Greetings all.
Thanks for previous advice
Spoke to 'Farm girl" last night and we talked about English lessons for her .
Question:
So far there have been NO requests for any finance at all but I understand I will have to pay her an allowance or there may be pressure from "The Family" to return to her old line of work.
I Will be in Udon next month and was thinking to open simple bank account (no overdraft) for her and give her the access card Then I can transfer money from here to her account and also moniter her spending via the net.
If I use Western Union it is a cost for her to withdraw the funds.
I was thinking 10,000B per month to start with ?????? No baby and lives on farm with Mama and Papa.
Don't want to splash money around but don't want to be "kee-neow"
either.
Also would have to attend english class in Udon (60km) Possibly would stay with her older sister in Udon.
How much would English lessons cost???
I am taking it real slow as suggested so any advice welcome.
The Badger

I wish someone would pay me 10,000 baht (to start with) to stay at home all day.
People who work six or even 7 days a week would be lucky if they get half that amount.

English lesson costs depend on who teaches her. Can be anything from 100 to 300 (or more) per hour.


Oh - and badger, I have my moderating head on also this morning;
Please stop opening multiple threads on the same subject, this is the third thread on the same topic now.

Sorry Mate !! can you move it for me ?? I thought it was a new topic. Cheers and thanks for the advice.

consider the average salary is 3000 baht a month, go from there. i would guess 10k a bit much, but i am khee neow.

Give her 1500 a week, good a number as any enroll her at AUA, not that much.

If her former profession involved bar that won't seem like much money to her, if she is a farm girl thats lot more then she could earn at her village if she could earn anything.

My wife came from the rice paddies,a 1,000 week to her it was a fortune, now it's drop in the bucket, but it was at least a year before I increased it, The have to walk before they run and learn how to manage money.

Wehn she l;earned everythin changed she runs the entire household budget of 40K a month, but he pays for everything

Our housekeeper wroks for 1K week and thats six day a week. It's not being a cheap Charlie. It's about her getting used to managing finances.

Now keep in mind when the wa geting 1k a week. But keep in mind I was paying all the bills including rent beyond that.

So of she going to stay with Mama Papa, you pay for the school. Of course that mean having Baht Busses, for her to get to school

I would approach this in the following manner if we are going to be together and want better things in the future then we both have to be careful with money.

If she can't adapt to that yuo have a big problem and I would suggest that you do a lot thinking.

Food for thought our former housekeeper ( some farrang was smart and snapped her up) She maintained her expenses and as a widow put two children through university. So if you not in the picture she should do very well on 1,500 a week.

In the times frames you are here expense will be a lot more, your not Thai she is and a such can live at lot expensive level then you.

Paul wrote:English lesson costs depend on who teaches her. Can be anything from 100 to 300 (or more) per hour.

A qualified native English speaker will provide individual tutoring for 300 Baht per hour, on average here in Udon.

English lessons at a place like AUA run about 60 Baht per hour for a 30 hour course over a 6 week period. , plus the cost of books which are typically used for 4 terms - 120 hours of instruction.

I think you need to buy her a motorbike to start, otherwise she will have to walk barefoot maybe 15km to go to school

As you said Badger you are a man of wealth and experience in another thread,never had a failed business or personal relationship in 56 yrs on this planet,go splash the cash. You said she has the most perfect teeth and smile,if that is all that was required to get you hooked on her,then why stutter now.What have you got to lose,having only one failed relationship,pretty good in my book.
Buy the family a pick up car so everyone is happy and if you are staying in Udon,book the farmgirl into your room as well.While in Udon open the bank account,how you can monitor it not sure on the internet.Give her some English lessions yourself.Stay in the village within your trip and get a real feel of Thai life.
Gordon Bennett!!

