Firelily

there are a bunch of small hotel-like establishments before you enter the national park, but I doubt they are 3-star quality.

Doi Sureya seems to be packed on weekends but was totally empty on a weekday when we got there at sunset to find a place to stay.

Thai driving licence does get you the Thai price.

ticket is said to be valid for the next day only if you have a receipt of having spent the night in the park. e.g. if you descend after spending the night at Doi Sureya and want to go to Mae Ya waterfall, which involves leaving and then reentering the park, obviously they will want to see the tickets again (date stamped the day before). they did not ask for our receipt after I told the official in Thai that we spent the night up the mountain but one never knows.

Anyone knows what to do with the points on my Carrefour member card?

As far as I am aware, it used to be a nationwide regulation until May 2003, since then, it has been up to individual education area offices / schools. There are many govt schools, especially in rural areas, that continue to enforce the old tradition / style.

Anyone here who successfully transferred a visa and work permit from one school to another? Not that I know lots of people, but never heard of this happen, it is "too difficult", apparently. I would be glad if it turned out that it is not so difficult after all and there are schools out there that are willing to do it.

My 100cc motorcycle can only do clockwise because of that winding steep bit south of Samoeng. No steep uphills if you go this way, can even do it with a passenger, I think the worst bit is when leaving Samoeng to go back to the loop itself. The downhill could be really nasty when raining. As my wrists are not very strong to hold on, the unfortunate passenger needs to walk down a few hundred metres, to be safe.

someone I know around here in Nong Hoy was hospitalised with dengue a week ago. I was very surprised as well.

The test you need to take to get a driving licence is also written in similar English. I was actually surprised to pass on the first try because I did not understand about a third of the questions.

Even worse, I ran into an official practice test for the Prathom 3 national exams a couple of months ago, for the first time ever. No wonder they keep them away from farang teachers in my school. It made me cry and kick a couple of chairs.

I think if you want to make an issue out of this, then find the parents' handbook or whatever document Waree has regarding uniforms and stuff. There should be something along the lines of "maximum 5 centimetres on the top, 3 on the sides and back". If your son's hair conforms to the regulations, you could get him, take along a ruler, and visit the head of section or class teacher or whoever you think the best person to talk to is in this case. If you just complain "it is not fair" or "but it is not too long", it may not work so effectively. If you decide not to do anything about it, however, in many schools it can easily happen that the teacher or head of section will just shave half his head one day. (I don't know if Waree does this sort of thing or not, as it invariably pisses off farang parents.)

I continue to be totally puzzled. I am not a university teacher. I have a valid work permit and visa, recently extended. I still do not have a teaching license, and what's more, not even a waiver. I am always told that the application for the license was submitted over 2 years ago and there is nothing to be done but wait. All my colleagues are in the same position as far as we are aware.

I sincerely hope the whole thing won't be crashing down on us all of a sudden because the clerks have made a mistake.

.... which floor to head to.... ok, that was a typo. I bet you've never had one. happy now?

No1, use your brain, will ya?

In plain old everyday English, the second level of a building is called first floor by Brits, and second floor by Americans (and Thais). The distinction was made to make it clear for all of us which floor to had to in that building.

No need to suspect a conspiracy.

Nonghoy - upload and download painfully slow in the last couple of days - websites not really affected, I don't care about 0.1 seconds, but uploading my photos at 5-10k physically hurts.

What date does the "admitted until" stamp specify? I would think that is the absolute last day the op needs to leave, no matter what mess had been made. Or, is he accountable for these mistakes, is he supposed to second guess a stamp saying e.g. "admitted until 10 Dec"? Can he be accused of overstaying if the "admitted until" stamp turns out to be erroneous?

I had one of the LARGE ones in my bathroom last year. Used up half a can of Mortein to take it out . It was really quick and running around for a minute in the spray, and then writhing for about an hour more after becoming immobolised. My apartment was pretty much uninhabitable for a week because of the toxic fumes.

I'm really wondering what to do if I see a scorpion - does Mortein or any other spray kill them or at least paralyse them so I can find something to whack them with?

When I was teaching mixed groups in a company setting, I always chose a topic and a grammar point for every lesson. Say, horoscopes and future tenses. Students got a worksheet with some key vocabulary for the topic, with translations and definitions, and some short exercises to drill the words. The grammar point of the day was also discussed briefly with examples using the words above, keeping it very simple, but always including a more complex structure or usage to focus on for the more advanced students (e.g. very simple intro to will for beginners and will be ....-ing for more advanced). Then we read a short passage or article using the words and the grammar learnt beforehand, definitely something controversial, or funny, or plain stupid. This was the starting point for discussions, individual presentations, roleplay, all sorts of speaking (and writing) exercises.

The key is to start with some very structured input, sentence patterns and vocabulary, before diving into speaking, and move from controlled practice to free practice where they can express their opinions and ideas. It works pretty well with a mixed group if the beginners have at least a basic command of English, there aren't too many students, and they are motivated and creative enough to keep it running. It is a nightmare with adults who are tired and couldn't care less about the whole thing.

Lamphun is a nice place to escape to as well, at least for one of the three days. Less than 30 kms from Chiang Mai, easy to get to by songthaew or bus (not sure about getting back at night though....) The parade is not so colourful and sophisticated, but it is a lovely drive along the river as well to get there, and a more traditional feel. I would stay in Chiang Mai for the parade on the third night because that one is the best every year.

last time I checked, our brand new EU passports come with an electronic chip containing our fingerprints.

ssshhh! don't give them ideas! (we only had two days off because of the red shirts. I would probably collapse on the spot if someone wanted to take away those meagre two weeks.... haven't had anything substantial off since songkran.)

Real truth? whoa, master, please share!

LJW - IB tests are not administered by Thais. They are actually high standard, professional tests that were checked for validity and reliability. They are also marked abroad and double checked. Eventual exam results also consider marks awarded for coursework so it is not down to one good day or bad day of taking exams - and even samples of coursework are collected from all over the world to make sure it is possible to adjust marks given by teachers in different schools in different countries. The requirements and the scoring criteria are very clear and there are no surprises. It is impossible to be 100% accurate with any scores anywhere, but the IB are working very hard to make their results valid and reliable.

I was an IB student myself and taught in a school with an IB program (though not in the program itself). Our average score was 37, not the highest!! So, if that is really true, I don't understand the hype about Prem.....

5-6 year old kids are curious and cannot stop asking questions.

Then they get swallowed up into classes of 40 and have to listen to teachers bullshitting for 7 periods a day. They simply learn to switch off. It is scary to see my enthusiastic, laughing, curious, active, book-loving kindie kids who enjoy attending school transform into grumpy pre-teens who readily admit to hating school just 3 years later.

Recently I had to go to a training seminar - it was the worst I have ever attended. After two hours, I was physically suffering and all I could think about was getting out. And I am not a 7-year-old who has to endure that pain for hours and hours every single day. Honestly, I am surprised they are alive at all and capable of brain functions after these long hours of schooling.

Does anyone know of online stats of IB schools worldwide? I did a search a while ago but didn't spend too long trying to dig it up. It would be most enlightening.

Is it an option to run / cancel? I would fake dengue or anything to get out of this nightmare. Sorry I cannot offer any helpful insights, just my condolences.

I'm surprised, Finland has appalling statistics in alcoholism (leading cause of death for men and second for women!) , weather, too much money, nothing to fight for or whine about, who knows the reason.

30 k per month - that seems to be the starting salary for most government and private bilingual schools around here as far as I know.