Top 5 Thailand Beaches

5: Phuket - James Bond Island

You will feel like "The Man With The Golden Gun" at this famous beach retreat on the island of Phuket. The main striking feature is the single limestone karst outcrop that sticks out of the water here. Although the beach itself is beautiful, the fact that it gets so many tourists and there are so many stalls selling trinkets puts this beach at number 5. Day trips to James Bond Island (real name, Phang Nga Bay) are easy to organise, try here: www.phuketthailandtrip.com

4: Ko Pha Ngan -Haad Rin

In my personal opinion, this beach isn't actually that great but the party is awesome beyond belief. The beach is on the Southern Tip of Koh Pha Ngan and dangerous rip-tides cut through choppy waters that bounce off the rocks.Haad-Rin and the original Full Moon Party should be on everyone's bucket-list. The fire shows are world famous and spectacular. Make the pilgrimage to "mushroom mountain" or buy a bucket and dance at one of the many open bars. Unfortunately Full Moon drownings are common.
 
3: Koh Tao - Nang Yuna Island

One of the less explored areas on the famous island of Koh Tao. Nang Yuna is situated at the North West of the island and features a unique sandbar formation which allows you to walk freely between three islands (one of which hosts a 5 star hotel). Also an excellent diving spot! Koh Tao has more qualified Scuba Divers than anywhere else in the world and the diving is some of the cheapest.
 
2: Phi Phi Leh - "The Beach"

Now we are talking tropical paradise, an uninhabited island situated a sort boat ride from the more famous Phi Phi Don (very badly hit in the boxing day tsunami). This island was the filming location for the film "The Beach" starring Leonardo Di Caprio. The beach itself is called Maya Bay and the setting is stunningly beautiful, but as you can see from my photo it succumbs to the tourist $. You can spend a night on "The Beach" by arranging it from Phi Phi Don or Tonsai and traveling there by boat. http://www.mayabaycamping.com/Programme.aspx

1: Rai-Leh/Tonsai 

 When I visited Tonsai I almost considered living here, that's how good it is. Relatively undiscovered, you can stay in a hut in the jungle and hang out with a unique backpacking community. The topography of Raileh and Tonsai means that despite the fact they are attached to the Thai mainland, you can only access them by boat. The approach by boat to Tonsai is one of the most beautiful sites I have seen in my life. World famous for Rock Climbing, serene, calm. If you visit with a family it might be best to stay at the slightly more resort focussed area of Raileh, watch out for the crabs on the beach at night! http://thingstodo.viator.com/thailand/rai-leh/

Conversation Lesson - Holidays

Class Level: Intermediate              

Lesson type and subject: Speaking and Role-plays- holidays.
Materials: Travel magazines, price list, hand-outs, quiz.
Lesson objective: Students learn new vocabulary and phrases and can converse on subjects to do with holidays and travelling.

Funny Photo Intermission

Some people in our hotel drew this weird face on the rear-end of a dog. The dog probably wondered why everyone was laughing at it!

Basic Tenses

Date 16/03/2012           Class Level: Intermediate             

Lesson type and subject: Introduction to tenses- Conjugating verbs for present simple/present continuous and past simple/past continuous tenses.
Materials: Timeline, worksheet, handout, picture flashcards, board game, overhead projector. Realia- ball, board rubber, pen. 
Lesson objective: Students are able to conjugate verbs efficiently and recognise the difference between the tenses that are created.

First Night in The Land of Smiles

Big 160ft chilled out Buddha

Cycling canines, transgender women and promiscuous Aussie doctors - read on....

I was heavily jet-lagged after my flight, I managed to fall asleep on a bus that cruised along like it was made out of rubber with bricks for suspension. Every now and then the bus would jolt and I would head-butt the glass window with such explosive force that I was surprised the pane of glass stayed in tact. Anyway, point is that I hadn't slept for about 30 hours and it was because of this that I made the irrational decision to go out clubbing.

Listening Skills - Weather

Class Level: Beginner                         Length of Lesson:  1hour

This listening exercise will use a short recording that is one-minute and thirty seconds in length of a weather report. The material has been edited for beginner level and includes several different kinds of weather for each day of the week.

Lesson type and subject: Listening
Materials: Recording, (there are many free materials on the internet, here is one example http://www.englishclub.com/speaking/weather-report.htm weather power-point presentation, overhead projector, sentence strips, aural cloze worksheet. 
Lesson objective: To learn new vocabulary and understand conversations to do with weather.
Assumptions: Students will understand how to include new vocabulary within previously understood sentence structures.
Anticipated problems and solutions:
1. Students may struggle identifying new vocabulary within the context of the recording.
2. Listen several times to the recorded material and include at least two different activities in the practice stage.
1. When giving information back to the class, students may struggle with the pronunciation of freshly learnt vocabulary.
2. Make sure to listen for mistakes and give the correct sound wherever needed except for the production stage (take notes).

Adjective Forms - Comparative Writing

Class Level: High Beginner                Length of Lesson: 1 hour

Lesson type and subject: Grammar point with guided writing- Writing comparative sentences.
Materials: Realia - ball, apple, cup, pencil, book, water (non-count noun). 2 dice (see below for template). Strip essay. (Design your own using correct adjective forms). 
Lesson objective: Students can describe and write about the differences between two or more objects using comparative and superlative adjectives.
Assumptions: Students have a good enough vocabulary to use in the tasks. Basic awareness of count/non-count nouns. Basic understanding of articles. Knowledge of sentence structures.
Anticipated problems and solutions:
1. Knowing when to add “er” or “more” to a comparative adjective.
2. During presentation, quickly talk about the general rules for adding “er” and “more.”
1. Knowing when to add “est” or “most” to a superlative adjective.
2. During presentation, quickly talk about the general rules for adding “est” and “most.”