheat you; be honest anyway.

What you spend years building, someone can destroy overnight; build anyway.

If you find serenity and happiness, they may be jealous; be happy anyway.

The good you do today, people will often forget tomorrow; do good anyway.

Give the world the best you have, it may never be enough;

You'll see, in the final analysis it is between you and yourself.

It was never between you and them anyway.

When I'm in Chiang Mai I often will get in an hour's worth of Tai Chi exercise with the old locals from 6-7 AM. It's fun and easy to do, and they don't mind having an outsider join in. You can find them at Thapae Gate, the Three Kings Monument, and at the Sanam Gila sports college to name three places; there no doubt are a few others around town.

A couple of days ago (Dec 26) the International Herald Tribune newspaper (iht) had an article on Chinese motorcycles: "Chinese goods transform life in Southeast Asia." It's on the web. It doesn't sound like the motorcycles are any good at all.

There is a difference between speaking English with your full vocabulary and speaking with Basic English. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Basic_English

I try to use the most simplified vocabulary I can without breaking grammatical rules. Because I spend so much time with ESL people in an English speaking environment, I can almost always tell when the words are too complicated in a conversation. When I watch a movie with my wife I can tell which parts she will get lost on, and I often give her a more basic summary, if she is missing crucial dialogue.

There is no problem with speaking correctly, if you have an idea of what words people are most likely to understand. Figures of speech or colloquialisms are completely useless, but it takes years for people to stop using them.

Having a degree in English as a Foreign Language, I, too, would agree with refraining from using broken, ungrammatical English. Tarzan-talk only promotes more of the same. When communicating in English with Thai friends it's always Basic English.