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I honestly don't want to be rude, but why did you agree to do this, or help with the Master's degree? Sorry to sound holier than thou, but it does make the general problem worse, allowing these types of lazy morons to prosper as teachers, thus setting a bad example to other teachers and students.

I admit, I don't know what situation you were in, whether they made you an offer you couldn't refuse etc. However, unless they were paying you (and not peanuts either), why would you do it if, as is implied from your posts, you obviously don't agree with the practice?

There are excellent Thai teachers of English who could handle such a task brilliantly. No need for Google Translate or even a Thai-English dictionary.

TBH, when I was in 8th grade, I thought it a brilliant idea to plagiarize. (We went to some museum and the fool I was, I copied the art historian's essay on some famous painting).

Don't they have a mentor who reads such work? Surely, someone will know what's going on?

By not learning herself, this lady is cheating herself, the school, her students and her university. Nothing good will come of this!!

(In the past, some senior teachers a) relied on gibberish from Google Translate or asked a top M4 student to do their work. (I would have been ashamed, but these ladies near retirement weren't).

Which begs the question how and when the Thai system checks their teachers' ability?!? I know a teacher of English and she has real issues connecting 3 sentences for small talk.

Such "observations" are pretty stressful and at least annoying when there was no professional courtesy "warning". Nothing good will come of this, I would agree with your assessment, LII. Likely, it's a fishing expedition to find fault and have a reason to cut your salary or to terminate your contract. but then, you will get the heck outta there, won't you?

Hopefully without prior notice - such people deserve to be a taught a lesson!

I think it's a TOEIC test. But then, be realistic. these are fellow professionals who spent years at a university to study english. and the TOEIC test is pretty basic.

• While making your life difficult, that boss expects you to help her?!?
• Maybe you need to slow down?
• OTOH, if you were to observe Thai teachers, you might notice that they avoid such an issue by speaking Thai!

LII, will you leave the school soon?

Won't you see this issue as a challenge to set the cat among the pidgeons and complain about the director? (Greedy folks like him harm more than just employees and teachers...). Your wife might be able to make a phone call or two and back it up with some documents.

Or am I delusional, thinking that anyone cares about something like this?

Why bother with laws if one is an influential director of a government school?!?

The whole situation has gotten even worse, which is almost unbelievable. The new Thai English teacher the school hired, using me to interview 10 of them, seems to have the order to come to my lessons as a sort of a spy, but also to the one and only Filipino's lessons.

The director wants that all Thai English teachers have to pas a TEFL test, which left all of them pretty much upset. Our super miscoordinator is one of them who has to pass such an assignment and was already approaching me to "teach them" how to pass such a test.

He's got a doctor title and should set an example by passing such a test, but no, his ideas are getting worse. It's really not worth wasting my time for such an .

At he same time she told me that they'll "observe" us in our lessons this week, because "parents complained" that the students wouldn't understand the Filipino's and my English.

Quite a lot of the Thai subject teachers just don't show up, or are always late for their classes. I'm the one who's to cover their lessons, if they don't show up in our one and only EP like grade one classroom.

I'm too long in this business and completely understand that the whole purpose of observing somebody is only meant to not pay more money next academic year, or even a salary decrease? Only Buddha knows the answer.

I made a huge mistake to quit my former job, because they'd promised me so many things, but couldn't even get me my SS back. None of their verbal promises came true. None of them, which is really annoying.

There're times when we have to make decisions, no matter if there's a problem to get another waiver, or not.

I've made mine. I truly hope that others do not experience such circumstances.

Yep, the vietnamese. Selfish, autistic effers in most cases. Overtaking needlessly, endangering oncoming traffic. Please allow me to give a few examples:

1. We are not in a hurry. My boss is driving a decades old tiny Suzuki van with a gutless engine. There is a long line of trucks and we are in a larger city. Even overtaking 5 trucks would only let us gain maybe 120 meters. Traffic's moving, although slowly. The driver pulls into the lane, endangering the biker who's overtaking a cr. Now we are in his lane and only by swerving wildly can he avoid a head-on collision on his lane.

2. It's near midnight. There are 2 cars coming from opposite directions. alas, a Vietnamese driver won't wait 5 seconds. Hell no. Instead, he drives into the middle. Lots of honking, another dangerous situation... No waiting, ever! Motorcycles don't count - they might as well be "invisible". I kid you not.

3. They set their lights on high beam, blinding oncoming traffic...

4. I witnessed buses running red lights and speeding 2.5 at 2.5 times the speed limit. do they ever lose their license for such conduct? What's the hurry?

5. Sometimes, a car or a bus will endanger me on my side of the road. They are bigger and it's for you to break hard - it's you prroblem! They might honk or flash their lights - but you gotta get outta their way - or end up in hospital or on a graveyard. Your choice, really.

Yes, I've seen awful Thai driving. But the stubbornness and total ignorance as to other people's needs is somewhat stronger in Vietnam. JMHO.

You might want to have a ticket out of Thailand at hand...

Investing? That's kind of broad.

