[defamation laws - what is and isn't]

Posting here since legal forum is no longer answered regularly by Somchai the lawyer

Basically, got a guy threatening me with a slander law suit because of a realist and factual but negative review of his business on Google reviews, It since been removed but his threat persists.

He's also citing the computer crimes act and now threatening to get his govt official wife to have criminal charges levelled at me for another matter regarding incomplete paperwork on a business I sold 15 months ago (she is directly involved with supervising this business sector).

They're super pissed off with me for writing a letter of complaint to authorities about her misconduct.

I'm guessing it's all hot air on their part but by my experience these two are proud and stupid enough to waste lots of money dragging this through the court and if they do, what can I expect in terms of restrictions, costs etc.

[Will new 6 month tourist visa mean end of 60 day tourist visa]

Can't find an answer to this, but some other blogger suggested that once this is introduced they will no longer issue the 60 day visa, meaning that you have no option but to spend 5,000 baht. Anyone clarify?

[Phuket Jet-ski scammers shut down]

Sends out the right message, now how's about the newspaper follow up and see if he's back on the beach next week, still renting.

[Be Careful Driving on the Roads in Chiang Mai. Video--Not for the Faint of Heart]

I know exactly where that is, near the City Hall in Mae Rim, and yes it is confusing getting on to the ring road there, quite easy for someone who didn't know better to take the wrong lane.

[Yingluck's rural supporters 'not happy']

Same old ignorant responses. She was impeached, even though she no longer holds office, to set an example of culpability, and ensure a future PM, in particular Yingluck, does not come up with such a hair brained scheme. Seems like a good idea if you are the farmer benefitting but who's paying for this unsustainable practice. Rather just write out welfare cheques for the poorest of the farmers.

['Democracy has died in Thailand today': Thai ex-PM Yingluck]

Yingluck's version of democracy: 'we win the election, we get to do as we please with no censure until someone else wins the election. The end'.

How this women ever got this far in life amazes me, luckily her brother gave her a job.

[Dismantling disputed Aetus hotel in Bangkok will take three years]

Might be cheaper to implode the whole building and start again.

Though we might all correctly speculate that the constructor/developer bribed the officials, there is no record of this and therefore as far as they are concerned they have suffered huge losses by being erroneously granted permission to construct. Therefore the BMA should be sued for the cost of demolition. The developer has been taught a lesson by the courts (sending forth a good precedent) but the corrupt officials have not. If the BMA foots the bill for demotion then they will make damned sure there are no future instances of complicity (sending forth another good precedent).

[Australia's Channel 9 goes undercover at the Full Moon Party to produce a damning report]

Are you kidding me. Australia has 5 of the world's 10 deadliest spiders, go swimming in the seas and you might get permanently paralysed by the Irkunji jelly fish, bar-room brawls are far more likely, and you can die of thirst if you broke down in the outback. No, I wouldn't recommend setting foot in Australia. Nope, never!

[Last push to save Yingluck from legal action]

As always PTPs case rest not on defending the apparently innocent but advancing the tradition of unaccountability. It's not about whether or not Yingluck is or should be found guilty, it's about getting off the hook because this is the Thai way, and always will be - for better or worse - if we follow the PTP line of governance. For this reason alone everything possible should be done to set a precedent that dodgy politicians go to jail, no matter how popular, and if that hurts PTP then that's a good thing.

[Koh Tao murders: Father swears his son is innocent]

H needs a lesson in how to wai, properly. An ambassador meeting a committee member 10-20 years his junior does not bow and wai from his nose!

Wouldn't mind a date with Supinya though!

[Foreign teachers in Thailand now need education degree?]

I can comment quite accurately on this topic, since I've been working for some time now on introducing university programs to Thailand teachers, available through online study. UniTEFL in Chiang Mai has been administering a teaching diploma on behalf of the Philippine Women's University since 2012. Open to Filipinos initially, it has seen more than 20 students complete the certificate in teaching practice or MA in education. UniTEFL has now also launched a similar program, the Certificate in Professional Teaching (CPT) from New Era University, also in the Philippines, open to farangs. These are the very diplomas required by the TCT to award a permanent teacher's licence and representatives from the Philippines higher education department have arranged this directly with the TCT, so they are approved (although the TCT don't publicly endorse any specific qualification).

