ambassador

You said you were creative........use it !!

Good point, and I suppose by that rationale I need to eat my words.

Fatigue is also an issue - often confused with laziness, but I can only improve my financial situation by improving my job. My boss commented today on how miserable I looked but she won't be able to replace me until end of August.

If I can get a better paid more enjoyable job and feel secure here, then I will start investing in more furniture and appliances and with any luck I'll find a suitable significant other who won't mind whipping up an omlette for when I return home from my better job.

You are suffering from fatigue because your diet is rubbish.

Find some local street food you like and eat that, then you won't be tired and people won't accuse you of being lazy.

Makes me ashamed to be English. 

I'll join you on that one, I'm afraid to say.

Cringeworthy reports of football related violence really do give our country such a global negative image.

Look at how Brazil does it - get a female stunner, naked, with only bodypaint to cover. Couldn't we follow their example?

Then again, no, we're talking about English birds here. Wouldn't get a good photoshot recruiting from the pie-shop queue. Maybe that's why they're so wound up?

Christ no, and I mean no offence to English girls by that but let's face it, you do have very fat white <deleted>.

I voted for Tukyleith as he is the only one that has ever aknowledged me on this forum

He's never aknowledged me but maybe that's a good thing cause Doc Pong did and we got off to rather a bad start as a result.

...So I voted for Tukyleith also.

I like that documentary on Boeing they show on the Discovery Channel.

I've seen it twice.

Did you know they can build a 747 from scratch in just three months?

...And that the pink flower on the tail fin of a China Airlines jet is done freehand?

...Or that Boeing (Which is in Seattle) has it's own creche for the children of it's many staff?

But bargirls are cheap whores... isn't that the whole point?!

Bargirls are not 'cheap whores'.

Cheap whores are cheap whores whereas bargirls IF THEY CHOOSE TO will go home with a guy for protected sex which won't be cheap if she is attractive and smart, unless she likes him and he treats her decently in which case he will only have to pay the barfine, a few drinks, the taxi fare and breakfast.

All I can add is the suggestion of lavendar oil on your pillow - it's the adult equivalent of Karvol.

The cause of lack of sleep can often be a blocked nose as a result of an air-con-cold, and this has helped me relax and nod off in the past.

candyflip...i would suggest you join california fitness and work out regularly...there are many farang men there who are either wealthy enough to be retired or who have businesses here or at least good paying jobs...most that i've met are well educated, fairly cosmopolitan and of course health-minded...just dont be afraid to ask for their help with an exercise machine because most are polite enough not to talk to you for fear of offending you...

Give me back my purple sunset.

I went to the Embassy today and en-route rang a very nice member of staff who I'd met before who saved me from a que of thrity one and dealt with all my anxiety's and enquiry's promptly in interview room 1.

General admin positions do come up and if I e-mail her to remind her occasionally then I may get lucky - however, the salary isn't great but I'm not in it for the money anyway, I want a job where I can utilise my skills and experience, NOT one where I will be breaking the law and wasting my time with toddlers and doing the same thing that your avarage 'backpacker who doesn't want to go home' does.

Until then I've got my finger in a few pies on the upper shelf of the oven and if I stop biting my nails and worrying too much then things should iron themselves out and I'll soon be living the dream, which is nothing more than having a job I enjoy in a country I love so that then, and only then I will have the security to find myself a woman I love... I'll also be able to get some furniture, safe in the knowledge that I'm not only legit, but I'll be offering something to the community - and I don't just mean offering ciggies to motocycle taxi drivers and wai-ing those who deserve it but rarely get it.

Finally, Dr Pat, yesterday I was reffering to my post a few weeks ago about my unfortunate experience with the Thai Embassy in London. Your responses to my posts were my first experience of your glib put-downs.

Generally I get on very well with my elders, and I'm sure in real life you're not a bad chap so with all due respect, unless it entertains others let's try to get on better. I admit I may have been a little over sensitive but you were a bit of a bully when I first joined and spelling errors aside - I didn't ask for it.

How's that for public relations?

It would be for the British Embassy in Bangkok.

Background checks would not be a problem, I have no criminal record though I have been in debt before.

I have loads of experience dealing with people, I'm a good communicator and I speak passable Thai.

Roughly how much is a local salery?

Don't hold your breath Your Excellency.

Oh God, not you again...

Now look here Dr. Pong, I know you like picking on me and taking the piss but I said nothing about becoming an actual ambassador - just a job.

