smotherb

On 5/18/2017 at 1:48 PM, bazza73 said:

My preferred option would be to have a nationwide register of falangs over the age of fifty to teach Thais how to drive. After observing a Thai driving instructor when my Thai GF went for her car licence, I've concluded the root cause of poor Thai driving skills is the teachers.

Yeah, since I had a current US car and motorcycle license when I went to get my Thai license all I had to do was pass a reaction and eyesight test, but my wife had to do it all because her US license had expired. So I sat watching the Thais taking the actual driving tests. I found their actions  on the test course quite representative of Thai driving. The first obstacles for the line of prospective drivers in their cars was to merge into one lane, then approach  with a stop sign and left turn. They tried to push their way in front of each other rather than take turns to enter the one lane, almost no one stopped at the stop sign, and even fewer used their turn signals; yet it appeared they all passed.

12 hours ago, CanadianIban said:

Public Administration is what she's doing now.   I am assuming that she needed a degree in something else before Laws can be pursue, just like in Canada?

 

So snapshot of report cards whenever they are issued just to track progress, invoice of registration confirmation, university's bank and bank account #, and student id #.  I believe the new school year starts in Aug?  Hopefully the university's bank is one of the major ones like SCB so I can just wire $ to it?

Canada is similar to the US, in that they offer a JD--Juris Doctorate--a post-graduate degree which requires a bachelor's degree to enter the JD program of specialized legal studies. In the UK, they still offer the LLB, which includes a bachelor's academic program, but I believe the LLB requires additional law studies to take the bar exam. Of course, passing the bar is required to practice law under both law degree programs.

The snapshot of report cards to which you refer is quite common in academia, it is usually called a Transcript of Grades and is often required to be sent directly by the university to the prospective employer or academic institution as proof of not only university attendance, but successful passing of university courses. I certainly think you should be able to transfer money to the university to pay tuition and fees for your student.

A Public Administration bachelor's degree could be supplemented by a law degree, but also by a Masters in Public Administration (MPA)--the MPA is the public sector's equivalent of an MBA in business; either master's degree (MPA or MBA) is normally required for senior management positions in government or business respectively. The MPA can also have a Legal Concentration. I think I would opt for the MPA if she is interested in a career of government/public sector management.

However, if she wants to practice law in Thailand--specifically to be a government legal counsel, prosecutor, or judge; which would best use the Public Administration degree--she would have to earn a degree in law from a university accredited in Thai Law, be a member of the Thai Bar Association--which often means further study to pass the bar--and then be a member of the Thai Legal Society http://www.thailawforum.com/articles/charununlegal2.html.

14 hours ago, Khon Kaen Dave said:

I wish you luck. I truly hope that you find one before you are old enough to collect your pension.

I am already old enough, been collecting my pension for 10 years, and found the woman 40 years ago.  Too bad so many of you can't seem to find one; I found three intelligent productive women. Kept the third one, she had even more to offer.

Don't like cats, so I certainly wouldn't want a woman with cat-like tendencies or a woman who had to be looked-after or cared-for. I prefer an intelligent productive woman as a partner and not one who is more of a pet.

48 minutes ago, tifino said:

for both of us, it is 2nd time 'round.

 

 She had previously taken on the surname of the since-ex wife-bashing-control-freak, but for this new life, she kept that falang name.

Mainly she'd say it was because she kikyat to go thru it all again.

 To me, she since says it's because her girls have his name, and they'd be embarrassed to have different name to mum.

 

At the time of 'our' marriage, the subject of new surname came up during the pre-event organising;

The 1st hurdle was that the celebrant had asked what surname?

 but then went on and on that missus's signature would have to change. I said 'No' to that requirement!

 

Anyhow, from this; the missus took up same strange fight, to insist 'no-change' because she not want do it all again!!

 Funnily, I had already earlier said that no matter what surname she had, and subsequently has, the signature does not ever have to change, and that her 1st control-freak shouldn't have made her change her surname and signature 20+ years earlier.

 

After all this time she flutters her eyes that she has a 'lucky' surname, because it is a falang one

(heh heh it is just the almost most common C.D.F. name of Smith -  a name that had caused her a lot of personal embarrassment, ending in bitter divorce)

 

It doesn't matter, that even 20+ years later, she still has the finger/hand co-ordination problem of trying to sign the new signature

(the same thing my own sister still cannot easily sign her name, even after being married 31 years)

 

Anyhow, I have for many years said "why don't you go just back to the maiden 'Wajeesat' name??"

