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Math Debater posted:Hi friends, I'm really looking forward to going to Thailand this August for TEFL stuff, and I'm also hoping that I'll be able to make it to Cambodia while I'm in the area. I'm posting right now because I really love my computer and I like shaving with an electric razor, and I want to make sure I won't have any problems plugging in my stuff once I'm out of the U.S. Your computer will be fine, at most you will need a plug adapter which are easy to find and cheap locally. Buy a new electric razor when you get there that runs on local current.
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May 27, 2014 22:54
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If you still have the manual for the electric razor see if it says INPUT AC 100-240V. It might even say this on the razor itself. If it does, it's fine, and I bet it does. To be honest though if you're going to be in Cambodia in August then actually finding electricity will be your first problem, heh heh heh
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May 27, 2014 23:10
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Thanks so much for the helpful posts! I suppose I won't be buying the gizmo that I linked to in my last post. And the AC adapter on my computer says INPUT 100-240V and has a 2-pronged plug, so I suppose this means I can be sure that, while in Southeast Asia, I'll be able to plug my computer in without having to worry about it exploding or otherwise failing to function properly. And yeah, buying a new razor sounds like a good idea to me. So yeah, it's looking to me like I shouldn't bring a converter with me and may also not want to bring any adapters. Thanks again for the posts!
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May 28, 2014 01:16
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If you have a USB charger marked 110-200 bring that. And a long rear end USB cable for your phone. SE Asia is a little confused as to where outlets belong. If you don't have those things just buy one over there. One less thing to pack, one less thing you can buy the wrong one of.
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May 28, 2014 01:28
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Yeah, you won't need an adapter until you get to any of the former British colonies with their stupid outlets.
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May 28, 2014 01:32
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I've bought things that are generally charged over USB, so I just charge them from my laptop. Phones, GoPro, Kindle, even my electric toothbrush. About the only things I take that can't be charged over USB are my hair clippers (I never rock the clean shaven look), my camera, and my laptop itself.
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May 28, 2014 01:50
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Yeah, charging stuff from my laptop via USB seems like a good idea. This cordy-pluggy chat has been very helpful to me, and I hope it's been helpful to other forums users too!
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May 28, 2014 02:05
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Just get an adapter like this. It's small and light and it has a light to tell you when it's working which is useful when electricity is being poo poo so you know it's not your device that's dying. But to be honest, I only got that for Malaysia and to use with mini power strip for the times I need to charge my camera. and laptop at the same time or if I'm stuck in a 8-bed dorm with only one outlet. Super useful in airports too. There are some other more compact ones but I wanted the usb slots. USB charging everything from your laptop is definitely the best way to go though if you can pull it off.
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May 28, 2014 02:18
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Math Debater posted:Hi friends, I'm really looking forward to going to Thailand this August for TEFL stuff, and I'm also hoping that I'll be able to make it to Cambodia while I'm in the area. I'm posting right now because I really love my computer and I like shaving with an electric razor, and I want to make sure I won't have any problems plugging in my stuff once I'm out of the U.S. Where are you doing your TEFL?
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May 28, 2014 02:28
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Atlas Hugged posted:Where are you doing your TEFL? Somewhere in Thailand! I'm going through a hand-holdy organization that places teachers in schools throughout Thailand after a one-month orientation/course. So I know I'll be spending the first month in a nice beach town that's been mentioned in this thread, but then I don't know where I'll be working as a teacher after that.
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May 28, 2014 02:34
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One caveat on USB charging via computer, it can be considerably slower than an outlet based on your computer. So, if you need to charge faster then a wall outlet's usually going to get it done. Otherwise, yeah, fine. Obviously with higher quality equipment (e.g. a Mac) you're going to get better charging speeds and if you're just leaving stuff overnight it's not an issue, but for those times when you're like, "Oh poo poo, I forgot to charge my phone!" as you're about to run out the door, jacking it into a wall outlet works best usually.
