gerryBScot

Thanks TonyM. Can I just clarify that there are no accommodation requirements: I simply need an income of £18,600? That is it. Those prior savings of £62,500 are really steep. Once more thanks for your help.

At some point I reckon we might have to relocate back to the UK. Just checking the new rules and want to be sure; as we live in Thailand we would be applying here. My wife is a Filipino so would have to apply for a settlement visa; we've been married for 4+ years so would that allow her to ask for anything else like indefinite leave to remain. We have two kids, both British and Filipino citizens; does their British citizenship exempt me from the financial requirements and so enable mummy to apply for a settlement visa on the basis of me earning £18,600 pa?

In the event that we go back the likelihood is that I would have to go back and set up home and get a job and once that has been achieved then bring them over. Are there other ways of doing this? For instance what approach would the BA take if members of my family were prepared to act as sponsor/guarantors?

Any advice welcome.

I must confess to a certain interest in this. In particular I'll be interested in what happens to you at court. My instinct is, as others have said, that you are wasting your money and time. I too would simply seek a new job and get on with my life. But that is me.

I'm confused about the agency business. Presumably the agency can give you as much or as little work as it wishes, and presumably one of the reasons agencies are used is because as a general rule you only get paid for what you work; no holidays or sick leave. Or are you employed by the agency to work at this particular school for a fixed period of time?

Let me wish you well.

This is a mind boggling issue and I understand you are in a difficult place with this kind of debate going on in your head.

I would describe myself as a binge drinker when I was drinking....that's a few days ago now. I didn't drink every day. Yet today I understand how drinking controlled me and at the end it never provided me with "joyous intimacy with friends", relaxation, happiness, conviviality. Easier and safer to stay home with a bottle than go out - I didn't want company anyhow. I wanted to get drunk when I drank and I wanted to get there rapidly! With the benefit of hindsight I can see how my drinking just got worse and more importantly I understand I will never be able to drink differently. Once I take that first drink I am off.

I ended up in AA and I haven't had a drink in over 10 years. Life has changed a lot, mostly for the better. I don't regret quitting and don't miss anything about drinking.

QUitting drinking is an option and might be a good one for you Corkman but I really don't know. Nobody can tell you except yourself. Be wary of those that tell you that you're not! I am Scots Irish and I used to tell myself my drinking was cultural! I used to tell myself I wasn't an alcoholic too.

Hang around, keep an open mind, think it through, talk to your doctor or some one you trust - if you do think you have a problem, don't debate it too long, get some help. There are a number of options.

Good luck.

I'm not the type to get depressed Jemjem (otherwise I would not survive 5 minutes on the more negative parts of Tvisa!! ) I have heard that alcohol can heighten your mood, so if you are depressed it will not assist, but rather make it worse, of course if you are relaxed and happy, well why would you need to overdose on alcohol? But i used to do it, and on occasion maybe will again. You know one of the most enlightening things about being sober is going to functions and noticing exactly how the drunks are viewed at the end of the proceedings.....of course the drunk is not even aware.....and I think sometimes I'm glad that is not me....being only too aware...it once was!! Keep going Jemjem it is worth the effort

Yes Geo I know exactly what you mean about looking at drunks. Invariably, on those few occasions when I have been around drunks since getting sober, what I see is actually part me and part what I used to be like. I don't consciously avoid alcohol or places where alcohol is available either but as a general rule I don't hang out in bars. I can't remember the last time I was in a bar. Next month a cousin from Oz will be here with his family and the booze will be flowing - they know and respect my situation - we'll have a laugh, they'll get pissed, but I'll stay on softs and will be perfectly happy, I hope, and will probably slope off too bed early and feel terribly smug the next morning!

Jemjem, I second what Geo says: keep going, it is worth the effort.

