If you (are):

• a Representative of Business Interests in Thailand and/or ASEAN
• a Representative of Academic Interests in Thailand and/or ASEAN
• a Representative of Diplomatic Interests in Thailand and/or ASEAN
• a Representative of Travel Interests in Thailand and/or ASEAN
• a Representative of Lifestyle Interests in Thailand and/or ASEAN
• a Representative of Cultural Interests in Thailand and/or ASEAN
• live in Bkk or anywhere within the ICT grid of Thailand
• regularly-Daily interact deal with Thai and International folks
• in Uni, Was in Uni, Planning to go to Uni
• want an exclusive channel to formerly publish-disseminate your personal views, ideas, and/or wisdom
• understand the value and requirement of either Capital - Chronological Investment of any fruitful  project

Sign your soul right here:

Dear all,

In case you are planning to travel this weekend, please be informed (in case you aren’t clear) that the Red Shirts‘ march is scheduled to converge at the following places in the Bangkok area:

Wong Wian Yai, in Thonburi
Bang Ken
Lumpini Park, Rama IV and Silom
A couple places in Laksi
Bangna intersection at Suk 103
Din Daeng, near the field
Nonthaburi
Patumthani
Samut Prakan

Please try to maneuver around these locations.  No one really knows how big this will be, but as many fear a similar situation as last April’s riots, I don’t recommend a weekend night on Silom, for instance.

The trains are supposed to be running, with extra security, but at certain stations that seems improbable given present Red plans.

Dear all students,

Please be informed that all classes will be cancelled on Friday, March 12, 2010 from 16.40-17.50 and Saturday – Sunday, March 13-14, 2010, all day.

Regards,

BU International

While the reason is not overtly stated, it is obvious to those following the media mayhem. Students and all citizens in Bangkok whom cherish life as it is are advised not to flounder about high profile spots  if not absolutely necessary. Though we shouldn’t let propaganda run our lives, just to be on the safe side, it would be a wise decision avoid going to the following places during this particular weekend:

1 Supreme Court
2 Criminal Court in Ratchadaphisek ring
3 Bangkok Bank HQ at Silom
4 Bangkok Bank - Nana Branch
5 Kasikorn Thai Bank - Nana Branch
6 Siam Commercial Bank - Ratchayothin HQ and Phetburi HQ
7 Grand Place
8 Siriraj Hospital
9 Major Ratchayothin
10 Big C Rat Boorana - Southern terminal of Chao Phraya express
11 Central World - Main target for looting
12 Central Lad Phrao - Main target for looting
13 Phrannok Market
14 Minburi Market
15 Dao Khanong Market
16 Patthmawikorn Intersection
17 Arun Amarin Intersection
18 Rom Klao intersection - close to motorway and Suvarnabhumi Airport
19 Kaset - Nawamin
20 Kaset - Nawamin - Crossing Lad Pla Khao
21 Kaset - Nawamin - Crossing Pradit Manootham road.
22 Nawamin Intesection
23 Sathon Intersection (Narathiwat crossing Silom) - Chong Nonsee
24 Saladaeng Intersection to storm Chulalongkorn Hospital
25 Saphan Kwai Intersection
26 Klong Toei Intersection
27 Ram Khamhaeng road - from Lam Salee to Suwinthawongse
28 Minburi Intersection (Ram Indra Road crossing Suwinthawongse)
29 BMA Office at Giant Swing and Dindaeng
30 Lumphini Park
31 Pathumwan Princess Hotel - MBK
32 Pathumwan Vocation School - MBK
33 Uthenthawai Vocation school & possibly Chulalongkorn U.

Since the dawn of human kind, Homo sapiens have persevered in seeking, creating, and developing new tools and methods to communicate among one another; In all the fundamental communication arenas—whether intrapersonal, interpersonal, group, public, and as a particular phenomenon of recent decades, Mass Communication that utilizes innovative and dynamic forms of Media, Men and Women continue to accelerate the evolution of a massively expanding network.

