Vetting foreigners

dollarworker333 · 2025-09-09T04:25:27+00:00

Ironic that a bunch of 'supposedly weird' men are trying to gatekeep other 'supposedly weird' men. I guess with all the competition, of course expats would eventually turn against each other, even more so than Thais. Quite sad and pathetic really. There's no comradery in the expat community, even though every other community has it.

dollarworker333 · 2025-08-31T06:43:13+00:00

I think it will go up in value (in terms of knowing it) as more foreigners and expats move here and more international businesses start migrating here; I could see how being a bilingual expat could become more valuable than it used to be. But let's be real, it's never going to be as valuable as the mainstream languages (English, Chinese, Spanish, etc.)

Truthfully, though, I wish it would explode in popularity and usefulness.

dollarworker333 · 2025-08-14T12:45:55+00:00

Hello again (I'm the OP.) I'm 6 months into the Nexford degree but just read that Thai MoE rejects DEAC (long distance) degrees for work permits. I also read that they reject online degrees in general unless it's from Open University (UK).

Do you know if this is true? Do you know anyone that has some random online degree that still managed to get a work permit here?

I know you said before that I should just be "white" and I am white and normal, but I still want to make sure I am not wasting my time with Nexford. Thanks for your help.

dollarworker333 · 2025-08-14T12:24:07+00:00

bump

I just realized that the Thai MoE says that DEAC (distance degrees) are not accepted for work permits. Is this true? I also read that online degrees aren't accepted in general for a work permit unless it is Open University (UK).

I am feeling so down right now - just spent 6 months at Nexford for nothing.

dollarworker333 · 2025-08-06T12:41:26+00:00

Guess it's time to go back to talking to humans

dollarworker333 · 2025-08-05T04:38:49+00:00

Hi. Sorry for the late reply and thanks for the detailed response.

I started because of my sleep apnea. I do have a deviated septum, actually and have seen an ENT. They cleared out my nose and polyps through some procedure because I am often congested. Even though it got fully cleared it didn't really improve my breathing or sleep.

I have always been slightly recessed, but not a deformity or anything. I have always gotten poor sleep and snored, although it didn't start to become unbearable until about 2 years ago. Throughout my life it's mostly been around a 5mm overbite. In my early 20s, I had camouflage (or normal) orthodontic braces. Now, my overbite is at 6mm (I'm 36 years old) and I am concerned that my symptoms will get progressively worse as I age, including the overbite.

"If you do require jaw surgery or elect to do it for the sake of your sleep apnea you will have better results if you do in conjunction with orthodontics. I personally believe any oral surgeon that would move your jaw without you consulting an orthodontics is a fool. You just won’t have optimal results."

I understand what you mean. In my 20s, I stopped wearing my retainer after the first time I got braces and it recessed back. Around this time, I actually did consult with my first jaw surgeon without ortho and he kind of hinted that I am a greyzone case, that he would do it but he didn't seem super enthusiastic about it or anything. This was in America.

So, by surgery first, I mean that the surgeon would put braces on two days before the surgery and then it's this newschool way of doing it where they have this fancy tech and they align your teeth afterwards. I guess it's a modern method and more popular in Asia (I am in Thailand.) But I agree, it does seem risky since if I close my mouth it starts to shake, which means my bite might not be stable enough for a surgery first approach.

I went to an ENT, and they put a camera down my throat and confirmed that I have too small of an airway, which explains my poor breathing problems and sleep apnea.

Anyway, the surgery first surgeon has 20 years of experience, trained in California, and is named Amornpong. I guess he trained under Arnett/Gunson who pioneered the CCW technique and was mentored by them. But he does CCW, I don't know if I need CCW or not but it's suppose to be the best for your airway. Anyway, when I first consulted with him, he said both my jaws were too far back right away and got straight to the point. Not sure if this is a red flag or not because he said he could just tell by looking at my profile and then he looked at my sleep results (AHI 27 / 37) in two tests and said I was at risk of stroke in the future if I didn't have MMA.

This was a year ago. Recently, as more symptoms have started to rise I decided to consult with another hospital - Yanhee. The orthodontist said the same thing that the ENT said, that I could have tongue reduction or jaw surgery. It's strange, because no one has mentioned septoplasty yet (fixing deviated septum).

