connda

RIP and I hope the injured are able to fully recover. That's an ugly accident.

She knew my financial situation back home right before she signed the prenuptial agreement. And after our marriage it was clearly stated in my will.

After three years of marriage we were talking divorce. She didn't ask me for anything as we were discussing going the the amphur office and just signing papers of dissolution of marriage. But we worked our way through those issues. Three years later, our relationship is better than any previous relationship I have had. We're both getting up in age. So yeah, we discuss finances now without any issues. But it's something you do as you develop trust.

If you are unable to develop that level of trust, then I'd suggest staying single and renting your female companionship by the hour. However, over the course of time, it's gonna cost you the same if not more.

I'd rather be in a relatonship even if it takes work and compromise. But that's just me.

She knew my financial situation back home right before she signed the prenuptial agreement. And after our marriage it was clearly stated in my will.

After three years of marriage we were talking divorce. She didn't ask me for anything as we were discussing going the the amphur office and just signing papers of dissolution of marriage. But we worked our way through those issues. Three years later, our relationship is better than any previous relationship I have had. We're both getting up in age. So yeah, we discuss finances now without any issues. But it's something you do as you develop trust.

Thanks for all your posts!

I'm going to try the anti-vertigo method of the betahistine drug, if the pharmacies out here sell it that is...

mitsubishi,

After you try it, can you post a follow-up and give us an update on how effective you found betahistine.

Thanks!

Six years ago descending in aircraft with congested head, could not clear ears, *crickets* in ears ever since. Sucks. I believe Mayo Clinic states on their website that Xanax may help in some cases. BUT, if so, cure would be worse than the ailment. You likely know, regular use of Xanax is bad news. Relaxing and a *feel good*, but an easy addiction and a brutal withdrawal. Maybe on occasion if you are going mad would be worth it to have around, drop 1/2 - 1 milligram.

No cure, but as others said, checking with a specialist would be worthwhile. Could be some minor sorts of treatment, like maybe even just cleaning or drops, might lessen *noise*.

For temporary relief, you might use the iPod with soothing sound / voice audio.

I've used Xanax before for sleep issues. I really couldn't see a difference, or if there was, it was a minor improvement. And you really don't want to use benzodiazapines, like Xanax, long-term. Google benzodiazapine withdrawal and you'll understand why. Interesting about the betahistine dihydrochloride. Hadn't heard of that before.

Phuket or Pattaya?

Pattaya! I'm Shocked!!! Simply Shocked!!!

/sarc off

Mexican? Omg! They're starting to come over here to do the work that Thais are no longer willing to do for 200 baht a day. I know. G. 'Dubya' Bush told me so.

/sarc off

In Phuket: Foreigner bad. Driver tuktuk good. People rent ski jet good. People police good. Foreigner bad. Go home people farang bad.

Crikey! Boycott the freaking place for crying out loud! It's the armpit of Thailand.

And!?

ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

If they did implement it, it would be the Thai equivent of www.healthcare.gov.

Just a suggestion. If you're a meditator and you have tinnitus, try using the sound as your primary object of meditation. If you concentrate on the sound, if does not stay the same. frequencies varies, volume varies, intensity varies. Don't try to change it, just watch it (listen to it) and watch the mind as it reacts. It's just another form of Vipassana. I generally find that after awhile, I just go back to my primary object of meditation and you don't notice the tinnitus. If you do, just be with it. Choiceless awareness.

I've had food poisoning twice in Thailand. Both time after eating at Internationally know hamburger franchises. I've never been ill from any food bought at a market, restaurant, or street vendor -- well, other than the trots. It took a couple of years to get use to the local bacteria. As far a meat goes, I generally eat chicken or fish.

Well considering that Japanese chicken glows in the dark nowadays, I can understand why they're importing.

The main difference being that the US Embassy is guarded by armed US Marines.

Who will not tolerate this sort of building-storming rubbish the way it has been tolerated up to now.

Its not people taking power back - I laugh whenever I hear that - its people being manipulated to disrupt the legitimate business of government (or in this case, another countries business) for purely party political purposes.

Storm the US Embassy and see what happens.

Armed US Marines? Yep, but probably not issued ammunition from the armory. This isn't Afghanistan. If they shot up unarmed civilians in a country that has close ties to the US and it's allies, it would create an international incident, set a precedent, and open a major can of worms.

Guess I should start using my Canadian accent more often 'eh! "Oh Canada, my home and native land..."

Well, at least they don't despise Americans in Northern Thailand...yet.

Kasit said "Foreigners shut up"......Suthep said "I don't respect the foreigners".... Sent from my GT-I9200 using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

And if it gets too dicey in Bangkok, Foreign direct investments will move to other more stable countries.