In answer to other queries and rumours in this thread;

1. You do NOT need an education degree to teach in Thailand, you can be licensed with a general degree and a recognised teaching diploma, or alternatively sit the TCT Professional Knowledge tests.

2. There are anecdotes that some Filipinos have been told they need an education degree or even a masters to get a teaching licence here, although this is not consistent with the criteria listed on the TCT site and likely discrimination on a case-by-case basis.

3. TEFL certificates make no difference one way or another to the licensing, but recruiters prefer to see them and you ought to have completed an in-class 120 hour course, with practicums in schools. Those without a diploma or degree in education are granted a 2 year temporary licence, with many achieving a further 2 year extension, again on a case-by-case basis. There is a rumour this will be reduced to 2 years only.

4. TEFL/TESOL teaching is somewhat different from BA Education, and a fast track solution to fulfil a demand for auxiliary teaching of ESL in the classroom. The Diploma is for those with a tertiary level education seeking to be a teacher (e.g. in maths, English, science etc). A BA or Masters in Education is something entirely different and it's not usual that a diploma counts credits towards an MA.

5. There has been rumblings from the MoE, and previous Education Minister Chaturon Chaiseng, about raising the qualifications requirements and this will likely be the diploma, it's fairly obvious that asking for all ESL teachers to have an ed degree will result in a mass exodus, although it's not beyond reality that such a policy might be implemented and then rescinded 6 months later when the schools all complain of shortages.

5. Already the whole industry is experiencing shortages in teachers since illegal 'non-degree' teachers made up about a third of all positioned (estimated) and now many have had to leave since visa runs were shut down.

6. If you plan to stay here long term and teach then getting the diploma is wise. The PGCEi is one route, it's the UK diploma (but not valid in the UK), these new programs from the Philippines are similar, about 40% cheaper but obviously lack the same crystal mark of 'Brand Britain'.

Reach more here: http://www.ajarn.com/ajarn-guests/articles/the-teaching-diploma

The New Era Diploma details: http://www.unitefl.com/tefl-courses/new-era/ (Note! Deadline for first intake is Friday Oct 17).

[Foreigners urged to capitalise on Thai turnaround]

As a small business owner the biggest threat is the incoherent policies and uncertainty from politics, it scares away customers from abroad, especially if you're in the travel sector or related business. Thailand has been week in this area for ages.

[Yingluck barred from attending Fireball Festival]

Well, if these lot can believe the fireball theory they are also likely to believe Yingluck is the new messiah. Duped, the lot of them. Best if she stays away, wouldn't want to get their hopes up too high.

[Thai work permit, visa proposals get positive response]

The way I read it teachers can get a maximum 2 years, then what? Must leave the country? Or does it mean that you don't have to renew every year but every other year? I can't think of anyone in the country who doesn't have to report to immigration at least once a year.

[Immigration raid targets Digital Nomads in Chiang Mai]

Did they DNA test them perhaps to see if they couldn't solve the Koh Tao murder or at least claim to.

If someone is sitting in a building typing on their computer how do you prove they are working, where is the company employing them, receipt slips of income in THB. So, if a Thai answers business emails while travelling in the US does he get detained for working without a visa. Get with the 21st Century Thailand.

[Robert Amsterdam rears his ugly head with Kim Dotcom]

Anyone following this much hyped, moment of truth expose today by Kim Dotcom with Ed Snowden and Julian Assange against the New Zealand Govt, will have been bemused to discover Dotcom has hired Amsterdam as his own PR man. Jeez man, I didn't want to burst the bubble of all those cheering them along but this guy really does work for the worse kind of people. He'll certainly go where the money is, I guess the cheques stopped coming from Thaksin so he's lost interest in his moral crusade for justice for red shirts in Thailand.

http://www.theguardian.com/world/live/2014/sep/15/kim-dotcom-accused-nz-government-of-mass-spying-live

[China welcomes 'old friend' Robert Mugabe with a 21-gun salute]

Disgusting, and disturbing the leader of a country that aspires to being a super power, or at least thinks it's the next superpower, behaves like this towards such a lowlife who has wrecked his country and turned it into his own private disposable toy.

