thaisomchai

Having just returned from two naturist resorts in another Asian country, I will add that I am just VERY uncomfortable being naked around women. Not a matter of sexual preference at all . . as it isnt a sexual thing.

Naturist resorts ( for me) dont have to be gay but they have to be male . . which they probably wouldnt be unless they were gay.

The other thing is that both resorts advertised as "clothing optional" and curiously most of the guests opted to stay clothed which was annoying and something I will ask about in future. I want a "clothing prohibited" resort. As it was, apart from the owner and two or three other guests, I turned out to be the only true naturist and stayed naked the entire time.

I tease my Thai partner that Thai men are born wearing underwear.

We would like to find a masseur in the Hua Hin / cha am area either working in an established massage shop north of HH or south of Cha Am or willing to travel to our home between Hua Hin and Cha am.

Doesnt need to be gay, but of course needs to be comfortable with gay folk.

Please post or PM me with any references or leads. We want to set up a weekly massage session and eliminate the hassle of driving into Hua Hin with the horrible traffic these days and eliminate the problems we have had trying to set up appointments with some of the larger massage establishments.

Thanks for any help!

We got a big kick out of one such attendant . .at Pantip Mall or Paragon perhaps. We were walking up the stairs to the parking level where we were parked and the attendant was blowing his whistle while walking up the stairway behind us.

He wasnt paying any attention to us, we were just walking to our car . . . but was obviously just caught up in the sheer joy of having a whistle to blow.

Anyone willing to recommend a Thai educational journal (peer-reviewed) that accepts articles for publication?

( "Publish or perish" pressures here)

So far my search has not turned up a journal interested in publishing articles involving classroom teaching methods and practices or survey based articles.

I have turned up a few which require a hefty "review fee" but I have been warned away from this kind of journal.

All suggestions welcome!

Merrill, please keep me posted. Thanks

Applied today for a Schengen visa at the Swedish embassy.

Spent the entire frustrating day there.

Have had several Schengen visas in the past . .Italy, Greece, Denmark . . .never a problem.

We will spend four days in Sweden and five days in Italy.

They evidently have a rule that you have to apply for the Schengen visa in the country you will spend the most time in?

So we have to now change our plans to spend five days inSweden and four days in Italy?

I thought you applied to the country you land in first??

Anybody ever heard about this??

PS. Never got the visa

Tutsi . .that is exactly my experience.

At BNH there was no charge for removing the polyp(s) it is included. The only extra charge was for the lab work on a polyp which is easy to understand.

When I have this done, I stay overnight in a nearby hotel. ( I dont live in Bangkok)

Dont go to either. Go to Bangkok Nursing Hospital.

I had mine done there last month.

total 15,600 Baht and that included a biopsy.

Basic colonoscopy package was 13,900.

Excellent doctors and service staff. Their new gastrointestional suite alones is worth the visit. Absolutely first class.

First of all, dont worry about the proceedure. It is painless and in fact you wont remember a thing. They give you a mild sedative via IV and you just go off into lala land . .aware of something happening but your brain has no idea what and it just doesnt care.

Secondly, they cant do anything about diverticula. You have them and thats it. I have had them for decades and never a flareup. Diet helps and they can medicate when you do have a flareup.

Polyps are another matter entirely. They will take them out as they go along ( if you ask, you can get the video and photos!)

Hope this helps.

Happy to answer any other questions.

BTW It is important for EVERYONE to have this done at least at age 50 . .certainly get it done if you are older than that.

Colon cancer is called a silent killer. You can die before you even suspect something is wrong.

Hate to tell you this . .but the prep is the worst part of it. Ghastly drink they give you to flush out. The price you quote for that is high. Shop around.

The "others" created this "Alternative lifestyle" forum.

Why are they using the term?

To begin with: being gay isnt a "lifestyle" nor is it an "alternative". (The latter puts being gay on the same level as shopping for shoes. Hmmmm, maybe I will pick this pair or perhaps that!)

"Alternative" to what? A "normal" lifestyle? A straight lifestyle? A socially acceptable lifestyle? A rich and famous lifestyle? A lifestyle acceptable to your parents?

