Utley

No college degree = smaller paycheck.

The new car dealerships in Thailand are not independent businesses as we are used to in the West but rather sales showrooms for the auto manufacturers. The manufacturers set the national price and the showrooms sell the vehicle. That is why it takes 30 days or so for the title to transfer; the "dealership" does not own the vehicles.

Might I suggest you research the Thai national parks in the North via Google.

I used Pacific Health for two years; they were very good about cashing my checks. I provided them with a pre-health coverage exam letting them know that I was taking medication for high blood pressure.

When I filed a claim in my third year they denied it citing my condition as "pre-existing". When I pursued the issued, they used the pre-health coverage exam as evidence that I had heart problems before the coverage began (i.e. high blood pressure).

They knew about my "pre-existing condition" ahead of time and never said a word, happily collected their premiums and then denied me coverage when the time came. If that is the type of company with whom you want to deal, you have my blessings.

Walk around a school cafeteria and try to engage the children in a conversation? Really? Remember it only takes one suspicious parent to report you to the local authorities. Do you really want to be picked up on suspicion of pedophilia in a country where you have no civil rights?

If you are living in a small village you can teach English on an informal basis with the help of the village headman and maybe the local Temple. No one is going to report you if they endorse your activities.

If you are in one of the larger Cities there are plenty of orphanages you can help out in. I know what the law says but you really don't need a work permit in practice.

Agree. Or if you don't want to teach everyday you can go to most any public school and ask if you can

come "visit" a classroom one or two afternoons a week....I often have lunch with a bunch of kids in the

cafeteria at the public high....just sit at a table with a bunch of kids or walk around and try and get

them to speak English with you. Go to the public school and ask to meet with the head of the English

department and I would bet you will be invited to help out on a volunteer basis and there will be little or no concern about work permits. As said, nobody is going to report you unless you are some kind of

pervert or piss all the thai teachers off.

It only takes one pi**ed off Thai teacher to report you to immigration. That is why I stopped my volunteer work at the local school; not because I was reported but because I could be reported.

Utley, I can partly understand what you are on about but, I would offer up an alternative … are the Thai people interested in actually learning English?

My thoughts are generally NO.

Indeed, why should they?

Why would they wish or want to be on a Forbes list?

There is a huge disconnect between your OP and your first post.

So, what is your take-out message.

Thailand needs better Universities so one can make it onto a list somewhere?

or

That retired folk in Thailand can do something to pass their idle time by conversing with the natives in English?

Not that the Thais don’t have an eye for the future.

The Thai niece is currently learning Chinese … Thailand’s largest and growing potential trading partner.

.

My take-out message is this. "Life is tough. It is even tougher if you are stupid!"

If Thais want an easier life, one of the best ways to achieve it is through education. The Kingdom has a free, ready and untapped resource at its fingertips that it is not using; namely English speaking retirees.

A good place for Thailand to start in regards to education reform (IMHO) would be to emphasize and facilitate the learning of conversational English. Thailand has a unique opportunity to do just that by tapping into its pool of native English speaking retirees living in the Kingdom. Many of the retirees would jump at the chance to teach conversational English on a volunteer basis in their local schools; however they are prevented from doing so by Thai immigration regulations.

Foreigners, who want to work in Thailand, be it for financial remuneration or on a volunteer basis, need a work permit. Foreigners in Thailand on a non-immigrant O visa with an extension of stay based on retirement are prohibited from obtaining a work permit.

A classic case of Catch-22; I am retired with time on my hands, English is my first language, I would love to help out my local Thai community – no I cannot because of immigration regulations. Can someone please explain the logic in that?

I am serious so no troll responses please but rather constructive, informative comments. (I know, I am asking a lot.)

The logic is thus, the purpose of your stay in Thailand is for retirement, hence the reason they don't want you working, if you really wanted to do this it could be done

I know of quite a few guys in Thailand who are on "retirement " visa's who have done work in Thailand, by changing over to a b visa get their WP and once job is complete go back onto retirement visa

I find your claim rather difficult to believe. According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Kingdom of Thailand, the following is required for a Non-Immigrant B visa (note that the application has to be submitted to a Thai Consulate outside of Thailand):

As published in Forbes, the following is a list of the top 6 Asian Universities:

Lugging a diesel engine to save fuel produces black smoke.

And the junta's response is.............

I suggest a one year moratorium on bar fines in order to promote tourism; also two for one specials might work.

Shoot the dog!

Only modern and progressive countries have high speed trains therefore if you have one then you must not be a backwater nation that can't speak English.

Why do you think it wasn't actual police officers? They are paid diddly squat and have to support their families somehow.

Maybe I misread, but are you actually justifying this?

No, of course not; just wondered why people were jumping to conclusions based on so little information.

Why do you think it wasn't actual police officers? They are paid diddly squat and have to support their families somehow.

"In April, heavily-armed pirates boarded another Thailand-owned tanker off the eastern coast of Malaysia, injuring the captain and stealing diesel fuel from its cargo."

How does one go about stealing diesel oil....and why?

The Shins really are something else. All that money and it's still not enough.

Which would logically lead you to believe that she probably purchased the wood legally.

I have always considered Jennifer Aniston to be far more sexy than Angelina Jolie.

And your comment relates to the Brad Pitt article............how?

We have 5 of the plug-in units purchased from Tesco. They work great and our home is mosquito free. You will need to replace the cartridges every 60 to 90 days.

There are many different styles of "plug-in units." Can you be more specific with a name or photo?

There is only one brand of mosquito plug-in at the Lotus we use and this is it: