noahvail

This should not be an insurmountable problem. There are enough would-be teachers--exemplified by the 100k prospective teachers who sought the 1,880 positions. Poor quality teachers are better than none, and some who lack the teaching skills will gain it through practice--note the numbers of non-experienced, non-degree NES teachers who actually do make a difference.

First, the Thais have to make-up their minds to want to solve the educational problems and learn English; and that means not only lip service, but suitable funding and sticking to their plan--if not, full-stop.

[snipped by responder] .........

Oh, why do I feel I have just wasted my time trying to address this issue logically?

Do you really have to ask? But I think you've come up with bloody good plan, I do. One hpoes the C-word doesn't enter into every stage of it if it's ever implemented, but TiT...

We get our ToT bills through Thailand Post monthly, like clockwork. Nong Bua Lam Phu province.

I've found that for what might be "questionable" items, a letter from you to the airline, with a letter from the doctor along with the manufacturer's specification sheet and a photo a few weeks in advance will get you a letter from the airline allowing you to have it on board. That letter will pre-empt security and the airline folks from hassling you about it. In Thailand, they prefer the letter to be from a government hospital with a blue stamp near the doctor's signature.

I don't see any problems with silicone, it will be clear on the x-ray.

Enjoy seeing the grand-kid!

Thai-bashing happens all over south-east Asia. America-bashing happens all over the world. But in America, Florida-bashing has been the national sport for decades.

7 times per night is normal for me. I can 10 times having eaten Lao vodka with snake

StasD, just to be clear here, we're talking about the entire act, right? Not just counting strokes...

On a more serious note it`s great to see the Nation writing this stuff, a total U-turn to what they were spewing out this time 12 months ago.

The penny has dropped that although the previous lot were awful the current situation is infinetley worse. Quite why they couldn`t have predicted what was likely to happen when Suthep was walking the streets is beyond me.

I think quite a few Thais of a yellow persuasion are finally working out the current government doesn`t give a toss about them and, as usual, it`s that 0.1% that own half the wealth of the country that are the winners here.

Even posters like Seajae above (who simply couldn`t comprehend what was going on before ) seem to understand now

Just wondering out loud...that perhaps The Nation is awkwardly changing its stance so as to stop the hostile takeover of the NMG...change from a format that worked for years (although, a rather laughable one) to a tougher format that may see a temporary decline in NMG's desirability as a takeover target.

I dunno...?

From the OP: "The main cause of illiteracy among Thai students is the teaching approach which centers on rote learning that better suits learning of other languages like Chinese and Japanese while Thai language has tone marks that require great practice from learners."

Perhaps I'm missing something, but the dialects of both China and Japan are tonal.

chinese yes, japanese no.

in thai you have accents (tone marks) and rules for which letter + which accent = which tone.

to learn chinese you need to memorize the characters because even though most of them are combinations of other characters, there's no rule that can reliably predict the pronunciation, especially the tone.

when chinese characters are used in japanese it's normal for them to have multiple, completely unrelated pronunciations depending on the context, so again you need to memorize.

Thank you for the clarification. ?

From the OP: "The main cause of illiteracy among Thai students is the teaching approach which centers on rote learning that better suits learning of other languages like Chinese and Japanese while Thai language has tone marks that require great practice from learners."

Perhaps I'm missing something, but the dialects of both China and Japan are tonal.

Anyone observed that you can't see Thai white lines at night? Do you think its missing the reflective stuff they put in road paint in Europe? Sometimes i drive at night and find it difficult to keep in lane because of the hard to see road lines!

+1

Of course, as you get older, your nighht vision decreases. In NZ the lines fairly gliisten - but it's rather expensive paint. On the road leading from Nong Bua Lam Phu to Loei, they've expanded a stretch of the road from a two-lane to a !four-lane divided highway. There is one dangerous intersection on the way, and they have not only used the sparkly yellow paint but also flashing yellow LEDs embedded in the pavement at the end of each paint strip. There may be hope yet.

Many assumptions being made here...

Does Thailand issue issue any type of disabled/handicap parking permit that is visually displayed or can be confirmed by checking records?

Can't disabled people have a luxury car? One should really not assume...

Thailand's LTO does indeed issue the same kind of rear-view mirror hanging placard as found in most countries. It has your info imprinted on it. When it is issued, you receive a new driver's license that indicates you are disabled. If you do not have a license (and presumably someone drives for you), the placard may be used if you get out of the car; it may not be used if you stay in the car. Similarly, if the driver is the holder of the placard and does not get out of the car, he's not entitled to use a disabled parking space.

However, I'm not aware of any law in Thailand that imposes a penalty for parking in a disabled spot without a placard.

That is good info about the placard.

Are the parking lots controlled by the owners of the property or the police?

I don't know. If there's no penalty for for parking in a disabled spot - and I think the whole disability "thing" is only just starting to change in Thailand - then it's a moot point.

Many assumptions being made here...

Does Thailand issue issue any type of disabled/handicap parking permit that is visually displayed or can be confirmed by checking records?

Can't disabled people have a luxury car? One should really not assume...

Thailand's LTO does indeed issue the same kind of rear-view mirror hanging placard as found in most countries. It has your info imprinted on it. When it is issued, you receive a new driver's license that indicates you are disabled. If you do not have a license (and presumably someone drives for you), the placard may be used if you get out of the car; it may not be used if you stay in the car. Similarly, if the driver is the holder of the placard and does not get out of the car, he's not entitled to use a disabled parking space.

However, I'm not aware of any law in Thailand that imposes a penalty for parking in a disabled spot without a placard.

So....they're going to be sending these notices to car owners' homes....by Thailand Post? Good luck with that.

I ordered a lens hoood a couple of weeks ago, and after four days they canceled the order. I wrote to them and asked why, and got the exact same response as post #3. Three days later, they sent me an email asking if I wanted to cancel that same order number - which they said was for a pair of ladies' shoes! Whaa? So I wrote again with copies oof all correspondence. The next day I got an email asking me to rate their customer service. I was quite happy to take the time to give them my opinion.

So now, I ordered the same lens hood from the States for less money including postage and duty. I have sworn off Lazada.

I don't have any experience as a practitioner but I'm pretty sure I could have proceeded to lie the man on the floor of the airplane (not ground) like the story states,and take his pulse.

"Taking his pulse" in Chinese traditional medicine involves a good deal more than counting his heart rate. Pulsing is a form of diagnosis, and there are pretty much twenty-nine pulses to look for - not to mention combinations. http://www.sacredlotus.com/go/diagnosis-chinese-medicine/get/4-pillars-pulse-images-tcm-diagnosis

The ruling of a court should be narrow, to the point, reflecting the case being ruled on.

Why? Why should the ruling of a court - any court or this court - NOT reflect the background and context of the case, and thus affect similar cases? Why should a free-speech slash defamation ruling not affect any other cases? You may have one or many good reasons but you don't give one.

I think the main reason it doesn't affect other cases is because the Thai courts do not apply the principles of case law. Each case is determined by the judges handling the case, without need for precedent. For obvious historical reasons, I cannot give you the details of how this or the manner of libel/defamation laws in Thailand came to be. This is Thailand, they have their own laws and ways of implementing those laws. They are not always the same as in what may be your or my home countries.

I'm not being a Thai apologist, nor do I not understand the various concepts of freedom of speech as applied in many different ways throughout the world. I'm just being a realist.

Homeopathic remedies... I remember The Amazing Randi (reknowned magician and hard-core sceptic, took an entire bottle of homeopathic sleeping pills on stage. Obviously, a huge overdose. But, as he explained, homeopathic remedies are diluted to the point of not one molecule of the original substance remains in the water. Homeopaths claim that water has "memory" but there has been no scientific evidence of this. Extraordinary claims require extraordinary proof. And there is none.

Melatonin, however, is a real substance, and it does work. Unfortunately, it is illegal in Thailand.

Best way to avoid jet lag is to work up your sleeping and eating patterns an hour at a time, day by day, for however many time zones you intend to cross. Don't drink alcohol or take benzos on the plane. Try to sleep on the plane in sequence with the sleeping pattern at your destination.

Good luck conquering the jet lag, let us know.

O- is the rarest blood type in Thailand, comprising less than 2% of the indigenous population.

I'd love to help, being O- myself, but I'm way up in Isaan and the Red Cross here has told me I can't donate because of my age.

OP, best of luck to your friend. I hope some O- forum members in BKK will help. Have you tried on any of the Thai language forums?

Most of the few posters I've put on ignore have been banned. Of course, when someone responds to a poster who's on my ignore list, the "ignored" post shows up. So, I've stopped putting people on the ignore list.

Lots of good advice already given, so I won't talk about the electricals. The OP said it would intermittently not start, and now it's gotten to the point of just not starting.

The video did touch briefly on the Bendix drive in the starter. It does happen that a gear tooth on the Bendix will break off, and the more that break off, the more likely it is that the car will not start normally, and finally not at all.

Do the easy part first and check the electricals. If you don't find the problem, take the starter off and look at the Bendix drive. It might have quite a few teeth missing, or be frozen in place.

Best of luck to you!

Two weeks ago I applied for an extension in Udon Thani. For five years they've refused Google maps. This year they were happy to accept the Google map. We took six photos that mimicked the ones the inspectors took last year. Printed them out in color on plain paper, two to a page, and at fastest speed, and they were happy with those.

Udon Thani is a small office, and they have their quirks, but there's usually not a long queue and things usually go quite smooothly.

when you see an electric or fuelcell one let me know

http://www.electric-quad-bikes.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=4

Criminal law and civil law are practiced here as in the States. The hospital et al. could win the criminal case but lose the civil case. Remember OJ Simpson back in the States? He was found not guilty in criminal court, but lost in civil court which pretty much cost him everything.

This is a tropical country of Thailand and people have traditionally going around shirtless! So, naturally I have been brought up in this environment and shirtless is nothing strange. Maybe you should open your freaking eyes and look around in what freaking country you live in right now??? See any snow?

This is also about freaking BK and not fine dining or in an aircraft, so your comparison is moot. Nobody is conducting any "official business" at a freaking BK joint.

And what the xxxxxx hell does my parent's has to do anything with this?

I had parents as much as you had one.

Traditional Thai style is to always wear a shirt. Thais frown upon young Thai boys who run around and drive motorbikes w/o shirts.

How many years make up a "Traditional Thai style"? From Wikipedia:

In Thailand, the government of Field Marshal Plaek Pibulsonggram issued a series of cultural standards between 1939 and 1942. Mandate 10 issued on September 8, 1941 instructed Thai people to not appear in public places "without being appropriately dressed". Inappropriate dress included "wearing no shirt or wearing a wraparound cloth."[9][10] Before the westernization of dress, Thai women were depicted both fully clothed and topless in public. Until the early 20th century, women from northern Thailand wore a long tube-skirt (Pha-Sin), tied high above their waist and below their breasts, which were uncovered.[11] In the late 19th century the influence of missionaries and modernization under King Chulalongkorn encouraged local women to cover their breasts with blouses.

Just google "cha yen recipe" and take your pick of many videos with recipes...soo you can see for yourself