I bought a basic Mitsubishi Triton truck at an auction in BKK; it was just over a year old with 5,500 km on the clock. It was a repo and the owner had removed the Mitsu wheels to prevent removal - so it came with new wheels; there was a chemical stain on the bonnet and on the windscreen. I never doubted the mileage because of the new wheels and also it smelled new inside, and under the bonnet it looked brand new - inside was immaculate with the works covers still on the bench at the back and on the sun guards. 4 years later it's just been in for its 100,000 km service, including change of the timing belt, and has never given me any problems whatsoever. An expat car hire guy recommended that if I wanted a basic 2 door manual truck then I would get a good deal at the auctions; I took my time, three visits to the auction, to check out how it all worked, and when I saw my truck and I set a limit and I got it. Got all the paperwork too including the radio manual and as I say it's been plain sailing ever since.

I would have no hesitation buying at an auction again.

"This is an issue that I hear from teacher friends, that the teaching of grammar in English is the preserve almost entirely of native Thai teachers. Surely this is a biiiig mistake."

ThaiatHeart I disagree with you on this. A competent Thai teacher should do the grammar especially if it involves explanation. How do you explain number, meaning singular and plural, to children whose language uses a totally different structure to express it? How can I possibly explain this with my very limited Thai? The native speaker should be organising activities which support and re-inforce the particular grammar point.

Yeah there are also big issues about teacher quality. If you have the paperwork ( and a white face) you can get a job easily, but the paperwork doesn't actually mean you can engage children in the classroom.

Reportedly, a friend of mine who has just started teaching, recently told me that it is absolutely off limits for the foreign teachers to get involved in grammar. I was spoilt with my school teaching me French. The lessons were 100% in French from the age of 8. I think the issue is more that they are prioritising the whole thing incorrectly anyway. i liken it to how I was taught Latin, as a completely academic exercise of understanding, knowing that there will be little or no practical usage beyond school.

5, to 9 year olds should be encouraged to speak and start reading English out loud. It is too young to get into the technicalities of grammar without these building blocks and familiarity. What I understand of it from my kids curriculum in a bilingual school, and what my friend tells me working in a bilingual government program, 75% of the class cannot speak correctly formed sentences, and can read rudimentally out loud,and yet they are being bombarded with advanced English grammar in the Thai part of the curriculum. Is Thailand wanting students who can interpret Chaucer or Jane Austen, or people who can use English practically? I think Thailand would be more than happy to have 20 year old university grads who can write and comprehend, to the level of 15 year old native speakers, and speak clearly. What they have today are technically educated graduates with the comprehension ability of 10 year olds, who are too shy to speak.

My niece, at 22, can analyse all the various technical grammatical parts of any English sentence you choose to put in front of her, but can she read it out loud correctly? Nope. Can she understand the meaning? Not really. Beyond that, her level of vocabulary is very low, because she was never given enough reading comprehension. She got an "A" in English leaving high school she told me last night.

It's a hell of a lot easier to understand how and where to use the the various tenses if you have read them 1000 times in books without understanding 100% the precise meaning in time.

I agree with you this time! Teaching reading is, however, a real science if not an art form and calls for the most astonishingly skilled and knowledgeable teachers and that is in the context of L1 to L1, ie English to English; it becomes even more complex when it is L1 to L2. It's an incredibly slow process too.

As a parent of a soon to be 4 year old boy I am absorbed by watching his progress. I am kinda reluctant to get over involved in his educational development but from watching him do things like jig saw puzzles I notice that he cannot distinguish between straight lines, curved lines and corners. All perfectly normal for such a young learner. In his Thai school classroom he gets bombarded with copying letters in both English and Thai, page after page of mindlessness, a completely meaningless activity, especially in such volume; he has only recently mastered the correct way to hold a pencil in his fingers.

I notice also they use Thai produced material to introduce the kids to letters and sounds: the basic rule here is to teach kids to be able to correctly sound each letter (or letters/diphthongs ) in their most common form : "Ay. ( as in "ay") Ah....Apple", for example and to lead them progressively to be able to sound out short clusters of sounds like "sat=" : "sih-ah- tih= sat". Of course English like every other language has irregular grammar and irregular phonics. So the material my son is using comes to "E"; maybe he should learn "Ee Eh Egg"; that is the basic E sound, although this sound changes to "Ee" in Pete etc. The word chosen for E in my sons material is even more irregular "Ee Aye Eye" - Thai produced!