Can you imagine a world without television, newspapers, magazines, or books? At the rate technology has transformed our daily lives, it probably won’t be long before such traditional mediums become obsolete and replaced by mobile and digital forms of communication media.

Before one can fully grasp the phenomenon that is the present soon to become the future, one must first consider the past of communications and its implications on the masses that created, employed and inherited it.

In the beginning, long before electricity was mastered, humans relied on rudimentary mediums of communication, which were greatly limited in message dynamics and audience reach. Up until only a few centuries ago, only privileged individuals such as Monarchs, Lords, Governors, and Governess’ had the abilities to mass communicate to their respective audiences.

In feudal times, literacy was quite limited. Outside of the minority elite segment that were fortunate enough to be able to read and write, the masses had only their voices and ears to connect them with the rest of the world.

Times have dramatically changed. Not only is most of the known world literate and at least partially educated, advancements in technology have ironically made an expanding and ever populating globe become ever seemingly smaller.

In this rapidly changing and evolving world, we humans have found ourselves entrenched in the virtually limitless and boundless exchange of resources—namely that of knowledge and information. Without a doubt, future scholars will look back on the current generation, and refer to the late 20th and early 21st century as the dawn of the ‘Information & Communication Technology Age.’

With the invention and implementation of Computers, and more particularly, the Internet, in only a few short decades, our lives have become dominated by the World Wide Web, both directly and indirectly. More and more people have come to rely on this digital medium as their prime source and channel for information, entertainment, employment, companionship, world surveillance and interpretation–completely redefining the rules of marketing, business, consumerism, finance, and fashion, and family among others.

Clearly, the internet has reshaped and redefined new realms of Mass Communications, allowing anyone and everyone receive-decode and encode-respond to mass messages. While a majority of the millions of internet users today play a receptive role online, meaning they use the internet to seek and obtain information, news, and other forms of media such as movies, music, and photos, more and more people are discovering the advantages, benefits, and convenience of global internet channel to transmit and send their own messages to the masses.

Obviously, all aspects of the communication process—sender, encoding, message, channel, receiver, decoding and feedback—are essential to the greater communication picture. Lacking emphasis in any one of these aspects will result in mis-communication. Therefore, in that sense, all aspects are the most important. However, for the purpose of this article, I will execute a difficult argument by choosing the aspect which I think is the most important, and therefore should receive the most emphasis.

Many might argue that the sender, message, encoding, decoding and even channels are the most important aspect. After all, without these, there would be no communications to analyze at all. After much contemplation, I have decided that neither of those aspects is any more important than the one which is truly the starting and ending point of all communications. The most important aspect of the communications process is the receiver.

I came to this conclusion by asking myself what is the root of communication? In other words, what initiates all communications in the first place, for certainly the cause and starting point of any communication could be justified as the most important aspect. No matter what angle I looked at it from, it all came down to the receiver.

The reason a message is even created is to reach a receiver, for without the receiver, there will be no purpose. In communications, the sender has to consider everything revolving around the receiver, by asking him/herself questions such as, ‘Who do I want to communicate to?’ ‘Why do I want to communicate to them?,’ ‘How can I communicate to them?,’ and finally, ‘What do I need to know about them in order to communicate to them?’

Once such questions about the receiver are answered, only then can the communication process begin. The sender then, must tailor and encode the appropriate message that is suitable for the receiver. Since in the initial communication, the receiver is receptive to the message, every thing about the message has to be adapted to the receiver, and not the other way around.

For example, suppose George W. Bush—someone we all know too well—communicates with a village in a rural village in the middle of Laos, for example, he must first consider his audience (the receiver) before anything. If he just went to the village with the attitude that he as the sender was the most important aspect of his communication, he would not prepare himself, and it wouldn’t matter who his audience was.

In such an example, the encoding and message would all fall back to whatever he had to say, as the almighty sender was all that was important–there would be no need for interpreters to help decode the message. He could go to the village and give his speech with his Texas English accent, but since he did not consider the receiver as being more important, his communication would be very ineffective. The receivers may smile at the funny looking foreigner, but chances are most of them wouldn’t have a clue what he was talking about.