"...the politics of Philippines until recently was much worse."

You call the public shooting of the mayor of Labangan, his wife, his niece, and an innocent bystander (child) in the Manila Airport a step in the right direction in Philippines politics. It's probably more dangerous there then Thailand.

Thai Democrats resolve to boycott February 2 election

I'm sure that will suit the Puea Thai Party just fine. Landslide victory at the polls.

Since Firefox has pushed out their upgrade to Firefox version 26.0, I've noticed a real problem connecting to Thai Visa. When the pages load, the browser will 'hang'. I might have a few tabs open, but the entire browser locks up until the page is loaded. I've tried using different Firefox profiles, but with the same results.

Internet Explorer has also upgraded recently to version 11.0.9600.16476; update version 11.0.2 (KB2898785). It's also dog slow in loading Thai Visa, but the browser doesn't lock up like Firefox.

I changed to using Chrome version 31.0.1650.63, and it works fine. No problems. Thai Visa pages load normally.

Is anyone else experiencing this problem?

The NY Times should pay more attention to the country they publish from. Like they have a finger on the pulse of Thai politics. lol

You completely missed the point of the post, Doc. BTW, I graduated at the top of my graduating class in university. Number 1 out of over 4000 grads while raising a preteen daughter as a single parent, and working part-time to make ends meet. I bailed from the Masters program and went to work in order to give my kid a shot at a normal life. So what? My diploma and class standing plus 45 baht will buy me a Kaffe Latte and the local coffee shop. Hubris isn't a characteristic I ascribe to. It gets in the way and does little but reinforces your own biases.. Nothing you said offended me. So gather yourself and reread the content of my previous post.

Cultural issues have a huge impact on learning here in Thailand. I've taught specialized classes to Thai primary and secondary teachers regarding techniques to teach English more effectively. It's interesting to see exactly how ingrained certain cultural traits are that inhibit their ability to change their teaching techniques. Those ingrained culture traits (that I discussed in my previous post) need to be addressed, because until they are, those teachers will never willingly assimilate and effectively teach a revised curriculum. Nor will their own English language skill improve. And I do agree with you. They do need to seriously revise the curriculum that they teach. Rote repetition of mispronounced English isn't helping the students one bit. There are serious issues with the methodology being use (or lack thereof) to teach the language. Best of luck Doc. Hope you're able to make a positive change.

You wrote, "It's interesting to see exactly how ingrained certain cultural traits are that inhibit their ability to change their teaching techniques. Those ingrained culture traits (that I discussed in my previous post) need to be addressed, because until they are, those teachers will never willingly assimilate and effectively teach a revised curriculum." Could you give me an example. Not a principle or some other such concept but a concrete example of what you mean. Thanks because I don't understand how culture prevents anything but I would like to learn.

For example I watched a Thai PhD invent tone marks for English words which I told him was nutty.

Yeah, agreed. But he was probably just trying to make sense of the language without understanding that tones in English are used for expression, emphasis, and to subtly change the meaning of words or sentences (among other things). He's trying to make rules where rules may not really exist, well, unless you understand the culture and dialects of the English being spoken. It would take to book the size of the dictionary to quantify that, and it still would doubtfully be accurate. Thai tone rules can be summarized in about 20 pages or less. Once you understand them, you can toss transliteration out the window because you can accurately pronounce anything you read.

I can't wait for the Thai PhD to start teaching his method as fact. More misinformation disseminated to already confused Thai students. I'm sure he'll run his thesis by knowledgeable English speakers for peer review -- not! It seems the higher up the social ladder, the less likely a Thai will accept constructive criticism, such as a peer review. Of course, the same could be said of some PhDs in our own countries. Just saying

Well the United States won the Philippine's from the Spanish as a result of the Spanish American War in 1898, after the Philippine- American War 1899-1902 the Americans defeated the revolt of the people of the Philippines and made English the primary language of, the government, education and business, The US controlled the Philippines from 1898 to 1946.

So to answer your question, Why the people of the Philippines have more English speakers and teachers then Thailand, was a result of 48 years of English language was forced on the people of the Philippines as it official language!

Cheers

First of all sir it was never forced on the Filipino culture. They did have two bases there but are now down to one and Subic Bay is located outside of Angeles city.

English is there second-language because of the American influence, that is correct! I visited many schools when I was in the Philippines basically because I was a principal from the USA. They are taught English on the first grade level through the 12th grade level. They are the third largest English speaking country in the world. They have approximately 94% literacy in the Philippines.

I visited a first grade class with 51 students and you could hear a pin drop. When working for my Doctorate I also did a survey of some of the Filipino educational systems. Their curriculum is very sound and their universities are basically top notch. The number one University is located outside of Manila in Quezon City and the number two is in Dumaguete. The International Universities are totally top notch and with the core of instructors that they have it appears that they are extremely sound.

