laurenrebecca
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Posts posted by laurenrebecca
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I've been to a few small villages still cut off from reality about 40-50km southeast of Nan bordering Maecharim National Park along the Laos border. They do have motorcy and some old pickups, but most work is still done with animals and there are no cell towers. One of the villages has no power (by choice from what I understand). When I went there with my fiancee (her family's roots are in these villages), the people were not used to seeing a foreigner at all, but were still extremely kind and inviting...we stopped at nearly every house to talk and have a shot of their local moonshine.
I honestly wouldn't mind living in a place like that. I live in a small rural village now, but since smartphones and towers got here 4 years ago, it's all gone down hill in a hurry....
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It's absolutely a huntsman. Have 2 or 3 in my house. Very quick, eat all the bugs and don't bother me. While I would prefer not to have one residing in the toilet, they won't bother you at all, and keep the creepy crawlies away (eaten).
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I have worked for 2 of the agencies in question here....Mediakids and Echo English.
1. Mediakids I DO NOT RECOMMEND. I almost got arrested due to paperwork not being done on time that they were responsible for. They also told me in writing (which I do have a copy of, and can verify for all you nay-sayers) to overstay my visa, it will be OK. Please PM me and I will share more details. Their communication is not great, and it is difficult t5o get things done, as all decisions are made in Bangkok, and the consultants that visit you generally pay lip service anyway. Worked for them for 2 years unfortunately due to the contract with school being written the way it was, and I did not want to leave my school. The school paid an insane amount of money to them as well. I was making 33,000, and the school was paying 52,500 per month....so they were pocketing 20k a month for overhead and 'expenses of running a business'. I called them out on it, and no longer work for them.......2. Echo English I did my TEFL course through in Krabi several years ago, and still stay in contact with them now. I personally know 3 of the owners, and they do what they can to make things right. It is a young company, but they have their act together. The owners are Thai, British and Australian for the ones I know, and they do well with followup and keep up with paperwork deadlines for work permit, visa, teaching license etc from what I have heard. Never had a problem with them at all.
3. The last agency, which is the one my school now uses, is OEG. They help with initial paperwork for visa and work permit / teaching license, but then you are more or less on your own. The BIG plus to them is that you can sign direct with the school after your first term. OEG only takes a 1-time finders fee for the paperwork and getting you the teacher. The staff is nice, and all of them are bilingual. The manager is an American, really nice guy.
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Read elsewhere that the boat was traveling at high speed even though poor visibility due to heavy rain.
In Ao Nang today the rain was so heavy I could not see 100 meters down the road in front of me. The fog was also present on and off. I'm absolutely sure that the conditions would have been near the same out on the water only a few km from here.
If the driver was traveling at high speed there is no way he could have seen anything in front of him more than 100m...so no time to react.
Hope those lost at sea are found alive.
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I don't have any official documentation on it, so cannot confirm 100%, but the Ministry of Labor person processing mine 3 years ago told me that the teacher must be full time, so teaching at least 12 contact hours a week / working at school for 30+ hours per week.
It sounded like they just want to make sure you have a full time job and can fully support yourself in country.
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For those of you that have never seen the xray images....this is what they look like. Here is a gun, a knife and an IED (bomb) in a bag. Granted, it is very sparsely packed, but any trained operator would be able to see the gun.....even in the midst of a bunch of junk.
This is not a good situation for the passenger, nor for the security screener at the airport.
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Even if there was very little metal in the gun, it would be picked up by the WTMD (metal detector). If he put it in his bag, they show up clear as day on the xray machines, no matter what brand it is.
The only way that he could have gotten away with it is if it was in many pieces AND the spring in the gun, as well as magazine, were plastic.
Before I get blasted by everybody of where my proof of this is, I worked for the boys in blue at the airport in the USA for some years before coming here. Even plastic childrens toy guns show up clear as day on the xray if you are screening bags properly. I have seen many fake and real guns come through the xray machines (L3, rapiscan, CTX, you name it), and have seen more than a few kids (and 1 STUPID police officer) come through my metal detector with a gun concealed on their person.
If the attendants on the equipment were not doing their job, or were otherwise distracted, then it could be very easy to miss.....but the alarm on the metal detector cannot be overlooked....everybody in the screening area hears it!!