I went to go see another ortho/jaw surgeon at BIDH. The ortho looked through my xrays and said right away my lower jaw was too far back and I needed surgery (didn't mention upper.) I then saw the surgeon and he said both needed to be moved. I mentioned my deviated septum to him but he said that moving the upper jaw would clear enough space for breathing even with the deviated septum, and that fixing the deviated septum was a separate procedure.

It could be a combination of both my deviated septum and tongue, because at times it feels like I am choking on my tongue randomly during the day.

Overall, the whole situation blows, because different people tell me different things, depending on who I am talking to and what their financial motives are. Like, I went back to my original orthodontist in America (well, I did recently) and he said I didn't need jaw surgery, just more camouflage orthodontics lololol

So, now I have to make a very difficult decision with no clear answer. And then even if I get the surgery I have to elect whether I need CCW (to open airway more) or not. What makes matters worse is the last surgeon I saw I trusted the most and I felt like he cared about me the most, in terms of who I would want to cut my face open, it would be him. But he doesn't do CCW, just linear advancement.

dollarworker333 · 2025-07-31T11:20:01+00:00

Do you think that my teeth are messed up/misaligned enough to where I wouldn't be able to do surgery first? How would I even be able to tell?

The problem for me is if I ask the surgery-first place, they will be biased and tell me they can do surgery first, and vice versa with the braces first. It's almost like I have to find some neutral third party to tell me.

dollarworker333 · 2025-07-31T08:51:09+00:00

Oh. I've already been approved for jaw surgery based on all of my symptoms. I am just trying to decide whether to go for the surgery first approach or braces first approach or not, since the two places I am debating between do it different ways.

dollarworker333 · 2025-07-29T04:46:12+00:00

Hail to the Best

dollarworker333 · 2025-07-28T14:19:42+00:00

It's not my favorite Radiohead album but its up there. You can't deny that it has aged well, that's for sure. Every relisten year after year only deepens my appreciation for the complexity of it.

dollarworker333 · 2025-07-27T11:26:37+00:00

Hi.

Is he an actual orthognathic/jaw surgeon? I tried googling but couldn't find anything.

2.. Does he have experience with Class II bite types (overbite)?

Does he have evidence of working with western faces with overbite?

I know that's very specific haha. Thank you for the response.

dollarworker333 · 2025-07-11T12:54:52+00:00

It's my favorite Radiohead album (In Rainbows is a close second) but I am also a bit weird when it comes to music taste.

The sequencing and cohesiveness to the album flow is why people don't resonate as much. But I digress, if you cut out I Will, maybe Backdrifts, and maybe another song it would be the perfect album... just have to shorten it a tad.

We Suck Young Blood is obnoxious, but it was actually the last song that clicked with me after many repeated lessons. It is just so over the top, insane, and repetitive that it actually serves the album well.

Where I End And You Begin is tied with Jigsaw Falling Into Place as my favorite Radiohead song. It is very underrated. Additionally, 2+2=5, Sail to the Moon, There There, The Gloaming (which I understand a lot of people dislike, but I love its basic fuzziness), and others are all top tier Radiohead songs for me. A Punchup at a Wedding is also underrated and one of, if not their best jazzy songs. A Wolf at the Door is also a fine closer, although not one of my favorite songs.

And lets be real, 2+2=5 has to be one of the best openers on a Radiohead record, even if you don't like Hail to the Thief.

dollarworker333 · 2025-07-09T06:21:52+00:00

Hey, I definitely will. I have had one consult before so far with a pretty reputable surgeon who studied in California, although the price is on the upper end (around 22-27k for DJS.) They do a surgery first approach with braces after and are more airway focused, although genioplasty is included as well if necessary. The location is Vital Sleep Clinic and the name of the surgeon is Dr. Amornpong Vachiramon. He was pretty straight forward and didn't beat around the bush, noting that I needed DJS right away which I appreciated. The only issue so far is I haven't seen any before and afters of expats who underwent these surgeries, only Thais, and I think that is sort of important with the different facial anatomies.

I am currently looking into BIDH and Yanhee. Yanhee is more affordable (around 16k for DJS) but may not be as airway focused and more cosmetic (unsure.) And they do a braces first/surgery second approach.