The irony is there are a number of qualified and experienced native speaker teachers in our school and very few of the Thai teachers ever ask for help... there are a couple who do and not surprisingly they are acknowledged to be the best teachers in the school. This failure led to the production of a fancy, expensive poster for Chinese New Year: the banner was headed: "Happy Chainese's New Year" ....... I have a photo of it. But this is a phenomenon every conscientious native speaker teacher will have encountered in some form if they work here.

I like living here and so I've learned to accept it to some extent - little gain in challenging anything. However I do my best for the kids and parents in every class I teach and I see very real progress among my students. I would like to do more for those who have clear learning needs - sadly these kids usually get no remedial help. A shame because such developmental problems are universal and most kids do respond to assistance. I couldn't speak clearly myself until I was 8/9, but eventually I did thanks to what was then known in Scotland as "Child Guidance" : I had a weekly session with an educational psychologist. Of course some people still don't understand a word I say!

Aye, I pity the parents in this country who not unreasonably want to do the best for the kids and give them a decent education.

"This is an issue that I hear from teacher friends, that the teaching of grammar in English is the preserve almost entirely of native Thai teachers. Surely this is a biiiig mistake."

ThaiatHeart I disagree with you on this. A competent Thai teacher should do the grammar especially if it involves explanation. How do you explain number, meaning singular and plural, to children whose language uses a totally different structure to express it? How can I possibly explain this with my very limited Thai? The native speaker should be organising activities which support and re-inforce the particular grammar point.

Yeah there are also big issues about teacher quality. If you have the paperwork ( and a white face) you can get a job easily, but the paperwork doesn't actually mean you can engage children in the classroom.

I think expats in Thailand relish this kind of survey result, but of course they aren't interested in looking into it further, much better to sit back and say "I told you so" as if they have some in depth knowledge of the cutlural ins-andouts of language leaning and a detailed knowledge of language teaching - suddenly everyone's an expert?

Singapore - ex- British colony

Malaysia - ex-British colony

Philippines - ex - US colony

Indonesia and Thailand not a lot of difference apart from the fat Idonesia had Dutch and English influences

The 'facts' are that Indonesia was a Dutch colony. Moreover English is mandatory in Holland.

The facts also are that Thailand was never 'colonised' (sic) a fact that their xenophobic masters place great emphasis on. BUT they were conquered by the Burmese AND the Japanese. (and were it not for the allies Japanese would be the official language)

And for the record English, is widely spoken in Burma, particularly by anyone who is semi educated.

And finally, Aung San Suu Kyi 'whilst not your 'normal Burmese' has a command of English that would put many Oxford grads to shame.

The problem in Thailand is that parents don't see the need for their children to learn/speak English consequently not many do/or are proficient in the language.

maybe Aung San Suu Kyi's command of English has something to do with the fact that she herself is an Oxford University graduate!

Yeah I had this problem following hospitalisation in The Philippines recently; I reported my circumstances immediately and asked the (Thai) company to guarantee my fees to the hospital; their promotional material certainly said this was something they could do..... sort of common sense peace of mind thing you would offer. I even suggested they should send out a local agent to check me out. They ignored this request so I took it as a no. I paid the bill and submitted my claim and I am happy to say they reimbursed it in full. First time I ever made a claim for anything on a travel insurance policy in 35+ years of travelling and I was mightily relieved they did. I'd like to know if you do find a company that will make such a commitment.

This thread had me worried as I thought I didn't have the Compulsory Motor Insurance, "CMI". However seems as if it is part of my overall insurance policy as there is a section in the new quote marked CMI. I am being charged 967.28 for the CIM for my pick up. So if you are concerned check your policies as you may have CIM already.

