Walen School - Chiang Rai

[Paul888]

The notoriously arrogant sceadugenga who has just noticed this thread.... (I'm arrogant, not observant ) congratulates Walen School on the three pages of free advertising they have achieved here.

Obviously it has not been noticed by George.

Sceadugenga is also available for any well paid teaching positions going in Angeles City, having wiled away a pleasant hour or two in the bars there in the past. (For the uninitiated, it makes Pattaya seem almost religious by comparision).

I think you will find he is an advertiser mate. Different rules.

[toybits]

MacWalen, you were attacked because of your haughty attitude. A person or organization (you obviously represent the organization) could be more humble to accept a typo. Instead you decided to label Stoneyboy as being unfriendly. Very immature and very discouraging. Not very good advertising. I guess - what Chiang Rai folks (at least the expatriate population) think is that we do not need another language school. There are already enough schools and missionaries at Chiang Rai. Have a GREATday.

I have a problem with your attitude MacWalen.

Dear sir, we will provide a valuable service for many residents of Chiang Rai. I am as you can see being attacked by some for no good reason so just responding. It is always easy to criticize but much harder to do something that is of benefit to others. Sure, we are not perfect but we certainly are trying to do our best and I am sure residents of Chiang Rai will be better off having a choice.

Dear stoneyboy, do you know what you are talking about? Also this is Walen not wale. You do not seem to be very friendly.

Edited February 6, 2012 by toybits

[Paul888]

MacWalen, you were attacked because of your haughty attitude. A person or organization (you obviously represent the organization) could be more humble to accept a typo. Instead you decided to label Stoneyboy as being unfriendly. Very immature and very discouraging. Not very good advertising. I guess - what Chiang Rai folks (at least the expatriate population) think is that we do not need another language school. There are already enough schools and missionaries at Chiang Rai. Have a GREATday.

I don''t klnow what is funnier.......

You claiming to speak on behalf of all expats in Chiang Rai, or the fact that you don't seem to understand that even if you did it wouldn't matter a toss as nobody that could prevent the licensing of another school cares what you or the entire expat community thinks.

We are all visitors here remember, so just leave the man to get on with his business and let the expat community make up its own mind.

Edited February 6, 2012 by Paul888

[toybits]

What's in it for you Paul888? Are you the official apoligist of MacWalen?

[leosmith]

Paul888,

There are some questions that I'm still hoping you will answer.

If it takes a school to make you consider learning Thai, you may want to reconsider your priorities.

Why are you depending on a school to motivate you to learn Thai? Don't you live in Thailand?

My guess is that they probably are but that the process would be (a lot) more complicated than letting Walen do all the paperwork for you.

Why would you say that?

[Paul888]

Re-read my posts in this thread toybits. I don't think I have been overly pro Walen.

I think that I have been pro letting people decide for themselves and not pissing on a guy's business. That is what my intention was anyway.

For what it is worth, I think that they have an interesting angle with the VIsa thing. I know that doesn't make them a great school, and possibly detracts from the business of running a school, but it is a service that some people would benefit from and they shouldn't be discouraged from investing in Chiang Rai to bring us that service.

You honestly think that nobody here would benefit from a visa that they could obtain without returning to their home country? I am not saying I would but I would be happy to have the option as I have 3 children, and so the cost of me and my family shooting home for a visa renewal is more than 10 times the cost of this educational visa.

If I needed to regularly attend classes and make an effort to learn Thai at the same time then that would give an additional benefit for me in case my children and wife ever get tired of translating things for me.

[Paul888]

Paul888,

There are some questions that I'm still hoping you will answer.

If it takes a school to make you consider learning Thai, you may want to reconsider your priorities.

Why are you depending on a school to motivate you to learn Thai? Don't you live in Thailand?

My guess is that they probably are but that the process would be (a lot) more complicated than letting Walen do all the paperwork for you.

Why would you say that?

