[Language schools in Thailand's border provinces see spike in number of students]

Any native English speaker that has a background police check and some sort of TEFL Ccert should be not only be allowed to teach, but actively helped with automatic one year visas and work permits. The aim of having a native speaker for every class in Thailand for at least one lesson a day from KG-M6.

This would be greatly beneficial to the future of Thailand, but would eat the Thais up, making it so easy for Westerners here.

The ASEAN hub of cutting off one's nose tomspite one's face.

Not so sure about that; yes the paperwork is a pain, but the real problem is the Thai government education system, the huge class sizes, all the days off and standing on ceremony that eat into classroom time, etc.

Corruption is also rampant in the MoE. It seldom gets mentioned, but it siphons off resources big time.

There are more native English speakers working as teachers in Thailand by far than any of its Asean neighbors, yet the country still comes in last in terms of proficiency.

I don't believe a TEFL certificate should be required to teach here and haven't noted any overall increase in teacher quality since it became a requirement. I guess it is good for teachers starting at 'ground zero' in terms of experience, but I don't think it should be a requirement for experienced teachers who don't have it and don't want to waste time and money just to get a piece of paper...It's that type of paper-chasing mentality that is part of the problem, not the solution, IMHO...

I don't believe anyone who was a brick layer, truck driver, factory worker, garbage man or any other profession other than teacher should teach English in Thailand. You want to blame the poor level of English on anything, then the level of utter rubbish teaching the language would be as good a place to start as any. Needless to say wages would need to improve to attract real teachers, but the utter cax masquerading as teachers is nothing short of shameless.

Having both TEFL and an English degree i would say that the TEFL provided much better training than the degree itself. To be honest, no degree in any field (even education) can make up for experience teaching in the field. Someone with a degree in education might discover that they have no classroom management skills once they start working. And if you narrow down the field to the point where only people with degrees in education can teach in Thailand, then the selection pool would be so low that those few who are eligible would then need to be paid higher salaries that most schools can't afford (supply and demand). Nearly every one here with a degree in education are already teaching in international schools making anywhere from 60,000 baht a month to 200,000+ a month.

I think the real problem here is the lack of interest from both the schools and students. They just don't care all that much.

[Mercedes-driving Hot Shot crushes less rich, slower man in his way, witnesses say]

no license plate, no name, and no photo to identify this guy. He must have been a big shot or something.

[Body of Russian expat, kidnapped in Phuket, believed found]

They've probably already aquired stolen passsports and fled the country

[Double-decker bus may be banned from hilly roads in Thailand]

Maybe they should just ban hilly roads. It would be about as effective as anything else they say they will do to fix the problem concerning road accidents.

[Double-decker bus may be banned from hilly roads in Thailand]

Let's be real for a minute, until the police can be trusted to enforce real traffic laws (I.E. speed limits, reckless driving etc. etc.) as opposed to blatantly pulling people over and demanding bribe money from people these kind of things won't stop.

[Courtship practices, rituals and procedures of educated Thai middle class girls]

I've met some middle to upper class girls with farang boyfriends and some open to dating farang, but they aren't exclusively looking for farang and they certainly won't be seen with a man 20 years older than them. They come from families with decent income and aren't looking for the free ride that a lot of girls with bad reputations seem to go after. They have a lot of options of both good looking and well to do Thai and farang so why would they limit themselves to either?

[Best Embassy In Cambodia For 60 Day Thai Visa]

I went to the Thai Embassy in Cambodia for my Ed Visa. It took a week and the staff was absolutely rude and useless, which is why i won't use that consulate again. Phnom Pehn as a city is really nice though. If you do decide to go there be wary of the guy in uniform directly in front of the Embassy in the little empty hut, he does NOT work for the embassy and will tell you that it is closed, i went anyway and it was not in fact closed.

I've heard that they only offer a single tourist visa as others in this forum have pointed out, but Vientienne offers a double, takes a single night and is hassle free. On the other hand I had a lot more fun in Cambodia as it's nightlife seemed slightly more robust than Vientienne, not to mention the many tourist attractions and the Russian market (extremely cheap clothing directly from the source) as well, so they both have their pros and cons.

[Two Thai universities almost crack global ranking]

You mean to tell me that the school (Chula) whose students didn't even know who Hitler is supposed to be near the top 200 hundred schools in the world? I could name hundreds of better schools in America alone.

[Gunfire becomes new norm in Thai capital]

In 11 years, never seen, or heard anything remotely like gunfire, etc. Guess I'm lucky- according to Reuters I am living in a war zone...

In just a single year in Bangkok i was fortunate enough to at one point and time be stuck in my apartment in Ramkamhaeng for several days listening to gunshots and explosions at random hours. I can still remember the smell of the burning bus. Certain areas are warzones, you should consider yourself lucky.

[Police want independence]

The jet ski scam has been going on for years, now imagine if the police had more independance and less people to govern them. Free of repurcussion, just think of all the new scams that could take place.

[Hugging World Record broken in Pattaya]

pattaya huh? i wonder if they also broke the record for simultneous pickpocketing?

[How does your wife 'destroy' Western food]

It's the ketchup on the pizza that kills me. It just straight up ruins the flavor.

[Foreign Teachers for the Southern Provinces]

I would do it for 100,000 a month.

[stupid action by me]

I would have stayed out of it as it's Thai on Thai. My logic would tell me that his aggression would probably increase at the sight of a farang interfering in Thai matters (as you've previously stated that he was clearly a red shirt). I would have simply observed and interfered if and only if he would have attacked them (and i honestly would have).

[Emergency Phone Number: What is it?]

No one would have pushed their way through me and into my home, and if they did they wouldn't be leaving on their own two feet. I understand that this is Thailand, but letting the locals trespass into your home (or anyone for that matter) is just unnacceptable.

[Steroids for Exercise]

no pain, no gain. start slow and buil yourself up, but don't push yourself to the point where you can't exercise for more than a day.

[Thai retailer apology for controversial Chinese New Year ad]

Everything is racist nowadays. The Dunkin Donuts ad had nothing to do with the original blackface as Thai's have no idea what it is in the first place. The Chinese ad is just a kind of humour.

The question that needs to be asked is : Was it insulting anyone's race? The answer is no. They were just invoking humor in order to pitch a product. No where in the ad does it say Chinese people are bad.

[Where can I get good Chinese food? How come Chinese food in Thailand is not good as other countries?]

Hell where can I find good Americanized Chinese food like Panda Express?

I want some General Tso's or some orange chicken so bad. It's been far too long.

[Oztag in Bangkok]

i can't find that on facebook, can you give a link?

[Lots of Freetime - What Options Are There?]

Sounds like you need a hobby

[Cambodian citizens implicated in murder of Thai protester in Bang-na]

80 snipers on rooftops? that's the equivalent of an army company. Why would you need 80? The entire point of a sniper is because they can shoot well; therefore, you should only need one good one.

[Is there a nasty virus going around?]

I've been couching up mucus a lot since New Years, but i think it might be smog related i'm not sure.

[Urgent help needed!]

The pregnancy trick isn't exclusive to Thailand, but in fact is very common the world over. Some pregnant women even sell positive pregnancy tests in the US, especially near military bases (Fort Bragg, looking at you).

All that aside, i've heard that there are dna tests that both of you can take and mail in to see if the DNA matches. If it does then cool, congrats. If not then you won't be played like a sucker, congrats.

[Oztag in Bangkok]

You might be able to find some more people on a facebook page called "desperately seeking bangkok." I'd be interested to join depending the when and wheres. I used to play the American version when i was a child.

[Is shutting down bkk good strategy?]

It doesn't seem to be working. Just business as usual.