To continue the example, lets say he was smart enough to consider that he the sender was not the most important aspect alone, and that he needed to also emphasize the importance of the channel, encoding, and decoding as to ensure understanding of his message. Therefore, to prepare for his speech, he rented the best sound system that side of the Mekong, and recruited the best translator in could find.

Lets just say that the message he intended to communicate was that he is the best president that the USA ever had. Still, since he did not consider the receiver as being the most important aspect of the communication process, the communication would be ineffective. Even though he had hired translators (decoders) and prepared a good sound system (channel), it wouldn’t matter what facts and examples he gave, most of the people in that village would probably not care about the message, even if they could understand it clearly. The message simply was irrelevant to his audience, and since it did not emphasize them as the receivers, than it most likely would not be effective.

In reality, George W. Bush isn’t that stupid, and he and his speech writers are smart enough to know that the receiver is the most important aspect. When the current US President was touring Asia a few months ago, and he gave a speech in Thailand to commemorate 175 years of Thai-US relations, he was smart enough to relate his speech to his audience in Bangkok when he referenced his majesty, King Rama IV, or King Mongkut’s famed letter to the President Abraham Lincoln almost 150 years ago.

In the letter, King Rama IV offered his American counterpart a tribute of Siamese elephants to assist in the American Civil war (of which the American president kindly refused in that America wasn’t the natural habitat of elephants). George W. Bush made a light joke asking if the offer still stood. George W Bush (or his speech writers) knew that not only are the Thai people proud of their rich history, monarchy, and reputation of friendship, but they are very keen to good humored speakers. His joke was received with laughs and echoed among talks long after, certainly improving the President’s image among many.

In conclusion, I would like to relay a popular saying in Thai (also in other languages such as Urdu). Dtop Meu kaang diaw mai siang dung ตอบมือข้างเดียวไม่เสียงดัง which has a meaning along the lines that a one handed clap can not make a loud sound. In other words, the communication process is only effective as a whole; without any one aspect, the communication process is defunct.

Hours can be lost acquiring a single signature; it’s no wonder, emotions, anxiety, and tempers are peaking these times when it is not uncommon for a student or staff to blow their lid in a shouting match.
This system of blind line waiting and dealing with un-empowered staffs is inefficient, in need of serious reform if BUIC’s administrative standard and reputation is to be on par with the rest of the evolving first world. While ICT (self administered online) is implemented at BUIC partially for early registration as well as add-drop for students who were able to complete / pay for pre-registration, there is no reason why every stage of the process including late registration can’t be completed digitally and remotely for the bulk of students, leaving conflicts which need to be solved in-person for the minority few, relieving unnecessary anxiety on both staff-faculty and students.

Moments before registration is scheduled to begin, here students tensely line up at an apparent starting line, (really just a separation in floor mats) preparing to race for a front place in the processing queue line.

Dear madams and sirs,
My name is Abraham Pol, Vice Director of the International Summer School 2010
in Thailand and Taiwan, organized by the University of Linz (Austria) and the
Austrian Association of East Asian Studies.

As our program is open to students of all nationalities, we kindly ask you to
announce our project in your media (internet,newsletter etc):

Summer School Taiwan 2010 - Politics, Economy and Society in East Asia

Time and place: 14 August - 11 September 2010, National Sun Yat-sen University,
Taiwan

Summer School Thailand 2010 - Politics, Economy & Management in Southeast Asia

Time and place: 21 August - 17 Septmber 2010, Thammasat University, Bangkok

Taiwan Plus 2010

Time and place: 14 August - 16 September 2010, National Sun Yat-sen University,
Taiwan + a five day field trip to Thailand

For more details visit our website:
http://www.eastasia.at/summerschool/

Application deadline: 15 May 2010

Lets be realistic people, in economic dire, why pay twice the price for half the lifestyle. Thailand may well be your remedy.