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May 28, 2014 03:03
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Charging my 3DS is always a pain because Nintendo is the last company on earth that refuses to make their chargers work with a range of voltages.
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May 28, 2014 03:05
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Atlas Hugged posted:Charging my 3DS is always a pain because Nintendo is the last company on earth that refuses to make their chargers work with a range of voltages. What happens if it's the wrong voltage? Does it short circuit the device? I've never bothered checking this stuff and just go for it. Haven't had any problems yet. 3 days & 2 nights trekking tomorrow. I've never spent that much time away from the Internet since 2001. What am I going to do?!
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May 28, 2014 03:17
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cent0r posted:What happens if it's the wrong voltage? Does it short circuit the device? I've never bothered checking this stuff and just go for it. Haven't had any problems yet. It just doesn't work or at least that was the case with my 3DS. I picked up a 3DS in Malaysia and told the booth that I bought it from that I didn't need a local charger and ignored them when they tried to tell me that I needed one. I had to go back the next day and get one. I did find an USB charger in Singapore and paid way too much for it but I was desperate. Then I saw one at Daiso later  And you'll live and enjoy it after the initial panic that you can't check your email.
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May 28, 2014 03:29
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cent0r posted:What happens if it's the wrong voltage? Does it short circuit the device? I've never bothered checking this stuff and just go for it. Haven't had any problems yet. Depending on how the charger is made it might burst into flames and/or just smoke and stink a lot while it burns out. They should be made so they just don't work but there's no guarantee of that. Likewise as to whether or not damaging amounts of current get to the device itself. raton fucked around with this message at 03:41 on May 28, 2014 |
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May 28, 2014 03:37
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cent0r posted:What happens if it's the wrong voltage? Does it short circuit the device? I've never bothered checking this stuff and just go for it. Haven't had any problems yet. Well, when I plugged my 120V US playstation to a 220V outlet in Hong Kong, the Playstation fried. Black smoke, quick spark. If the appliance was built well enough with circuit breakers, that's the end of the story. If not, you get an electrical fire. And older PC's used to have power supply toggles  If a 220V appliance is plugged into a 120V, nothing happens
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May 28, 2014 03:39
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Math Debater posted:Somewhere in Thailand! I'm going through a hand-holdy organization that places teachers in schools throughout Thailand after a one-month orientation/course. So I know I'll be spending the first month in a nice beach town that's been mentioned in this thread, but then I don't know where I'll be working as a teacher after that. From Pattaya to Udon Thani: A Goonventure.
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May 28, 2014 03:42
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Bare And Back Again: A Patters Tale
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May 28, 2014 05:59
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Farang and Away: From Teelac to Dakling
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May 28, 2014 06:28
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Farang and Kathoey at Pattaya.
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May 28, 2014 06:45
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TEFL, Pattaya, Isaan: One Goon's Search for Love across Thailand.
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May 28, 2014 10:15
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Is Facebook down for anyone? The Nation and Bangkok Post say that it's inaccessible because it's been blocked by the military but I can still access it for now. Does anyone know what other websites might be down?
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May 28, 2014 10:44
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Shnicker posted:Is Facebook down for anyone? The Nation and Bangkok Post say that it's inaccessible because it's been blocked by the military but I can still access it for now. Does anyone know what other websites might be down? It wasn't working for me for a while, but it's back up now.
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May 28, 2014 11:03
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One more: An idiot. A broad?