Yes i live in Thailand, but I am in my forties and not overly motivated to go back to school. I can speak basic Thai to get myself by and have an educated wife and 3 daughters who speak very good English but I can't read a word.

I am also fluent in Spanish which I need to communicate in several times a week, and I also occasionally need to speak French and German so adding another language into my already over-full head has not been something I have considered necessary.

As regards why I would think that Walen make the process easier..... it is just common sense that somebody use to dealing with Thai bureaucracy would handle the process more efficiently than somebody not. Is it not?

I am sure that if you can recommend a better school that can also make the visa process equally as pain free then Walen's service will not appear quite as attractive.

[toybits]

Whether or not you are overly Pro-Walen is not the main point here.

What I am concerned about is that this "School" tries to legitimize persons who have really no business being here. Were it not for their conveniently issued VISA - they would not be here in Thailand. That's the crux of this matter and it is routinely abused.

So who are be those persons that would benefit from this convenient "education" visa? Missionaries? Expats living on pensions from abroad? Overstaying tourists?

Re-read my posts in this thread toybits. I don't think I have been overly pro Walen.

I think that I have been pro letting people decide for themselves and not pissing on a guy's business. That is what my intention was anyway.

For what it is worth, I think that they have an interesting angle with the VIsa thing. I know that doesn't make them a great school, and possibly detracts from the business of running a school, but it is a service that some people would benefit from and they shouldn't be discouraged from investing in Chiang Rai to bring us that service.

You honestly think that nobody here would benefit from a visa that they could obtain without returning to their home country? I am not saying I would but I would be happy to have the option as I have 3 children, and so the cost of me and my family shooting home for a visa renewal is more than 10 times the cost of this educational visa.

If I needed to regularly attend classes and make an effort to learn Thai at the same time then that would give an additional benefit for me in case my children and wife ever get tired of translating things for me.

[Paul888]

And why exactly are you in Thailand Toybits?

Why is your presence here more worthy than somebody else's?

As far as I am aware, every VISA application of every sort is assessed by somebody in a position to assess it who either grants or denies it based on set criteria. I don't think Walen are bypassing this are they?

If you are saying that they are it is a serious allegation and you should be prepared to back it up or shut it up.

[MacWalen]

Regarding ED visas we are doing everything according to the directions from the ministry of education and immigration. In Bangkok we also have a full time staff working inside the immigration assisting our students, we are certainly well recognized by the authorities as we have processed the largest number (many thousands) of visas and extensions.

If any potential students of Walen in Chiang Rai required an ED visa assistance we would be happy to provide all the necessary documents.

I am also quite confident we will have a lot of people wanting to learn Thai with us who do not need any visa assistance but just want to learn Thai. We have our own way of teaching and a lot of students like it very much so more choice can be only good.

Walen School - we do not discriminate.

[MacWalen]

Whether or not you are overly Pro-Walen is not the main point here.

What I am concerned about is that this "School" tries to legitimize persons who have really no business being here. Were it not for their conveniently issued VISA - they would not be here in Thailand. That's the crux of this matter and it is routinely abused.

So who are be those persons that would benefit from this convenient "education" visa? Missionaries? Expats living on pensions from abroad? Overstaying tourists?

Re-read my posts in this thread toybits. I don't think I have been overly pro Walen.

I think that I have been pro letting people decide for themselves and not pissing on a guy's business. That is what my intention was anyway.

For what it is worth, I think that they have an interesting angle with the VIsa thing. I know that doesn't make them a great school, and possibly detracts from the business of running a school, but it is a service that some people would benefit from and they shouldn't be discouraged from investing in Chiang Rai to bring us that service.

You honestly think that nobody here would benefit from a visa that they could obtain without returning to their home country? I am not saying I would but I would be happy to have the option as I have 3 children, and so the cost of me and my family shooting home for a visa renewal is more than 10 times the cost of this educational visa.

