Austeyr

Does anyone know if its possible to do car ownership transfer of a Bangkok registered vehicle in Chiang Mai?

Thanks in Advance.

UniTEFL have launched our new affiliate marketing packages and would like to open limited opportunities to motivated individuals. We believe that we provide one of the best TEFL training experiences in Thailand and we would like you to join our team of affiliates to help promote our program. If you are looking to make a very generous income or boost an pre existing income, please visit our site or contact us today @ 088-402-8217

Theres a game that plays every tuesday with a bunch of young(ish) expats , teachers at Mr Soccer Arena near Tesco Lotus Kam Tiang (near JJ Market) at 6pm. You can search "Weekly Tuesday kick About Chiang Mai" and join the facebook group to keep updated with games ect.

Taksin almost destroyed the farang nightlife scene- guess you didn't go much.

This is a good (not bad) thing imo

Great if you don't like tourism dollars

Congratulations and well done to Thailand. It is very good news that one party will have a large majority irrespective which party. Domocracy can and does work and if the majority of Thai's wants this government who are we farangs to criticise?

A lot of farangs are now depressed because they just noticed they've been rooting for the wrong team for years.

Well my bunch of expat friends here in Pattaya are delighted at the situation.

I know on one who wanted to keep the Democrats in power!

Of course we dont like Thaksin either, but at least the country has a chance to move forward now instead of back to feudal times!!!

None of us wanted to see a continuation of such a repressive government

I dont think it will be easy now to oppose the obvious will of the Thai people.

A repressive govt? You didn't live here during the late 90's until Taksin's reign ended did you?

Newbie:

None of the above is new. Been posted for ages. Suggestion by Alex Case that there are only two valid authorities or sponsors, Trinity or Cambridge, for TEFL or TESOL courses which somehow make them superior to all others is blatantly misleading. His demeaning of SIT shows an extremely limited view of the subject. I have no interest in this matter except honest reporting, and have no more use for his narrow minded suggestions (there is no accepted authority or measure of excellence in this field, and virtually no research as to outcomes) than I do for a certain "doctorate." Both are blather.

No, the detailed follow up on the his qualifications is completely new as of December 2010. And it's central to the issue here. I don't think that his qualifications are the only thing that he has misrepresented. It's very clear that Matt and former staff are posting here in order to put a spin on it all.

I believe that the title of this thread was "Latest Devs. at CMU "Thai" course. Not personal attacks on other people or organisations. Only 9 posts in only this topic. Hmmm Someone has an axe to grind or maybe even another TEFL provider?

"However, the grenade slipped out of Mr Sutthi’s hand and as he tried to catch it, he only managed to grab the pin as it fell to the ground and detonated."

Obviously there is more to this story. Anyone with a military background will agree that it takes a decent amount of force to pull the pin out of a grenade and catching a falling grenade even by the pin wont pull it out.

I don't see how he was able to get a business license and work permit to run a legal opperation in this time, but again that is off topic.

When the TEFL was run at the LI it was described as CMU accredited. That's no longer the case. You don't rent office space and have a Ministry of Education licensed school the following week. School licenses are difficult to obtain and requirements are strict and include such things as an engineer's building report. The whole process takes 18 - 24 months. Possibly, to support their claim, someone from UniTEFL can post their school licence number and the MoE area office they are registered with. This isn't off topic as it affects UniTEFL students who signed up for a CMULI program (Austeyr's post #130).

I still do not see why unrelated things to the original post are still being thrown around with more abundance than the original and important focus of the OP. There has been too many posts filled with hearsay and misinformation.

CMX

"While the TEFL class clearly not part of the Thai language segment, it does illustrate that the University is (incidentally or accidentally) getting farang students off campus and will lend itself to further anti-U rumors and accusations as to the reasons for the U's actions."

I still don't see why you need to constantly accuse others of racist and discriminatory practices.

If that were the case, then why is LICMU re-starting Thai language and is also trying to put together another TEFL.