It is nothing short of coincidence that I happenned to choose 'Ambassador' as my username, I was going to call myself Stiffy Bunions but I felt that I would not be taken seriously, so I chose Ambassador - the reason being that I am a decent representative of England who doesn't take Thailand for granted.

Mine is a perfectly genuine and valid question, so please don't let's start.

Most sensible people when in a foreign country keep their noses clean and avoid trouble at any cost.

Danger in Thailand is not something that is likely to come looking for you - one has to flirt with it.

It would be for the British Embassy in Bangkok.

Background checks would not be a problem, I have no criminal record though I have been in debt before.

I have loads of experience dealing with people, I'm a good communicator and I speak passable Thai.

Roughly how much is a local salery?

Another recent case of Thai Word Muddle I experienced was when I was asked if I had a 'sikhalette.'

"Do you have a sikhalette?" She asked.

"Only menthol" I replied, much to her confusion...

She was asking if I had a secret.

Just a thought, but does anybody know what is required to work for ones embassy and what different fields there are to work in?

I should imagine a fair amount of public relations, diplomacy and customer service experience is a must but I don't know any more than that.

I also imagine it to be a very difficult and stressful job so what would be the benefits? If anybody can enlighten me then it would be appreciated.

I would call them but it's Sunday. I've looked on the net about employment but didn't find anything.

Cheers.

No time to type let alone check spelling. Speak soon ' airport

Don't hurry back/'

At this moment I'm neither in a hurry or paying much for internet usage so I'm therefore able to type with more accuracy to avoid any nasty, glib comments from the man who calls himself Dr Pat Pong.

I started a post appealing for help as I'd had a desire to teach and work legally with a legit company as opposed to one that would take me on regardless of nessessary documentation and seemed unconcerned about getting me legit.

Now I'm far from faultless and one of my shortcomings is giving a toss what people think of me, especially when it's a moderator or admin from a discussion forum I had respected and confided in.

Dr.PP has arrogantly just assumed that I'm one of these nice but dim Banglumpoo bums in a 'Same Same But Different' T-shirt who wants to be part of the proper gang. He's criticised me for a few minor spelling errors and therefore insinuates that I am unfit to play word games, read stories and and hold up flashcards to Thai toddlers.

Other than the fact he doesn't give a toss who he offends and I do, another of our differences is that I don't abuse my own intelligence and I could never have it in me to respond to a genuine plea for advice in such a c**ty, contemptable manner which is not unlike that of a prep school bully.

I don't have a dictionary to hand so forgive me if there are any mistakes in this post and thanks to those of you who's replies were constructive or sympathetic to my cause.

For the record, (if it is of any interest) I'm back, things are looking up and I'm feeling more positive, so if Dr.PP wants to try his hand at kicking a man when he's up, then he need not bother as he has got what he wanted anyway by tarnishing any pleasure I may get from using the forum in future.

Cheers.

P.S. Isn't 'Dr.' a title and shouldn't it therefore have a capital 'D'?

No time to type let alone check spelling. Speak soon ' airport

What can we say? You are 30 years old but can't or don't have your own papers in order for the job you want. There are rules and unless you have exceptional qualifications that would impress those that have seen everything I would not think there is much hope of a work permit without showing a degree. Sorry but that is probably why you have not received a whole lot of replies. Nobody likes to be the bearer of bad news.

What I don't understand is why you have not taken the advise to obtain documentation of name change if that is really the case and you do have a degree? Bring that and what you have with you and if it can be accepted make a border run to Penang to obtain the non immigrant visa if you can't get in England.

Please don't tell us how honest you are and then say "even started working freelance for a magazine" as it kind of makes it ring hollow.

I don't have time to sort out the name change documentation before I go but I have contacted my old headmaster who can write a letter and forward it to me out there. If I need to do it via a solicitor then it's a hopeless cause which it seems to be anyway if a degree really is the be all and end all of a work permit.

I do see your point and I dislike having to write such a desperate and depressing post but I've been misguided and misinformed about rules and regs that seem to be constantly changing anyway, and yes I do regret not going to university years ago when I was told I should. I know it's not too late but it'll take four years by which time the laws could have all changed again.

R.e. The writing, It was a one off bit of extra pocket money which I made and it wasn't regular work. The editor had responded to a group e-mail. I'm honest but I'm not Jesus, and writing was something I had always wanted to do.

Finally, I do appreciate the reply and any more than may follow.

If I had read a similar post a few months ago it would've either depressed or bored the shit out of me and I wouldn't have known what to say either.

