mbkudu

Screw them; I don't care. Most of the shit is garbage anyway. I'd rather have a sidewalk to walk on. Walking in the street is dangerous. Having one row of stalls on one side of the sidewalk is acceptable, but having both sides packed with vendor stalls is stupid and dangerous. Ramkhamhaeng Road is even worse.

These are the ones who quite often 'advise' people to get a fake degree.

You got that right. I was told years ago by numerous westerners, both teachers and non-teachers, to get a fake degree.

Even just four years ago when I was embarking on my degree I was told by two different western teachers and a friend who is

out of teaching that I was wasting my time, and I should get a life experience degree or a fake degree. I've never once had a

Thai person suggest I obtain a fake degree. It's all water under the bridge now.

neither should farang.

That's a good one. I wish reality was this nice.

MJo must not have heard of the 'When in Rome..."' saying. I think it also applies in Thailand. When in Thailand, do as the Thais.

I don't believe in the old saying; especially here. Some good advice I got from an Aussie friend who's been here awhile: It might be better to do what they expect you to do, and not what they do. Would you walk around wearing a wife beater rolled up below you nipples, a string of Buddha amulets around your neck, and a coin wedged inside your ear? Probably not in most cases.

When I first came to Thailand, about 15 or so years ago, many people suggested I obtain a fake degree to teach English. I never once contemplated it. To each his own. It reminds me of when I was in the fifth grade, and I was caught shoplifting. My mother asked me why I did it, and I told her my friends told me to do it. She then asked the old parental standard, "So, if they asked you to jump off a cliff, would you do that too?"

The OP is doing those who are thinking about it a service by telling his story. For those who have already done it, it's probably too late. Who knows though.

Only the army holds the real power in Thailand. Abhisit is merely a puppet. It all depends on how the army decides to handle the current crisis.

...and certainly enough people here are aware of who controls the Royal Thai Army. If there are any here who are unaware, then your naivety may be forgiven.

My ancestors came from Spain, France and Italy 800 years ago.

They settled in Holland, England, Australia, South Africa, New Zealand and America.

My 15th great grand father was Abraham Zacuto and a friend of Christopher Columbus, who was the inventor of the navigational instruments that were used to guide Columbus to the new world.

Americans can thank my lot for being Americans. What a great loss to the world it would have been if America was never discovered.

So I suppose in a way, we are all ex-pats, even in our home countries.

Sorry to burst your bubble, but Columbus did not discover America. First of all, there were hundreds of thousands of people living there before he and his crew arrived. There isn't even a good argument for Columbus being the first foreigner to discover America. Chinese naval fleets landed in the Americas about 70 years before Columbus (Read 1421 by Gavin Menzies). Columbus used maps to find the Americas. Gee, he used maps to 'discover' America? How does that work? The maps were Portuguese charts copied from Chinese charts. Sorry, off topic.

^^^That's very interesting. Is that a one off, or are others who have Thai university degrees also 'exempt'? Ramkhamhaeng's undergraduate curriculum also includes a one semester three credit course in Thai culture, HI 121 Foundations of Thai Culture. If you had that course (a requirement for graduation) maybe they took that into consideration for the culture course requirement. If that is the case, it could save those who have Thai degrees a lot of hassle.

Well I certainly hope the TCT is serious about enforcement of their regulations. Can you imagine hundreds or thousands of teachers outlaying 60K to do a teaching course and then finding they have moved the goal posts. "Oh sorry, we don;t require that new TL anymore...now you need... hmm

Lets see what the new regulations are then...maybe my little orange TL will be redundant next week..

Think of the Thai Elite Card. That was a minor F^k up. Everything is on a relative scale I guess.

I see that it has gone right over your head. That's a shame. Have a good evening sir.

It's really hard to accept that this discussion is regarding the tragic death of a beautiful young woman and glossy advertisements with stats for a yacht are allowed to remain. Have it your way. I guess the global credit crisis really has taken hold of and locked away some people's sense of humanity and decency.

I discussed this LM law last night with my Thai partner, who is over 40 years old. Common understanding among the Thais, as he understands it, is that a Thai citizen who seriously offends the monarchy is put in prison, along with his entire Thai family.