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One day late on this forecast...had over 10cm of rain in a little over 2 hours and massive wind gusts in northern Phrae Province LAST NIGHT....flooded the ground floor of one of our school buildings...
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Songkran AND New Year's?
Chok dee......-
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stopping same sex couples from taking babies out of the country is good.i have no problem with people having a same sex partner but do not believe they should come here looking to get children they cannot have naturally.basicly same sex partners cannot have babies with each other and therefore cannot have children.i am not religious at all but do believe in the natural order of life.
So Keith, let me get this right. Same sex partners cannot have babies naturally, so they should not reproduce.
I am infertile, and therefore unable to reproduce....so since I cannot have a baby myself I should not have a surrogate?
Incidentally, I am a lesbian too, so I guess that is a double whammy in your book??
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In Phrae, the road that runs along the west side of the Yom River heading north has many old Lanna styles mansions. I use to stay at the Tepawong Guest House but I am not sure if it now has the same Brit-Thai couple owners as before. There are also a number of smaller back roads that can take you up to Nan without having to travel the main 101 highway the entire way.
Following up the Yom River will take you through a number of small villages and eventually land you in Song. From there you can see Lilit Phra Lor site and temple, you can also see Kaeng Suea Ten rapids in Mae Yom National Park. You can then take the mountain route through Sa Aiap, with many surrounding hill tribes if you get really adventurous and then get the Nan / Phayao highway to either destination.
Many Teak farms / forests through here as well, and it is completely untouched by tourism. I am 1 of about 5 westerners that live in Song District...if you want to venture this way, feel free to send me a message and I can get you more details about hte area, can possibly show you around if the timing is right.
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There is a way that TCT verifies your institution, but maybe not your individual degree. I am the coordinator for foreign teachers at my school, and have been instructed by both TCT and the Provincial Education Service Office to use a website through the workforce management. Unfortunately I am away from my computer so cannot give the address.
I have found that USA and UK universities have almost no issues at all. Philippines, South Africa and Camerron have significant issues though, as apparently one is able to "purchase" their Bachelors degree, and so TCT will not certify that university. It sucks for the people that worked for their degree....because I have not yet had a University certified for the Philippines and have had to turn away quite a few applicants because of it.-
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If there is a great shortage of native speaker TEFL instructors then the void will be filled by ASEAN. There are many, many teachers in Philippines or Myanmar who have excellent English language skills and who find the wage scale in Thailand quite adequate.
HannahD, you are correct that there are MANY teachers from the Phillipines that would be willing to teach here.
Look at it from this angle though. I, myself am American, teaching in a VERY rural school in the north. We have a total of about 20 foreign teachers in the province. 3 at this school - 2 Americans and 1 Filipina. The other American and the Filipina are leaving at the end of this month (1 due to personal reasons, the other due to not having the correct education documents and being unable to obtain them for a teaching license).
I do the screening and background checks for all teaching applicants. I have over 20 applications from Filipinos on my desk right now, but cannot hire ANY of them....because of their degree. They all have Bachelor degrees (some even in Education), but I have to verify that Khurusapah (the governing body for teachers in Thailand) will recognize the degree through an online website. NOT ONE of my applicants has a degree that is certified as acceptable to teach in Thailand, yet my Bachelors degree in Criminal Justice from the USA, coupled with a TEFL certificate from England, is certified by Khurusapah.
Sure, we pay the Filipino teachers less, yes they work hard, and in many cases their English is just as fluent as mine....but getting through all the loopholes to get them a temporary teaching license, appropriate Non-B visa and work permit are a HUGE undertaking and a major pain in the @$$.
There is going to be a MAJOR shortage of teachers in this country in the next 30 days.
For the record, my school does all the paperwork properly...I have a teaching license, Non-B multiple entry visa and a valid work permit. It is a hassle to get all of the documents and have it all done correctly, but nobody at this school is sweating the visa crackdown at all :)
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On the foreign teachers blogs, many, many English teachers are talking about walking. Sick of this visa <deleted> and the shitee pay and corruption. English Thai teachers who can't string a sentence together unless it is a negative statement about how you teach.
The only reason they want foreign teachers here is so they can all collect Tea Money from the top to the bottom.
Let the Filipinos teach here. Native English Teachers think very carefully, is this place worth it?
Yes, many foreign teachers are thinking about walking. Many already have. My school is losing one this week. But it is because of the stricter requirements being placed on teachers to be here...from having the correct visa to obtaining the teaching license.