I remember this term being floated many decades ago by straight newspaper editors when the dating columns were opened up to include "men seeking men"and "women seeking women". In this expression they found a way to include gays but at the same time make it clear that this wasnt an acceptable or mainstream activity. Back then they had to avoid the words "homosexual', 'gay' and 'lesbian' to avoid offending those with other lifestyles.

I know gay doctors, gay teachers, gay pilots, celibate gay priests, celibate gay Buddhist monks and nuns and gay prostitutes . .and to lump together these very different ways of living as a a single "lifestyle" because of one common, natural and unremarkable element is to do a major disservice to all.

Truth is, there is no such thing as a "gay lifestyle" or an "alternative lifestyle". Try to define these terms for yourself and see if you can come up with anything that makes sense.

As the saying goes: It is not a lifestyle, it is a life.

So glad we got that settled.

Now . .what was this thread about again?

I recently dated a Thai girl who had converted to Christianity. I asked her if she was Protestant or Catholic. She looked at me blankly and said "I'm a Christian".

The closest I'd come to claiming to be a Christian is calling myself a lapsed Catholic. However I work with a girl in the UK who does not define her faith as Protestant or Catholic but simply as Christian. Many do.

Catholic belief is, you can only achieve salvation through the church and it's ministers, if you do not go to church you cannot be a Catholic.

Wrong.

Many Catholics take the Church and all her teachings on their own basis, defining for themselves what it means to be Catholic. There are several widespread and popular movements within the Church worldwide of Catholics at odds in one way or another with the Pope and the "official" Church "requirements". Attendance at Mass and other such requirements were added only after many centuries of Church history with the singular and important function of filling the Church coffers.

Her magisterum has fallen into considerable disarray since Vatican 2.

The modern Church has many, many mansions.

___________________________________________________

To return to the topic at hand. How can you question the motivation of any individual seeking peace and the answers to life's questions. . . wherever this search may lead. You can not know his/her heart. Buddhism has a lot to offer. To anyone undertaking even some of the rigors of living in a Thai temple as a monk . .I can only offer admiration. It aint easy.

Sorry to jump in here . .but what is a " 30 day 'under review' extension" ?

This may be the answer to the problem I just presented in the thread next to this one.

Thanks

That might be because the 60 days was from a visa exempt entry? This 60 day extension can be obtained from any entry.

But have also seen several recent reports that application for work permit must be made by company while subject is outside of Thailand now (and WP3 emailed to him for visa issue) so not sure there is any standard to go by.

Not married to a Thai national.

Somewhere in the discussions with our HR people I did hear mention of 7 days . . .so that will probably be it. That and hoping that the CHE doesn't dally.

So the 7 day extension will cost the same as a retirement extension?

I am also ready financially to go with the retirement visa renewal if that becomes necessary so I don't foresee any serious problems here.

I just would like to limit my out of pocket expenses and the extra paperwork. The University will pay for the actual extension/conversion to Non Imm B.

but I have to pay for the multiple reentry permit and the extension of my retirement visa if I have to go that route.

The University visa guy has been described as a "miracle worker."

The last posts I made on this issue received a number of VERY helpful replies!

In fact the advice I have received here has proved very helpful indeed.

Thanks THAIvisa! Thanks to those who responded!

Here is my latest plea for suggestions from anyone with either the knowledge or the personal experience of being in such a situation.

I am going from a retirement visa to a non-immigrant B with a work permit.

The university has begun the procedure of vetting my degrees with CHE. I have been told that this can take a month, even though I taught at a Thai university for several years before retiring.

(I dont know the precise steps here, but the work permit application is also out there.)

I have a letter offering me the teaching position and a contract.

Problem: My retirement visa extension expires on September 20th. The CHE will most likely not respond in time for this to be a neat visa transfer.

I dont want to renew my retirement visa and then a week or two later, change it to the Non-Imm B. ( Too expensive to do this twice. Once is enough!)