Jemjem wait until you don't even know what you did or said when you were drunk, or remember how you got home or wake up in strange beds with people you don't know and you can't remember how you got there. This becomes scarier and scarier if you keep on drinking. If you have reached your bottom with this incident, the point at which you are not prepared to sink lower, then look at it as a good thing. WIthout wanting to prejudge what happened I am sure you will be able to put it right. However many of us have made (umpteen) sincere promises, in beautiful, sincere words to our loved ones, saying how wrong we were and how badly we have behaved and how we will never do it again........only to start at it three weeks or three days later. Do something now like get a counsellor or go to AA but do something that will validate and reinforce your commitment not to drink and most of all where there will be no external pressure on you to drink. Good luck.

Terribly sad story. Now that the woman has been "liberated" is she likely to get any sort of appropriate assistance?

Like others I really love travelling by train: I have travelled most of the long distance routes in Thailand, inc BKK-CM on a couple of occasions, and where possible I always opt for 2nd class air. I've always had a pleasant trip including on one occasion where a fellow passenger came running after me as I had left my wallet in the seat. Said wallet contained 2000 $ US in travellers cheques so would have been an almighty pain in the butt losing this stuff. I like being able to stretch my legs and take a walk. Even if I don't sleep well I like being able to lie down stretch out. I am rarely on a tight schedule so delays are not really important. Never really had a problem. With the addition of two small kids in recent years it is easier however to throw everything in the back of the truck and drive. As others have said I doubt whether you'll have a problem getting tickets in JUly two weeks ahead of travel and you can buy tickets from any railway station or, for a small fee, use an agent.

I suspect that the real way any enforcement will work is for the school to be told by whichever authority that they can't hire you. So you might get taken on and then they might have to let you go. I would strongly advise you not to make any bogus claims on your paperwork like inventing experience or qualifications you don't actually have: that could get you into trouble.

Just to tell you , folks, that I am not doing too well

I will be back.

Jemjem at the end of my drinking, alcohol completely isolated me - it wanted me in my own space, alone, living in my head, consumed by my feelings and fears.....and of course in such an unhappy state I had to drink to kill the noise in my head ; alcohol ad long ceased to have any connection with fun, the ostensible reason for drinking in the first place. At the end there was no fun. You might be at the jumping off place - a critical moment when you need to be bold and do something different, unknown, like get help; alternatively you can carry on with the same misery, it doesn't seem as if it is going to better for you. Please feel free to PM if I can be of any help.

Thanks. I will make sure to keep that in mind and might PM you later in the month, Gerry.

I know the 'There are always excuses for one to drink a lot' thing but I am really going through a tough period. I guess I can call it 'mid-life crisis'.

I have been feeling down most of the time since several months ago. I even cancelled a trip to a seaside resort the day before I was supposed to go because I just didn't feel like being away from my flat. I spend most of my time either at home or just in the neighborhood, at the same places usually.

I guess one good thing is I am sober since last Friday, and haven't had the urge to drink since then, and I am also feeling good about having a long sober run again; BUT (this is an important 'but') psychologically, I don't feel too well overall. It's like I have no aim in life (of course there are other issues too).

Don't get me wrong, folks: I don't have the aim of making people feel sorry for me; I just want to be totally sincere and honest; and tell you what's going on.

Jemjem good to hear your news. I didn't feel psychologically strong or positive at the beginning of sobriety. If someone had said to me how my life would change in the course of the next ten years I might have strangled them. I really thought I was going to die in those early days. I was very bleak.

And of course sobriety doesn't mean that life becomes a bed of roses: we are not spared the difficulties of life. For all the highs like marriage, two children, regular employment, moving to LOS there have been lows too: death of loved ones, ill health, hospitalisation not to mention the normal highs and lows of every day life. I think I can say that I have been able to deal much more effectively and much less destructively with most of the challenges that have come my way in sobriety.

I remember someone saying early on: there is no problem you have now or may have in the future that will be helped in any way by taking a drink. That has been my experience.

So keep at it, as Geo says, keep working at increasing your days of sobriety.

Don't get too worried about problems you may see in the future, try to keep things in the day and try to live each days as fully as you can. It might help to write a list of things you are grateful for: they can be as simple as you want. eg: 1. Not drinking today 2. Being able to breathe 3. Having internet access and being able to go online etc etc.