I myself will be in limbo when my teaching license expires in about 2 years. Even though I have been teaching here for almost 3 years at the same school, the test for licensure is no longer offered for foreigners, so the only course is via a degree in education or current licensure from another country - neither of which I currently have.
It's not all about tea money. Some schools, sure. These are also the same schools that are losing all of their teachers because the school will not get the appropriate visa and work permit for their teachers, or they are not really teachers at all and cannot get the relevant paperwork together.
For many of the schools, the teachers are legitimate, but it is getting harder to find the quality because of the lower pay. I am not Filipino, I am American. I do live in a VERY rural place (There are hill tribe villagers in my school), and the pay is ok...nothing great, but more than enough to exist here and save $200-300 per month without budgeting. I could not live in CM or BKK on my pay, but if I lived there I would demand higher pay.
Where I am, it is an extremely poor community, with more than 80% of the population subsistence farmers. It is very difficult for parents to come up with the THB600 per term to have the foreign teachers here (2 American and 1 Filipino), but the education their kids get will put them in a MUCH better place when it comes time for them to enter the workforce. This is true of many schools that are doing things right.
Yes, this place is ABSOLUTELY worth it. Most teachers do not teach for the pay; I certainly do not. I do it for that "light bulb effect" - when kids eyes light up when they figure something out....that's what the teaching is all about - not the money. If I wanted to make money I would have gone into IT or politics or big business. In fact, before I came here, I was in big business in the USA at a major home improvement retailer making some awesome money...but had no life outside of work and massive stress 24/7.
I'll take the lower paycheck and the "Mai Bpen Rai" attitude as I spend my weekends doing anything I want to - which usually includes an afternoon in the hammock sipping a cold Leo.
Don't assume everyone is looking to make a buck or pad their pockets....many times it is quite the opposite. Yes, it is difficult to remain legal here, but if you do it right and try to do the right thing, you will find that people are quite accommodating...and I have never padded a pocket for any reason at all.
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I teach 23 contact hours a week, and have been asked to teach 2 hours a week to the Thai teachers for each of the last 3 years. The first year, about a dozen teachers showed up the first lesson, and by the 3rd we were down to 4. A moth later, I was in the classroom every Wednesday afternoon with nobody showing up. Second year, nobody showed up. This year, nobody has shown up yet, and we are now 6 weeks into school.
Unless the school director really keeps on the Thai teachers, they are not going to hold interest for long.....the teachers that want to learn usually ask me to give them a short lesson privately. This is not a problem, as they then in turn help me out whenever I need anything, or get told about meetings, etc.
None of the other foreign teachers at the school (1 american and 1 Filipino) get this from the Thai teachers. They are left alone, normally not included in extracurricular events, and not told about things that go on in staff meetings etc.....but since I bend over backwards to help the Thai Teachers learn English, they include me in everything...and I actually feel like I belong at the school, and not just a "farang teacher" who will last no more than a year.
Give the teaching a go. The benefits FAR outweigh the 2 hour weekly inconvenience.
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As an English teacher, and having been here for over 2 years now, I can say that the system DOES need to be overhauled. However, making an Education degree a requirement is NOT the way to go. I myself do not have an Education degree. I have been teaching for a large amount of my life though in military, corporate and government settings. I do have a TEFL certificate.
By the standards that have been proposed, I will be out of a job when my extension of teaching license expires in 2 years, and will have to return to the USA. I have done continuing education, and I have also challenged the Thai teachers' test, passing 4 of the 9 sections. Now though, the test has been discontinued and there is no clear steps anymore for us to get a license other than to have the Education degree.
I agree that the backpackers with nothing to do that are just teaching to pass the time until the weekend should go. The teachers that are working on a tourist visa should go - the visa runs have effectively killed that now. But make all of us have an Education degree, and there are going to be NO teachers in this country inside of a year. Salaries are not competitive (out in the sticks in Phrae province, I make 30ish K Baht, and live comfortably, but near any city or tourist center it would be difficult to live on.
If the requirement for an Education degree goes into effect, a higher salary MUST be paid. End of story. I can't afford to go back to school on my salary to get my M. Ed. degree....so unless something changes I, too, will be leaving Thailand in 2 years.....even though my school has already offered to keep me on permanently.