The issue with IUS is simple. They were formed a few months ago because LICMU was trying to gain total control of these programs. There was a management shift and some office politics that created the schism. Matthew didn't want to lose out on the courses that he created and lose the profits to LICMU fully.

Matthew in an attempt to salvage his control over the TEFL course that he started at CMU now moved location to the "OFFICE" on Hangdong road. It is now called UniTEFL. When I checked in over there it looked as if there were about 15 or so students. At 50K a head is a nice chunk of change that Matthew doesn't have to share with LICMU anylonger.

I don't see how he was able to get a business license and work permit to run a legal opperation in this time, but again that is off topic.

The other Classes at LICMU that Matthew and the former director Sansannee started were also affected because again because of office politics and LICMU wanted to have Auttonomy over all courses there.

It is not because of race or not wanting white students at LICMU. These unfounded accusations are not helping the situation.

I doubt that anything new will come of this until the civil trial.

This is not entirely true, the current students had already signed up with CMU and their money was kept in LICMU merchant account which in under control of LICMU. The course ran this month so the students wouldn't have issues with refunds and end up in the same boat as the other programs. The new company currently being setup will not be run by Dr Kay.

For clarity, it should be noted that the subjects of the Thai language course, the CEL course, and the TEFL courses were ALL under the umbrella of the university, whether one supposes that umbrella is a legal attachment or not. This latest relocation and renaming, of the TEFL (arguably, far better attended than the language course), just shows that the University is distancing itself from TEFL as well - off campus, new name.

While the TEFL class clearly not part of the Thai language segment, it does illustrate that the University is (incidentally or accidentally) getting farang students off campus and will lend itself to further anti-U rumors and accusations as to the reasons for the U's actions. That CEL students have found no alternatives at all except their own efforts at obtaining visas, adds doubtless to the rumors and accusations that Chiang Mai University is putting students who are not fully matriculated off campus and that while that may be the case, unfortunate conclusions might be drawn. Still, the news about TEFL being moved appears to be reliable and solid evidence going to the entire puzzle.

Certainly the TEFL announcement does nothing to show that the University is making efforts to make whole those who were harmed in any of the programs.

The new TEFL program as stated has NOTHING to do with CMU, except that it is an INDEPENDENT new TEFL certification (noone is employed or affiliated with CMU at ALL!) Remember alot of people lost their jobs after CMU closed down the programs. The reason for the letter being sent out to ex TEFL student's is to inform them that even though CMU has closed its TEFL program their old certification still holds the same weight when applying for jobs and if people were still looking for the same standard of training the old trainers are setting up a new independent company.

This circulated today:

Dear XXX, We are very happy to inform you about some exciting news concerning your CMU TEFL certificate. CMU TEFL, one of the most highly-regarded university-developed TEFL programs in South East Asia, has been renamed UniTEFL (www.unitefl.com). This change of name coincides with the UniTEFL program expanding into its own new UniTEFL Training Centre. (close to the centre of Chiang Mai). Additionally, beginning in March 2011, the former CMU TEFL curriculum (now UniTEFL) will be offered at over 30 Australian universities and vocational colleges. All our associated schools, colleges, and universities around the world have been informed of the name change to UniTEFL, and are aware that the UniTEFL program continues to offer its Thai Ministry of Education approved certificate with the same curriculum and trainers. All CMU TEFL certificates will continue to enjoy the same level of recognition and are still valid for securing teaching positions. To celebrate our new identity, we would like to make you an offer to become one of our affiliates. This means is that if you suggest our program to anyone considering a TEFL program, please send us an email ([email protected]) with that person's name, and we will send you 6000 Baht (or its equivalent in foreign currency) on the first day of that person's program. If they have any questions about the program that you are unsure of, please have them email us and we will be happy to answer any their questions. We look forward to hearing from you.

All the best,

UniTEFL Team

088-402-8217

www.unitefl.com

I do not understand what this has to do with the 1 Year Thai program. The TEFL course was a separate entity to the 1year Thai program and after CMU closed it's doors to foreign programs the TEFL course was also closed. The TEFL team who developed the course have decided to become an independent TEFL program. A lot of people got caught up in this mess including a lot of hard working staff and teachers who did nothing wrong except do their job.