To sum up most of the questions asked here, it mainly depends on the lecturers or the instructors at the University that makes them a sound and quality-based educational system.

If Thailand had this quality of instructors I truly believe that their educational system could have possibilities, But they must change the curriculum in order to meet the accreditation requirements. Thai students can only be as good as the instructors or the leaders of that individual school. Thai students are extremely intelligent if Instructed properly with quality educators. Once again do not give total Autonomy to the owners of the school and the school must meet accreditation because the teachers are qualified but not in English. This is not the problem of the teachers but the leaders of the school.

I'll agree with you to a point. There are major cultural differences too. Thais are taught not to question authority and not to lose face So independent, analytic thinking is not a trait that is developed in the school systems, nor is risk taking. And in order to learn, you need to to do both. You need to be willing to make mistakes and then learn from your mistakes. That doesn't happen here. And there are some excellent instructors here. Don't let that Doctorate go to your head. Unless those cultural issues are addressed, effective learning doesn't take place, regardless of how dedicated an instructor is.

I didn't see those issue in the PI school systems or with Filipino students. It's a different culture. So please don't arbitrarily blame it on 'poor instructors' or 'poor curriculum'. Within the education system, Thais need a 'quantum leap' in their cultural perspective .

My Doctorate is in Technology and Curriculum and it is not going into my head! I have 12 years as an administrator in the USA and three years experience at an international University in Thailand. I've had teaching experience and have taught teachers from different countries to teach English in their home countries to their students. I have nothing to prove to you nor am I my trying to prove anything to you other than voicing actual facts as I have seen it in the past years. You cannot compare to my qualifications nor experiences so basically cheers! Quality of the curriculum in this country is less than desirable because my daughter attends a Thai school. Her English is better than the instructors.

To enter into a cultural background is the least of the educational problems in Thailand. If you wish to speak to me use respect and not tell me that something is going to my head it offends me talking to an unintelligent individual from some country who feels they are a little more arrogant than others.

Cheers!

You completely missed the point of the post, Doc. BTW, I graduated at the top of my graduating class in university. Number 1 out of over 4000 grads while raising a preteen daughter as a single parent, and working part-time to make ends meet. I bailed from the Masters program and went to work in order to give my kid a shot at a normal life. So what? My diploma and class standing plus 45 baht will buy me a Kaffe Latte and the local coffee shop. Hubris isn't a characteristic I ascribe to. It gets in the way and does little but reinforces your own biases.. Nothing you said offended me. So gather yourself and reread the content of my previous post.

Cultural issues have a huge impact on learning here in Thailand. I've taught specialized classes to Thai primary and secondary teachers regarding techniques to teach English more effectively. It's interesting to see exactly how ingrained certain cultural traits are that inhibit their ability to change their teaching techniques. Those ingrained culture traits (that I discussed in my previous post) need to be addressed, because until they are, those teachers will never willingly assimilate and effectively teach a revised curriculum. Nor will their own English language skill improve. And I do agree with you. They do need to seriously revise the curriculum that they teach. Rote repetition of mispronounced English isn't helping the students one bit. There are serious issues with the methodology being use (or lack thereof) to teach the language. Best of luck Doc. Hope you're able to make a positive change.

Well the United States won the Philippine's from the Spanish as a result of the Spanish American War in 1898, after the Philippine- American War 1899-1902 the Americans defeated the revolt of the people of the Philippines and made English the primary language of, the government, education and business, The US controlled the Philippines from 1898 to 1946.

So to answer your question, Why the people of the Philippines have more English speakers and teachers then Thailand, was a result of 48 years of English language was forced on the people of the Philippines as it official language!

Cheers

First of all sir it was never forced on the Filipino culture. They did have two bases there but are now down to one and Subic Bay is located outside of Angeles city.

English is there second-language because of the American influence, that is correct! I visited many schools when I was in the Philippines basically because I was a principal from the USA. They are taught English on the first grade level through the 12th grade level. They are the third largest English speaking country in the world. They have approximately 94% literacy in the Philippines.

I visited a first grade class with 51 students and you could hear a pin drop. When working for my Doctorate I also did a survey of some of the Filipino educational systems. Their curriculum is very sound and their universities are basically top notch. The number one University is located outside of Manila in Quezon City and the number two is in Dumaguete. The International Universities are totally top notch and with the core of instructors that they have it appears that they are extremely sound.

To sum up most of the questions asked here, it mainly depends on the lecturers or the instructors at the University that makes them a sound and quality-based educational system.