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May 28, 2014 16:32
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Atlas Hugged posted:One more: 
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May 28, 2014 16:58
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Math Debater posted:Somewhere in Thailand! I'm going through a hand-holdy organization that places teachers in schools throughout Thailand after a one-month orientation/course. So I know I'll be spending the first month in a nice beach town that's been mentioned in this thread, but then I don't know where I'll be working as a teacher after that. What organization is this? I'm looking to do the same thing in Thailand, any other recommendations from you guys? Is it true that you can teach in some Universities with a Master's? MOVIE MAJICK fucked around with this message at 19:49 on May 28, 2014 |
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May 28, 2014 19:43
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WYA posted:What organization is this? I'm looking to do the same thing in Thailand, any other recommendations from you guys? If you had PMs, I would send you a PM telling you what organization. I think there may be some posters on these forums who may not like me very much, so I'm sorta scared to mention the organization in my post. And I'm also curious about your question regarding employment opportunities in Southeast Asia for people with master's degrees. I just got my master's, am aware that I'm overqualified for what I've signed up for, and am curious about what other opportunities might be available in Thailand and Cambodia for someone with a master's degree and some experience with statistics and research and data analysis. Edit: The organization I'm going with is on this list: http://www.gooverseas.com/teach-abroad/thailand Math Debater fucked around with this message at 20:40 on May 28, 2014 |
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May 28, 2014 20:35
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WYA posted:What organization is this? I'm looking to do the same thing in Thailand, any other recommendations from you guys? I taught in Thailand about ten years ago but the overall situation hasn't changed. 1) You don't need or want a placement organization. Go there on your own, take a TEFL course if you want (I think they're helpful but they aren't cheap and also aren't necessary), get a local cell phone (very easy to do -- go to MBK in Bangkok or anywhere like it in another city, phone shops are everywhere), start looking for work. If you are in country you can see what you're getting in to and the schools can see what they are getting, which means a better job and probably more money for you. 2) You can live in Thailand cheaply so your job hunt time won't be a major drain, plus it's fun to live in Thailand. You can get by on 1000/month but for 1500 you get a good lifestyle. 3) Ajarn.com has a healthy forum and lots of job listings for EFL work. Khmer440 is the same sort of thing for Cambodia (minus the listings). 4) You won't be working on the beach. There are no jobs on the beach. 5) I taught at a University with a Bachelors. You aren't generally a real member of the faculty as an English teacher despite any of your qualifications. They also pay less than many private jobs and a Thai university student is roughly as mature as a highschool student here (except at a couple of elite schools -- namely Chula and Thammasat and to a least degree Bangkok U, but you won't be working at those places). Similarly you will meet people that work in "international schools" without US/British teacher credentials but they don't get true international school salaries (same as the US roughly) or job security. 6) No one in the US cares that I taught at a Thai university. Or that I taught Thai middle schoolers. Or that I taught 4-7 year olds in Taiwan. Taught English overseas = surf vacation as far as employers here are concerned. I interview well so I've been able to talk around it but they always sort of ask like it's a flaw. I made a TEFL thread and put it in this forum but a dumbass mod moved it to Businesses and Careers or whatever (TEFL is really hard to make into a career). I don't monitor it any more because my experience is ten years old and I work in a totally different field but if you can find it a few dedicated long term teachers do tend to it and offer good advice about finding work and especially how to teach well once you have the job. Math Debater: it's not that we don't like you, we just think Pattaya is funny and also think being sent to Issan is funny. Pattaya is irredeemable as a location IMHO but Issan can be cool so long as you're not a broken down British sex pensioner in a Beer Singa singlet and you speak the language (depending on the city that is either the Issan dialect or regular central Thai). I generally advise a different path in than you picked (as you can see above) but I understand that some people aren't ready to roll their own like I did and you can make it work out. Just remember that any farang you meet who lives in Pattaya isn't an actual human being and all of the locals there know it and are just harvesting their money the way they used to catch crabs. One other piece of advice: you should be making at least 30k THB a month as someone with white skin and no social retardation, probably 40+ if you can also smile and think. The master's doesn't mean poo poo (a master's never means anything here or aboard, they should stop offering it as it doesn't make you qualified for anything a BA doesn't but also doesn't make you qualified for anything a PhD does) really, maybe someone will give you an extra 1k a month if you bring it up. raton fucked around with this message at 21:23 on May 28, 2014 |
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May 28, 2014 21:12
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So I'm looking into vaccinations. It seems like the general ones recommended for SEA are Hep A/B, Japanese Encephalitis, Polio, Rabies, Typhoid, and Yellow Fever. I found a travel clinic here in San Diego called Passport Health USA that quoted me a price of $1265 to get all of those. Holy poo poo. That's without health insurance, which doesn't matter because neither do they accept insurance nor do I have any. Any advice on how to get these cheaper? Could I just get them once I arrive?