In regards to Matt being a Doctor. This was brought up years ago by some other TEFL organisations upset about new competition. Again like alot of threads, it was a head hunt. At the time Matt was a lecturer at CMU and one person with a chip on their shoulder sent a letter to CMU accusing Matt of not holding the correct credentials. If i remember correctly his PHD is in Philosophy which was confirmed by CMU and also by the university Matt attended.

People are upset about what has happened and the situation was handled very poorly by LICMU. Turning this into a witch hunt and making accusations based on opinions or heresay is not going to solve the problem but might actually destroy peoples lives who might have been the victim from the start.

Prof. Rien is in China and will return on Oct. 19th.

You can contact his staff at his offices in CMU's Language Institute.

Rien has told me, in the presence of several witnesses, the CMU suspects Matt Kay of selling visas to fictitious students who were enrolled in the 1 year Thai course administered by IUS and.

He claims this is the reason for the cancellation of IUS's activities in CMU.

Obviously I am not in a position to know whether these charges against Matt Kay are correct.

But I do know he (Matt Kay) has been VERY evasive in refunding even a fraction of money he has agreed IN WRITING that he owes me for a TEFL class I chose not to take in September.

Selling Visas to fictitious students? How would selling visa's to fictitious students even work? You need a tonne of paper work , passports, photos and documents to get the Visa so id like to see how this would work and how it would benefit anyone? As its been mentioned time and time again, Immigration went though all of the Thai programs visa records and were very happy with all the records kept.

Matt has been evasive with refunds? Well seeing as he has paid out over a million baht in refunds and CMU refuses to give a single baht back who would you think is evasive. A person's personal bankroll can only go so far until it is depleted and cannot make money magically appear out of thin air. Again, 60 percent of the money was paid to CMULI and they flatly refuse to pay any back. If they had refunded the 60 percent alot more students would have received their refunds by now.

It is very easy for Rien to say what ever he likes about IUS and Matt as they are not their to give the other side of the story.

It is correct that Rien can say what he wants, but it is also dangerous for him to do so in front of witnesses.

He could be sued for that...

So perhaps he can substantiate his claims.

And I do not know how much money Matt has given back in refunds. Have you seen his receipts? Have you gotten any money from him?

And how do you know Immigration was happy with what they've seen? Have you talked to Immigration?

We have to wait and see how all this unfolds before taking sides...

What I do know is that Matt has refused to refund me with even the 40% of my tuition fees that allegedly was his cut of the entire fee. He refused - I have this documented - to give me even a few thousand Baht refund just as a sign that he intends to give the rest back in the future. This I know for a fact.

As for CMU, if they do provide the 1 year Thai course as they promised to in an official letter released four days ago, how can they be blamed for anything except lazy management and slow reactions?

What I am saying is - I don't know who's telling the truth here. But just because Matt is a falang, like us, does not necessarily mean the truth is on his side. There have been falang crooks in this world, you know, not just Thai ones.

And as for selling visas, here's how it would go.

1. You sell a course to a falang.

2. The falang gets a 1 year visa.

3. The falang does not attend classes.

4. The relevant staff (employees of Matt) do not report this to Immigration.

This has happened in many other schools that were closed as a result, even in Chiang Mai itself.

Perhaps it has not happened in the case of IUC. Perhaps they are as clean as can be regarding this.

But Rien says, in front of witnesses that Matt has refused to share personal info regarding his suspicious students with CMU's authorities and that THAT was the reason for the termination of his employment.

False claims by Rien? Perhaps.

But how do we know for certain?

