BruceMangosteen

3 hours ago, ThaiBob said:

I hope this doesn't turn in to an unwanted tipping debate(we've had enough of those)  but Greyhound clearly shows the 10% service charge on the menu. 

Hi. It isn't a "tipping debate". It's about accepting a scam or not. I ask you again to refer to the "service charge" applied to hotel bills in Manila(decent hotels) and to "resort charge" to many of those in Las Vegas. Once in that frame of mind, you ask yourself if you are "tipping" when you see a service charge or in fact being ripped off with the mindset that some if not all of the money is being garnished by management/ownership. At that point you don't know whether to tip for actual service or not? Bottom line mate, attempts to confuse the customer aren't appreciated. It isn't about the money amount. It's about the experience, food, and your personal satisfaction. You I assume want to tip accordingly and this nonsense takes away from that, in essence taking away from your as I say, experience. God Bless You and OO.

4 hours ago, bkk6060 said:

What an anger filled stereotype...I know plenty of Aussies, Brits, Japanese, and Thais that tip...

Not anger filled...just ask any waitress or massage parlor lady. Cheers and God Bless You. OO.

19 minutes ago, Jingthing said:

I have information from another source that Greyhound charges 10 percent for service and also 7 percent VAT. The dreaded plus plus. Not surprising for such a huge chain operation. 

Surprising people tolerate it. Hotels in Manila also add ten percent "service charge". God Bless You and OO.

19 minutes ago, ThaiBob said:

My recollection was a 10% service charge was added to the bill. No big deal to me, the service was excellent, the waitress spoke good English. They did have a burger on the menu (the only red meat l saw), I asked if it was imported beef. She checked with the manager, returned and said "Thai beef", made a mental note and ordered another item. Being a Bangkok chain, adding a service charge is not surprising. For those who have issues with a service charge then you advised. 

Yes, and now it's clear. They and Hooters can take their service charge back to Bangkok and Clearwater. To allow this to grow in Pattaya and Thailand in general will result in very bad things. It's not my fault Aussies and Brits and Japanese and Thai HiSo's don't tip. I do if the service warrants it...This here and "resort charges" in Las Vegas make me sick. It leads to bad service as "management" steals a share anyhow. Disgusting and sick.

I went back by the Chinese place on 3rd road, near the Klang intersection. There were drawings of a frog, a deer, a buffalo, a wild boar, some other animal or two, but no cows or pigs. Scary. 

God Bless You and OO. 

7 minutes ago, ThaiBob said:

service charge included,

Please explain so as to avoid confusion. Thanks and God Bless You. OO.

3 hours ago, KittenKong said:

 

I've been watching this place as it was fitted out.

 

As far as I know that makes at least 6 pizza places within 5 minutes walk, not counting places that dont do Italian food but do pizza anyway. Seems excessive to me, especially as the others never seem to be very busy.

 

I am particularly amused by the homeless encampment two doors down. Classy.

View Talay 2 isn't a "homeless encampment". There are I think one thousand units in each building, plus View Talay 5 across the street. That makes for a lot of urine in the swimming pools and a lot of farangs with Thai girlfriends. God Bless You and OO.

Not just villages. Cities like Pattaya also run a numbers game underground using the lottery results. It's big business. You best not think you can infringe on it as well protected as well. We are still in the 60's. God Bless You and OO.

8 hours ago, bangkokairportlink said:

I saw that Retox now has an Indian restaurant ? I didn't try it because I think that Indian food does not deserve such expensive prices. But maybe I am wrong ?

Be careful. Impression and impulse are at work with that outfit. You have to admire anyone who puts investment prospective s on bathroom walls above urinals. We are all protective, alert, and somewhat excited when are hands are full and our body is feeling relief. Is that when you want to make investment decisions? Up to you. Paying a farang more for Indian food wouldn't mean much really. Convert a plastic chair into a toilet and you've got India. God Bless You and OO.

5 hours ago, bkk6060 said:

HAHA, OK Mr. Indian food expert thank you for your Indian food knowledge and expertise..  

Hello. A friend just returned from South India. The Indian food prices here are indeed absurd. This has been confirmed in other discussions as well here on the forum. The idea you cast out that the spices are expensive for the restaurant is crazy as well but have it your way and justify it however you like mate. For those of us able to figure things out and snake through childlike marketing efforts, to see a menu for what it often is, "tourist", where in fact native Indians or Chinese pay half or less, well you get it mate. There is a Chinese restaurant near Soi 6 on 2nd road. Shark's Fin soup? and all the rest on the menu, you could easily spend 2000. Baht for lunch but at the end of the meal it's just local fish and those cheap Thai crabs available AUCE for 199 Baht. I digress. Calling discerning diners "cheap" etc. is a joke to those of us as I say, able to look deep beyond the BS. God Bless You and OO.

