[Smog Doubles Chiang Mai Lung Cancer Threat]

I am starting to consider spending a month or two elsewhere, during this time.

Partly because it's said that a change is as good as a holiday, and partly because of the air problem.

So, where might be good, both as a change and a place with better air?

[Smog Doubles Chiang Mai Lung Cancer Threat]

So, where's the better air in the region at this time of year?

[Botox, 2 Places, Which One]

The injection was painful without any anesthesia, so the injected skin area were red and swallen. To make things worse, 3 days later when redness and swallen is gone, the smile lines and wrinkles all came back. Appearently, what the doctor gave me was just saline water. I believe he did not have Restylane in his office at all, that is why he recommanded Juverderm, and when I refused he went ahead, gave me saline water.

I must say I find these comments very questionable.

Firstly, I believe anaesthesia is unnecessary for procedures such as injection of Botox. Sheryl states, (as I understand it, with reference to Botox): "the pain involved is minimal and very fleeting -- whole thing takes 5-10 minutes, it's basically like a bunch of small bee stings. I've been having it done regularly for years." I have no personal experience of Botox, but that seems to the usual description from those who have used it.

Secondly, you imply that the "redness" and "swelling" were the result of the lack of anaesthesia. I don't understand the logic there, at all.

Thirdly, how did you come to the conclusion that you were injected with "saline water"?

By all accounts that I have come across, Professor Kunachak and Yoskarn Clinic have a very good reputation. I am considering a minor procedure there (not primarily cosmetic but secondarily so, I suppose). I have had no indications whatsoever of anything but professionalism and high standards of care to date.

There are plenty of dubious "clinics" offering skin care/laser/cosmetic clinics in Bangkok. I very much doubt that Yoskarn is one of them.

I'd be interested in Sheryl's comments.

[The Best Tefl Course In C Mai]

of all the universities in south-east asia, not one is supplying a tefl course that they are willing to accredit?

... considering the standards of many of those Universities, that's really quite frightening !

[The Best Tefl Course In C Mai]

No war, just a discussion that's a little more interesting than hamburgers (much as I acknowledge the importance of hamburgers). Peace Blondie's just an exceptionally pacific type of person.

To teach english as a foreign language in a private language school back in britain does not require language or education degrees. The supply would get nowhere near the demand.

What are the requirements?

A certificate with as much experience as possible. A diploma (DELTA or the trinity one) at some of the more in-demand schools would be a big advantage. Last time i knew (admittedly 2001) the certificate would need to have been the CELTA or the trinity equivalent.

Degrees in anything unrelated to teaching english hold little or no sway.

There's a certain form of logic to the attitude to the type of degree there, I guess . Not that I think that formal education is the only important kind, but sometimes it's abundantly clear that a person wishing to "do a tefl" (not referring to the OP, just making a general comment) has language skills and interests that are not quite as polished or wide-ranging as one might hope.

Getting on with the DOS in the interview will help a lot too!

How many baht are you customarily offered ?

True, though.

Show willingness to be more flexible than Houdini and able to live off the smell of an oil rag .

[The Best Tefl Course In C Mai]

"that word. i do not think it means what you think it means."

But we've gone through the looking glass, ollylama .

Was it not Humpty Dumpty who said, "When I use a word, it means just what I choose it to mean." (or thereabouts)?

As for my own teaching, i've always thought it a bit silly to be a teacher who is not fully committed and motivated by the profession they're in. After all, it's better to be unmotivated by one's work when earning a lot more than a teacher can earn. If you don't like your work, make sure you're not a teacher!

I quite agree. For many more reasons, too.

To teach english as a foreign language in a private language school back in britain does not require language or education degrees. The supply would get nowhere near the demand.

What are the requirements?

I ask partly because the OP gave us little background. He/she may be quite young and may not previously have given much thought to future teaching options. It might be worth considering taking a course in a location other than CM, for example, if that is practical. It might also be worth considering taking additional/other courses, either now or later. Some good and more substantial ones are available online. The fact is that a 4-week TEFL course alone offers quite limited options. (That's also how the language mills can justify low wages -- their "teachers" are barely qualified . Still plenty of fee-paying students from around the world eager to get a foothold in the UK and other countries, though, as well as people keen to "teach and travel" to places like Thailand).

[The Best Tefl Course In C Mai]

I have a good deal of experience teaching EFL and ESL in my very own home country of many cultures, as well as many other countries.

It has long been regarded as a specialist profession.

Forgive me, but I still simply don't know how you "do a TESL". ( But please don't provide pictures to enlighten me.)

I agree that education should not be treated as an industry.

How more simply need I express that thought ?

***For figures' sake, though, I'd say it's 80 - 90 % equilavent to a fake Gucci bag. You'll do 30% better if you are pale, to begin with.