Buying a condo? No way! (Check out how many owners are years' behind on their HOA fees). Then there is the often comparatively low rent with the freedom that brings. (Yes, there are nice places outside Pattaya).

You could go short on the stock market - but are you the kind of guy for this?

Yes - it was the worst experience at any Thai consulate ever!

The woman had a chip on the shoulder. she wouldn't understand the concept of airmiles...

Here is someone who loves to say no.

When I arrived near lunch time, there was no one else waiting though.

The Thai woman who opened the bank account and withdrew the cash - was she greedy & evil or very stupid?

I know a tenured Thai English teacher at a small village school (P1-4, I think and only a few hundred students). They got a new director and she insists on all teachers queuing outside in the sun to greet Her Eminence. Some think they walk on water. All that power gets to their head.

OT: some kids never even start a written test. Have you noticed? For whatever reason... (am talking P4-6 here). Am urging them to treat it as a race and not answer a single question beautifully, omitting all the others. We want them to speak up and not worry about a missing word, grammar or something, JUST DO IT!

Hope your wife can get a transfer. It must be a miserable existence where she is now.

Oh yeah? How come that schools offer special O-Net courses?!?

They need to improve those damn tests - those I saw were simply terrible. Here is something a NES can show them how this is done.

But then, it's by being Thai that some sense of superiority is derived from?

No logic, no tricks, no attempt at cleverness. Just let students show that they understand something!

LII, will you leave the school soon?

Won't you see this issue as a challenge to set the cat among the pidgeons and complain about the director? (Greedy folks like him harm more than just employees and teachers...). Your wife might be able to make a phone call or two and back it up with some documents.

Or am I delusional, thinking that anyone cares about something like this?

Why bother with laws if one is an influential director of a government school?!?

Errm, are there genuine 49 pounds online courses out there? Sometimes, it's just to appease an employer outside Thailand...

What's wrong with all parties concerned?!? This is a major embezzlement case. Surely, the bank should have burned the midnight oil, producing complete sets of all documents when the scandal broke?!

Why hasn't the institution asked a judge to subpoena those records?

Why hasn't the Police asked for them?

I recall announcements about this or that person possible being questioned at some point in the future. This is shockingly wrong.

Such crimes are evil and need to be cleared up ruthless and above all quickly.

"On top of that, my boss closely micromanages all my classes. They constantly tell me everything that they feel I do wrong (in front of the students) and take over the class speaking in Thai and broken English.... all while reminding me to "smile". I'm pretty done"

I can't stand that. Teaching English by speaking Thai.

On my first day, I asked is there a book? A: no book. A few weeks later, the HoD comes into my class and lambasts me for not following the book. <deleted>?!?

OP, be very careful not to sign something all in Thai. It happened to me. (I can't read Thai). Later, a school claimed that I had signed a contract as some disposable "hired by the hour" person. No foreign teacher ever got a WP there... When it's such a place, you gotta get the hell outta there!

Hmmm, let's see if I can remember them all...

First spill on Phayathai turning into Rama 4 - cement trucks exiting a worksite not hosed down at night. Front end departed at pace, lifted my girlfriends leg up and we hit the mud and slid some distance along with the bike (Yamaha Special 650) Bent bars and muddy clothes. Two other bikes had gone down just before us and were trying to wave us off - failed to understand their gestures... Told us after we were lucky it was muddy or we'd be cut up on the road... not sure they saw the irony in that.. anyhow Went home, changed clothes, came back out a different route, bent bars and all...

Had the front wheel of the Yamaha knocked out from under me by a scooter rider in traffic - he cut me up near Makasan in light rain. Greasy road and being on the paint at the time contributed to my failure to correct it. Ruined a pair of $400 Frattelli Rossetti shoes and was late for a seminar. Gear peg too bent to repair there and then, so had to leave it and get a bike taxi...

Rolled off at low speed a few times on my first off-road adventure on my mini-GS. Missed a turn and went down an embankment on the same trip, had to cut the undergrowth away with a pocket knife which took a while. Now I carry a kukri I've sharpened well enough to shave with...

Last, but by no means least, I was riding off road in Ratchaburi on a course taught by Simon Pavey when I did exactly what he said not to do and drove straight into a hole at the side of the track, stopped instantly from 40, rolled into the track and was almost run over by the support vehicle (I was tail end charley because Pavey said "You seem sensible, why don't you mop up stragglers." Broke my wrist and nose and was driven to Suan Phueng 'anamai'

On a serious note, the x-ray at Suan Phueng showed a single clean break at the wrist. Pavey told me he road Dakar with an almost identical break in an open cast... The day after I took my x-ray, myself and my open cast to BNH to get a second opinion. 13 fractures, 7 weeks in a full cast and a rather painful resetting procedure that made me dig deep for suitable vocabulary... Don't trust up country medical equipment unless you can tell it is modern. I can't blame the Dr. in Suan Phueng, the Dr. in BNH agreed with the interpretation of the original film, just the machine was ancient...

Happy riding gents.

Oh, ahh - I think the x-ray machine was substandard, too. Feels like a broken foot. The swelling won't go away...