10 hours ago, bangkokairportlink said:

Thank you but nobody will choose anything for me. I always know where to go before I travel. So funny if some tourists can still be caught in stupid scams in 2017.

 

So Koh Kong is like dead ?

 

 

Where to go and how much to pay...

Koh Kong...it's been about two years but some things never change. It's just a little town. There used to be a chicken ranch but that's long gone so I'm told. Now a few this and that but overall, nothing to do but enjoy the concept of a small town in the middle of nowhere. Which reminds me...I was at the chicken ranch sitting with another bloke and a couple ladies and it dawned on me that that was in fact "the middle of nowhere"...you would not be found if you died. There aren't any "doctors" or hospitals or air lifts out etc.. Some allure to that for some like Adam and Eve. God Bless You and OO.

11 hours ago, reenatinnakor said:

But then what can you do if he's cornered the market?

 

You can open your own gym the way you like it and wait for the money to come pouring in. It will sense you know better than him diba? God Bless You and OO.

8 hours ago, bangkokairportlink said:

 

Do you mean Koh Kong ? Only 100 thb from the border ?

 

 

Yes, on a motorcycle taxi. A car will be more, fair is 200.Baht.

In Cambodia be aware there is a very common scam of taking people to hotels which pay the most commission. Maybe that's not really a "scam" in one sense, but the hotel will then charge you more to pay the "commission" which is where the scam comes in to play. A perfectly fine even river front room is only $10-15.Usd. You will be taken into town unless you are a real traveler. You want to stay in one of those on the river. Not many if any "bars" but some local brothels if that your thing. God Bless You and OO.

At Had Lek only one Casino Hotel at the border. A short ride into Khon Kenh(spelling) you will find several reasonable places.10-15usd.  Too far to walk. Car/taxi perhaps 100 Baht moto, car double. Scam alert. Once in KK you will find it a nice small town to visit for one night. God Bless You and OO.

21 hours ago, yellowboat said:

 Did they get rid of all the English teachers from the Philippines yet ?  That was one of the great xenophobic, nationalist pushes of 2014. 

 

Just to answer your inquiry, no they didn't. In fact, there is a push towards hiring more from the Philippines to fill slots in Government schools as there is a shortage of qualified Thai teachers at this very moment. God Bless You and OO.

10 hours ago, just.a.thought said:

So just because she is from the Philippines she is here to "work " what does that make you then?

An employer? God Bless You and OO.

On 5/30/2017 at 8:37 AM, webfact said:

were both taken to Bangkok Pattaya hospital.

Glad they both survived. Quite surprised to read they were taken to Bangkok Pattaya Hospital. My impression was said hospital didn't admit or treat people without ability and willingness to pay being established? God Bless Them Both and OO.

9 hours ago, ozmeldo said:

Honestly, I know nothing of the letter but I seriously doubt that the Governor of each province personally signs each application, doubly so in Bangkok. Further, I also doubt that said govt official would have the slightest issue with an Immigration officer making his best effort to see that when a year long visa is issued, it is done with as much certainly that the applicant is applying with legitimate and valid paperwork.

 

Further, Governor or not, one cannot simply override policies based in law, enforced by the Royal Thai Police and is hugely intertwined with Immigration and the MFA. 

 

I see absolutely no loss of face. Simply because a govt official signs (ISSUES) a request does not neccitate another official needing to rubber stamp it. It's daily government business. My hunch is a hundred are turned down daily based merely on political macinations. You're lost in the weeds. At best it's a photocopy and the Governor has not the slightest interest whether a particular farang is provided a visa to teach at some crappy little school in Nakon Nowhere. Too lol. 

 

Simply that fact that Immigration officials especially in apparently far flung provinces are doing this proves the point.

 

Your posts are becoming pedantic and nearly trollish.

 

They are doing it. They can and they are. Loss of face, tripe.

 

Again, the teachers with the crappy paper need to move on. Perhaps Western China is hiring. 