Hope that will move the discussion along .

[The Best Tefl Course In C Mai]

And speaking of propaganda, CMU claim to do the only tefl course accredited by the ministry of education in thailand. Now, THAT'S real propaganda!!

Mmm hmm !. Now the bells are a-ringing!

It all is ... and this "industry" is not confined to Thailand, the masterland of intrigue, of course.

Show your willingness to enter the ring and be the ring master, and you, too, can earn far more ...

Who is going to think that a paper showing they "did" or "got" or "have" a something they describe as a "TEFL" from Thailand is going to be taken seriously within double digits of latitude or longitude of here, Mongolia, or [insert your place of least undesirability].

It's an industry.

[The Best Tefl Course In C Mai]

I have no idea if a tefl may or may not be

You mean, you have no idea what "a tefl" may or may not be, I suspect.

A thai-based tefl certificate could well be accepted in any country. It will depend on the teacher/dos doing the hiring. But i'd think if anybody here doing a local tefl certificate wanted to go back and teach in england or australia, they'd have a tougher time getting a job compared to any candidate with the CELTA.

Yes, but I'd think it's only the mildest of differentations if you wish to work in the mills.

Oddly enough, some countries even require language degrees and/or education degrees.

Yes, there are "EFL" mills in English-speaking countries, but I am assuming you wish to teach for the benefit of your students, rather than yourself. Perhaps I am wrong.

[Former British Lay Preacher Jailed In Thailand]

An appeals court in 2004 upheld the sentence, but he was again freed on bail and allowed to take his case to the Supreme Court, which on Wednesday ruled that Praill must start serving his jail term.

He told the BBC: "... I do not think I will survive a year.

"But I am more concerned about the reflection on my family overall and it is a disgrace to the legal system."

Sudarat Sereewat, director of the child protection group Fight Against Child Exploitation, said: "We are very pleased that the Thai judicial system is finally aware of the child sexual abuse and have handed down justice.

"This suspect should have been in jail for a long time."

I think we will all be relieved that he's now unable to enact his predilections. At his age, particularly, the venue of confinement matters little, and his comments suggest no understanding of what he has done.

It is always encouraging to see Thais making comments in the English language media about abuse of Thai children and adults.

[The Best Tefl Course In C Mai]

Have no regrets about taking the CELTA though, as I know it is recognised Internationally, whereas a TEFL taken here may not be.

And would you be basing that opinion on fact or just CELTA marketing propaganda?

I read all the teaching forums on a daily basis and cannot remember ever reading an actual first-hand report that a Thai-based TEFL isn't accepted worldwide.

Agree 100%.

Did my TEFL course at CMU in July of last year. Not an easy course, by any means, but proved it's worth when I went on to teach in China from October to December. Hope to return there this coming July/August for further teaching, but this time, on a 12 month contract basis.

Certainly NO lack of job offers with both certificates (CMU actually give you both a TEFL and CMU certificate), and am still getting job offers in the mail every couple of days.

Whichever one you pick - good luck! - and welcome to the wonderful world of teaching

Bucklt

Good for you, BuckIt, not only for your evident enjoyment of teaching (as opposed to primarily viewing the practice as a way to acquire a visa to stay in a country) but for referring to a "TEFL course". "TEFL" is not the name of a course, so you cannot claim to "get" or "have" a "TEFL" .

Also agree with Loaded re the CELTA propaganda machine. No 4-week course can possibly provide anything even remotely resembling thorough preparation, or experience, in teaching ESOL. At best, CELTA provides a lesson plan formula. The CELTA trainers are taught to play the ring master, so legends will be perpetuated about the gruelling nature of the courses. Good sales technique. While gaining a lesson plan formula is probably better than nothing (some would argue this point), and while there are certainly exceptions amongst CELTA holders, if you have no intrinsic motivation to teach and no solid language background, your "students" will probably never notice the difference. All the 4-week TEFL courses are tied to the fee-paying EFL industry.

Four week courses alone, whether or not in combination with irrelevant or relevant degrees, will generally (can anyone cite an exception?) not allow you to teach ESOL in an English-speaking country, so I suggest we tone down claims about "international regard" for any of them.

[Origins Of Thai People]

More interesting theorization :

The proto-Australoids are thought to have begun their exodus out of Africa roughly 100,000 years ago. They are thought to have used a simple form of watercraft to cross the narrow span of water between the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden. From there it is hypothesized that they followed a coastal route through south asia into Southeast Asia. While some individuals made a short oceanic voyage into Australia (50-60 KYA), giving rise to the Australian Aborigines, others continued their coastal migration north into East Asia.