But missus always replies that "it is bad luck to use old name".

 

Bottom line is that I don't see whatever surname (as the question) - but that I simply suggest one does not try to insist she change her Signature if she does do a name change.

Think about it: Original ID card, passport, Drivers Licence - all these carry a signature, which is as unique as a fingerprint, and it is difficult to change your signature away from what naturally flows from the embedded actions of your wrist.

A signature doesn't have to even look like your name, especially when you see the absolute cryptic scribble that some people have.

Not sure I understand the problem with signing a different name--you say "finger/hand co-ordination problem." You mean she cannot sign whatever name she wants to sign?

1 minute ago, happylarry said:

Well I guess it depends on the wife's background as to whether or not she would be embarrassed about sharing a room with a man who was not obviously her husband. My wife certainly would be and I guess yours was as well because she "splained it to the room clerk".  Anyway you have given a good reason for adopting the husbands name to save confusion and embarrassment.....lol

My wife has taken my surname and it was on her credit card. However, I do not see the embarrassment no matter what the room clerk thinks.

33 minutes ago, kenk24 said:

There is a well respected doctor in Chiang Mai with an English surname... it probably just makes it easier for her customers to pronounce and surely has not cost her any business... if anything it puts an exclamation point on the fact that she speaks English perfectly too. 

My doctor is a Yale graduate; he proudly displays his diploma and Yale banner and he thinks it gets him business with the Thais as well as the farangs, and his name is Chinese.

15 hours ago, happylarry said:

One good reason to change names is when you book into a hotel as a couple but using different names, many women would lose face by doing this I would have thought.

Also it must help when applying for visas to different countries.

Personally we couldn't see the point of not doing so, it's not as if it's a big hassle changing a few id's.

HL

Can't see losing face to a room clerk because you check-in with your husband and have different names. My wife checked into a hotel using her credit card a day before I arrived. We spent two days together and when my wife checked-out there was a charge for having a girl in the room. I just stood back and smiled as my wife 'splained it to the room clerk and got a significant discount for the misunderstanding.

6 hours ago, CanadianIban said:

 

The second degree will be Laws

Well, what is the first degree? If it too is in law an LLM--masters in law--is a post-graduate degree in a specialized area of law--corporate, tax, arbitration, etc.; it could be very useful if the student wants to specialize--usually more money and status. The LLM is required to even practice law in many European countries.

6 hours ago, bazza73 said:

I think the OP should be looking closely at the degree his protege is attempting to graduate in. Some degrees in many countries have little value in terms of earning a living from the qualification. And I would take the second degree with a truckload of salt, unless it's in the medical field.

If the second degree is a master's in the same field; it may be more worth it. For example, a master's in education can get you into university teaching--better status, better pay; a bachelor's degree in business is quite useful in almost all industries; an MBA ( Master of Business Administration) is normally required for senior management.

2 hours ago, DoctorG said:

Yep! Yesterday it was the coffee shop, today the university. What will tomorrow bring?

Yeah, you could do what so many others do and just pay her a salary for services rendered.  Quite frankly, I prefer the thought of teaching them how to fish.

3 hours ago, oxo1947 said:

Whenever I am feeling down----I turn to Thai-V.......there is so much humour on here.......

Grateful, seems not out of the question; does it? By the way, how to you pronounce that "humour," is it hume-our or hum-our?

19 minutes ago, todlad said:

Of course it's not Muggi1968.

 

How did I conclude that you must be a bar hopper? Read what you said, think about it, realise it was not the smartest thing you could have said! You said "Then you're failing to see the much bigger picture and seriously failing to understand how things work here"

 

The bigger picture

failing to see

how things work here

 

It's just TV speak for I heard someone saying that, I'll repeat it. You might have anecdotal evidence for some cases that you could use to gainsay what I am saying; but sustained, deep and detailed evidence? I doubt that very much.

 

 

Sounds like you just spouted anecdotal evidence, doesn't it?

1 hour ago, hansnl said:

What do you think?

Hasn't he already told you what he thinks?

2 hours ago, Jeremy50 said:

This is turning into a veritable nest of vipers. I always thought the people driving these things in Thailand look like smarmy lowlifes, now it turns out they are nothing more than a bunch of criminals masquerading as wealthy people who could actually own such a car.               However the full blame rests on successive  Thai governments, I mean; 300% tax, I ask you! 

