Shame on me!

It took me 4 days to finish the entry about the Labour Department. But I was busy. On Friday I moved house, on Saturday I went to Chonburi with my wife to fix the car and take care of some business, on Sunday we came back to Bangkok and bought some furniture, on Monday I drove my brother and my sister-in-law to the airport, and today I cleaned the new apartment and did some work.

Labour Department

Friday I went to the Labour Department in Ding Deng (or Din Daeng!) area to get my work permit. Apparently, the old employer did sign me out, so there were no problems anymore.

I clocked out from school at around 12:30 pm and rode my bike down Rama IX Road. At a point it started raining, but it never really rained! From Ramkhampaeng area I could have reached Ding Daeng down Ladprao Road too, and then down Viphawadi Road, but that route is longer and the traffic is slower.

Although I've been here before, I failed to see this big bilingual sign before!

This is the main enterance. Taxis are not allowed inside, but I went in on my motorbike with no problems at all.

The motorbike parking area is on the left of the main building.

I've never used Gate 1 before because I was always taken by the lady who takes care of my visa and work permit through the side gate, the one that faces the Thai-Japan Sport Complex (in the picture above).

I arrived more than 20 minutes earlier than I was supposed to, so I went sightseeing. This shrine is located between Gates 1 and 2. There was a man sitting on the steps, but when he saw me taking pictures with my mobile phone, he quickly stood up and ruined my picture.

The House of Spirits is a must. All buildings in Thailand have one. From huts to 5-star hotels. Thais are superstitious!

The building of the Ministry of Labour proudly awaits all alien workers.

In front of the Information counter there was a beautiful display about Their Majesties the King and Queen of Thailand, but all the captions and explanations were in Thai.

Having in mind the great number of foreigners that come to the Ministry of Labour, I wonder why nobody bothered to translate the posters in English.

An elaborate arrangement that commemorates Her Majesty the Queen, whose birthday will be celebrated soon.

There are many things you can do while waiting for whomever you have to wait. You can have a coffee or some fancy rice at one of these two booths.

You can buy some clothes!

You can have an inexpensive lunch in the canteen.

Or, you can listen to the Filipinos showing off their singing skills!

When finally the long awaited person came (just one hour late!) we went up the stairs, to the first floor...

As we were climbing the stairs, a group of people, armed with future boards and a portable loudspeaker, started making noise. I don’t know what it was all about, but they definitely collected money for some cause.

And again, the waiting game, which lucky me, lasted less than 15 minutes!

After I had signed my name on several pieces of paper (which I didn't even bother to read), I got my long awaited work permit. The expiry date read: July 31, 2007. Ups!

We quickly ran to the Immigration Bureau on the other side of Bangkok, where my Non-B visa was extended for one year. Now, they’ll have to go back with the work permit to the Labour Department to have it extended too!

Three legged dog

Pictures taken in front of the Labour Department, in Ding Deng area. Although I wanted to add some captions as I always do, this time I will the pics speak for themselves.

Movies only in Thai!

All Thai channels have programmes and movies only in Thai. It is very hard, if not impossible, to find a movie (in any foreign language!) with Thai subtitles. But, I have to admit that, in the last 4 months, I’ve seen one Thai movie that had English subtitles! Hip, hip hooray!

German translation

I noticed this morning that the post Bicycles and motorbikes, published on July 20, had a blog that linked to it. I clicked on the link and found a blog in German entitled “Tourizm Filtered.” My post had been translated into German: Geschichten von Thailand: Fahrräder und Motorräder. Now that’s a good one!

Movie Corner

When I moved back to Bangkok (after a 10-month stint in the Middle East), one of the first things that I did was register at one of the many CD-DVD stores that populate my neighbourhood.

A few years back, the registration fee was 400, then 200, then 100 baht. Now, the competition is so big, that this particular video store, called "Movie Corner," doesn't charge anything when you first register. But, you can only borrow CVDs. If you want DVDs, then you do have to pay a one-time registration fee of 100 baht. As the DVD offer is pretty weak, I decided to go for the CVDs only.

