troysantos
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Posts posted by troysantos
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I got a work permit for online teaching from the labor office in Songkhla last June, and just renewed it last week. I teach online with a Japanese company, where 80% of students are Japanese, and a few are Thais. I didn't do any fancy footwork or bribe anyone to get the permit.
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Sorry for not showing this earlier. I copied and pasted this
"- Evidence of adequate finance ( 20,000 Baht per person and 40,000 Baht per family )"
from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs website
mfa.go.th/main/en/services/4908/15398-Issuance-of-Visa.html
I don't know how to interpret the 20K per person and the 40K per family. I do have 400K in the bank, but don't yet have 20K monthly income.
Thanks for the help with this ????
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ubonjoe ... asiaexpat is right - I'll apply for a non-O based on marriage, not the extension. I saw your PDF file about requirements for the extension. I'll apply for the visa at the Kota Bharu consulate in Malaysia.
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Is it correct that I need to show proof of income to get a non-O based on marriage? I've seen that I need to show proof that I get at least 20,000 baht per month and that the family gets at least 40,000 baht per month. But I haven't seen anything about that in this forum and need to make sure it's correct. I'll apply for the visa in Kota Bharu, Malaysia. I appreciate the helpful people on this forum :)
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Could always try it online, this is the actual immigration department website, not an agency;
Now ... this is interesting. This is for a single-entry visa, they cost US$25. Wonder if I can get a 3-month using this online process.
**Update: nope, a person from this website said this site is only good for 1-month visas.
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20 minutes ago, Upnotover said:
Could always try it online, this is the actual immigration department website, not an agency;
Now ... this is interesting. Thanks :) This is for a single-entry visa, they cost US$25. I've seen that a 1-year visa costs US$135. Wonder if I can get a 3-month using this online process. I forgot to mention in my previous post that I will go there to work for 1 year.
18 minutes ago, Mrjlh said:I take it you are wanting to go to Vietnam from Thailand. Am I correct? if so you don't got the US Embassy you go to the Vietnam Embassy in Bangkok just down the road from the US Embassy.
Procedure is simple and all on the Vietnan Embassy website. Or you can fly to Vietnam and get an "on arrival" visa. I believe yo pay more for the "on arrival" but can't remember. If you got the Vietnam Embassy you turn in paperwork morning get it back afternoon.
Yes, I'm aware that I need to go to the VN embassy.
Please realize that this link is not to the VN embassy's website. The disclaimer at the bottom says so. And, the copyright is from 2013 so maybe this is an old website. I've seen 1 or 2 other websites like this. Sure looks convenient :) And, since they offer multiple entry visas, and for more than just one month, these are interesting sites :)
I've seen something elsewhere about the visa on arrival. I'll have to look into that again.
I've seen posts on TV about all this VN visa stuff. But the latest was, if I'm not mistaken, from January of this year. Most was from last year, so I'd like to see more recent info.
I'm way down in Hat Yai and getting to BKK just to apply for the visa isn't an option right now.
Thanks guys
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Seems there are differences in various ways for Americans as compared with other nationalities. Can someone tell me the procedures for Americans applying for a visa at the Bangkok embassy, or a phone number for the embassy that a person will answer?
Phone numbers I've tried but have had no luck with are:
- 02-251-3552 - from the embassy's website. Rings but nobody answers
- 02-251-7202 - from the embassy's website. Gets you a lady's voice message. Says to use extension 116, which will ring, but then a man's voice recording says, "Sorry, lines busy. Thank you."
- 02-650-8979 - The lady's voice message gives this phone number.
- 02-251-5838 - from the website. Cuts off without ringing.
Any or all of these would be great:
- the costs involved
- how long it takes to get the visa
- how long the visa is valid
- can (or must!) I use a service?
This page at the embassy's website is somewhat helpful. It says,
- Tourist Visas: Prior arrangements with Viet Nam's agencies are required and to be paid. As a rule, these agencies have to contact Viet Nam's Immigration Department for tourist visas. Seems like you need to use a service, but I'd rather be certain. It also says how much visas for various lengths of stay cost. Also, the website has an online form you can fill out, and need to finish in 15 minutes! Well, I'm not ready to fill out a form so I didn't. There is no other information regarding applying for a visa that I could find on the website.Any help at all would be appreciated:)
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Anyone got a currently working number? I just tried 02-251-5836-8 and 02-267-9602. All 4 phone numbers failed within a second or two. I'm an American, wanting to go to VN, so I want to get clarity regarding the current visa situation.
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Been busy dealing with other issues the past few days. Thanks a lot everyone for the responses
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I've read about all that my eyeballs care to read about getting a marriage visa at the Savannakhet consulate. Great. I'll go there because I don't have 400K baht. But one thing I am not sure about is getting a Non-O visa based on marriage from a simple Non-O (based on nothing in particular!). I'll go to Georgetown consulate tomorrow and get a simple Non-O visa, double entry, if I can.