Question: is there a temporary extension . .7 days? two weeks? that can be granted in this situation? Perhaps bringing in the contract, offer of employment and proof that the WP process has been initiated?

The University visa officer is in tight with the local Immigration office and seems very confident and reassuring . .but it is my ass that is on the line here!

Grateful for any insight!

@tom BKK

what do u mean? Kindly tell me what you wana say and whom u wana say???

Your written English is horrendous, you make basic mistakes, small i for example

wana with one n. Even kids in Prathom 1 know that I is big.

If a government school is looking to give you a job, then you had best improve your

English quickly. Maybe they gave you the job because you can speak English, but as soon

as you start writing they may change their minds. And then you might find it difficult to get another job.

"As I searching from Internet I could get Teacher licence according to different Routes,"

Malik . ..I would guess from this sentence alone that you are not a native English speaker.

As others have posted, perhaps this will not be the right position for you.

Malik, do you know what level and where will you be teaching?

At this point, at the lower Prathom level in a remote village you might get away with it. ( Its hard to mess up teaching the alphabet! )

But if you get into Mattayom classes, especially in the city, your students will be correcting YOU!

As well, other teachers will notice that your English is substandard and so will many parents. It might become very unpleasant for you.

You might want to think over your application and your underlying reasons for coming to Thailand.

Thanks Gingkas . .that is the kind of info I am looking for.

Worst case scenario then appears to be a big fine and the bother of leaving the country and getting a new visa.

This I can deal with.

My greatest fear is being deported and not being allowed back in.

What I may do is work this first year on the retirement visa and then change to the Non-Imm B when it comes due for renewal again. The problem with getting a non-Imm B now is one of timing. My retirement extension expires (mid-September) before any of the paperwork can be processed. I still haven't signed the contract or been vetted by the Higher Ed Council or even begun the work permit application process.

The problem I see with your cunning plan is that you are dealing with two different goverment departments....ie immigration and the labour dept and one may object, even if the other says its "ok" and if you do get caught out either one or both of your documents is invalid, and technically you would be working illegally....If all your paper work is straight an Non-imm B is very easy to get and it only costs you a 2 day turn around....

Not trying to be cunning . . .just trying to deal with this issue the best way I can.

My paperwork is fine . .but I need to renew my visa before anything else can be done to back it up. Best case scenario as presented to me ...work permit wont "arrive" (or be finalized) until sometime in October even if we file for it today.

But following your scenario . . exactly what is the penalty for working illegally? I would have a legal work permit after all.

Anyone have any real life examples of people who have been "caught" "working illegally"?

Thanks Gingkas . .that is the kind of info I am looking for.

Worst case scenario then appears to be a big fine and the bother of leaving the country and getting a new visa.

This I can deal with.

My greatest fear is being deported and not being allowed back in.

What I may do is work this first year on the retirement visa and then change to the Non-Imm B when it comes due for renewal again. The problem with getting a non-Imm B now is one of timing. My retirement extension expires (mid-September) before any of the paperwork can be processed. I still haven't signed the contract or been vetted by the Higher Ed Council or even begun the work permit application process.

Still in the works on this and I appreciate all the input from various quarters.

What I have discovered:

The university is on excellent terms with the local immigration department.

Several faculty are doing this.

It appears that it is the Work Permit which really counts. You just cant work without a work permit and I will get one.

The visa apparently does NOT have to match.

Due to the close expiration date of my most recent extension and the start of the semester, to apply for a non-Imm B to go with the work permit would require either a lengthy overstay OR getting the new retirement extension and one or two months later changing it for a Non-Imm B ..big waste of time and money IMHO.

I also understand that it is an really issue between the Dept of Labour and the Immigration Dept.

______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

New question: Does anyone know of any actual case where a person, sponsored by the University with a valid work permit and a valid retirement visa has been

1.caught

2. warned

3.prosecuted

4. questioned

5. brought to the attention of either Dept of Labour or Immigration

6.made to change the visa ( presented to me as the most likely scenario)

7. Other

I know we can all speculate until the cows come home . . .but I want to know if anything has actually happened in this situation in the real world that is Thailand!

since my ORIGINAL visa (the one that I applied for from outside Thailand)

The above is key. The non immigrant O-A is only issued outside of Thailand. From Immigration you receive one year extensions of stay for retirement.