If I needed to regularly attend classes and make an effort to learn Thai at the same time then that would give an additional benefit for me in case my children and wife ever get tired of translating things for me.

Toybits, this was not nice of you to say that. Come and meet our students. They are quality people and saying that they have "no business of being here" is not going to make you very popular.

[MacWalen]

MacWalen, you were attacked because of your haughty attitude. A person or organization (you obviously represent the organization) could be more humble to accept a typo. Instead you decided to label Stoneyboy as being unfriendly. Very immature and very discouraging. Not very good advertising. I guess - what Chiang Rai folks (at least the expatriate population) think is that we do not need another language school. There are already enough schools and missionaries at Chiang Rai. Have a GREATday.

I have a problem with your attitude MacWalen.

Dear sir, we will provide a valuable service for many residents of Chiang Rai. I am as you can see being attacked by some for no good reason so just responding. It is always easy to criticize but much harder to do something that is of benefit to others. Sure, we are not perfect but we certainly are trying to do our best and I am sure residents of Chiang Rai will be better off having a choice.

Dear stoneyboy, do you know what you are talking about? Also this is Walen not wale. You do not seem to be very friendly.

That is indeed the case. I have misunderstood his post and it was a mistake on my part. Nobody's perfect.

Edited February 7, 2012 by MacWalen

[leosmith]

Yes i live in Thailand, but I am in my forties and not overly motivated to go back to school. I can speak basic Thai to get myself by and have an educated wife and 3 daughters who speak very good English but I can't read a word.

I am also fluent in Spanish which I need to communicate in several times a week, and I also occasionally need to speak French and German so adding another language into my already over-full head has not been something I have considered necessary.

As regards why I would think that Walen make the process easier..... it is just common sense that somebody use to dealing with Thai bureaucracy would handle the process more efficiently than somebody not. Is it not?

I am sure that if you can recommend a better school that can also make the visa process equally as pain free then Walen's service will not appear quite as attractive.

Ok, I understand where you're coming from. Personally, if I were living in a country, that country's language would be my highest priority, and if I didn't have time, I would let my other languages slip before that one. I know many expats don't feel that way. But you speak 4 other languages, so I'm surprised it's not a higher priority to you.

Forties is a prime learning age. I started Thai in my forties. And I find that its most efficient to do self study for most aspects of the language. If I go to school, it's mostly to work on conversation. If you are interested in investigating self study a little more, I recommend http://how-to-learn-any-language.com/forum/default.asp

I agree with you about having someone else take care of visa issues. I thought you were saying this school was better than the others, so I guess I just misunderstood.

[sceadugenga]

I picked a fair bit of Lao in my 50s, but 10 years down the track I seem to have ground to a halt with Thai. I'm no where near as mentally agile as I used to be and my memory is definitely shot. (OK, OK, some here would deny I ever was mentally agile).

I find this site useful, they send me regular emails with words and phrases. I got it off a member here... apologies for not recalling his name.

http://www.thai-flashcards.com/

[Will27]

Whether or not you are overly Pro-Walen is not the main point here.

What I am concerned about is that this "School" tries to legitimize persons who have really no business being here. Were it not for their conveniently issued VISA - they would not be here in Thailand. That's the crux of this matter and it is routinely abused.

So who are be those persons that would benefit from this convenient "education" visa? Missionaries? Expats living on pensions from abroad? Overstaying tourists?

toybits

Why should this be any of your concern?

So someone may find it easier to stay in Thailand on this type of visa.

Are you somehow affected by it?

Regards

Will

[dindong]

I think the concern here is that Walen is presenting itself as a good school to learn Thai.

It's not and if teaching Thai was it's only business it wouldn't survive at all.

[Will27]

I think the concern here is that Walen is presenting itself as a good school to learn Thai.

It's not and if teaching Thai was it's only business it wouldn't survive at all.

