Zipping around the city seemed like an impossible dream only a year ago but with the completion of the sky train, it is oh so real! For between 10 and 40 baht, you get whisked around the city with the double bonus of being able to look down on the traffic jams, which characterize so much of travel in Bangkok. If you have to brave the traffic however, a trip on one of Bangkok's many buses is cheap, going for between 4 and 15 baht. For those of you who fancy driving yourself, think again. Buying a car here will set you back a pretty penny due to Thailand's non existent car industry and import taxes of around 200%. However, it is possible to get your own car and driver for just 150 Baht a day. How? You ask. Easy, throw out and arm and watch as within seconds one of Bangkok's omnipresent air con taxis squeals to a halt.

The meters start at 35 and move up slowly with a 10 kilometer journey costing around 75 Baht. 

Food

"Have you eaten yet?" is a common enough phrase in Thailand meaning little more than "Hello" or "How do you do?" yet this preoccupation with food is evident everywhere in the city. Food stalls serving cheap, tasty food line every street and the pungent smoke from numerous charcoal grills fills the air. The huge number of spices a Thai chef uses would baffle your average western chef, but here are integral parts of even the simplest dish. Chili, garlic, coriander, fish sauce, lemon grass, ginger and many more, all serve to give Thai food its unique taste.

Thais take eating as seriously as cooking, and consequently, mealtime is almost always a social occasion, ideally including a dish of every kind of food. For example, on the table might be Kai jio moo sab (pork stuffed omelet) which has a savory taste. To counter this, a slightly sweet dish like Gai pat ma muang (chicken and cashew nuts in a sweet sauce) could also be ordered. Soup is very popular in Thailand, so why not one of my favorites? Car Tom Gai (coconut soup with chicken). Finally every meal should include fish and Pla duk foo (spicy mango salad with cat fish) is a delicious choice. Depending, obviously, on where you eat, the above meal with rice and drinks should cost you anything between 200 and 2000 Baht.

Good cheap eating is everywhere in Bangkok and below is a short list of common Thai foods and their English Translations. For a more comprehensive list of good eateries, including international restaurants, check Metro magazine, available at most bookshops.

Types of Food

• Cow pat gai/moo: fried rice with Chicken/pork
• Pat kupow gai/moo: Spicy chicken with Basil and rice
• Tom yam gung: Prawn and lemon grass soup
• Pad pak ruammit: Mixed fried vegetables
• Bar mee moo dang: Egg noodles with red pork
• Koy teo: Rice noodles
• Som tam: Papaya salad
• Yam pla muk: Spicy salad with squid
• Lad cow: On rice

The old saying, "tired of London, tired of life" could equally well apply to Bangkok and for many people the city is Thailand. Sprinkled around Bangkok are numerous Buddhist Temples, their influence, but not their beauty, slowly waning, but still an important part of most Thais lives. Particularly beautiful is Wat Pra Kao by the Grand Palace and near Sanam Luang.(a large park in Banglamphoo) Another, among many worth visiting, is Wat benjamin bopit (The marble Temple) on Sri Ayuttayah road. One of the largest markets in Asia, Jatujak, also known as the weekend market, or J.J., lies next to the Mor Chit sky train terminal in Northern Bangkok, and boasts a massive 10,000 stalls and shops. There are also no shortage of cinemas, nightclubs and department stores to cater to Bangkok's young population. To help you get around, maps of Bangkok, with bus routes included are available at most bookshops in the city. Outside the city, but near enough to get to in a day, is Koh (island) Samet, your archetypal paradise island featuring swaying palms, white sands etc. A bit further away, but still only a days journey, Koh Chang offers more of the same but in a less developed setting. Kanchanaburi, leafy, tranquil and home to the famous bridge over the river Kwai, is just two hours away and very feasible for weekend breaks. Patttaya, a slightly sleazy beach resort is only one and half hours away while the slightly more sophisticated might head to Hua Hin, four hours away by train and offering great seafood. In addition, most of the bigger hotels offer tours to the floating market where vendors ply their trade from small boats in an idyllic river setting. Many of the same hotels also offer river trips to Ayuttahya where visitors can see remnants of the ancient capital.

For details of these any many more trips in Thailand please see one of the following books.

Books

• Lonely Planet Thailand, Joe Cummings, Lonely Planet Publications
• Rough Guide to Thailand, Paul Gray, Rough Guides
• Teaching English in Bangkok - 

Getting Qualified

While no formal qualifications are necessary to teach here in Bangkok, qualifications can help you land the best jobs and are an invaluable introduction to teaching. The two most recognized qualifications are regulated by the Royal Society of the Arts, hence the RSA CTEFL (Teaching English as a Foreign Language) and Trinity college for the TESOL (Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages) qualification. Of the two, the RSA course is slightly better known but carries no more weight than the TESOL qualification. Both focus primarily on the communicative approach, which advocates the need for students of English to practice, and use the language for a purpose in the classroom.  Both run their courses in a variety of forms but the most common is a four week intensive course (very intensive) costing around $1500. Whichever course you decide to pursue, you are in for a very testing time, maybe the hardest four weeks of your life. As Peter McGregor remarks after taking the CTEFL, in London, England, "I thought my University degree was hard but it was nothing compared to my four weeks learning to teach. I passed, but at the end was too exhausted to celebrate!" 

