Guenmai

As for language schools, I'm going to post some information for whomever is interested as there are many who read these threads. Some months ago, out of curiosity, I read the whole language school thread on www.thaivisa.com. It took me about 5 hours. I attended my language program Dec 2007/Jan 2008. The following post of a regular thaivisa.com forum member was posted in 2009. I didn't know about the forum when I was looking for a school.

I bookmarked it, on my computer, months ago. Last night, I tried pulling it up by the URL, which I would have just posted here, but it didn't work. The thiavisa.com website is quite strange. There's a very good thread, by a regular poster, that lists many language schools and the poster's opinion on them as he's checked out over 25 schools. It was really interesting to see my school on the list and his opinion of it.

So, to get to the list of schools, for those who might need one in the future, do the following. Having the list will save you a LOT of time. I didn't have a list like this.

1) Go to www.thaivisa.com
2)Go to the top of page and click on "EXPAT FORUM"
3)Scroll to "GENERAL"
4)Click on, "THAI LANGUAGE"
5)Scroll to "BEST THAI LANGUAGE SCHOOL"
6)Go to the top of the page and click on the ARROW that will take you to the "LAST PAGE". Right now there are 20 pages. Then back click to page "14", which you can click on #18/#16/#14 to get there. It's quite fast.
7) When page #14 comes up, look to the far right part of the screen and there will be numbers at the end of each post. Scroll to #340 and there will be a post by Tod Daniels.
The complete information will read....tod-daniels posted 2009-10-24....and that will be the thread with lists of schools and "his" opinion of them. I also read #341/#342/#343.

What's important to remember, when selecting a school, is that different schools can have different phonemic transcription systems, so if one jumps around from school to school, it could be confusing. I'd prefer to get to a good school and one that meets my needs and stick with it.

Now, if anyone can post the URL way, then feel free to do so. Last night when I typed the URL in, a different page popped up which is why I figured out how to do it the above way in order to get to the correct page. I don't know all of the tricks of the computer trade. Happy Travels!

Guenmai

Carol: I haven't read Vinovino's thread as I don't read everything and I'm not always over here. I kind of speed read the thread titles and some things, And as for not getting bored in Bangkok, if one has connections and joins organizations, then one should not get bored. But, it takes the hustle mentality, especially when either staying long term or moving to another country. Been there, done that. Happy Travels!

AskOksena

>>>AskOsena ~~ In fact, we are booked on SIN 61 and 62. Paid extra for bulkhead seats (for the leg room). Looking forward to our trip!<<<


(Good for you, mcbeanie; funds well spent for that extra space, and just between us: certain SQ rows/seats easily trump 'first' on 'other' carriers. Ongoing personal/professional biases, yes.)

Enjoy your planning, stay updated with KrisFlyer membership via singaporeair, check out a recent Houston-Moscow-Singapore trip report on SQTalk.com , don't forget those ongoing Changi sales (as of not too many days back), and have fun investigating various Bangkok short/long-term stays - my current plug is for the Sheraton Grande Sukhumvit: as of 1-4 June 2010 (my last SGS visit), 'free nights' for spending enough at the hotel's various bar/restaurant venues; fine BKK business travel deals of late, not always 'advertised'.)

Savour your rides, Sandra!

robert


... Singapore Airlines, You're a Great Way to Fly ...

Kathie

Sandra, I'm a little confused about your comment about 6 weeks. I thought you were asking about moving to Thailand either full time or for half the year.

For six weeks, you might get a price break on a serviced apartment, but I wouldn't expect it to be a lot. Many serviced apartments require a 6 month lease to get a substantial price break. I could fill six weeks in Bangkok without much planning, so I'm surprised you are thinking it would be too long.

mcbeanie

Kathie: Don't be confused. Usually we are in BKK 4-6 weeks, and thoroughly enjoy it. Skip to the future ~~ near or far ~~ we are thinking about splitting our time between the US and SEA. Hence, the question about long-term rentals. We already get a serviced apt on a monthly rate for our trips. Thanks. Hope this helped.

Sandra

Kathie

Thanks for clearing that up for me, Sandra.

mcbeanie

Kathie: I am sorry for the confusion. I don't think I made myself clear.

