Walen School - Chiang Rai

[pomchop]

Seems we have eventually found the right location for the school. We did not sign the contract yet but it should be done this week. Once we have a signed contract I will inform you guys about the exact location.

I had very tight schedule so was not able to have any beers with you this time around but will do my best next time. My facebook is Mac Walen. I post a lot of updates so if you want one more friend in your facebook feel free to send me invitation.

I am still looking for a school manager, deputy, Thai teachers, English teachers, sales, marketing and maid. We offer very good working conditions with a great team. If you know some people interested please let them know.

Walen School - Chiang Rai

Will you PLEASE fix the jWalen School Purple Party ad at the top of Thai Visa that you have been running for a couple of weeks.

IT"S 490 BAHT not 490 BATHS..

i sent an email to your contact info and got an email back assuring me that there was no mistake....not very good for a language school to not be able to spell BAHT??

[MacWalen]

It is a very small font and indeed it is spelled bath but it not spelled baths so please look carefully. We are correcting this right now. I had a work with my designer about it and I did not notice it. Party should be fun anyway if you can make it. This is Thailand so take it easy, jai yen yen.

[MacWalen]

Regarding the email, I am also following up on that. Thanks.

[MacWalen]

Seems we have eventually found the right location for the school. We did not sign the contract yet but it should be done this week. Once we have a signed contract I will inform you guys about the exact location.

I had very tight schedule so was not able to have any beers with you this time around but will do my best next time. My facebook is Mac Walen. I post a lot of updates so if you want one more friend in your facebook feel free to send me invitation.

I am still looking for a school manager, deputy, Thai teachers, English teachers, sales, marketing and maid. We offer very good working conditions with a great team. If you know some people interested please let them know.

Walen School - Chiang Rai

Will you PLEASE fix the jWalen School Purple Party ad at the top of Thai Visa that you have been running for a couple of weeks.

IT"S 490 BAHT not 490 BATHS..

i sent an email to your contact info and got an email back assuring me that there was no mistake....not very good for a language school to not be able to spell BAHT??

The banner has been changed and thank you for bringing it to my attention.

[pomchop]

Seems we have eventually found the right location for the school. We did not sign the contract yet but it should be done this week. Once we have a signed contract I will inform you guys about the exact location.

I had very tight schedule so was not able to have any beers with you this time around but will do my best next time. My facebook is Mac Walen. I post a lot of updates so if you want one more friend in your facebook feel free to send me invitation.

I am still looking for a school manager, deputy, Thai teachers, English teachers, sales, marketing and maid. We offer very good working conditions with a great team. If you know some people interested please let them know.

Walen School - Chiang Rai

Will you PLEASE fix the jWalen School Purple Party ad at the top of Thai Visa that you have been running for a couple of weeks.

IT"S 490 BAHT not 490 BATHS..

i sent an email to your contact info and got an email back assuring me that there was no mistake....not very good for a language school to not be able to spell BAHT??

The banner has been changed and thank you for bringing it to my attention.

you are welcome... good luck with your school in CR...

[MacWalen]

Walen School breaking news!

We have signed a contract for a school so now it is official. The location is perfect. On the main rd. not far from Macro and airport. Plenty of room for parking around the school so good for all those who drive. Took us more time than expected to finalise renting the right place for a Walen school but it is done now and construction will begin shortly.

Interestingly enough we already have a lot of interest in the Chiang Rai school. Happy to see that as some were not as welcoming at the beginning.

Some pictures of the furutre Walen school. Two blocks on the right are ours.

Walen School - Chaing Rai confirmed!

[sceadugenga]

It's pretty much a sponsor's privilege, Don's Cafe does the same with updates.

A non-sponsor would probably get a couple of posts in before the mods stepped in.

I largely ignore the thread, not having any scholastic ambitions, but check it occasionally for any interesting comments.

You're right though, he's not really one bit sorry.

Edited March 2, 2012 by sceadugenga

[soundman]

Posts have been removed from view.

Thai Visa allows forum Sponsors to reasonably promote their product or service within the forums they sponsor.

This may include an ongoing topic that gets periodically bumped.

