icequeen

Thanks, I'll check them out tomorrow!

I am looking for a condo for some friends who are coming over in January. They want to rent for two months and pay up to 8,000 per month. They need a clean condo with aircon and a small kitchen area, sink and worktop + fridge.

I have found some very good ones at Maple house on Soi Kohpai for 7,500 baht per month but I can't find anything else to compare, the kitchen area is really important for them.

Could anyone recommend anything that they think would be suitable, even a small bungalow would be ok if the price is right, it doesn't matter whereabouts it is, aslong as it is in Pattaya (not East Pattaya).

Many thanks in advance.

It's stated monthly as sterling

I never want to go back, people in the UK whinge about everything - Thailand is sabai, sabai!

Do you only have to watch the video or is there a test afterwards?

I renewed my car licence if February and didn't have to do anything, only get my photo taken but my bike licence is due for renewal in October - video sounds like a barrel of laughs by the way i can't wait!

I had them installed on my honda click and they make a world of difference, it no longer bottoms out on the speed bumps even with two of us on there.

Can't remember exactly how much they cost but it was less that B1000

I've been to the honda garage today and was told that early next year they will be launching a phantom with a bigger engine, how much bigger I don't know but 400cc would be nice.

You're very welcome Pattaya_girl, I forgot to add make sure you get there as early as you can about 8.30 is good, and take plenty of photo copies of your passport and UK licence.

As long as you have your UK licence you won't have to take a driving test so don't worry about it. You just have to do an eye sight test, to see if you can see red amber and green, an accelerator and brake test - you have to press the accelerator and when the light changes colour press the brake, there is a time limit on this but it's still quite easy, and the last one is a perception test there are two small batons in a box, you have to use a remote control to get them both level. It's not hard at all, just a bit of a pain spending the morning at the test centre - it's always really full and the staff aren't the nicest people in the world.

The official rule is that you are supposed to have an International driving permit in order to get a thai licence without taking the test but at the moment they don't apply that rule at Pattaya.

That's quite different to the experiences I've had, I've found that thai people celebrate absolutely everything! Birthdays, every new year celebration going: thai, western, chinese (etc). My thai social circle have parties for new cars, new motorbikes, new jobs and that's apart from the usual 'tambon baan' and birthdays. Most of the thai people I know have a party every year for their birthday, they pay for all the food and drink and guests bring a gift. Some of the parties are quite small but some are huge with dancers, jokers and more food than you could hope to eat!

I can't even say it's just wealthy thais because it seems to be the poorest people also, sometimes even more than the wealthy thais. Any excuse to crack open a few beers with some friends, last week it was happy birthday new Yamaha, I couldn't stop laughing!!!

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/redirect.php...v%3DzEzh10_xoqw

Ha ha, that brings back some memories, I'd just started seeing my (now) husband when that song was released. He, incidentally is called Ken, so of course my friends nicknamed me Barbie, good to know the original Barbie has got a bit fatter too!

Thanks for all your replies guys, it looks like I'm going to go with the Phantom, my friend has one and I've ridden that a few times and liked it.

I would probably have a lot more choice if I went for a sports bike but they're just not my style (each to his/her own and all that).

I just wish they would change the colours schemes, at the moment they are only available in black or red but you can't have everything I guess.

Thanks, I was told that the Kawasaki Boss is no longer manufactured but if it is I'll definately look into it.

Sorry, I should have said that it's definately a chopper that I want, not a sports bike.

Hi, I am looking to by a motorbike no less than 200cc and no more than 400cc. My budget is about 100,000 but the only new bike I can find for this price is the Honda Phantom, which seems ideal for me as a girl but I would like to compare it to some other bikes first if possible.

Does anyone know of any other models similar to the Phantom made by well known manufacturers. I've seen a couple by the cheap Chinese/Korean manufacturers but I was thinking more like Yamaha or Suzuki.

My husband needs contact lenses for long distance vision and his prescription is +2.25.

These seem virtually impossible to obtain in Thailand, the optician managed to get hold of some +3.50 from Bangkok but of course they were no use.

Does anyone here use a + prescription and have any idea where to buy them? My prescription -5.25 is available everywhere so I don't understand why they don't stock the + range.

Thanks.