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May 28, 2014 21:53
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retpocileh posted:So I'm looking into vaccinations. It seems like the general ones recommended for SEA are Hep A/B, Japanese Encephalitis, Polio, Rabies, Typhoid, and Yellow Fever. I found a travel clinic here in San Diego called Passport Health USA that quoted me a price of $1265 to get all of those. Holy poo poo. That's without health insurance, which doesn't matter because neither do they accept insurance nor do I have any. Any advice on how to get these cheaper? Could I just get them once I arrive? It depends where you're going and what you're doing. If you're going to the deepest darkest jungle of Laos and working with animals all day, get them. If you're teaching in Bangkok you don't need to bother. You're going to be at far greater risk of dehydration (drink more water), traffic accidents (keep looking both ways constantly when crossing the road) and alcohol poisoning (just ignore this one completely). If you definitely want to get them, get them in Bangkok. The hospitals are at least comparable to US or European standard with several being in a different loving stratosphere. You can make an appointment over the phone or just turn up (you'll need your passport and they may not take credit card). This site says you'll get the ones you're looking for for $115, plus a $6 hospital fee. So $120, and since that place has the word "travel" in their name you can reasonably assume they're overcharging.
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May 28, 2014 22:27
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retpocileh posted:So I'm looking into vaccinations. It seems like the general ones recommended for SEA are Hep A/B, Japanese Encephalitis, Polio, Rabies, Typhoid, and Yellow Fever. I found a travel clinic here in San Diego called Passport Health USA that quoted me a price of $1265 to get all of those. Holy poo poo. That's without health insurance, which doesn't matter because neither do they accept insurance nor do I have any. Any advice on how to get these cheaper? Could I just get them once I arrive? Some of those require a series of shots over 3-6 months before they reach their optimal efficiency (which is usually 90% or so for series like that) but the first shot gives ~70% efficiency anyway. Like dmaster said what you're going to be doing dictates whether you need them. 99% of tourists literally don't need a single one of those. If you're a normal tourist either get them in SE Asia or don't bother. Oh also most vaccinations wear off after ten years. So keep that in mind as they're usually sold to people as a do it once for life thing. That's not the case.
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May 28, 2014 22:38
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Sheep-Goats posted:Math Debater: it's not that we don't like you, we just think Pattaya is funny and also think being sent to Issan is funny. Pattaya is irredeemable as a location IMHO but Issan can be cool so long as you're not a broken down British sex pensioner in a Beer Singa singlet and you speak the language (depending on the city that is either the Issan dialect or regular central Thai). I generally advise a different path in than you picked (as you can see above) but I understand that some people aren't ready to roll their own like I did and you can make it work out. Just remember that any farang you meet who lives in Pattaya isn't an actual human being and all of the locals there know it and are just harvesting their money the way they used to catch crabs. One other piece of advice: you should be making at least 30k THB a month as someone with white skin and no social retardation, probably 40+ if you can also smile and think. The master's doesn't mean poo poo (a master's never means anything here or aboard, they should stop offering it as it doesn't make you qualified for anything a BA doesn't but also doesn't make you qualified for anything a PhD does) really, maybe someone will give you an extra 1k a month if you bring it up. Pattaya is not the beach town where I'll be spending my first month in Thailand. And when I mentioned some forums users possibly not liking me, I really didn't have any of the posts or posters in this specific thread in mind. And yeah, the thought of going to Southeast Asia without a job placement organization is appealing to me, but going through a placement organization makes my parents way less anxious. And I might try to find a new job in Thailand or Cambodia on my own if I have an enjoyable enough experience with my first teaching job. Thanks very much for the posts and the suggestions, friends!