My highlighted part was that toybits seems hung up on people he thinks are staying in Thailand, on a visa he thinks

they shouldn't be entitled to have. I still don't see how it affects him.

Regards

Will

[TwentyBaht]

sceadugenga,

Thanks for the flashcard link.

[toybits]

Many members in this forum have made Thailand their home. Many have married Thais, have children with them and call Thailand their home. The problem is that if this school's main attraction is that it can facilitate the processing of a Visa to stay in Thailand, then it WILL be abused. Walen's main sweetener seems to be visa processing. People who are up to no good will have an easier time living in Thailand. That is what is scary.

Something like this happened many years ago during the bubble years. Foreigners "married" to Thais made millions from land deals at Pattaya. When they got rich, the took their money, left their "wife" and caused trouble for other foreigners who did nothing wrong. Suddenly, foreign husbands and their wives who wanted to own land to put up a house could no longer purchase property. That was because the Land Department learned from the bad experience it has where foreigners were taking advantage of the property boom. This policy was enforced for many years and was only recently relaxed. Now - foreign husbands married to Thai women "can" purchase land if he agrees to put title in wife's name.

[pomchop]

Many members in this forum have made Thailand their home. Many have married Thais, have children with them and call Thailand their home. The problem is that if this school's main attraction is that it can facilitate the processing of a Visa to stay in Thailand, then it WILL be abused. Walen's main sweetener seems to be visa processing. People who are up to no good will have an easier time living in Thailand. That is what is scary.

Something like this happened many years ago during the bubble years. Foreigners "married" to Thais made millions from land deals at Pattaya. When they got rich, the took their money, left their "wife" and caused trouble for other foreigners who did nothing wrong. Suddenly, foreign husbands and their wives who wanted to own land to put up a house could no longer purchase property. That was because the Land Department learned from the bad experience it has where foreigners were taking advantage of the property boom. This policy was enforced for many years and was only recently relaxed. Now - foreign husbands married to Thai women "can" purchase land if he agrees to put title in wife's name.

Well having lived in Pattaya and Bangkok and having met more than my fair share of "people who are up to no good in Thailand" I have to say that I don't think this is exactlly the bunch that will be signing up for Walen's school.

According to his website you have to leave thailand and go to a thai consulate in a neighboring country and get a regular visa BEFORE walen can even attempt to get your education visa. And even after you get it then you have to report to immigration once every 90 days. In my experience the real scum farangs of Thailand have no intention of showing up at an immigration office. In fact there are a lot of them whose passports are expired and they can't leave Thailand without raising all kind of red flags. Many of them have criminal records and are not interested in having their passport scanned assuming it is even still valid. And i highly doubt that the scum could be bothered to show up at a thai class a few times a week. I have no way of knowing but I would guess that most of the really scummy scum just hangs out in Thailand with NO VISA and an expired passport.

I would be curious to know how Walen handles it if you go through the process and get the visa but then do not come to class? Does he notify the immigration people or what? It seems to me that if he is doing a big number of visas and is well connected with immigration that he would not risk his connections or his business in order to accommodate a few scumbags who are simply trying to game the system for nefarious purposes.

[kartman]

Post 73 'we have a full time staff working inside the immigration' is that Immigration or the building or both?.

[brianmarinus]

Many members in this forum have made Thailand their home. Many have married Thais, have children with them and call Thailand their home. The problem is that if this school's main attraction is that it can facilitate the processing of a Visa to stay in Thailand, then it WILL be abused. Walen's main sweetener seems to be visa processing. People who are up to no good will have an easier time living in Thailand. That is what is scary.

Something like this happened many years ago during the bubble years. Foreigners "married" to Thais made millions from land deals at Pattaya. When they got rich, the took their money, left their "wife" and caused trouble for other foreigners who did nothing wrong. Suddenly, foreign husbands and their wives who wanted to own land to put up a house could no longer purchase property. That was because the Land Department learned from the bad experience it has where foreigners were taking advantage of the property boom. This policy was enforced for many years and was only recently relaxed. Now - foreign husbands married to Thai women "can" purchase land if he agrees to put title in wife's name.