Bought the same brand shoes - crocodile leather. But wore sandals when I was hit by a speeding taxi van which was over taking, driving in the wrong lane.

Previously, a bastard without insurance caused an accident. Had a broken finger. The cops ignored the lack of insurance - and this time, the van left the scene of the accident. The bike was totalled and I'm hopping mad.

Hmmm, let's see if I can remember them all...

First spill on Phayathai turning into Rama 4 - cement trucks exiting a worksite not hosed down at night. Front end departed at pace, lifted my girlfriends leg up and we hit the mud and slid some distance along with the bike (Yamaha Special 650) Bent bars and muddy clothes. Two other bikes had gone down just before us and were trying to wave us off - failed to understand their gestures... Told us after we were lucky it was muddy or we'd be cut up on the road... not sure they saw the irony in that.. anyhow Went home, changed clothes, came back out a different route, bent bars and all...

Had the front wheel of the Yamaha knocked out from under me by a scooter rider in traffic - he cut me up near Makasan in light rain. Greasy road and being on the paint at the time contributed to my failure to correct it. Ruined a pair of $400 Frattelli Rossetti shoes and was late for a seminar. Gear peg too bent to repair there and then, so had to leave it and get a bike taxi...

Rolled off at low speed a few times on my first off-road adventure on my mini-GS. Missed a turn and went down an embankment on the same trip, had to cut the undergrowth away with a pocket knife which took a while. Now I carry a kukri I've sharpened well enough to shave with...

Last, but by no means least, I was riding off road in Ratchaburi on a course taught by Simon Pavey when I did exactly what he said not to do and drove straight into a hole at the side of the track, stopped instantly from 40, rolled into the track and was almost run over by the support vehicle (I was tail end charley because Pavey said "You seem sensible, why don't you mop up stragglers." Broke my wrist and nose and was driven to Suan Phueng 'anamai'

On a serious note, the x-ray at Suan Phueng showed a single clean break at the wrist. Pavey told me he road Dakar with an almost identical break in an open cast... The day after I took my x-ray, myself and my open cast to BNH to get a second opinion. 13 fractures, 7 weeks in a full cast and a rather painful resetting procedure that made me dig deep for suitable vocabulary... Don't trust up country medical equipment unless you can tell it is modern. I can't blame the Dr. in Suan Phueng, the Dr. in BNH agreed with the interpretation of the original film, just the machine was ancient...

Happy riding gents.

Come on, do something about the pyromaniacs. Who owns the field which went up in flames?

One afternoon, there was a horrible smell of fire. The field behind our condo was a wall of fire. Flames we as high as 25 feet...

Over the years, we have witnessed those trash fires all over Thailand. Even the gardeners working at a post office or the caretakers of schools burn leaves etc. They need to learn about composting. Nature will do the work - just pile the rice stems high if you don't wonna use a shredder.

Come on, manning each and every counter should be doable.

We had a taxi driver who didn't know an industrial zone nearby... We were on the phone and he kept circling...

a friend got into a rogue taxi with the meter turned off. I got the number and complained. What happened? Exactly, nothing, nada. And the driver was an elderly "dwarf". Hewascaught on video by condoas well. But they simply don't care.

Really? An ordinary teacher has bodyguards?!?

Let some pro traders handle the sale - they may afford a Lamborghini if they are good at this. But the country would save many millions by getting rid of that rice asap.

Look at the messes these bureaucrats have created. One tablet per child included. Committees, auctions, vague promises and predictions instead of actually going to make the sale!

Zeichen, what about their lesson plans? An affiliated school had infamous 6 or 7 page plans required for there primary lessons. In an EP, this might add considerably to your work load!

RENT ONE. The first Honda Wave cost 2,500 B @ a Honda shop and was almost new. Then
I got a private deal for 1,000 B for an old one. Ask around. Way to go in your situation, IMHO.

I took my rental to Honda and had it serviced a few times. Forget the owner - doubt she would care.

As for a LIFAN, consider depreciation (resale value) and ease of a sale. You can sell a
Honda pdq at the right price. Unlike a LIFAN.

It's a pillow mate.

Why try to ridicule his business over a pillow?

You're the first person I've ever heard of that dry cleans their pillows, look fair enough, but maybe the dry cleaner has never dry cleaned a pillow before.

Could be worse - he never dry cleaned anything ever before - nor does he intend to start doing that.

Seriously, I've had a shop charge the 5 x higher price, then do normal washing. (Stupid farang, serves him right?!?)

This is unreal! Hannibal Lecter would pass questions about his "morals" while half asleep.

If only theoretical knowledge of morality was a substitute for doing.

All these bribe takers and bribe demanders in uniform, they would pass such an exam... Which makes one wonder how competent the bosses are when they go for such nonsense.

Marcel, I'm not a tinkerer. But I would have the oil and filter changed. Tires? Q: how many mm are left? I would keep riding till they are really due to get replaced. Then get a pair based on tests. Longevity, grip, wet performance...

Battery? How is it, subjectively? When you replace it, get a gel one.

Congratulations, Marcel. May you have many happy hours on the Versys!