Although strongly debated, it is believed that some proto-Australoid tribes may have continued their coastal migration north into East Asia, from where they pushed on into Siberia and eventually crossed the Bering Land Bridge (or followed a coastal route) into the Americas, contributing to a hypothetical population of Pre-Siberian American Aborigines.

Proponents of a proto-Australoid population wave theorize that remnants of this early founding population may be found today in Southern portion of the subcontinent, Southeast Asia and Oceania. Some have proposed connections to the Ainu of Japan. Genetically, they have been tentatively associated by some authors with mtDNA haplogroup M and Y-chromosome Haplogroup C[2], the earliest Homo Sapiens lineages thought to have migrated outside of Africa. [3]

Some Thais look very much like some Australian Aborigines, too.

[Please, Pleas For More Intelligent Discussions On Thai Visa]

We have had complaints that the topics are becoming even more moronic lately

Clearly, reading ThaiVisa is making people smarter and causing them to raise their standards.

[What Is Cool To Thai Teenagers ?]

Interesting comments, all.

Special thanks to Niva .

"Kawai" (cute, pink girly) style does seem pretty in still in Chiang Mai, if not BKK. However, that just may be how it appears to my untrained eye. Any comments from people in other areas on that ?

[What Is Cool To Thai Teenagers ?]

MK is Mortal Kombat, right ? (Had to ask someone ).

[Too Many Condo Flyers]

But using local logic, this is not a mess nor an inconvenience, except for those that jumped.

In fact, other people have been injured and even killed, I believe, when hit by someone jumping .

I agree with jingthing. I hope it won't be too many more years before we can look back on our current, uncivilized attitudes to death.

People with fatal diseases still die in totally unnecessary, prolonged agony. If I end up with dementia, I'd prefer not to linger hopelessly and in misery.

I believe we should have the right to end our own lives. Of course, there must be counselling and other help available to adults contemplating suicide but in the end the decision should be theirs. Knowing the decision was reached somewhat rationally, and not on pure impulse, might even bring their families some consolation and understanding, perhaps ?

How much money you have is a determining factor in this, obviously. Rich people don't swallow industrial poisons.

[What Is Cool To Thai Teenagers ?]

Note that unlike developed countries, interests could be vastly different between thai teenagers due to very wide differences in social class and background. The common mistake most westerners make is to overly generalize when studying developing asian countries/cultures

Yes (and probably this applies in reverse, too). Thanks for making this point.

I am interested in all teens in Thailand. I could have made that clearer.

What do teenagers in villages and on farms do in their free time ?

Hi Spectrum,

You're right AF is Academy Fantasia and forgive me for being lazy

I wish you good luck sitting through the whole show though...

Thanks. I have caught glimpses of it and was completely mystified .

[What Is Cool To Thai Teenagers ?]

Erm ... is AF Academy Fantasia ?

[What Is Cool To Thai Teenagers ?]

Great comments, higgy88 and others ! Thank you.

[The Universal Laws Of Physics]

Well, if I were Thai, or a woman, that could perhaps be true but I DO like the Noble Savage thing and may take it on as my new TV name! Whoa, Noble Savage - I like it!

So cu-eww !!!

[The Universal Laws Of Physics]

Dustoff, you seem overly defensive somehow. Kinda like taking the "noble savage" point of view.

Well, if I were Thai, or a woman, that could perhaps be true but I DO like the Noble Savage thing and may take it on as my new TV name!

I mean defensive of your wife, as I think you know very well.

I am a major skeptic, but I do believe there are laws of physics.

Not me. Since my birth was obviously an accident, everything else must be as well...

Obviously ? How so ?

[The Universal Laws Of Physics]

Spooky -- I wrote "edumacation" in my post at the same time Sabum was writing.

Dustoff, you seem overly defensive somehow. Kinda like taking the "noble savage" point of view. I am a major skeptic, but I do believe there are laws of physics.

[The Universal Laws Of Physics]

I am an antipodean woman with some exposure to edumacation.

I know my blindspots, and while I am a "feminist" ( ! the horror ! ) I believe men & women do tend to have gender-specific strengths and weaknesses. The same can be true of cultures. Some are more "right-brained" overall, some more "left brained".

All just honest, and one of the funnier threads we have had here in a long time.

[The Universal Laws Of Physics]

Which cools faster, the cup of black coffee or the one with milk added ?

I thought opening and closing the fridge door frequently did use more power than leaving it open for a few minutes. (Obviously, when taking stuff out and putting back in; not just for recreational purposes ).

Long, long ago, in a continent far, far away, I went for a walk on the beach with my boyfriend. There was little light, other than from the moon. I told him we'd be able to re-find the spot where the track led down to the beach from the road because the moon was overhead it .

[What Is Cool To Thai Teenagers ?]

Thanks, lopburi3.

RakJungTorlae and Teacup, many thanks, too . Very helpful .