90 days later, I'll want to have the marriage visa. Will I need to convert from a simple Non-O to a Non-O based on marriage? Or will I get a visa extension?
Thanks
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Thanks very much Joe. Just one more thing. For a Non-O visa, are application and collection the same day or consecutive days?
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I am certain I could find an answer to my question on this forum, but after 20 minutes, I give up. So much easier for me to just ask! What hours does the Penang consulate accept applications, what hours do they return passports (with visa, thank you very much
, and, returned the next day or the following day?
I'd expect this info would be in a pinned post somewhere, but I don't see any pinned posts at all. I've been away from TV for quite a long time, so it's to be expected that nothing lasts forever
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I realize that people have been killing bacteria and fungi in the soil for umpteen decades (I actually have no idea how long!). But, take a look at this and maybe you'll reconsider.
www dot youtube.com/watch?v=GEtl09VZiSU
Just take a look at the home page and see what you think. www dot soilfoodweb.com
Instead of killing the microorganisms in the soil, create the conditions for a healthy equilibrium of "good" and "bad" bacteria, fungi, nematodes, and the other soil critters (as well as the characters that live on and above soil) depicted in the home page of the link just above. Ask yourself which makes more sense to you.
Instead of taking a piecemeal approach to the "managing" the soil (and life for that matter), look at the soil as an ecosystem. Under proper conditions, what we grow will thrive.
Ever heard of Masanobu Fukuoka's One Straw Revolution? An awesome book for a new (40 years since the book was published!) perception of farming, and of life. Also, take a look on the internet for permaculture. Another amazing approach to life, with a particular emphasis on farming.
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A F/T masters course is normally 12 months, so at the end of the first semester the course is almost half over apart from the project paper. There is little point querying the delivery of a course you are already embarked upon. You just have to make the best of it. It won't change while you are there. However, you do need access to resources. This is the potential weak spot of an overseas course delivered in English but where the institution's first language is not English. The risk is that you study on a diet of 1/2 set texts and some handouts. Some subjects however (eg straight instruction like SPSS) only need the lecturer to provide a work through manual. For sure you should read up and around for courseworks and the thesis.
"A F/T masters course is normally 12 months...."!!
- It's always been my impression that, at least in the USA, a master's degree is considered to take about two years. My program is a two year course, but few people finish in two. Many students have full time jobs so committing to both full time work and full time studies is "hard". Others ... you know, not all that interested in studying. During orientation the professors told us that in order to graduate in two years you need a good amount of discipline, diligence, and determination. Some students are in their fifth year! I think that's the cut-off. If a person still hasn't graduated at the end of five years ... I don't know what happens to them.
"This is the potential weak spot of an overseas course delivered in English...." My courses are in Thai. For me, that's one weak point. Though I'm decently fluent in Thai, the reading is a bit above my level, as well as some of the lecture material. I honestly don't know what the library has available as I haven't yet had to go check out any books. Professors supply us with everything we need to read, except two professors who do require that we search out material, and, encourage us strongly to think for ourselves, and to analyze situations using what we've learned, and to synthesize information into something perhaps even new! They encourage interaction with life! I've been doing that for years, and very much appreciate a person who encourages just this.
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SheungWan ... thanks for that. Honestly, I hadn't made the distinction about professors and lecturers not being teachers. You and / or others may ridicule me (and given what I've seen on this and other fora, I wouldn't be surprised. Yet I'm not pointing any fingers at you or anyone else in particular).
I did mention this observation to one of my professors and his response was that starting the second semester the reading load will increase.
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For whatever it's worth, I'll reply to this. I'm in my first semester of a master's degree at PSU (Prince of Songkhla University) in Hat Yai and overall, I'm satisfied. The reading load is way way lower than just the reading load for my bachelor's at University of California, Santa Cruz (UCSC). But the professor's I think are first rate in some respects. The content of their teaching, the content of the classes, their requirements to really understand the material ... all of this is in my view right on. They all speak English very well (though my course work is in Thai), and at least some of them have studied overseas, or with foreign professors here in Thailand. They motivate us and inspire us to dig deep into the material, not settle for superficiality.
The classes are small. There are 11 students this year.
However, there are students who talk in class and the professors say nothing about it. They'll hold conversations in such small intimate settings, and for me anyway, it'd be disturbing if I were sitting next to them. I sit at the very front so they're chatting doesn't bother me. I once mentioned this to a professor and he said he'd talk with other professors about this, but nothing's changed, even in his own class!
The pace and atmosphere is very casual, which I like. To me, you get out of it what you put into it.