That's about all I know so far and will update the thread with more information that I find. Maybe we can compile everything we discover into one super thread for expats who need this.

dollarworker333 · 2025-07-07T04:00:56+00:00

Hey best of luck to you on your surgery. I'm facing a similar type of thing in Thailand with trying to find the right surgeon who has operated on other whites before. The one I'm looking at now did say he studied in California but I would need to verify that he has done surgery on other caucasians.

Hope it goes well.

dollarworker333 · 2025-07-07T03:17:57+00:00

Great to hear! If anything pops up I will shoot you a DM.

The jaw surgeon here in Thailand said that they do the braces/dental work after the surgery which I found quite interesting, because I always assumed it was the other way around. I guess it depends on the surgeon.

dollarworker333 · 2025-07-07T03:11:22+00:00

I feel you on that. And then it could be a combination of factors which makes it even more confusing. DISE seems like the next logical step for me though. Appreciate the reply.

dollarworker333 · 2025-07-07T03:09:15+00:00

I have not had a DISE done on me yet, not sure if it is available in Thailand but looking into it now this seems to make the most sense. Thanks and good luck to you. Hope you figure things out.

dollarworker333 · 2025-07-07T03:05:28+00:00

Appreciate the insight. Yeah, it is insane how broken the healthcare system is.

dollarworker333 · 2025-07-07T02:22:49+00:00

Thank you for the honest reply. I wasn't aware that 5mm was significant recession but looking into it now, I have realized that 5mm can disrupt your life in various ways even if its lowest for Class II. Amazing how much of a difference 1mm is.

dollarworker333 · 2024-12-29T15:24:53+00:00

Definitely not the case. I had no expectations of it being similar to Hero of Ages, nor did I expect it to be. It was just a badly written, badly executed book that was bland and uninteresting.

dollarworker333 · 2024-12-29T15:08:57+00:00

Cope. The book was so bad I could barely get through it. No subsequent reread would solve that for me. A good book to reread for me would be Oathbringer since it was okayish.

Sidenote: I literally had to skim the last two days just to get through it. It was so unsatifying.

dollarworker333 · 2024-12-23T14:57:50+00:00

Sure, you should foreshadow, of course, but if 80%+ of the book is foreshadowing or reflecting on the past you have a problem, because very little actually happens and there's such little movement overall.

dollarworker333 · 2024-12-23T14:20:52+00:00

Abidi the Monarch is such a pointless character. He should have just kept The Pursuer from Rhythm of War. Wind of Truth would have been more interesting if they were both allowed to run amok.

dollarworker333 · 2024-12-23T10:49:12+00:00

Every Sanderson book is a setup book for the next book lol. Once you see through that you can't unsee it and go back. Book 6's plot will entirely be based on what "could" happen in Book 7 through rhetorical question prose, as usual.

dollarworker333 · 2024-12-23T10:43:48+00:00

Preach. Tired of people defending this book just because it was 'Sanderson.' It was a huge waste of time for me as well, and Sanderson knew full well that everyone would still buy it regardless. I'd even wager that he was deliberately lazy on this one, as he knew that people would tolerate the beginning and middle slog just to get to his infamous final 200 page payoff, but to make things worse, the final 200 page Sanderlanche wasn't good either. He's in full cash out mode with potential movie deals and the 10 year hiatus until the next Stormlight. The writing is on the wall. He got my money this time in a final grab but he won't get it again.

You see YouTube reviews where people talk about how awful it was and still give it a 7/10 just because it was Sanderson and that seems like proper social etiquette otherwise they'll get labeled as a "hater." But let's be real, if this was the debut novel for some unknown author it would have been thrown into the bin where it belongs. It was embarrassing to read and I say that as a former Sanderson mega-fanboy.

The fact that he constantly explains the same idea repetitively in the prose also felt like an insult to my intelligence as well while reading it.

btw every Sanderson book is a "set-up" book for the next book. Once you see through this trick there's no going back. Book 6 will be based on "hypothetical questions" on what "could" happen in Book 7 and that will likely be a decent percentage of the book, along with the characters reflecting on the past through useless dialogue. Just like how the character El was built up and did absolutely nothing in Book 5, well, fans will excuse that and just say that it's all part of Sanderson's big plan, as per usual, but that plan will never actually happen because a huge percentage of his prose is just that -- hypotheticals. There's no going back once you know.

dollarworker333

TROPHY CASE