An ex-Zimbabwean

[Degree in Education - In Search For Your Opinion]

I'm quite a familiar with this course, I know Filipinos who did a similar course last years, both are administered here in Thailand by UniTEFL. If you look on their website it shows details of Filipino professors meeting with people at Khurusapa, and I looked up both of these in the OCSC database, they are accepted. The one through Philippine Women's University was for Filipinos only, this one is open to all.

As to the rumours of needing an education degree to teach English here in Thailand in future, I very much doubt this will be implemented in the near term. Think about it, it's totally impractical, most teachers would become ineligible and leave, and those who go to the trouble will not stick around for $1,000 a month salaries. There would a crisis in the education department, a severe lack of English teachers. I really would't worry about it. On their website it says; a general degree and a diploma in teaching. I think they might reduce the licence waiver to 2 years only, which is reasonable, enough time to get the diploma. It's not too much to ask for that teacher's take a one-year course, part-time, costing about $3-4,000. It's a pity their information is so inconsistent and unclear.

[Coming to the end of the visa run - local language schools may suffer most]

Thailand can't afford to be fussy. When it gets its house in order, can guarantee that the visa application process is fair, free of corruption or petty bribe 'barriers', and formulates a process to vet applicants fairly and quickly, then schools will get work permits for their teachers. With a little flexibility and foresight they would set up a special dispensation to allow non-degree persons to undergo a training course that includes volunteer teaching to under privileged schools in order to gain a temporary teachers' licence, and they can also clean up the whole TEFL certificate industry at the same time. By adding a simple test of Thai at the end of each 12 month ed visa renewal, increasing in stages of difficulty for each additional year, they can solve the fraud in the Thai language industry. Instead you get this mallet to a drawing pin approach that severely inconveniences many genuine people, because they're too lazy to apply some of their visa fee income to proper screening.

[No need to worry says Bangkok Immigration Commander]

“Making all foreigners in Thailand carry their original passports with them would be very difficult.”

“It’s about being reasonable and using common sense”

Pity the guy in Hua Hin didn't think a bit first before opening his mouth. TIT, usual story.

[Hua Hin Immigration clarifies rules on foreigners carrying ID]

A great way to earn money; set up a checkpoint on the beach and demand to see passports of tourists, fine them 2,000 baht. It's not beyond the imagination of some crooked officials. Jeez man, why didn't immigration think of this before.

[Immigration: Foreigners must now carry valid ID at all times, report within 24 hours]

[snip]

 

A recall an interview awhile back in Chiang Mai City Life with Immigration head and he said that the piles of papers coming in from hotels every day about guests, along with 90 day reporting where the two big time wasters using their resources and slowing them down, his staff hated deal with it all apparently.

[Anti-graft agency probing rice deals, links to Thai ministers]

interestingly Pannada's previous role was governor of Chiang Mai. He was popular and when the in-coming Yingluck govt tried to transfer him, all the local red politicians etc blocked it, saying he was a fair and honest non-partisan guy.

[Tourist visa holders denied entry to Thailand and left stranded in Malaysia]

To be fair, those denied were serial abusers of tourist visas. The guy quoted is probably not strong enough in English to be implicitly correct. Some initial zealous application will disappoint some. I feel sorry for those who come for the first time on a 60 day tourist and then decide to go to Angkor/Siem Reap halfway through, they are likely to get caught out.

Apparently, if you want to come back to Thailand more than once every 6 months, i.e. on business, you're going to get caught out.

[Confirmed: Visa run crackdown effective from August 12, 2014: Thai Foreign Ministry]

Far as I can tell this is not new news, it's a reminder of the announcement a month ago that visa runs hopping over land borders and re-entering with visa on arrival would be stopped and that the measure would extend to airport arrivals from August. I believe the period between visa on arrivals is 6 months or 90 days, so if you leave the country and return within that period expecting a visa on arrival you'll be denied.