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After all that learning, he will take the test.
How important it is depends on what plans you/he has for the future.
Can you elaborate a little more on that last line please ?
I also still try to determine if this is mandatory and if it is going on every Saturday for the complete term.
I am a teacher, and we teach ONET for my students at P5 and P6 level. It is the standardized test taken by all students in the country at the end of the year of P6, M3 and M6. This test plays a large part in what secondary school / university they get into, and at the M3 level, whether or not they continue on with M4-6.
In Thailand, the test is extremely important. I teach it every Saturday for 3 hours during the second term to my P6 students. P5 students is substantially less.
The reason it is not taught during class time is that we have a curriculum to follow (at least in my school), that only gently parallels what the ONET tests for.
If you want your child to get into a better secondary school, he will need both high grades and a high ONET score. If you want him at the local secondary school, then it may not be as important.
Hope it helps....
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I'm a girl but I've had people seem to want me to go hang out with them but not really be interested in talking to me at all hahhaa and they always want to take pictures with me for some reason.
Many times I've had strangers come up to me and ask to take a picture with me like I'm some kind of celebrity or something hahahaha
The funniest one was a girl using the excuse that she had to take a picture with a foreigner for her school assignment.
I've had the school assignment excuse tons of times...the first 2-3 months I was here it was daily!
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I get it quite a bit, up here in the VERY rural north. Am 1 of 5 foreigners within 30km, and the only female. The teachers at school LOVE to take me out with them so that they can introduce their foreign friend to everybody. For the first few months it was cool to meet so many new people, but now over 2 years later it is just almost an inconvenience, especially when they want to go to Lampang or Nan....having to drive a few hours to get there.
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As a teacher in a primary school in the far north, I have many students of all persuasions. LGBTQI....and nobody seems to care. I myself am lesbian, and likewise NOBODY cares. My students even try to set me up sometimes with single ladies in the villages they know.
I honestly don't see the problem at all in Thailand. After having grown up with high school first in the USA, and then in Germany, I experienced a LARGE amount of discrimination over my sexuality. Granted, this was in the late 80s and early 90s....but the Thai students, at least here in the north, seem to have no issues at all. They are all accepted unconditionally at face value.
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Just had the aftershock here in Phrae as well. Only about 10 seconds, but had a little strength to it.
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I don't know about Phuket, but I am a teacher at a government primary school way up north in Phrae, and we start classes on May 12th last I heard. Of course, until the day actually comes, that is subject to reconsideration.
There are many ideas on the table from what I understand that the present school year we are going into (2557-2558) may be drawn out a bit, and then have a bit longer break next summer.
Of course, since there may be new elections in a few weeks, and a new government possibly being installed, I'm not holding my breath on any of it....
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You're on the right track looking at the Honda and Yamaha. Only potential issue you may run into is if you decided to trek into the hills, or make the trip to Nan. The roads get quite steep. If you are alone, no problem. If you are riding 2 people, it is going to put significant strain on the engine.
I live in Phrae (Song District...just a short distance from where you will be), and have an older police issue Yamaha 150cc 6-speed. I am a rather large person (80kg), and have overheated the bike riding from Phrae to Nan, a 2 hour ride through the mountains. If you are sticking to the streets or the occasional jaunt into Phrae, you are fine. Do Nan or Lampang and it may be a little more of an issue.
Just my 2 cents....
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But yet no talk on how they would exempt those of us from the fee that already have travel insurance or insurance IN Thailand? Why on earth would I pay THB500 to enter the country when I already pay THB20000 a year for my Thai policy??
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Does anybody live in a place where "Old Thailand" still exists? eg. no internet,
in General Topics
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We still have an Akha tribe that lives in Phrae right at the border of Phayao and Nan. It is in the middle of the National Park, and more than 30km from the nearest paved road. I've been to it once, they have no English knowledge, have never seen a foreigner and most can't even speak basic Thai. THey are 100% off the grid. No TVs in the village when I was there 4 years ago, nearest cell tower 20km away and only 3 homes had solar panels for lighting. It was an amazing experience to say the least.
To get there we had a lifted 4WD Toyota pickup and still had significant problems getting there, having to cross 2 rivers and having barely more than a dirt path to follow for 30km.......I'm pretty sure they will not be on the grid anytime soon. There are only about 220 people in the village.