I have received so MUCH help from Fodorites, including you, gpanda, rhkrmk, hanuman, Carol, MichaelBKK ~~ and the list goes on ~~ that I feel as if I already know you all. Hopefully, I will get to meet some of you in BKK if we are there at the same time ~~ December and January.

Take care, and thanks again for everyone's help.

Sandra

rhkkmk

sandra... get on the denton flt to boston on oct 8 and you can meet almost all of us at the boston GTG.....

take a look at the new marriott svc apts on soi 24... they are fantastic.... marriott sukhumvit park executive apts... the other new marriott on sathorn is not as nice... we have visited both

simpsonc510

Yes, Sandra, it'd be great if you could come up to Boston for the GTG.

Bob, your Marriott apts look lovely, but they are not very handy to the skytrain. The Adelphi is just waaaaaaaay too handy for someone who stays there with any regularity to ever think about relocating.

When I'm ready for shopping, I appreciate walking about 1-2 minutes and then taking the escalator UP to the skytrain. When I come back 'home' after a day of shopping, I don't have to lug my bags very far at all. And no, I don't want to wait for a shuttle to come pick me up when it's hot and all I want to do is collapse on my sofa and put my tired feet up!

But... those Marriott apartments DO look nice. I'm sure you will enjoy them very much.

Carol

Guenmai

Topped for LynnieB. Happy Travels!

LynnieD

Got it. Thanks.

LynnieD

This makes me think I may want to stay in BKK for a few months then CM for a few months instead of th 6 months in CM. Hmmm...

rhkkmk

lynn...one very favorable thing about bkk is that there are tons of serviced apartments available and many are quite reasonable and most are really nice...

some companies to investigate are:

marriott
ascott
centre point
conrad
emporium suites
chatrium

i think there are some in CM as well

i will be staying in bkk at the marriott mayfair and the marriott sukhumvit park in november....both are about $100 per day for short term, but for longer term they are cheaper

simpsonc510

Lynnie... you said "This makes me think I may want to stay in BKK for a few months then CM for a few months instead of th 6 months in CM. Hmmm..."

This would certainly be a more enjoyable arrangement for me! I love Bangkok. I typically spend about 2 weeks in the city each trip to Thailand (and I've now made 21 trips there).

Guenmai

Yes, Lynnie, why not split your stay up? First in CM and then save the best for last, Bangkok. The serviced apartment buildings are very good there. I first stayed at Chateau de Bangkok at Ploenchit sky train station and on Ruam Rudee. It was very reasonable. That was back around 2004, I think.

Then in 2005, I moved into Emporium Suites, which is attached to the Emporium Mall, and at Prom Phong skytrain station. I've been there ever since 2005. It's super convenient as there's a Bangkok Bank in the office building attached to it, and the supermarket is in the Emporium Mall on the top floor along with the huge food court, movie theater, etc...And the Prom Phong skytrain station is attached to the Emporium Mall.

I've been to so many serviced apartment buildings, over so many years, in order to check them out, that I feel like I could write an article on them. LOL. Happy Travels!

Guenmai

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/.../page__st__325

Just saw this old thread in my bookmarks and thought I'd pull it up. I'm cleaning out tons of bookmarks right now.

Above is the language school link to my comments, above, on June 28,2010. I couldn't get it to post back then.

For those interested in language schools, read Todd Daniel's comments #340/#341/#342/#343. They are quite helpful. I wish I had had his list before I went out searching for schools. It took a lot of schools and searching before I selected one. But, I ended up picking a really good one, Baan Aksorn, which Todd just happens to mention in his comments. Happy Travels!

rayong

Guenmai, which serviced apartment did you like best? Which was the best value for the money? The worst?

Guenmai

Emporium Suites is my #1 choice. As far as value for the money, with the everything right at one's finger tips, that's value for the money in my book.

As far as the worst ones, I dare not post them.

And since I've checked out so many buildings, over the years, I would have to refer back to my trip reports here on fodors to remember them all. I did write about various ones in the fodors trip reports. It might be easy to pull them up by clicking on my screen name.

Happy Travels!

Guenmai

Rayong: Here's one of my reports mentioning serviced apartment buildings.

http://www.fodors.com/community/asia...ummer-2006.cfm

Happy Travels!