If nothing else come on here and post every day: tell us how you feel and what you are doing. You'll get nay sayers and challenged people but you'll probably also get some help and feedback and you'll also help people like me by reminding me what it was like. I readily identify with so much of what you say.

Remember never give up giving up. Good luck to you and thanks for helping me.

Thnks Old Git they cancelled the damaged passport when they issue the ETd. I'll give them a bell.

I have a Bangkok issued British Emergency Travel Document valid until December this year; it has been endorsed for one journey only to the Philippines which took place as per the endorsement. Due to ill health/hospitalisation I have been unable to apply for a new British passport. I now need to return to the UK for an emergency. WHat do I need to do? Go to the embassy and request a further ETD or ask to get my current ETD endorsed to inlcude a new journey. Your help will be greatly appreciated. GB

Thanks for the information on your Canon SX 50 HS, Goshawk. I was considering a long lens for my Nikon D7000, But your camera would far greater zoom for less money. 24 to 1200 is truly impressive and nothing else comes even close. It would open a whole new world for me.

no problem... it's a really good birders camera. I shoot a lot of video too & when i'm fully tooled up for a stakeout, this is my usual setup....

cam.jpg . cam2.jpg

Canon SX50HS, Panasonic SD90, Rode Videomic Pro (sometimes plugged into a Zoom H1 recorder), Manfrotto 700RC2 video head.

Greater Painted-snipe - Mae Hia, Chiangmai (last week)

Great shot of the male and female Painted-snipe!

Other issues that might arise if you work through an agency could be you'll only be paid for the days that you work; in other words no pay on holidays, inc both public holidays and end of semester/year breaks; no pay if you are sick and not able to attend work. So if you have the paperwork get yourself a job as others have advised.

I have posted previously about recent, positive experience using the "government" hospital as a result of contracting Necrotising Fasciitis, (NF), an extremely dangerous and potentially lethal bacterial infection. Since that post I have had a further 16 days in hospital during which time the cavity, left by the debridements needed to remove the NF, was closed by skin grafting. Amazingly new, uninfected tissue filled the cavity, a fairly deep hole just below my ankle; the skin graft was only partially successful, however, with only a 60 % take. However it was successful enough for the doctor to advise that the wound would heal but that I'd be left with a scar in the area where the graft hadn't taken. In fact this area is where the hard skin from the sole joins the softer skin on the foot so not entirely surprising that it didn't take. After a month in hospital involving 5 surgical procedures, 3 general anaesthetics and 2 "spinal blocks", not to mention the considerable stress, worry and anxiety factor,I decided that I could live with a scar. I am now at home and on the mend. The key thing now is to keep the wound area clean and avoid any re-infection.We have an after care plan in place to cover dressing and review. I am mightily relieved that this is now moving towards a positive conclusion and remain essentially positive about my experience in a government hospital. Thanks to all for the support and wishes.

We bought a policy from AGA Services (Thailand), trading online as Worldcare and underwritten by Mondial; this was for our six week holiday in March/April toThe Philippines and covered me, my wife, and our two young kids; premium for comprehensive was approx 7500 THB. As some of you know I have had a bit of a 'mare with my health in the last couple of months and it all started to go wrong in The Philippines when I was hospitalised for nine days with cellulitis. An expensive business costing over 110,000 PHP. Well my claim has just been paid out in full about three weeks after final submission.

In terms of support at the time of my hospitalisation in the Philippines they were pretty useless, in fact their first written contact was to advise that I was not covered when I think they simply meant to advise that I did not have an "approved" claim at that point in time. They did little to support my wife who understandably was a but freaked at the onset and had the additional burden of looking after two small kids; they didn't offer to make phone calls; they didn't guarantee hospital fees as their promotional blurb intimated they could; they didn't send out a local agent as I requested. It could have been very difficult had we not had the funds to cover everything.

However in the final analysis they paid out with no fuss once all the documentation was submitted and I am mightily relieved about that and so long as they will re-insure us on future trips they will get our future business.