If you are not interested in the topic, don't bother opening it, reading it, and then posting in it with the intention of de-railing it.

Such posts will be considered trolls and forum mods will act accordingly.

[sceadugenga]

Aha!

You're a secret employee aren't you?

A periodic bump if ever I saw one. ^^

[Paul888]

Aha!

You're a secret employee aren't you?

A periodic bump if ever I saw one. ^^

I appreciate things move slowly here, but all that fanfare and then 5 months of nothing?

I just thought it seemed strange.

[sceadugenga]

Quite in keeping with everything else to do with teaching English in Thailand.

[falang07]

Well, I would be interested, too, so no news yet?

[pomchop]

Well, I would be interested, too, so no news yet?

no mention or office in CR shown on website

http://www.thaiwalen.com/index.php

[my friend I]

Maybe found out Thai is a minority dialect in Chiang Rai.

[mikekim1219]

Walen School breaking news!

We have signed a contract for a school so now it is official. The location is perfect. On the main rd. not far from Macro and airport. Plenty of room for parking around the school so good for all those who drive. Took us more time than expected to finalise renting the right place for a Walen school but it is done now and construction will begin shortly.

Interestingly enough we already have a lot of interest in the Chiang Rai school. Happy to see that as some were not as welcoming at the beginning.

Some pictures of the furutre Walen school. Two blocks on the right are ours.

Walen School - Chaing Rai confirmed!

Hello,

I would like to enroll my Chinese g/f for purpose of learning Thai and ED visa. She is 31. She will arrive Dec 16th on one month tourist visa (she applied it in China). How can she apply for the school?

Mike

[inapeartree]

Heard from a guy who dropped by here recently that it is almost ready, staff were in there preparing and furniture was delivered, maybe early in the new year?

[pete66]

Walen is great if you want a visa. I have good friend who "studied' there for 3 years in Bangkok and attended just one class. No questions were ever asked by Walen staff about this non-attendance. He says he had to go the ministry of education one time for an 'exam', which involved sitting in front of an old lady for 2 minutes answering simple questions in Thai. He was fine, but he was in a group of 5, and one guy couldn't answer any questions in Thai at all .... and yet they all "passed". Does help if you have staff "working within the ministry" of course.

So yes, Walen provide a valuable service, and there is a reason they have so many students all over Thailand

[leosmith]

Really? Mac - do you even have material for 3 years? It seems that all you teach is basic reading, and if your students are dilligent, I can't see them getting anything out of you after a year. Please elaborate.

[tingtongtourist]

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.

WOW what a statement from this Toybits guy.

So exactly who does make this guy judge and jury over who can stay in Thailand? Amazing.

In the last sentence he does say that it is possible to buy a house if they sign a form to say farang money was not used in the sale. And this Is not against the spirit of the law??

What a hypocrite! This is more serious offence than a few people wanting to stay a long term on the ED visa.

People who buy property in this way are not only breaking the Thai law but are a fool and danger to themself.

They are the one who should be rounded up for infraction of the law and tossed out of the country, dont worry about people who stay on ED visa.!!!

[MacWalen]

Walen is great if you want a visa. I have good friend who "studied' there for 3 years in Bangkok and attended just one class. No questions were ever asked by Walen staff about this non-attendance. He says he had to go the ministry of education one time for an 'exam', which involved sitting in front of an old lady for 2 minutes answering simple questions in Thai. He was fine, but he was in a group of 5, and one guy couldn't answer any questions in Thai at all .... and yet they all "passed". Does help if you have staff "working within the ministry" of course.

So yes, Walen provide a valuable service, and there is a reason they have so many students all over Thailand

We have thousands of happy customers all over Thailand so we must be doing something right and who is it that will say that all those happy customers are wrong? Perhaps only leosmith, the hater. By the way, leosmith works for Walen as a volunteer.

Edited January 11, 2013 by MacWalen

[canuckamuck]

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/

I too would like to thank you for that link. Excellent site. Too bad it doesn't give a visa too.

BTW I say a Walen girl in her uniform in Big C yesterday, so they must have something happening currently.