Yes i have seen the receipts, i have seen the accounts, i have spoken to immigration and i was one of the main people who have been negotiating with Rien. I have seen him change his story many times in front of students and trip over his own words. 98 percent of language schools advertise "1 year visas". If you think that this isn;t a pre requisite for people choosing where to study your kidding yourself. Do some people abuse the Visa.. Yes, sad but true. The Thai program at CMU had a 80 percent attendance requirement. They were told this before they enrolled and told if they didnt meet the 80 percent requirement they must make it up with 1 on 1 tuition with their teacher. FACT: Immigration saw all of the Thai programs attendance records and everything was in order. FACT: CMULI cancelled all programs without warning and Rian (infront of groups of students) told everyone the reason the Visa's were not signed was because immigration would not sign them. I called immigration who told me they have no problem approving the Visa's all they needed was a letter from the University. FACT: Many students lost Visa extensions and courses due to this and ended up with overstays. CMU offering classes for those who have visa's is not in anyway helping the students who lost everything and yet refuse to pay back any of the 60 percent of the money they happily took.

The domain teflcmu.com is currently registered to Chiang Mai University Language Institute.

It is probably illegal for someone to impersonate a former employee by sending anything from that former employee's mail account.

However, if you send an email to someone who used to work there (for example: matt(at)teflcmu.com) your email will probably be intercepted by someone else who does work there.

According to whois the domain's owner registered the domain in the States with the owner's name hidden. It seems unlikely CMU LI would do this to any website that belongs to them.

Administrative Contact:

Whois Privacy Protection Service, Inc.

Whois Agent ()

+1.4252740657

Fax: +1.4259744730

PMB 368, 14150 NE 20th St - F1

C/O cmutefl.com

Bellevue, WA 98007

US

Do you have evidence it's registered to CMU LI?

Even stranger because the LI in their public announcement stated clearly this domain belongs to IUS and strongly advises people not to enroll on any of their programs offered on these sites.

Read here: http://www.li.chiangmai.ac.th/

www.cmutefl.com www.teflcmu.com

www.studythaicmu.com

www.exchangecmu.com

www.lecturecmu.com

The domain cmutefl.com is not in that list, you must have copied it wrong. Running whois on each of the 4 listed domains shows they're all registered to the CMU Language Institute. However, the first one, teflcmu.com, was handled by a different registrar and the admin contact is listed as CMU instead of Matthew Kay (which doesn't necessarily mean anything).

My mistake with whois - apologies

Whoever is in control of that site though still seems to be taking course payments.

http://www.teflcmu.com/payoptions.html

The domain and website are owned by Matt. It also states that the TEFL program is no longer associated with the University and is its own independent TEFL program now and is now its own identity.

Prof. Rien is in China and will return on Oct. 19th.

You can contact his staff at his offices in CMU's Language Institute.

Rien has told me, in the presence of several witnesses, the CMU suspects Matt Kay of selling visas to fictitious students who were enrolled in the 1 year Thai course administered by IUS and.

He claims this is the reason for the cancellation of IUS's activities in CMU.

Obviously I am not in a position to know whether these charges against Matt Kay are correct.

But I do know he (Matt Kay) has been VERY evasive in refunding even a fraction of money he has agreed IN WRITING that he owes me for a TEFL class I chose not to take in September.

Selling Visas to fictitious students? How would selling visa's to fictitious students even work? You need a tonne of paper work , passports, photos and documents to get the Visa so id like to see how this would work and how it would benefit anyone? As its been mentioned time and time again, Immigration went though all of the Thai programs visa records and were very happy with all the records kept.

Matt has been evasive with refunds? Well seeing as he has paid out over a million baht in refunds and CMU refuses to give a single baht back who would you think is evasive. A person's personal bankroll can only go so far until it is depleted and cannot make money magically appear out of thin air. Again, 60 percent of the money was paid to CMULI and they flatly refuse to pay any back. If they had refunded the 60 percent alot more students would have received their refunds by now.

It is very easy for Rien to say what ever he likes about IUS and Matt as they are not their to give the other side of the story.

I received my first email today from CMU, via my teacher. Here it is:

Sigh...Not on letterhead, not signed by anyone, 100% self-serving attempt to gather personal information and get students to admit they have knowledge that LICMU has notified them of end of classes so now visas can be cancelled (see above post #336). BANK ACCOUNT DETAIL!!!!!!!!!! Oh, come on!!!! Ignore this "letter" ..... we don't know who this is really from.