The girls that work there are always nice, although they speak no English at all. A few days ago, when I was alone (actually with my borther, but without my Thai wife) one of the girls offered me some sour mango.

There are over 7.000 CVDs and DVDs in the store. Most of the old movies are in Thai only, but the new ones are soundtracks too. Apparently, after a while they get rid of the soundtracks and keep only the Thai version.

The cost of one CVD is 20 baht / night. If you forget to return the movie on time, you have to pay a 'fine' of 10 baht / night.

With 5 receipts you can get one CVD for free, or you can use the cupons you get when you register to rent 2 CVD for 30 baht, or rent 2 and get one free (but in this case you have to pay 40 baht). At times, they have different offers too. Very cheap indeed!

Visa problems

Today I had to go to the Immigration Bureau to get a 7 days extension stamp on my Non-B visa.

Apparently, my former employer didn’t ‘release’ my old work permit. The agency that I’m working for now tried to persuade the manager/owner of my old school do it asap, but he said he did all he had to do when I left.

Now, how and why I left the school, that’s a different story. To cut it short, we agreed on a contract, and when the semester started, he seemed to have forgotten what he had promised me. I expressed my dissatisfaction, and he told me that if I was not happy I could go. After two weeks I boarded a plane for the Middle East. BUT, I did make sure that before I left all the boxes were ticked, all the reflections were completed, basically that all my work was up to date!

Without the old permit cancelled (or whatever they have to do with it!), my school cannot get me a one year visa! So, today I went to the Immigration Bureau with a guy from the agency to get a one week extension (that cost 1,900 baht).

The building of the Immigration Bureau.

The shirne that faces the building.

The Buddha image inside the shire must be really valuable (as it is behind a protective glass).

Got that? I do remember that on my last trip to the Immigration Bureau (more than a year ago) there were a lot of foreigners with boring looking faces sitting on the tiles!

The officers at the information desk were promt and helful!

The waiting game...

What will happen next, I really don’t know, but I’m kind of worried!

At the barber's

As I promised, I'm back with more pics from the barber's shop. But, Jesus Christ, my internet connection drives me crazy. Is there's anybody out there who can tell me where I can buy a satellite dish or something that will make my internet faster (don't forget that I live in an apartment building and I cannot get my own phone line)!!!!

There are so many things you can do in a barber's shop while waiting for your turn. My favourite is relaxing on the leather sofa and watching people.

You can always read the newspapers... that is, of course, if you can read Thai.

The TV is always on and silly soap operas run as long as the shop is open.

Or, you can call your friends with this ancient looking phone (it reminded me of The Matrix). I picked up the receiver, but there was no dial tone. One of the barbers told me that it was just for show!

I guess we interrupted someone's dinner!

This is the pot where they keep small towels warm and moist. They use the towels to rub / clean / massage your face after they had shaved you.

The shop looks better with a few toys in a cuboard, doesn't it!

The barber who works at this chair called it a day and went home.

Almost done!

I wonder what they do with the hair! In Europe, if I'm not mistaken, they keep it and sell it to the wigs makers.

While I was waiting for my brother, I bought front outside some warm watermelon (for 10 baht). i couldn't finish it. The leftover are still in my fridge. :(

Haircut

Today I wanted celebrated my 5th year in Thailand by doing something that I enjoy.

So, in the evening I went with my brother to a nearby barber’s shop, where for 60 baht, I had a hair cut. Usually they give you a quick, but strong, shoulders and head massage too, but I don’t know why I didn’t get one today. Maybe it was because I didn’t look like one of the usual suspects, who lets the barber shave their entire face, forehead, cheeks and earlobes included!

After the guy had given my hairdo the final touch he wanted to lower the seat and shave my face. I told him that I didn’t want to. I tried it for a few times, but my beard is too hard and they always cut me or leave uncut patches of beard around my chin. And I wasn’t curious about anyone trimming my nose hairs either.

More pictures soon! Unfortunately, the pictures are not of great quality, as I forgot my camera at home, and thus had to use my mobile phone instead.

