welovesundaysatspace

Many people told me that the best Thai language course is an intensive course offered by Chulalungkorn University, though a bit expensive (THB 30,000 afaik) and time-consuming (6 days a week, several hours per day, afaik). I would like to ask you guys for your opinion as well as for further information regarding that course (eg. official website, contact person, etc.). In general I would like to ask for recommendations regarding an intensive course for advanced speakers to proceed to the fluent level.

Reason is that I feel a bit like not developing nowhere. I already completed a "normal" language course (4 months, 2 days a week, 2 hours per day) before I started to live in Thailand, and my Thai improved a lot during the 2 years I studied and worked in Bangkok. Many Thai friends tell me I speak a good Thai, in particular for 2 years learning. However, even though I acknowledge the good progress I made since then, I feel I reached a point from where I do not make a significant progress anymore. From time to time I learn a new word/phrase/grammatical structure from my friends, but that's it actually. Also, I am not sure whether self-learning makes sense at this level.

So what's your opinion regarding the Chula intensive course? Do you have any information on that course? Do they have a website/contact? Would you recommend any other intensive/advanced course?

I stumbled upon a job offer from a well-know multinational on JobsDB, where they are writing the following:

"Applicants must be legally able to work in Thailand without the company having to provide a work permit."

What does that mean? Can anyone (besides Thai nationals, of course) work in Thailand legally without a work permit? Can anyone else than the company provide someone a work permit (as far as we are not talking about freelancers/self-employed persons, of course)?

At first, this looked like saying "Thai nationals only" in a roundabout way.

On various visits to Thailand I always forgot to buy certain things which I can get cheaper in Thailand than back home. Actually, the only thing I bought was some custom tailored suits. So this is my call for a brainstorming and your ideas: What goods are significantly cheaper to get in Thailand than back home?

Smart Thais are not stupid- they need some security or else they will move onto someone who can provide the security.

Get a decent girl who can provide security herself.

In legal terms there is no such thing as a conditional gift. hihihihihihi :jap:

I am not familiar with Thai law, but in some countries there is something like a "conditional gift", for example you can give someone your house but make it a condition that you are allowed to live in there your whole life.

with what kind of study do you have more chances on success:

- learning thai (I can speak it now reasonably)

- getting a TEFL and teach English

Imho you first should make up your mind about what "success" means for you. For me, neither learning more Thai nor teaching English mean success. Salary and career opportunities are still too low, even with a TEFL or fluent Thai. I would rather invest some time back home and build up some experience so I can go back to Thailand later on. I know it's hard; I feel the same.

I was by the way not aware of that rule about minimum salary. So a farang does always need to get 50.000 in a job position.

I don't want to bet my life on it, but afaik it is like that. However, there might be, as so often in Thailand, exceptions from the rule, e.g. my internship was paid with ~35kTHB per month.

I believe that getting paid for an internship by a company in Thailand is 1 in a 10.000 or something.

I don't know a percentage. I think for a multinational employing a Western intern it is quite normal to pay a certain salary. Like my boss said, if he would not pay a competitive salary, the Western students would stay at home and intern with a company there, where salaries about ~1,000 EUR are the standard (though some investment banks pay up to ~3,000 EUR per month). For Thai students, afaik it's quite normal that they do not get paid. Some of them have to do the internship as a mandatory part of their studies, so they are thankful just for interning with a reputable company. Also, the contents of the internships seem to differ depending on whether you are Thai or Farang. Whereas Thai students often seemed to have a support role carrying out little challenging research task and writing the MoM, Farang students were made responsible of own projects.

Starting up a company, is by the way allready out of the question. I have money, but I do not want to gamble with it in starting up something.

You don't necessarily need to invest your own money. If you have a good idea, you should be able to find investment firm funding your business with venture capital and even knowledge and personal support. However, I don't want to advertise anything; it's just another path one could take, and I can truly understand your concerns.

Another question which arose last week:

Are there any people here who found work in neighbouring countries like Laos, Vietnam or Malaysia?

I been to all three, and I have also a strong feeling for Laos and/or Vietnam.