Where have you found that statement who says, that a foreigner married to a thai woman can purchase land in Thailand.?

How wood that be possiple.?

[leosmith]

Post 73 'we have a full time staff working inside the immigration' is that Immigration or the building or both?.

This is quite disturbing. The immigration department is allowing a company, who makes a profit off of providing visas, process and approve visas? What are they thinking?

[Paul888]

Yes i live in Thailand, but I am in my forties and not overly motivated to go back to school. I can speak basic Thai to get myself by and have an educated wife and 3 daughters who speak very good English but I can't read a word.

I am also fluent in Spanish which I need to communicate in several times a week, and I also occasionally need to speak French and German so adding another language into my already over-full head has not been something I have considered necessary.

As regards why I would think that Walen make the process easier..... it is just common sense that somebody use to dealing with Thai bureaucracy would handle the process more efficiently than somebody not. Is it not?

I am sure that if you can recommend a better school that can also make the visa process equally as pain free then Walen's service will not appear quite as attractive.

Ok, I understand where you're coming from. Personally, if I were living in a country, that country's language would be my highest priority, and if I didn't have time, I would let my other languages slip before that one. I know many expats don't feel that way. But you speak 4 other languages, so I'm surprised it's not a higher priority to you.

Forties is a prime learning age. I started Thai in my forties. And I find that its most efficient to do self study for most aspects of the language. If I go to school, it's mostly to work on conversation. If you are interested in investigating self study a little more, I recommend http://how-to-learn-...rum/default.asp

I agree with you about having someone else take care of visa issues. I thought you were saying this school was better than the others, so I guess I just misunderstood.

Why are there so many busy bodies here who think that people are interested in their opinions of someone else's priorities?

I will say this again for those that have any doubt. My priorities are MY priorities. I don't tell you what your priorities should be, but if I did, it would be to brush up on your manners and stop putting your nose in other people's business. You asked me a question, I answered it with more detail than you deserved, at which point the respectful thing would have been to thank me and shutup, not again tell me what my priorities SHOULD be.

Stick to the topic of the thread which is Walen, not me. We get that you don't like them or their methods and I sense that you have a history of saying it. If you really have nothing better to do than piss on a guy's thread, then I actually feel sorry for you.

And as for Toybits..... I won't waste another word on somebody with his head so far up his ass.

[Will27]

Many members in this forum have made Thailand their home. Many have married Thais, have children with them and call Thailand their home. The problem is that if this school's main attraction is that it can facilitate the processing of a Visa to stay in Thailand, then it WILL be abused. Walen's main sweetener seems to be visa processing. People who are up to no good will have an easier time living in Thailand. That is what is scary.

Something like this happened many years ago during the bubble years. Foreigners "married" to Thais made millions from land deals at Pattaya. When they got rich, the took their money, left their "wife" and caused trouble for other foreigners who did nothing wrong. Suddenly, foreign husbands and their wives who wanted to own land to put up a house could no longer purchase property. That was because the Land Department learned from the bad experience it has where foreigners were taking advantage of the property boom. This policy was enforced for many years and was only recently relaxed. Now - foreign husbands married to Thai women "can" purchase land if he agrees to put title in wife's name.

Will all dues respect, I find this response absolutely ridiculous.

I know a fella who has been here for 7 years on tourist visa's.

Another one on a conveniently issued non - "business visa".

Does this make them "no good"? Hardly.

It's human nature to get the most appropriate visa you can get

taking into account your personal circumstances.

By harping on about people absuing the visa and having an easier time

being here, you come across like a child who has a new toy and refuses

to share it with anyone.

Regards

Will

[toybits]

I think so too. In the US0fA - wouldn't this be a crime?

Post 73 'we have a full time staff working inside the immigration' is that Immigration or the building or both?.