[mcgriffith]

Let's try to get along here, folks...

[Colonel_Mustard]

So Mr Walen returns yet doesn't answer any of the legitimate questions about the Chiang Rai school that have been asked since his last visit, just replies to a 'hater' and a fanboy? Strange!

Fair point.

[mcgriffith]

I guess my gentle reminder didn't work.

Any further flaming, or tit for tat will result in harsh actions, for whomever engages in it.

The topic is the school, not arguments about curriculum or personality conflicts between individuals.

Thank you for your understanding.

[David Hecker]

Do excuse me for the bump but I was just busy Googling around I stumbled into this thread, I had to sign up just to voice my opinion. First off I was recommended this school by a close friend of mine and I would in turn recommend it to anyone else who's interested in learning a language(and I already have.) Certain unnamed people in this thread have crossed a line by way of suggesting that the school that taught me so much so fast is anything short of fantastic.

I felt like family at Walen school, It was full of positive energy and I've made some friends for life. Most importantly my time spent there has dramatically improved my Thai. I personally think and I know many others would agree that the true secret to speaking Thai is first learning the script. I simply can't believe that there's another school out there that offers a faster way to efficiently accomplish this and at the same time offer such a friendly environment.

I can't help but notice the lack of actual Walen students complaining about the school. Perhaps the 'naysayers' should try the school themselves rather than theorising that something they have no first hand experience with is flawed.

It certainly worked for me I was very happy there and I'm certain this goes for every Walen student.

Thank you Walen.

[OneZero]

I can not address the quality of the Walen school teaching methods. I would guess that it would depend not only upon a prescribed methodology, but also the current quality of the instructor (current because instructors change even if prescribed methodology does not). So, my post now is not a criticism of the instruction itself.

Perhaps some of the "Walen Haters" simply have an opposition to the way that, on occasion in the past, MacWalen has taken advantage of his "sponsor" status by repeatedly bumping his thread up to the front of the que. If it had been done in an acceptable manner it would certainly have been overlooked. But, while I have not seen MacWalen doing it much recently, there was a time when it was way overdone, obvious & offensive. MacWalen, (or an obvious surrogate / proxy) would repeatedly make seemingly unimportant (to me anyway) comments or arguements to get the thread to the top of the list. I often thought that MacWalen felt that negative publicity was still free advertising and therefore worth it. Perhaps that is a productive advertising strategy, but I do believe it created some bad feelings toward MacWalen.

Edited January 26, 2013 by OneZero

[mcgriffith]

No forum rule against doing a "bump".

If done repeatedly, bring it to the attention of the mods by clicking on the report button.

[harrry]

Do excuse me for the bump but I was just busy Googling around I stumbled into this thread, I had to sign up just to voice my opinion. First off I was recommended this school by a close friend of mine and I would in turn recommend it to anyone else who's interested in learning a language(and I already have.) Certain unnamed people in this thread have crossed a line by way of suggesting that the school that taught me so much so fast is anything short of fantastic.

I felt like family at Walen school, It was full of positive energy and I've made some friends for life. Most importantly my time spent there has dramatically improved my Thai. I personally think and I know many others would agree that the true secret to speaking Thai is first learning the script. I simply can't believe that there's another school out there that offers a faster way to efficiently accomplish this and at the same time offer such a friendly environment.

I can't help but notice the lack of actual Walen students complaining about the school. Perhaps the 'naysayers' should try the school themselves rather than theorising that something they have no first hand experience with is flawed.

It certainly worked for me I was very happy there and I'm certain this goes for every Walen student.

Thank you Walen.

the important question which is the topic of this thread is walan school Chiangrai. Is it open....did you study there?

[villagefarang]

I don’t care how you learn Thai but I highly recommend you do learn. Thailand is a very different place when you can speak Thai.

[David Hecker]

the important question which is the topic of this thread is walan school Chiangrai. Is it open....did you study there?

Actually no, I didn't study at that particular branch however I was addressing the attacks made against the school in general, since it appeared to me as if people were deviating from commenting on any particular school and attacking the school/method as a whole. This being the case, apologies for maintaining the continuity of the derailment.