That's another possible path I forgot to mention. I recently talked to a (ex-)classmate of mine who is facing the same situation and his older brother did as well. He found a rather well-paid job in Singapore and now flies back to Bangkok almost every weekend. However, even though I totally share your feeling for Laos, I think with the aforementioned countries you won't be more lucky than with Thailand. I believe the situation will be almost the same as in Thailand (lower wages, less career opportunities, etc.). I think Singapore is the place to try then; a lot of multinationals there, the official language is English, and the wages are on a Western leven afaik.

Btw.: I recently looked through some job ads for Thailand, and found this one which reminded me of you since they are looking for Dutch native speakers (besides others).

I recently sended out a lot of application letters to various Thai companies, still however I never got any response back. Is it common for Thai companies not to respond?

I read on aonther board that if they see an address in another country like Thailand, you have no chance on getting the job at all. True or not?

Furthermore, I am interested in what the best way is to approach companies? In person, or by e-mail/letter?

I am in the same situation like you. I will receive my masters degree in Information Systems in January. I was living in Thailand the last 2 years, first for a stay abroad of six months studying BA at a Thai university (a non-reputable, unfortunately, something you should also consider when applying here, in particular when the HR person is a Thai, who are aware of the reputation of some university), interning with a German multinational for another half year, then carrying out the empirical part of my final thesis in cooperation with another two German multinationals and working on a freelance consulting project at the same time. Even though I made some useful contacts here, I am pretty realistic that chances are rather low, at least given the standards I set for myself which are rather high both in terms of salary as well as general career opportunities (training and education, support for a post-graduate degree, general contents of the job, etc.).

As for your last question, I wrote a post for the StudyInThailand.org forum some time ago about finding an internship in Thailand. That post both covers the never-got-any-response-back thing as well as some general hints about approaching the companies. Basically, I would try to find an expat contact and approach him directly rather than going through the Thai HR people.

As for your topic in general, I strongly agree to what all the others, in particular emsfeld and furbie mentioned already. Depending on what your standards are, chances of finding a suitable job in Thailand are low or even impossible. Even the minimum salary of 50kTHB they have to pay a Farang to get a work permit would be far too low for my standards, while it's already too high for Thai standards (a fresh bachelor graduate earns something about 15kTHB at companies like Siemens; the manager level is something about 50-80kTHB). Furthermore, your future career will to some extent depend on what you earn and (even more important) learn now. Personally, I think that both in terms of earning as well as learning only a manager job could provide that, but then your experience and age come into play.

What I recommend to do is the same I will do:

I think you should set your standards first both in terms of salary as well as the job in general (career opportunities, training and education, corporate culture, etc.). I think it's important, otherwise you might find yourself in the situation of taking any job just for the sake of living in Thailand. Then, set yourself a timeframe (maybe 4-6 weeks) you want to take for applications. You might even come to Thailand for some time to apply there directly. However, if you cannot find a suitable job during that time, stop it and better start to work somewhere else and come back with experience and age. Personally, I believe the European labor market is getting better, at least thinking about recent experiences in Germany.

Another path would be starting an own business as others already suggested. For me, it's still a tempting path, but then I would not do it without having a good business model, one which pays off as well as which is something you really believe in and would love to do.

A last possible path would be to study for a Ph.D. or MBA or similar and working as a Professor the same time. I am not so familiar with the wages, but I know quite some Farang people do it. Even back in Germany it's a career path quite some university graduates follow and future career opportunities are rather good. However, you should consider your age as well as if you want to study again.

Does that mean I have 2 options:

1) Grossing up without claiming back the taxes;

2) Not grossing up but requesting the W/H tax certificate from them and then claming it back?

Can someone answer this question?

Thanks for your comments which help me a lot. :-)

The Party here in Thailand is obligated to withhold taxes, but they are also obligated to issue you the W/H Tax Certificate. There is the one in Thai, plus the one in English, which of course has to be aquired at the Revenue Department. Make sure you tell them that. Once you have that you can then claim back the W/H in Germany.

Does that mean I have 2 options:

1) Grossing up without claiming back the taxes;

2) Not grossing up but requesting the W/H tax certificate from them and then claming it back?

I would prefer the 1st way, so I ask.