Badger I would check schools close to where she lives with ma and pa as most schools teach basic english ,read and write but cant speak it properly ,the teacher would love the extra income and browny points for you helping a local. If you are willing to give her 10000 / mth tell her to negotiate the price with the teacher and pay for it out of that thats a top wage for her, then you have the fun part of teaching her how to say what she can read and write which will help you bond with her and prove to her you are interested in more than sex. While in Thailand take her with you always for the same reason ,have fun and best of luck

Badger

My wife lives on a farm also with her mother and father. She has one 8 year old son going to school.

Her family would be regarded as a middle income family back in Perth.
They have plenty of money and could live very well

They have chickens, ducks and a few cows plus grow vegetables and fruit so they are fairly self sufficient
However, regardless of the fact that they have money already, they still do not spend more than a hundred Baht each day at the markets to supplement what they grow on their land.
They use little fuel as they only use the motor bike to go to the village.
Every thing in the house is years old and they don

Hi Badger

My GF works at electric company in udon and get 700 b a week, so my $100 Au approx 2700 baht a month is enough for her to stop work and stay at home with her parents and help them, she is 37 Iam 48,

I gave her my NAB ATM card with the pin, every month I deposit $100 into it, cost $4 every time she withdraws the funds , a lot cheaper than transfers or paypal, and in my business its a tax deduction the funds as I get a receipt from her for Architech designs, Iam a builder

Ill be in udon from July 24th might see you there

Chow

Kally
Quensland Master Builder

I question the logic of a Thai teaching English. Not to disparage anyone that promotes that concept - my experience has been that Thais simply do not know how to teach English as a foreign language. Essentially - they teach the student to think in Thai - and not in English - which means that more Thai is taught in the lessons than English.

Marshallb66's father may be an exception - but I would doubt it.

If you want a Thai to learn appropriate conversational English - and all the components thereof - it is better to have her learn from a native English speaker. Hence, especially if you want her to learn fairly quickly and be proficient - and be able to think in English and respond quickly - invest the money in someone that has been trained in teaching English as a foreign language.

If the girl has some basic English skills - then AUA would probably be the best resource - and it is very affordable. If she does not even have the basic English skills - then preliminary teaching by a Thai would be appropriate - but I would not recommend using that Thai on a long term basis.

I completely agree with you Doc, even though my father in law speaks English very well, I doubt (know) that he cant teach English to a level as good as a first language English speaking teacher.
However, that English teacher should be fluent in Thai also. I wonder how many are?

What I was trying to get across to Badger is that if the girl has no English speaking ability at all, rather than commute 120 kilometers each day to Udon, she could find a local teacher to get her started until Badger and her agree on what is best for both of them in regards her learning English.
Brian Marshall

*In the very initial stages of learning English it is at times helpful for the teacher to speak Thai. However, once some of the basic vocabulary has been learned - then Thai should not be spoken at all.

One of the tenants of teaching English is that only the target language (English) is spoken in the classroom - not the native language. If the student does not understand the meaning of a word - then use a Thai - English dictionary. Hence, it is not necessary nor desired for a teacher to speak Thai - or any other foreign language when teaching other nationalities to speak English.

Greetings all !
Thanks a lot for previous advice. Some food for thought there.
Things are progressing sloooooowly as suggested.
Lots of phone calls and sms. Still no requests for financial assistance, I guess a good sign.
From what "Farm Girl says the farm seems to be quite diverse (cows, rice, fruit trees, fish ponds etc) so I don't think they are poverty stricken!
Now am moving on to the next stage and have booked to come to Udon in 3 weeks to meet 'Farm Girl's Family.
I am well aware this is a big deal for her so would like any tips or advice as to how to proceed. I don't want to make any cultural fopars that might cause her to "lose face" I have been invited to stay on the "Farm" but at this early stage I think it better to stay in Udon then if the whole project heads south I can do likewise.
No expectations at all at this stage, just to take a break from my "comfort zone""
Farm Girl" has older sister (25yr) living in Udon and her man (swiss) (now I wonder where they met ?????) is visiting at same time so that should make things a bit easier.
Any advice from you "old isaan hands" is welcome.
And thanx for the great site already learning something new.
The Badger