This article might help prospective students who plan to enter the Kingdom of Thailand to get a better understanding of Thailand and its world wide recognized  universities which are affiliated with other universities in the above mentioned nations among the global network.

Students and professors  from  around the globe come here to study and work. Therefore,international diversity is guaranteed ,visibly evident and this would benefit one who wants to be working for multinational organizations or any organization actually, or anywhere.

Thailand is one of the few countries which accept students for entry level after they have completed 5 O levels( Metric /grade 11/year 10) and  A level/FSC/intermediate level/High school grade 12) is NOT necessary. I on the other hand had 8 O levels and  2 years of high school and I ended up at the same university where you can enter  with the minimum requirements, I basically wasted morre than2 years.I had  to learn it the hard way but I guess that’s how I learnt. I hope this article can save you from this mishap.One does blame themselves of the past and wished they could have taken the right  decision.But also one wishes that why weren’t they  guided properly.

However; we can only  learn from the past and at least create awareness so that it does not happen to others. This article’s purpose is  for all the students around the globe who intend on graduating efficiently and saving precious time and money if they do plan to study here in Thailand.

The total duration of BBA courses are usually +-3.5 years. The total number of credits you need speaking off my own university are 129 credits( Most of the subjects are 3 credits and a minority are 1 credit).It is highly recommended that you plan behead of time which courses will be offered all year(Free electives) round and the which might not be ( Major courses) which are not offered all the time.

Take this as a WARNING as this might be the factor which can save you months or even a year for waiting for one subject!Trust me, I am  speaking from personal experience. The total fees ranges from approximately 260,000baht- 500,000 baht depending on which university. The accommodation varies as well , some universities have their own dorms on campus and some don’t.However; finding a cheap place to live near the university and also which is near transportation is not something to be worried about.

Sharing a place with friends can save you substantial amount of cash  if you are on a tight budget. If you are concerned about your privacy then you can also live find affordable places.  It isn’t that difficult at all to find a place by your own self  and as most know Thailand is considered the land of smiles, people will  be happy to help you.

Food,transportation and entertainment costs vary from person to person but it is much cheaper than going abroad from the asian region. Thai food is well known for it’s unique taste and spices. It might be difficult to adjust first, but once you develope the taste, you are hooked.

There are numerous restaurants,fast food places,hotels that provide international cuisines but all vary in prices,if you want to cook at home you can find all the materials you need from the local Tesco lotus,Big C etc..The best part is that it is close to your native country IF you come from Asia,so you can be saved from  feeling home sick and can visit your country often and quicker as compared to if you studied in Europe .eg. It is only four and a half hours away from my native country…Pakistan also homefood ( desi food) can be found easily.

Students who are eager to establish themselves financially can also find part time jobs. The most common part time job for students is  teaching/private tutoring English and primary subjects to the local Thai children .This a good way to earn some cash. Jobs can be found on the net or by local newspapers such as Bangkokpost(classified) The Nation .

Even though, I’ve personally never had to get a job here out of necessity (but for how long, we’ll see)

this is  khan007 signing out

It’s not the airport yet as is feared much, but still affecting business in a time of dire economic times. While following the regular Thai academic schedule, it’s summer time, but for those institutions on the international calendar, there are some indications from this colored shirt mess.

As can be read on Bangkok University’s homepage this announcement:

Because current traffic obstructions related to political activity in some areas of Bangkok have caused commuting difficulties for faculty and students, Bangkok University will be closed from Friday, April 10 to Wednesday, April 15, 2009. Classes and University’s administration will resume on Thursday, April 16.

…not that it’s a big deal for BUIC students whom rarely get more than three days off for the Thai New Years festival which typically lasts a week long throughout the country. For most tend to skip the class(es) preceding-proceeding Songkran week anyway.

It’s supposed that the biggest upset to these kinds of hindrances is the loss of money & business. On the flipside, it’s rumored that some protesters are being hired for 500 baht a day.. So if you don’t hinge at bomb threats or stray bullets common to Thai civil unrest, and need some extra cash, then…

…you’re better off with an Ebay Venture…Happy Songkran!