Bicycles and motorbikes

Bicycles are by far the cheapest way to travel in Bangkok (or, as a matter of fact, any other place in Thailand).

But, it's wise to use them only when you travel short distances on side streets (called soi). The drawbacks are that, apart from the fact that you will inhale toxic gases emanated by cars, buses, and motorbikes (I usually wear a mask to prevent that!), faster vehicles can easily hit and run over you. Just make sure the handle is intact!

The bicycle above cost me 2.050 baht (the extra seating cushion included). Similar ones can be found at any Big C or Tesco Lotus hypermarkets from around Thailand.

For my customized second-hand Honda Wave 125 I paid about 14,500 baht (in Chonburi province). The previous owner thought that it would look cooler if he chopped about 10 cm from the front and back suspensions. Too bad that my legs are too long…

Honda chopper for sale. Initial price: 80.000 baht. After negotiations: 65.000 baht.

Dogs everywhere

There are so many stray dogs in Thailand! I have been living and working in this country for 5 years now, but even I am sometimes shocked by the hoards of stray dog that roam the streets of Bangkok (and, as a matter of fact, any other province that I’ve been to).

The reasons why the Thais accept these dogs on the streets are varied, but I tend to believe that it is due to their King’s love for Thong Daeng, a street dog adopted by His Majesty the King Bhumibol Adulyadej (the world’s longest-reigning monarch). The Buddhist religion has a word to say into this matter, too. Being a religion of peace, Buddhism forbids the killing of any living thing, thus, by extension, stray dogs can’t be euthanatized, only sterilized. How many dogs are being sterilized in Bangkok every year, I don’t know! But I bet not too many!

Some of these stray dogs don’t like the smells of Caucasians, and on several occasions I’ve been barked at and even attacked by “man’s best friend.” Now, I have a very good relationship with the 10 dogs (I think there are more now) that live around my apartment building in Ramkhampeng area. I wanted to be on good terms with all of them from the very beginning, so, at first, I gave them every other night a bone or two. Now, whenever they see me, they gather around me and beg for food. I fell petty for them, so I regularly ask the lady that sells rice and chicken for some bones which I have to distribute to each and every one of them individually, or else the big ones would take control over the bones!

For three months there was peace in the parking lot. No dog was barking, no dog was whining, no dog was fighting. But, probably the word went out that these dogs are having a good life, and now new dogs, bigger and stronger came to claim the territory and the goodies that come with it: food and bit… oh, I won’t use this word, … female dogs. As a consequence, the dog that used to be in charge is being beaten up constantly and there’s a lot of noise, both during the day and at night.

I’m trying to solve the problem by not giving the invader dogs any of the food that I bring, but until now I had no success. On the contrary, it seems that even more dogs appear every day! I think that one of the female dogs is in heat…

Free parrot

I took this picture a few days back while I was having fried rice at my usual street restaurant (Ramkhampeng area, Bangkok). When the Thai guys that were looking after the parrot saw me taking pictures, they beautified the immediate surrounding by removing the cleaning utensils and encouraged me to take some more pictures! I did take a few more shots, but I deleted them when I got home. When I finished my meal, the parrot was still on top of the cage!

A new beginning

I’ve been thinking quite a lot about the future of this blog. Although at first I wanted to delete it completely, I’ve changed my mind. I guess the reason why I changed my mind was the fact that I didn’t want to get rid of the domain name, “Stories from Thailand.” At first I posted fictional short stories about Thailand, but due to their controversial nature and the fact that my identity was discovered, it was “safer” for me to stop posting fiction.

From now on, as the title of the blog suggests, I will write about my travels, adventures, misadventures, joys, sorrows, and life, as seen through the eyes of an Eastern European. Most posts will be accompanied by pictures take by me or my immediate family.

I would like to be understood from the very beginning that my other blog, Teacher in Thailand, deals with my school life, and that this blog will have nothing to do with my teaching life. It is about what I do when I’m NOT a teacher.