Last plea for help - Please Read.

The Thai man at the embassy could not grant me a 3 month work visa, despite having a letter from my teaching company in Bangkok because I did not have my work permit.

The company I would have been working for in Bangkok were going to apply me for the permit once I had obtained this visa.

Today I call the Thai consulate in Birmingham and speak to a british man who tells me he could have given me the 3 month work visa for 40 pounds providing I had a letter from my company and a couple of passport photos. I told him about my experience in London and he said they were a law unto themselves and were unpredictable.

It is too late to do anything about it now. No one seems to be able to answer my question r.e. Can a workpermit be granted on reccommendation with a diploma and TEFL without a degree, and what was supposed to be a year away working and starting a new life is now going to be a 30 day goodbye to all the friends I have made over the years.

I could work illigally but I am not one of these backpackers in their early twenties that wants to bum around for a year and I do not want to risk deportation or monthly visa runs.

I have very honourable intentions in Thailand; I loved it there and had even started working freelance for a magazine which is something I had always wanted to do.

I am thirty years old and I'm back to square one again. I'm devastated.

Over 200 forum members read my last post but I only recieved one reply, and personal messages I've sent in a plea for help and advice have been coldly ignored and I don't understand why. Undesirables posting to find out where they can get drugs or find a decent girly bar get more of a response.

I'm an decent and honest man who wants to live and work decently and honestly and enjoy a peaceful and happy life around wonderful friends without any worries hanging over me.

If anyone can give me some sort of reassurance, hope, help or answer any of my questions then please don't remain silent.

Thanks for your reply, that's an idea I've considered, also maybe my doctor or even contacting my old school but I've pretty much run out of time.

Also, is a degree the only means of getting a permit to work? I know a guy who hates kids and is very introvert yet he is legal to teach because he has a degree in mechanics or something like that. I've heard mixed comments about the ways to obtain a permit but still don't know where I stand.

I wanted to live in Thailand, and a teaching company I was put in touch with, like so many teaching companies, wanted a teacher.

I said I would work if they could get me a work permit and they told me it would take a couple of weeks to sort out. A couple of weeks became six weeks and I soon began to wonder if I was being used as they needed somebody to fill a previous teachers shoes until the end of the school term.

After stressing that I did not want to continue working illigaly, the company wrote me a letter to take to the Thai embassy in my country which they said would get me the relevant visa and that I would have to get my qualifications together for them to send to the ministry of education upon my return after the holidays.

I was not granted a visa as I did not have all my documents and was also grilled on how I had managed to work without a permit.

The next day I searched for my qualifications in my mothers attic and found my diploma and higher national diploma but not my school GCSE's. To my horror the name on the certificates was the name my foster parents gave me when I was 3 years old, NOT my original name which is on my birth certificate and my passport and which I had been known by between the ages of 0 and 3 and 17 onwards.

I am now returning to my adopted homeland on a 30 day tourist visa and all I have to send to the ministry of education is two diplomas in my old christian name and a TEFL intro certificate, plus a letter from my mother explaining my complicated name situation.

Even if it is possible to get a wk permit without having a degree (still not sure on that one) then the ministry of education are going to laugh out loud when they see my application.

I'm a good teacher, I only teach kids and i'm not one of these backpacker teachers who are just there to fund their boozing.

I am a decent man and I have made some wonderful friends in Thailand and I love the country and want so much to stay there legitimatly. I am now in my 30's and want to settle there and see how I get on. I don't have a serious girlfriend because I don't and won't feel secure there until I am legal.

I also contribute to a well known travel magazine but do not make enough to live off it. If it comes down to it I will come home and go to university and get a teaching degree which would take three years, but surely that can't be the only way of legally holding up flashcards and singing 'head, shoulders knes & toes to a bunch of todlers. I don't want to work illigally again because I don't know what the penalty is - I fear it could be permenant deportation and I simply can't take that risk, I would be devastated.

My Thai expat friends at home have told me I worry too much and have given my contact numbers of their family and friends who could find me alternative teaching work on the outskirts of BKK but I still won't be at ease if I am going against the law of the country I love and respect.

This is very important to me. I don't know what to do and it's making me very unhappy.

Any advice warmly appreciated.

I have a photocopy of my passport ID page on me at all times: I once had to produce it after being fined for dropping a cigarette end on KaoSan rd and the boys in brown were satisfied with it.

Infuriating though that the cigerette had cost me 1,000 and even more so that there a very few public rubbish bins on Kaosan but that's another topic for another thread.