I never wrote no stinkin' book about Thailand. I wrote about Xanta, and the Xanthese people who live along the Maakong River....

Which side of the river? Would this land be near the Kingdom of Sarkhan?

There are true patriots who support the Red's cause. Guardian

But unfortunately for the reds, there are even more Thaksinistas, revenge seekers, witch doctors and general bully boys aligned with them.

And the Yellow Bellies don't have the same ilk aligned with them? They are the scum that is keeping Thailand in the dark ages. Ungpakorn is exposing their ugliness.

There are true patriots who support the Red's cause. Guardian

The long post above is missing the point. The Rohingya are not stray puppies that can be put in a sack and dumped in the river; they are human beings like the rest of us. As for the official at the Myanmar consulate in Hong Kong, the man should be put in a sack and dumped in the river.

The right hand doesn't know what the left hand is doing, and both hands are under the table.

This sentence deserves some kind of award.

If you take a look at the thread just below 'Continuing Study in Thailand', there is a lot of information on the various institutes here.

Well the plan is at the moment is just to getaway and get some life experience in as Loaded mentioned. If I really enjoy it and see it as a future career that I want to stay in I will seriously consider doing a degree. I just know that at the moment I do not have the patience for it! heh. A CELTA or TEFL will allow me a way to support myself through my travels

If it comes to that is it a case that I HAVE to come home to earn my degree or is it something I could take up in Asia? (maybe somewhere a bit more devolped than Thaiand like Japan)

Great advice guys thank you.

I'd say that's fair enough and you should try it. You may consider Indonesia where a degree is not necessary; a beautiful country with very nice people.

Getting a degree is of course an option in Asia and there are several decent universities in Thailand that are very affordable. I have experience with this endeavor, but I won't go into it here because there are quite a few people on this forum who have little if any positive input on that subject, and I've really had my fill of reading the negativity.

The trap that I see a lot of people fall into is that they have come here and by hook or by crook managed to get a teaching job. They've settled down (a little) and some are married with a kid or two. They are now a little too old to return to their home country and persue a career or complete their education and they are no longer legally able to work in Thailand. It's not an enviable position.

A trap is indeed what it is. I initially came as a tourist like so many and then started teaching with a plan of only staying six months to a year. This plan ended up lasting eight years; seven years too long. I came to a point where there was no viable future without the degree. I had enough sense to look at my situation, stop, think and get out and get a degree. It's fine to do it for six months or a year as a gap year or travel experience, but don't let it go on too long.

Fortunately these days there are more strict visa regulations which discourage young unqualified people from doing what many of us did in the past. It really has nothing to do with capability. Many unqualified teachers are naturals and quite good at teaching, but it is a career path to nowhere as you have said above.

Hi. I was once in the same position you are in now. It's good that you are doing the CELTA. It will help you in a practical way, but will not be much of a paper qualification without a bachelor's degree. This is the case in many countries. When I first arrived in Thailand with the same dreams that you have, I scoffed at more experienced people who told me to go home and get a degree. After 8 unqualified years teaching, I realized they were right, and I left Thailand for home to save enough money to earn a degree. I have now earned the degree, and will have a better future as a teacher. Would I do it all over again without a degree? Maybe for a few months, but never the length of time I did it. Let me just say one more thing. If you only plan to teach for the fun and experience or travel, then the degree is overkill. If you want to make a career out of it, then a bachelor's degree is a minimum.

^^^I can't think of a worse place to look for a job. Going directly to institutes would be a better route.

I would assume that if the OP new where to go he would not be seeking advice here.

"Going directly to institutes would be a better route."

Did I not offer advice?

^^^I can't think of a worse place to look for a job. Going directly to institutes would be a better route.

I thought it was the one that dropped 777 points last week and 535 this morning. Oh, woops, that's the other Wall Street. Word association can be a b!tch.

I often hear the comment on this forum (and other forums) that westerners should not really be considered proper teachers because of their motivations for joining the profession. Another favorite complaint is that the Thais do not respect the western teachers and this is why we don't need to act like professionals.......

Look at it this way. The slovenly dressed, hung over hacks make you look so much better with little effort on your part. You should be thanking them.

It's a tit mouse and its tail's long'n fuzzy.