I have an own consulting business in Germany and recently finished a project with a Thai company. After sending the invoice, I got an answer where they added the following note to my original invoice: "Deduct withholding tax 15%", i.e. my fees would be 15% less than actually proposed and billed. By German law, btw, I do not charge VAT.

On this website I read that "Grossing up It is permissible and in many cases usual to provide that payments will be made net of income tax, or in other words, the payor of the income will pay the income tax for the person receiving the payment. In such cases, the income tax is subject to withholding taxes at the same rate as that applied to the base income. For example, where the withholding tax is 15% of gross, the rate that must be applied where the payor pays the tax is 17.647%." Does that mean I have to gross up 17.647%? I do not understand this rate. I would understand to gross up 15%, but why 17.647%?

I am currently on a longer vacation outside of Thailand and would like to send some flowers or a small gift for a friends birthdays since I can't be there in person. I found some deliveries with Google and they all look rather professional, but since I never used any of those deliveries in Thailand I am asking for your opinion.

Requirements: I need to order from outside Thailand, paying with creditcard, PayPal, or similar. Flowers or gift should then be delivered on time (day basis) to my friends address in Bangkok. Furthermore, the option of entering a small message (which would be printed by them) would be nice. I care about reliability more than about cost, but I am not looking for something hi-so either.

Thanks for your help!

Sad, but strong pictures from today (same source like yesterday): http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/2010/05/c...in_bangkok.html

I just got the same and it's a bit concerning. Not that I cant live without FB, but info control under any circumstances is a slippery slope. Skyping my friend in China to see how to skirt the block, but not sure if I can be bothered...I guess the reds and Taksin cronies dont tweet? Twitter is still up and running...

Some solutions:

www.unblockfacebook.ca

www.tor.org

Google for proxy server

Another friend staying in Rama IV/Klong Toei area writing on Facebook that her AIS signal is cut, same for others with DTAC.

A friend in Bangkok posted screenshots of her Macbook on Facebook showing that www.capothai.org obviously is blocked. I can access it though

Facebook and Twitter both working fine on TOT in Pattaya.

Thanks, but I wasn't asking for a geography lesson but whether the curfew applies to Pattaya (or only the state of emergency)

Do they mean the curfew or the state of emergency? I think BBC is not the best source..

Can someone confirm that the curfew doesn not apply for Pattaya? I just arrived here since I do not want to stay home without food near MBK...

My friends mom called her: Obviously, now also Future Park Rangsit and ZEER Rangist with Redshirts burning tires.

Some pictures taken on top of my appartment building which is behind MBK. Showing smoke from Ratchaprasong (Central World?) and Klong Toey. Far left must be Din Daeng. My neighbor who is working at Central World said they obviously are burning Gaysorn Plaza.

http://yfrog.com/5dimg1825rmjx

Cool.

So can anyone help?

I really enjoy Karaoke and would like to have a Karaoke system at home. However, I do not want and do not need a professional Karaoke system. Something like I saw at a friends place: He had a small mixer with two microphones attached to his computer and his harddrive full of Karaoke songs. Maybe there was even a GUI to navigate through all the songs; can't really remember. So everytime I am at a shopping mall or at Pantip or Fortune Town or similar I am looking for Karaoke DVDs, but the only Karaoke DVDs or CDs I can find consist of ~10 songs.

So my questions:

- Do you know where I can CDs/DVDs with hundrets of (Western and maybe even Thai) Karaoke songs? Only the tracks (i.e. manual navigation) would be enough already; a special software with a nice GUI would be a plus.

- Do you different/other suggestions for a home Karaoke system?

Yes, a health certificate from a Thai doctor. Mine cost 50 baht and involved the Doctor asking me if I was sick or not when I said not he wrote out the certificate.TIT

It seems to depend on the officer: With my first workpermit, it was the same like you described (except the fact that I had to pay 700 THB for Samitivej). Got a paper stating that I don't have Syphilis and other stuff and got the work permit without any hassle. Today, my company called me that my medical certificate is not enough (btw this time I paid 1,000 THB to Samitivej): The officer wants to have the results of my blood test, which, of course, was never conducted. So I'll probably have to go back again, pay again, wait again, make a blood test,... -.-

Thanks for all your answers. Good help as always! :-)