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May 29, 2014 02:01
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retpocileh posted:So I'm looking into vaccinations. It seems like the general ones recommended for SEA are Hep A/B, Japanese Encephalitis, Polio, Rabies, Typhoid, and Yellow Fever. I found a travel clinic here in San Diego called Passport Health USA that quoted me a price of $1265 to get all of those. Holy poo poo. That's without health insurance, which doesn't matter because neither do they accept insurance nor do I have any. Any advice on how to get these cheaper? Could I just get them once I arrive? Really depends on where you are going and what you are doing but my work only suggested Hep A/B, Typhoid, TDAP, and MMR for when my itinerary at the time was Singapore, Thailand, Cambodia, Indonesia, and Malaysia. I'm curious where you are going that would have Japanese Encephalitis and Yellow Fever suggested; I thought Yellow Fever was only a concern in Africa and South America. CVS has Hep A/B vaccines, you can check them out or other big pharmacies to see if that would be cheaper. I think I got Typhoid from a travel clinic for ~65$. 1265$ seems crazy expensive.
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May 29, 2014 05:07
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Math Debater posted:And when I mentioned some forums users possibly not liking me, I really didn't have any of the posts or posters in this specific thread in mind. You didn't post in the e/n thread about being in the friend zone did you? quote:
What makes you so absolute on picking SEA may I ask? There are other teach abroad programs like JET, EPIK Hong Kong's NET, etc. Do you want to be in education as a career? But whatever works for you!
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May 29, 2014 05:20
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flynt posted:I'm curious where you are going that would have Japanese Encephalitis and Yellow Fever suggested; I thought Yellow Fever was only a concern in Africa and South America. EDIT: Forgot obligatory yellow fever joke. ReindeerF fucked around with this message at 06:43 on May 29, 2014 |
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May 29, 2014 05:49
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Can't believe I missed it too. drat son.
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May 29, 2014 06:59
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Math Debater posted:And yeah, the thought of going to Southeast Asia without a job placement organization is appealing to me, but going through a placement organization makes my parents way less anxious. Fair enough, but if they tell you that you need to pay them money, give them the middle finger and go elsewhere. You never, ever, ever need to pay someone to find you a teaching job. This includes "pay us for your TEFL and then we'll help you find a job free." If they're doing that, then find another agency. There are a million that don't have a built in mandatory TEFL.
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May 29, 2014 10:30
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Yeah, "pay me for stuff you can do on your own" is probably one of the top moneymakers in Thailand. Granted, in many cases it's a legit service, but a lot of the time it's really a squeeze. I mean if I charged new expats a nominal fee to set them up with a working 3G card, BTS & MRT pass, condo for one month and dedicated high speed DSL that would be useful and I wouldn't feel at all bad, but what you see a lot of the time is a real estate agent renting a 10K condo for 15K a month so he can jack his fees, which means an extra 60K out of your pocket annually. poo poo like that irks me. There are a lot of things that are just daunting when you first get here and it's okay for someone to make a fair rate to help you out with those I think, but gouging people just because you can is another thing altogether.
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May 29, 2014 10:46
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Are any of the things that pop on the first page of Google for 'learn thai online' worth half a poo poo? I could use some practice.
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May 29, 2014 10:50
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The apps and things actually aren't bad for picking up the basics like counting, ordering food and so on, but if you want to really learn how to speak I think most people would agree that you need to do it in person. Still, I'm not the best person to ask on that since I'm a lazy idiot and speak only mild conversational and getting-around-and-doing-stuff Thai.
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May 29, 2014 11:06
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