You see no Brit involvement?

2 hours ago, Tatsujin said:

Then you're failing to see the much bigger picture and seriously failing to understand how things work here.

Just here? It seems the Brit authorities have to be somewhat involved, does it not? 

3 hours ago, ezzra said:

 

It is now become more apparent as to how so many Thais can afford

themselves to own super luxury cars and why you see so many of the top

marquee cars running around the country's roads, as may are stolen and most

if not all paid very little tax on them....

Never seen many cars on structures over the entrance to a building, but I guess anything is possible. Certainly smuggled cars which have escaped proper taxation cannot be a new concept; especially here.

I wonder if this is another example of more quality Brits in Thailand or can just anyone get a luxury car loan in the UK? More perplexing is how the Brit authorities did not catch expensive cars being shipped to a high import tax country and still have outstanding loans in the UK.

On 5/25/2017 at 8:11 AM, mikebell said:

I've put my two step-daughters through two Mickey Mouse University courses - they wanted to be teachers.  One was given a 'placement' doing maid/kitchen work in a hotel on Koh Chang; the other worked in toxic fumes in a Subaru factory.  That's how I came to this conclusion.  Investing in Thailand's Education system does not seem like Thai bashing to me. 

My daughter-in-law has a mechanical engineering degree from a Thai university and has worked for the world's largest oilfield services company for eight years. It depends upon the person. No matter your country of origin, there are numb nuts; in some cases they may be the majority.

On 5/24/2017 at 10:29 AM, mikebell said:

Yet another Thai graduate who can't find a job with the worthless paper credentials issued by the thousands annually by the Thai scam artists known locally as Universities.

Oh let's not just leave it at universities and Thailand; how many work certifications, even for farangs, are simply given for paying the fee.  Like a college education, a work certification does not mean you can do it; it means you paid for it.

Most of you sound like first-timers here. Laws anywhere only apply to if you get caught; here they only apply if you lack enough influence.

10 hours ago, bangkokairportlink said:

 

These places simply do not exist in Thailand.

 

Even 5 stars restaurants use frozen dim sum.

 

 

 

I have three or four good choices for dim sum in Hatyai --none are in five star restaurants or large restaurants with hundreds of diners; they are all small Thai-Chinese mom 'n pop dim sum specialty restaurants--you can even watch them make the dim sum. I especially like the baked rather than steamed bao buns, the pork ribs, steamed sausage rolls, shrimp or crab dumplings, steamed fish with ginger, fried sticky rice and crab, steamed garlic clams, mushroom and pei tsai cabbage, and even bbq chicken feet. A bowl of chicken or pork noodle soup and Chinese tea are often included.

Yeah, I know, not Pattaya, the moral here is look for small mom 'n pop dim sum joints with several customers; preferably ones which also serve noodle soup.

30 minutes ago, robblok said:

In the Netherlands your liable for the lady you take into the country.. if she divorces and lives on state costs you have to pay for it.

 

According to some.. good woman are those brought in by white males.. bad woman are those who are brought in by non whites. 

Not sure abut the UK, but the US checks into the backgrounds of the women. Closely checked is the background of the women.  Even if married, the checks continue.

5 hours ago, bmore99 said:

My bank uses regular mail, as the card is not activated yet.


Sent from my SM-A800F using Thailand Forum - Thaivisa mobile app
 

Yes, but regular mail is very slow at times and cards do tend to disappear activated or not; many financial institutions will FedEx your cards at no extra cost to you.

Try the NES teachers. Many of them are female, young, and available.

6 hours ago, dotpoom said:

Some good ideas here like the gym and showing them around. I have seen Ads. by ladies on Craigslist also looking for friends to hang out with while here on holidays.

    I love observing people and sometimes smile to myself when I see younger foreign ladies walking around......I ask myself, " why do they go on holidays when they spend all their time looking at the ground, for fear of making eye contact I suppose"? (and the Thai ladies spend all their time buried in their phones).

   Thank God I made it to the age where I'm nearly invisible to ladies of all nationalaties now anyway....I'd hate the job of all that " chasing" again in today's climate. 555.

My god, what age are you? I am 72 and still find it quite easy to meet foreign and Thai women.