Thanks to everyone for your advice and also to the people who responded by PM.

Well, it's all over now and it seemed to go pretty well, I used the flashcards as a short warm up and after a few minutes moved on to a short speaking and listening excercise followed by the students coming up one by one to write things they can and can't do on the board. All of the kids joined in the activities after I encouraged the shy ones and they all seemed to enjoy it. The teachers who were observing me looked happy and the interview afterwards went well.

The teachers seemed to be impressed that I can speak Thai, and although my Thai is no where near perfect they looked on it very favourably.

All I can do now is wait, if I don't get offered the job I'm sure that there will be more opportunities and it has certainly been a very positive experience for me.

Thank you for all your replies, it has certainly given me some food for thought! I'm just going to do some simple exercises with flashcards to warm them up and if they respond well try and get them to think of some can you questions of their own. After all 30 minutes is not a long time I expect I will spend about 5 minutes introducing myself and doing a brief introduction.

One more question I have is how do I introduce myself to the students? Do I tell them my full name and will they call me Mrs XX (my surname) or will they call me teacher as they do at the private language schools?

Peace blondie and scott, thanks for your input. I don't really feel comfortable about telling the supervisor that I need more time so maybe I will just prepare enough material for an hours lesson and tell her that if she wants me to carry on for more than 30 minutes that it is no problem, maybe that is a better idea.

PB and Scott, how would you feel about a prospective teacher using music games in a demo lesson, I don't want to overly complicate things or waste time explaining game rules as I have such a short time.

I have now revised my plan to a brief explanation of can and can't using flashcards showing people doing various activities and opposite flashcards showing people that can't do these things (I've downloaded some pics from the internet)

followed by a short game that involves me asking questions such as can you swim? can you ride a bike? The children who can stand up and the children who can't remain seated, the children standing then say "yes, I can" and the children sitting down say "no, I can't".

Not revolutionary but simple and (hopefully) effective, maybe some of you experienced guys could also tell me what you would expect to see in a potential new teacher for your school. I went to my first interview smartly dressed and was honest about not having a batchelors degree. I have also been recommended to the school by two of the teachers working there so that should go in my favour.

Thanks fozzy58uk, I really like the pass the parcel idea I sometimes play games like this with kids at the language school I work at, but this will be my first time in a 'proper' school though and they seem a little bit stuffy. I will have thai teachers watching me, do you think they will be ok with me playing pass the parcel?

I've decided to prepare enough work for an hour and when I get there I will ask the teacher if I can have 45 minutes or an hour.

Thanks, it's the school that have suggested 30 minutes, maybe I will need to move things on quickly.

I have to do a 30 minute demo class on Friday to a group of 35 seven year olds. This is the biggest group that I have taught and they are also the youngest students that I have taught.

I have to teach them to use can and can't, I am planning to show them things that I can and cannot do by pinning flashcards to the board (different areas for can and can't) for example I can ride a bike but I can't fly an aeroplane, followed by a class survey such as how many people in the class can swim, ride a bike (etc).

I have also prepared a worksheet for them to complete in pairs or small groups, asking each other 'can you...?' questions.

Does this sound ok to the experienced people out there or can anyone think of anything different/better for me to do.

I would really appreciate your comments and suggestions as I am very keen for this to go well.

Many, many thanks in advance.

Hi aubutie, I don't think you have anything to worry about, you are living off your income and your savings at the moment. They are your savings and you can spend them as you wish.

Just write a covering letter explaining any gaps in documentation and as I said earlier include a copy of your babies birth certificate,

if you bought your house in joint names also include some docs from that.

If you want to include in your letter that your wife is due to start work in the near future it won't do any harm but I wouldn't think you would need to provide any proof.

Just write a covering letter explaining anything that may not seem crystal clear in your application, also mention the birth of your baby and include a copy of the babies birth certificate. I did this for some friends at the beginning of the year and what could have been a problematic case (not enough documentation in her name) sailed through with no questions asked.

There's also a huge difference in price of the face to face interview and doing it by post, it's up to you but personally I would just write a covering letter and save the extra money.

Don't get a fino, they are the biggest pile of rubbish I have ever driven, I have a honda click and it is 100 times better than the fino.

Thanks very much