For Government schools, the Governor is required to sign the initial request not so much for the VISA but to hire a foreigner for the position. I think it's more of a permission to do it. The second letter is from the Director him/herself saying no Thai is available to do the same job. Your long diatribe against me, a member not afraid to add her experiences, is noted. Read or don't read mate. This is a library, not a bar. Don't be afraid of the books you don't like. Don't try to get them burned. I personally don't want under educated, unable to speak English, "teachers" placed in the schools here to teach English, but it is what the salary offered is going to attract and what the Thai people have decided. God Bless You and OO.

37 minutes ago, ozmeldo said:

 

The letter is just formality.

 

The letter(from the Director and the Governor of the province) is face. Questioning it results in loss of face. Up to you whom you upset. I remain convinced the officers in immigration don't want to cause a loss of face of those in the same government with a higher "rank". God Bless You and OO.

47 minutes ago, DavisH said:

65K is the sort of salary a civil servant gets who is close to retirement (and has done a good job and progressed up the ladder. A school director would get that sort of money. I don't think many regular teachers would be on that. Not all teachers are civil servants (look at the ruckus caused by temporary nurses who don't have civil service status).  They get a lot less perks and yearly increments. 

 

 

A Director at any reasonably sized school would get a lot more than 65K. He/she has been promoted to that position as a result of many years of service. I've personally seen a number of Thai teachers pay stubs and they do in fact represent a diverse pay range but I was just answering the members question. For example, Thai teachers without a TL hired sort of like foreigners, yearly contracts, were paid 15,000. Baht a month. Chinese teachers BTW were paid much less than Filipino's to teach Chinese, which I found strange because the Chinese work hard, know the subject, and are loyal and subservient as opposed to many Filipino's who don't know the subject, don't speak English very well, you figure it out...just strange to me . Overall however as we seem to agree, the trend and desire is to back off hiring NES's and instead focus on the costs. The financial relationship between the agency and the Director has always been talked about but no proof. The experiment hasn't worked, students come out of high school unable to speak English, even in the MEP and EP programs.This post is about Government schools in the Kingdom. God Bless You and OO.

55 minutes ago, melvinmelvin said:

 

how much do they pay a backpacker?

 

and how much do they pay a well qualified experienced Thai science teacher or Thai language teacher?

 

(just to have some perspective on this)

 

and in a full teaching position, per week; how many working hours and how many hours in class?

 

 

The NES'ing backpacker, basically 25-35 K Baht a month, depending on location and if an agency involved. Housing if included of little actual value money wise.

Experienced and qualified Thai teacher 45-65 K a month, but you most add in Credit Union benefits as well as Civil Service benefits. This also is 12 months.

Perspective is more about job stability and security as well as other benefits such as upgraded health care and the aforementioned retirement.

Hours aka contact 16-22. The Thai staff while supposed to be on time and perform extra duties, can and do leave campus when done. 

God Bless You and OO.

On a somewhat related note, schools are not spending money on things like air conditioners, projectors, not even new fans in the rooms, dare I mention desks? What's going on ? God Bless You and OO.

58 minutes ago, tonray said:

Good luck to all and to you young guys, get some backbone and stick it out for at least a term, the grass is NOT greener on the other side, they are all basically the same at least in the government school realm.

Hi tonray. I also received two messages from a former school. They have three positions where Native English Speakers are required. Required is a strange word, more or less "as advertised" to the parents. One slot is filled with a NES. Second slot, non-NES from Russia, third slot vacant. The blame for this is placed on the foreigners, not the school administration's discrimination practices or refusal to pay decent wages.It's funny to you and I but a sad display and experience for the students. God Bless You and OO. 

4 hours ago, ozmeldo said:

 

I disagree. They are separate issues. Immigration is issuing you a visa based essentially on your diploma. 

 

If there was not so much abuse, this would not be an issue. IMO its not just the fraud but all the sketchy legitimate degrees from dodgy educational institutions and non-academic majors.

Hello mate. Immigration is in fact issuing you a VISA based on a request from the school, not your diploma. Abuse isn't their concern. Adding to that I will again state they aren't qualified to determine the authenticity of said degrees. It's all a matter of needing a teacher to teach because a Thai can't be found to do it. That is one of the letters in Thai with each request from said school. That and money. Cheers mate and God Bless You OO.

10 hours ago, champers said:

Maybe, but it had butter and jam served separately. Perhaps it was cooked in a microwave? It was extra special, however they cooked it.

Could be dipped in some sort of oil then deep fried. As the other member mentioned, health isn't the concern, it's ease and getting the farangs money. God Bless You and OO.