This is quite disturbing. The immigration department is allowing a company, who makes a profit off of providing visas, process and approve visas? What are they thinking?

[cmjantje]

And as for Toybits..... I won't waste another word on somebody with his head so far up his ass.

Well you just did

[leosmith]

Why are there so many busy bodies here who think that people are interested in their opinions of someone else's priorities?

I will say this again for those that have any doubt. My priorities are MY priorities. I don't tell you what your priorities should be, but if I did, it would be to brush up on your manners and stop putting your nose in other people's business. You asked me a question, I answered it with more detail than you deserved, at which point the respectful thing would have been to thank me and shutup, not again tell me what my priorities SHOULD be.

Stick to the topic of the thread which is Walen, not me. We get that you don't like them or their methods and I sense that you have a history of saying it. If you really have nothing better to do than piss on a guy's thread, then I actually feel sorry for you.

I understand where your coming from. A wise old man once told me "whenever I catch myself getting defensive over something, that's a sign that I'm doubting myself, and considering a change". So I thought I'd give you some more info about self studying Thai.

The best resource for beginning to learn Thai, imo, is Becker's 3 book series. Here is a link to the first one.

http://www.amazon.com/Thai-Beginners-Benjawan-Poomsan-Becker/dp/1887521003/ref=ntt_at_ep_dpi_1

Remember to get the CD too. She uses transliteration to begin with, then weans you off of it after she teaches you the alphabet and tone rules. The system works great.

On the other hand, if you prefer to skip transliteration completely, I recommend learning the alphabet and tone rules first, then using Everyday Thai for Beginners:

http://www.amazon.com/Everyday-Thai-Beginners-Wiworn-Kesavatana-Dohrs/dp/9749575970/ref=sr_1_3?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1328775007&sr=1-3

Regarding Walen, whenever I feel he is claiming something misleading or something that might be damaging to beginning language learners, I will challenge him. If it bothers you, I apologize; that's not my intention.

[Paul888]

Why are there so many busy bodies here who think that people are interested in their opinions of someone else's priorities?

I will say this again for those that have any doubt. My priorities are MY priorities. I don't tell you what your priorities should be, but if I did, it would be to brush up on your manners and stop putting your nose in other people's business. You asked me a question, I answered it with more detail than you deserved, at which point the respectful thing would have been to thank me and shutup, not again tell me what my priorities SHOULD be.

Stick to the topic of the thread which is Walen, not me. We get that you don't like them or their methods and I sense that you have a history of saying it. If you really have nothing better to do than piss on a guy's thread, then I actually feel sorry for you.

I understand where your coming from. A wise old man once told me "whenever I catch myself getting defensive over something, that's a sign that I'm doubting myself, and considering a change". So I thought I'd give you some more info about self studying Thai.

The best resource for beginning to learn Thai, imo, is Becker's 3 book series. Here is a link to the first one.

http://www.amazon.co...ntt_at_ep_dpi_1

Remember to get the CD too. She uses transliteration to begin with, then weans you off of it after she teaches you the alphabet and tone rules. The system works great.

On the other hand, if you prefer to skip transliteration completely, I recommend learning the alphabet and tone rules first, then using Everyday Thai for Beginners:

http://www.amazon.co...28775007&sr=1-3

Regarding Walen, whenever I feel he is claiming something misleading or something that might be damaging to beginning language learners, I will challenge him. If it bothers you, I apologize; that's not my intention.

I am literally dumbfounded at your inability to comprehend simple English leosmith.

Maybe I should get Walen to translate "Keep your nose and you opinions out of my business" into Thai for you.........would that help? Seeing as though you consider yourself an expert.

Anyway. PLEASE consider this as my last request to you to stop quoting me and stop thinking that I give a toss about what you have to say because I do not.

STICK to the topic in hand, which I repeat is not me.

[leosmith]

Roger that

Just let me know if you have any other questions.