Your one year extension of stay stamp will be entered into your new passport and link to original passport/visa noted. From recent reports re-entry permits may not be transferred but not positive on that being general policy or not.

I just did the new passport thing and they did transfer my multiple reentry permit into the new passport.

Further . . .upon my return from Singapore last week, the airport Immigration officer waved away ( grumpily) my offer of my old passport open to the original visa I got in Penang in 2003. He just looked at the stamps in the new one and stamped me in.

Nidge . .no such trouble with the roses . .and we have about a half dozen plants in full bloom right now . .except for something eating neat circles out of some of the leaves. Doesnt seem to affect the blossoms or plant health so I havent worried about it. We havent yet been able to discover the culprit and I dont think it is snails. I am surprised that they are as healthy as they are. The aphids I have also mainly affect the buds, but the leaves will curl up and the whole plant take on a "twisty" look.

Thanks opalhort!

The problem I have had buying chemicals for pest control . . .the labels are all in Thai.

I know the Malathion only because of its smell which I was very familiar with in Central America.

But spraying it even diluted seems to cause the leaves to wrinkle up. And once they are on or near a bud, that's it. No flower.

So the spraying seems to be best done before the aphids appear. ??

How do these things get around anyway? There must be a flying stage?

Thanks Nidge!

I had not tried soapy water.. . .I will do that tomorrow. Thanks! I am assuming that it doesnt harm the plants at all . .even in the soil?

You probably had the malathion . .it DOES smell bad and is banned in many countries . ..I am extremely careful with it.

The little devils do seem to skip around . .. sometimes the whole plant will seem aphid free . .and then I will find one branch to be covered with them. Kind of a hatchery or training camp. I am going to do some more checking online.

 I will be happy to post the results . .and thanks admin for straightening out the thread!

Am I the only one here with a flower garden? I am surprised to find that there is no specific forum and apparently very little interest in this topic.

This forum is mostly about dogs . .the farming forum seems to revolve around pigs and chickens and planting rice in the north 40.

I have a gardening question about those little white aphids (?) which afflict my hibiscus plants.

Asking local Thai gardeners has gotten me nowhere.

"What little white aphids?" is the usual reply. When I show them the bugs, I get a lovely smile and a tolerant "These farangs are so fussy look."

Only advice I have gotten was to spray the plant with water. Doesnt work.

We have a magnificent golden hibiscus ( two in fact) and out of 20 or so buds only ONE made it through the infestation of these little white pests.

The buds drop off waaay early and the whole stem and the underside of the leaves are covered with a white webby stuff. It is a shame because these are beautiful plants after all.

I have tried applying a malathion solution with a mister. Beside smelling up the entire garden, the hibiscus plants seem to hate the stuff and the leaves shrivel and wrinkle . .and the aphids are back in no time. They LOVE it.

What does work is picking them off by hand and squashing them . .but as far as daily tasks go, this is neither pleasant nor sustainable . .we have several hibiscus plants of various sizes . .some quite large.

So what to do? Open to suggestions here from any fellow gardeners.

Still no clear answers here. I meet with university officials on Tuesday.

Worst case scenario: Say I get the Work Permit and continue my retirement visa. . .next extension due in September after classes start and presumably after I get the Work Permit.

This seems most likely to happen as I am interested in the position and as it was offered to me, will accept it.

What is the most likely scenario if Immigration decides in January that I have done something wrong in setting this up? ( Even though the university will be handling the paperwork I understand.)

Will I be liable for some some of legal action, fines, deportation? Will I get arrested in my classroom some day and hauled off to prison or even worse, barred from the country?

Anybody ever faced Immigration dept proceedures for obtaining the wrong visa? ( Though of course they will have issued it and it would really be an issue for them to take up with the Labour dept. ) But this is Thailand after all. I am trying to weigh my personal risk here.