I probably wouldn't consider studying here if I didn't live here. I'm in the Agricultural Development Department and want work in this field, in Thailand or maybe some other ASEAN country and do believe that this will be respected by local and even international NGOs and foundations. I also realize that just my bachelor's degree in Cultural Anthropology from UCSC would get me a job at a local NGO for sure, and maybe an international NGO, but I'm happy to get this education just the same.
One of my professors here has told me that you really need to earn a passing grade. A friend who seems to know everything has told me though that professors will do everything possible to pass a student!
Whatever, I'm going to work locally. I believe this education is going to be useful for a career here, and that the degree won't be a hindrance to getting good work.
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battersea ... I'm wondering who you're addressing here by saying you'll give it a go. Seems you must mean you'll try the wicking beds. If so, please post on here about how it's going. I'm super interested in this style, and would love to know about other people's results with this method. If you did not mean you'll try wicking beds, sorry.
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I've got some plastic totes that I got from Big C for 200 or 300 baht. One cool thing about these is that you can see some of the roots. I've also got a few of those styrofoam containers that Thai vegetable sellers use to transport vegetables in. I used to wonder about chemicals from the plastic totes and from the styrofoam containers leaching into the soil, and into the plants, but I've quit thinking about it.
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I'm in Hat Yai and grew some heirloom tomatoes from the US. Came out decently well but it sure seems like the time to grow them has passed. Since you're considering raised beds, boy, I'd sure like to suggest that you look into Worm Wicking Beds. There are tons of designs on the internet, on YouTube. Cool. And, since Isan has long dry seasons, this kind of wicking bed would be ideal because it's so water frugal. Aside from that, if you're gone for days at a time the plants will still get water because there is water at the bottom of the bed, in a reservoir. And since you don't water from above (you put water into a vertical tube or pipe that leads to the reservoir), the surface stays relatively dry, thereby minimizing weed seed germination.
The design can be very simple or much more sophisticated.
I've made a few very simple beds on my rooftop in the city. But now I think I've probably thought of the most money frugal way to make one of these beds. I bought some small bags of soil that they sell around here 3 for 100 baht. Different sellers use one of two kinds of sack. One is just a heavy duty plastic bag while the other is the woven plastic type, with a thin plastic bag inside.
After you understand how wicking beds work, you'll realize that you can simply poke a couple of holes near the bottom of the sack, say an inch from the ground. That will allow water to stay at the bottom of the sack, and allow excess water to drain out.
There's nothing at all attractive about this super simple way. But if you're going to make raised beds, you could simply put these sacks into the bed, cover it all with soil, put a small pipe into each sack, and you're ready for planting. Me, instead of using pipe, I've cut the bottoms off of small water bottles, put two together, flattened them, and put those into the sacks, and into some of the wicking beds I've made.
It's a good idea to let the water at the bottom dry out before adding water so that the water in the reservoir doesn't become stagnant.
Some people put a horizontal pipe between their beds so they all get watered at the same time, from a small tank that functions only as a source of water.
Another super super cool idea is the worm tube. I haven't put one into any of my beds however. It's a good collect that runoff water, especially if you've got worms in there, because that water has food for plants. Also, since Isan has that long dry spell, you'd be that much more water frugal.
Collecting that water run-off is consistent with a Permaculture principle. Permaculture is cool cool cool. I'm a master's degree student in Hat Yai, in Agricultural Development, doing research on Permaculture applicability in Thailand.
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I know there are programs out there that will show you sentences to read and then record your voice. Then compare your pronunciation with the same text spoken by a native speaker. Of course, no two native speakers (even from the same hometown or even siblings!) say everything exactly alike. So, comparing a language learner's pronunciation with the program is open to criticism, but I think it's useful just the same.
So, anyone know of such a program? I only know that there are such programs but I don't know any names.
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Thanks. However I'm looking for something that has an interface in Thai. Anyway, I'll look at the program. Thanks.
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I'm about to start teaching English to some uni students and want to suggest that they use a computer flashcard program. Something similar to Anki would be cool, but I haven't yet found anything. Anyone know of such a thing? I forget now if it's okay to post links so I'll do this http://www.ankisrs . com/ Cool program. Uses spaced repetition.
A guy named Benny Lewis wrote a guest blog on Tim Ferriss' blog listing his suggestions for language learning. I'm modifying it. Anyway, one of his suggestions is to use Anki. Since the interface is all in English, Thais aren't gonna use it. So, I'd really like to find something in Thai.
Of course I don't have high hopes that all or even most of my students are going to ever use such a program, but for those that will, I want to have something to offer.
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, and, returned the next day or the following day?
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Teaching English online
in Thai Visas, Residency, and Work Permits
Posted
I have a degree and a TESOL, not a TEFL, but for sure the labor office has no idea of what either are, nor would they care. Good luck and hope you find good work ????