If Thailand had this quality of instructors I truly believe that their educational system could have possibilities, But they must change the curriculum in order to meet the accreditation requirements. Thai students can only be as good as the instructors or the leaders of that individual school. Thai students are extremely intelligent if Instructed properly with quality educators. Once again do not give total Autonomy to the owners of the school and the school must meet accreditation because the teachers are qualified but not in English. This is not the problem of the teachers but the leaders of the school.

I'll agree with you to a point. There are major cultural differences too. Thais are taught not to question authority and not to lose face So independent, analytic thinking is not a trait that is developed in the school systems, nor is risk taking. And in order to learn, you need to to do both. You need to be willing to make mistakes and then learn from your mistakes. That doesn't happen here. And there are some excellent instructors here. Don't let that Doctorate go to your head. Unless those cultural issues are addressed, effective learning doesn't take place, regardless of how dedicated an instructor is.

I didn't see those issue in the PI school systems or with Filipino students. It's a different culture. So please don't arbitrarily blame it on 'poor instructors' or 'poor curriculum'. Within the education system, Thais need a 'quantum leap' in their cultural perspective .

My Doctorate is in Technology and Curriculum and it is not going into my head! I have 12 years as an administrator in the USA and three years experience at an international University in Thailand. I've had teaching experience and have taught teachers from different countries to teach English in their home countries to their students. I have nothing to prove to you nor am I my trying to prove anything to you other than voicing actual facts as I have seen it in the past years. You cannot compare to my qualifications nor experiences so basically cheers! Quality of the curriculum in this country is less than desirable because my daughter attends a Thai school. Her English is better than the instructors.

To enter into a cultural background is the least of the educational problems in Thailand. If you wish to speak to me use respect and not tell me that something is going to my head it offends me talking to an unintelligent individual from some country who feels they are a little more arrogant than others.

Cheers!

I rest my case.

Well, it's official then, with these statistics, Phuket is to be renamed Pattaya 2.

I would like to personally congratulate the BiB and Phuket's influential people for their wonderful administration of the island. Job well done. Keep up the good work.

I will look forward to the racial profiling at your check points.

Scams, robbery, assaults, and now racial profiling police (and possible shakedowns) - remind me again, why is it people go to Phuket?

Well the United States won the Philippine's from the Spanish as a result of the Spanish American War in 1898, after the Philippine- American War 1899-1902 the Americans defeated the revolt of the people of the Philippines and made English the primary language of, the government, education and business, The US controlled the Philippines from 1898 to 1946.

So to answer your question, Why the people of the Philippines have more English speakers and teachers then Thailand, was a result of 48 years of English language was forced on the people of the Philippines as it official language!

Cheers

First of all sir it was never forced on the Filipino culture. They did have two bases there but are now down to one and Subic Bay is located outside of Angeles city.

English is there second-language because of the American influence, that is correct! I visited many schools when I was in the Philippines basically because I was a principal from the USA. They are taught English on the first grade level through the 12th grade level. They are the third largest English speaking country in the world. They have approximately 94% literacy in the Philippines.

I visited a first grade class with 51 students and you could hear a pin drop. When working for my Doctorate I also did a survey of some of the Filipino educational systems. Their curriculum is very sound and their universities are basically top notch. The number one University is located outside of Manila in Quezon City and the number two is in Dumaguete. The International Universities are totally top notch and with the core of instructors that they have it appears that they are extremely sound.

To sum up most of the questions asked here, it mainly depends on the lecturers or the instructors at the University that makes them a sound and quality-based educational system.

If Thailand had this quality of instructors I truly believe that their educational system could have possibilities, But they must change the curriculum in order to meet the accreditation requirements. Thai students can only be as good as the instructors or the leaders of that individual school. Thai students are extremely intelligent if Instructed properly with quality educators. Once again do not give total Autonomy to the owners of the school and the school must meet accreditation because the teachers are qualified but not in English. This is not the problem of the teachers but the leaders of the school.

I guess you were not a geography major in school check a map Subic Bay is not outside Angeles City but a good 80 or so kilometers away. The US doesn't have one base in the Philippines as we have an agreement with that country that allows us to use there base. We left the Philippines in I believe 1991 after the volcano explosion dumped several feet of ash on Clark Air Force Base (which is outside Angeles City) and several inches on Subic Bay and the government as for an outlandish amount of money for the rent of the two bases. The Philippines Government was feeling there oats about then and wanted the US out. I was in the US Navy for 10 years and spent a bit of time in Subic Bay and I know where it is at. And they do not speak good english

The Subic Bay Naval facility was outside of Olongapo City. Trust me, I knew it well They spoke English on Magsaysay Road as well as they do on Loi Kroi in Chiang Mai (actually in my opinion, better). The Filipinos I worked with on base spoke English better than virtually any Thai I've work with.

Ever go to the Florida Club. I digress...