Information Seeking

[Morpheus73]

Hello everybody,

first of all don't hit me with a club in terms of the writing as i am not a native english speaker. I kept it orallly for a while and now it is getting worse and the crime is transfered even into writing.

If the mod's assess this post to be under the wrong category than move it as you want. I thought it might be correct here as i am actually not active seeking for estate. Instead i just want to get some thoughts and info. I have rented an apartment @Sukhumvit22 since nearly 2 years. As it seem to be time for a change i am looking a little bit more active into it. Right now my girfriend (Thai) and my son (Thai/German, the next crime :-) ) living there. I have not yet made up my mind in terms of location but i prefer either Bangkok or Chiang Mai. It has practical reasons as my kiddo has to attend kindergarten sooner or later. And the choice will be most likely international, not looking excited at the fees. The budget i have set for myself is in the range 45,000 Baht - 65,000 Baht/monthly. Preferable some nice artificial Baan in the outskirts of Bangkok e.g Minburi or as said Chiang Mai. I have seen some estate in Minbur named Moo Baan Perfect. Does any of the members live there? Any information that might be of interest in regards to the quality of living there and the houses would be highly appreciated. I would like to ask as well about the mindest of landlords in relation to negotiations of the rental price. As an example would an offer from me to sign a contract for 2-3 years and paying 1 year in advance have any chance to press the monthly rental price down? Experiences? The place that i look for should be fully or at least partially furnished. I like a western kitchen and an oven would be nearly must. The current rental contract i have is finished in January 2011, so still time to go but the early bird catches the worm. My son is now 3 years old and i do not have made yet a decision what first language i wnat to teach him. On one hand i would like to go for the british option first but i am scared, afraid that i as his father with his limitation orally, written are more an obstacle as a helper. My son has 2 passports so if i would decide to take him to me no technical difficulties would apply. In terms of my gf the case is different. She just has passed recently the mandatory german A1 Test at the Goethe Institute in Bangkok but i am actually not living in Germany. Current location is Belgium, still EU and Schengen but the test is not mandatory there. Anyway this does not have so much to do with what i am up to previously in the context. So, if anybody has some thoughts, info etc. i gladly hear them. I hope that the my weird german/ english is being at a moderate level and the message can be understood. Looking forward to get some feedback.

Cheers,

Morpheus

[Semper]

Bangkok is good, don't move

[roiethome]

Signing a multiple years lease and lump sum payment can bring the cost down, but you can also use it as a lever if there are 'extras', like an oven, which may not be included, or cable rental etc.

[tonititan]

Is your 45-65k budget for housing, for school, or for everything? If you are talking about housing, 45-65k will get you a very nice house in Perfect Place (the mooban in Minburi). You could get one for much less, though. If you are interested in an international school, I do know that there is a German-language international school (Swiss, actually) in the back of Perfect Place, and that there are a lot of Thai/German kids. I would think that the fees are quite high, though.

Personally, if you are German, and your wife is very proficient in German, but neither of you is all that comfortable in English, I would educate the child in German (or, I guess in Thai if you plan to live here forever). You and your wife will be able to be more involved in your child's education if you are fluent in the language. It will be difficult for you to help him with homework if he is working in English, and hearing incorrect English at home may likely slow his progress in English at school. If you speak German and/or Thai as a family at home, it will place an extra challenge on the boy to have to do all his academics in English.

[Morpheus73]

@tonitan

Thanks very much for your valuable reply. The 45K-65K wood be for housing only indeed. I looked the Moo Baan Perfect place up and it looks really nice. Not that i care that much as i said most of the time my girlfriend and our son live there alone, kinda spoiled already then.

The statement that you made about the language is more as valid. I work in an international company, orally and written purely english but i am far from being perfect. I don't want to have this deficiencies transfered onto my son. I might end up with the Swiss School that you mentioned or the NIST.

A pure Thai school is not reallly an option as the plan to move them to another place in Europe where german classes are available is always an option, even not now made in stone.

The school fees are of course horrible and i have my concerns even in regards to the international schools. I do not trust the education system at all in Thailand as i am a person who believes in freedom of speech etc.. In a country with a "strange" live monarchy and internet censorship i have my doubts about some things.

Anyway, once again thank you very much for you answer.

Cheers,

Morpheus

[tonititan]

In case you have not realized, Mooban Perfect Place is very far away from NIST, which is downtown. In my honest opinion, I think that's too far to ask a kindergartner to commute back & forth each day. But I guess sometimes you just have to do it.

I teach in a school where a lot of parents don't speak the language of instruction (English). I feel badly for those kids, because they can never fully share the school experience with their parents. There is a clear distinction between school & home. As soon as school is over, English is "turned off" until the next day, and the kids don't (and can't) sit down and discuss homework with parents. As a result, a lot of the kids end up with poor language skills in BOTH languages. Also, it's hard for the parents to be actively involved in the school when they can't read letters sent home (in English), signs at school, report cards, etc.

Others may disagree, but I feel pretty strongly that it's best if children learn in a language that their parents can speak fluently, regardless of the language of the host country. This is especially important to think about in your case. You said that your son will mostly be living with your girlfriend for now. You may speak & write very good English, but does she?

Best of luck!

Edited March 16, 2011 by tonititan

[Morpheus73]

@tonititan

Yes i am aware of the distance caveat for Moo Baan Perfect and NIST. As said decisions are not made. I will be in TH in June again. First have to get divorced from my current german wife. LOL, had not time to finalize this since 3 years and we still share our marriage bank account.

First priority is to find a nice place for a reasonable price. The situation that i seem my son rareky does not help at all to put im in a full time education system, just miss him like hell.

I just skipped Belgium as an option for now as i am not ready for the to be expected home-sick of my girlfriend once she is extracted from her home country. Plus i have a work life which is completely messed up in terms of working hours. 16 hours is the average.

I will see what future brings for us. The money to buy Som Tam will be always there so i guess i have less to worry about

Cheers,

Morpheus