For information on finding a training course near you, please check the following websites.

Websites

• http://www.tefl.com - 
• http://www.tefl.net/teacher-training/index.htm - 
• http://www.english-international.com - 
• http://www.eflweb.com - 
• http://www.eslcafe.com - 

Right now the English Language industry is booming in Thailand and Bangkok is awash with language schools both big and small. There is absolutely no reason why any native English speaker need spend more than a week or two finding a job suitable for him or her. Currently, only top-notch institutions hire from abroad and the best place to land a job is in the city itself. Almost every issue of the Bangkok post carries at least two or three advertisements for language teaching positions and even those schools stipulating qualifications/experience necessary are realistic enough to compromise if the applicant seems reliable and smart. Teachers in Thailand are highly revered and are expected, above all, to look the part, that is: as clean and as smart as possible. In the unlikely event of finding no leads in The Bangkok post, check the yellow pages for addresses of language schools and visit some on spec. The British Council (in Siam square) will also supply a list of recognized language schools in the area. Due to high teacher turnover you will almost certainly find something for you. As far as wages go you should be looking for a minimum of around B250 per teaching hour, while some of the more reputable schools pay up to and beyond B500. If you decide to sign a contract, guaranteeing you a monthly salary, B25000 is adequate, but you'll have to be a little careful with your spending, B30000 is good, and anything above that and you're laughing. 

Following is a short list of Language schools often hiring Teachers in Bangkok. It is by no means exhaustive and for a more detailed look at schools, pay and conditions of work in Bangkok, check the websites below.

• British American - A large organization with many branches. Pay is around B25,000 per month. Tel.934-9181/8. 
• Bell Language Schools - These schools offer attractive salaries of 30, 000 plus  and have branches in several locations. Tel. 241 0356. 
• Elite Language school - More of an agency than a language school but is able to set up some reasonable contracts of 30,000 or more. E-mail elitetraining@hotmail.com - 
• ECC (Thailand) - This school is probably the largest in Thailand with branches everywhere, They offer a salary of B30,000 but have a bad reputation for the way they treat their teachers. Their head office is in Siam Square. Tel. 43017/20 . E-mail admin@eccthai.com- 
• Siam Language and Computer - Another chain school which offers around B25,000 per month. Tel. 2472345 
• AUA - An American school with two centers and a good reputation. Pay is around 25,000 per month Tel.2528170/3
• Henley Communications LTD - An agency based in the chatuchak area that offers wages of over B500 an hour, usually for business classes. Tel.9370827/8 Fax 937 0717

• http://www.chopsticks.net/stickman - 
• http://ajarn.com  - 
• http://experiencethailand.netfirms.com  - 

When Thai Students enroll in a language school it is usually after many years of English tuition, both in school, and University. Unfortunately though, this tuition has all to frequently come in the form of reading aloud from a text, or repeating parrot fashion, phrases from the blackboard. Given this it comes as no surprise when students have trouble vocalizing the simplest of sentences, or answering even the easiest of questions, something they may never have been asked to do before, certainly not by a Falang (white westerner). Consequently, many students look a little shocked on the first day of class when they realize that you would like them to speak and that you are interested in their opinions. As soon as they have grown accustomed to this strange new concept and overcome their initial shyness however, Thai students become extremely enjoyable and rewarding to teach. The Thai concept of Sanook, meaning fun, by which many Thais seem to live their lives, means that your students will value games more than grammar and favor any activity which is light hearted and gives them an opportunity to laugh. Conversely, any activity, which is perceived as "serious", always a negative word in Thailand, does not, generally speaking, go down well. If you've taught before, it can take a little getting used to. Gino Bonetti, who taught in Korea before coming to Thailand, says, "My first couple of weeks teaching in Thailand didn't go too well, really because I tried to hard. Whereas Korean students love the intricacies of English Grammar and expect a rule for everything, in Thailand the emphasis is on fun. I was lucky that my students were so forgiving and it didn't take too long to shake off the tag of being "The serious Teacher!"

The books listed below provide invaluable references to games and grammar activities, which are essential reading for new and experienced teachers alike.

Essential Reading 

• Grammar Practice activities, Penny Ur, Cambridge University Press 
• Practical English Usage, Michael Swan, Oxford University Press
• Grammar Games, Mario Rinvolucri, Cambridge University Press

Joel Barnard is currently an English language teacher at one of the top Language schools in Bangkok, Thailand, where he is consistently working within a deadline to produce both promotional and teaching material. He has spent the last ten years travelling and working in Asia and North Africa and is the author of the website Experience Thailand - View: http://experiencethailand.netfirms.com

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