That is a very curious document.

Why send a copy to Dr. Kay?

I'd agree that no one should act on this.

At best, it's espionage in the tradition of Inspector Clouseau, and an inadvertent insult to the intelligence of its audience.

As mentioned this email was sent to one of the Thai teachers who then forwarded it onto all the Thai students and Dr Kay to keep everyone in the loop as to what is going on.

I don't have a copy of the letter but it was handed out to students today by Rien. It states clearly courses will continue to run for those who already have visa's or those who would like to continue their studies. It does state at the bottom of the page that it will not extend expiring visa's. From my understanding the CEP program was run by a different director and was not under the control of Dr Kay. If i can get hold of a letter i will post it.

The Language Institute has just released a new letter stating it will continue running the Thai courses so people can keep their Visa's and continue their Thai studies. It does say how ever that it will not extend visa's that are expiring. Good news for people who like to study , no real help for those who need visa extensions.

At CMULI (before their current debacle, of course) we were able to get an ED visa for 30,000 THB (one year) tuition with 4 hours of classroom instructions per week. That aspect seems perfectly legal as far as Thai immigration is concerned. Why is Payap insisting on at least 15 hours per week of instructions and a tuition of (my rough estimate) at least 70,000 THB per year before providing ED visas for foreigners learning Thai? Based on the info on their website, even Walen is able to provide ED visas on class time and tuition similar to what CMULI used to offer. Why can't Payap?

70,000 at Payap? That's a lot! Walen is charging 24,960 Baht, cheaper that CMU and Payap. Those who still do not like Walen, please visit and talk to our staff, see the school, take a free class, talk to our existing students and after you will be able to make a more informed decision.

Walen School - not the cheapest but the best value

www.thaiwalen.com

You disgust me, using a situation that has wrecked peoples lives to promote your own business. I bet you were rubbing your greedy little hands together when you heard about what was going on a CMU.

Man, I'm trying to help you! What is your problem? Some of you paid premium price of 30k and got screwed! Our price is only 24,960 Baht. You do not know me, I am rich as I am so some more students in Chiangmai will be welcome but will not make a huge difference to the performance of the whole school. I am a businessman, of course I will be promoting my business, I would be an idiot if I did not. You see all the banners on thaivisa.com? Do you see any from CMU or other schools in Chiangmai? Businesses like ours help to run this forum, otherwise you might have to talk privately about the situation with your friends. Please stop giving Walen hard time. I provide first class service and will continue to do so.

What happened at CMU is sad and I am not happy about it, are you judging people by the way you would think in the same situation? When you say greedy - is it really? I offer prices lower than other schools and helped to drop the prices for the whole industry, not long time ago standard price was 28,000 Baht. I really don't know if that is greedy. Maybe you tell me. Also for your information I have not got my money back for the building of the Walen school in Chiangmai, have you ever visited? both floors? no expense spared.

Walen School - offering competitive prices!

www.thaiwalen.com

You thai Visa ads? You mean the one adversiting 1 year visas? Actually, CMU were advertising their Thai program in Thai forums for months.

So I talked with Immigration today, and their story both supports and contradicts what Rien said to me. Immigration did investigate the LICMU program because of irregularities. They want LICMU to do a better job documenting, interviewing and tracking their students. However, Immigration says that the reason students aren't getting visas is because the President of CMU and the Dir of LICMU aren't signing them. All Immigration needs is letters from those two and a grade report. Therefore, the people stopping visas are in CMU.

At this point I am very upset at CMU. I also do not appreciate the fact that the program I signed up for is now divided into two arguing sides, while I'm left out in the cold with no money and no visa. That's straight up bull****. Matt made a program that won't pass muster at Immigration, and the President of CMU is not supporting us at all. As far as I'm concerned, I don't care what the relationship between IUS and LICMU is. CMU is responsible for this.

As far as whether we are on overstay starting tomorrow, the Immigration guy told me that my visa, which ends in Oct, is good until then. All this speculation is scaring me though.

There were no issues with Immigration after they had gone through all attendance records and paper work supplied by IUS. They were actually quite impressed with how good a job the admin staff had done. In the end it comes down to who is making up stories. Rien told all the students immigration refuses to sign visas, you heard it yourself. Its the university that wouldnt sign the visas, even though Dr Kay offered to leave CMU but pay for all the running of the thai course until they were completed. This would have fixed all problems. Dr Kay would have been out of the university as they wanted, Students could have continued studying with visa support. Instead they lied, blamed immigration and cancelled all courses.

Matt's story: Classes stopped because of racism on the part of the LICMU director and the CMU President.

Rien's story: Classes stopped because of the program could not pass an audit by Immigration.

I think Rien's story makes a little more sense, based on the facts I have at the moment. I will call Immigration to see what they say. The number of actual facts that I have in this case are very low. All I have are emails and statements from two sides of the conflict. I haven't seen any supporting documents from either side, such as bank statements, meeting minutes, or audit results. I doubt that I will. I notice that nobody has produced them on this forum either. This should probably be a police matter. I've met with Matt once. I'll give him credit for communicating with us better than Rien. However, I don't have any reason to believe many details from his side of the story. It seems like a lot of people on this forum seem to think that Matt is a champion of the students, while Rien is an evil autocrat. At this point, I think that they are both to blame. Don't believe everything you hear from either side. If you are a student, I would not take sides with either Matt or Rien. Just save your own a**, communicate with other students, your embassy, and anyone else, and keep searching for the truth.

Its already been mentioned that Immigration stated that there were no problems with any of the documentation handed in and they had no issues with granting visa's. If this were the case why did the director still shut down all the programs even though many students didnt require visa assistance and Dr Kay was happy to pay for the Thai teachers and room space for a year as so LI would not have to suffer from any costs and students could finish the courses they had started. Also it was the president who refused to sign the 9 month study extensions, it had nothing to do with immigration at all.

If someone offers to refund monies for something that they are not responsible for they are either one of 2 things...

a fool

hiding something

the truth is still out there.

Dr Kay is doing his best to try and fix the problem. He is not trying to hide anything. Threats from Rien of, how did he put it, "unguesting" him from Thailand when he has a Wife and kids really doesn't leave a foreigner here with much recourse. And Walen, using this thread to promote your own language school is disgusting, you should be ashamed of yourself.

Here is the official statement from LICMU about the situation.

Wow!

Wow! A biased letter from the Director himself who refused to work through the situation to help students get refunds..

What is your evidence they donot want farang students at the school, are you just shooting from the lip.

sounds like you're the one 'shooting from the lip'. did you read the post? you must of not been here long enough to even begin to understand how we're tolerated at best by most thai and less than dirt to many.

Indeed. From reading the events described in this thread, the message is once again very clear. "We do not want you here, farang. Just give us your money and **** off."

I don't agree. CMU made a lot of money from these products, so if they only cared about farang's money, they wouldn't cancel them.

The Language Institute was set up primarily to serve CMU students. It wasn't set up to serve foreigners. The previous Thai director worked closely with Dr Matt to develop the 'farang' programs. These programs were very popular. This Thai director was then forced to resign just before Dr Matt was asked to relocate his programs. I feel the university felt the LI and it's brand were being misused and the time had come to make changes.

Unfortunately due to very poor communication and management (common nearly everywhere in Thailand) it has turned in to a major headache for them.

You might want to check your facts before making false claims. The old director retired and was not forced to resign at all. Stating such lies is offensive to her as a person as well as to her much applauded hard work at the institute. It is obvious from your postings that you have a personal vendetta agianst Dr Kay. Maybe it is you that do not like farang being successful in Thailand. At the end of the day, Dr Kay was contracted by the president of the university to run programs at the University. If the university no longer required his services the correct way to go about it would have been to give decent notice as so all the students could be looked after accordingly and to work together as so a smooth transition could take place. Withdrawing support and closing down programs with out notice it no one elses fault except that of the institute.