briley

call 18866 and the sister companies 1899 and 15151 (is that correct?) give excellent rates from UK landlines.

www.call18866.co.uk to register.

mac.cheeler - I couldn't agree with you more, but so many people have got stuck in this stupid rut of "I must partition my Hard Disc" that no amount of common sense will stop them.

Don't forget all fares are £30 more this year simply because of the increase in UK tax and inclusion of BKK tax in the ticket.

Withnail - Thanks - had tried google and learnthai but not found anything that way. The list from Thai visa is excellent, just what the doctor ordered. Don't know how I missed it in the past.

Anyone seen a list of classifiers - preferably for downloading?

The 500 metre extension on the runway last year was to allow a fully loaded 747 or airbus to make the journey non-stop to Europe. Even before the extension there were some flights in from Germany.

Seems like the only way to get the HK fare is to contact them, not on their website. Last time I looked at BKK to Hong Kong it was silly money, about 25,000 baht return.

Spellcheckers - never much use!

Found out I was wrong the other day when someone I know booked to Taipei.

But I was also told that 'someone' is going to do a Chiang Mai to London direct starting in about 3 months time.

Any truth in this rumour???

Don't all the programs talked about do word to PDF?

The OP asked for PDF to word - something I don't think exists especially as even Adobe's offering to edit a PDF file can't do it efficiently.

There are programs like DVD Fab that will copy a dual layer to two single layer DVD's

There is a guy in the UK who does data recovery at a 'reasonable' price.

Often he gets an old drive of **exactly** the same model and swaps the board over and can then recover the data.

If you want his name and contact then PM me.

In many countries the organisers of major sporting events get a blanket work permit for those taking part.

Think that the price of passports will go up to around £120 - but considering it was under £30 only about 5 years ago shows the inflation rate in the UK.

Incidentally it is cheaper in the UK as you do not pay a 'consular' fee.

I haven't the time to check now but the last time this topic came up I found the NHS site that said you are NOT entitled to free NHS treatment if you are out of the UK for 6 months or longer, or you claim to be non-resident.

Non-residents (that is Brits or not) will always get free emergency treatment.

A Brit will always get free treatment if they return to the UK and become resident. You get that from the day you arrive so just say you are returning to take up residence. You can then leave a few days later.

But an non-resident Brit visiting for a holiday does not get treatment for free.

As I visit the UK each year I call in to see the doctor most years and have a UK address so they treat me as resident.

Payment of voluntary NI contributions makes no odds to getting free treatment.

Incidentally colour of skin does aid getting free treatment, along with the correct accent.

Sceadugenda:

Northern Farm - is that the shop on Huay Kaew between Rincome Junction and Canal Road Junction, on the left about half way opposite the nail bar?

Hope that the mods are aware of this report:

http://www.pcpro.co.uk/news/106226/storm-w...and-forums.html

It appears that a 'worm' can insert a link to a file into someone's posting that then installs a bot on your machine.

I note that is does ask if you want to install an executable file so the warning to all is never install anything unless you are certain of the source.

Sorry, my experience of Flintshire is that they will give 50% reduction for 6 months, but after that you pay 100% if empty. I've actually been to the valuation tribunal with them about this and thought it apllied to all councils in Wales.

Requirement to pay council tax and being on or entitlement to vote have no linkage what so ever.

If you have a place, owned or rented, in England or wales then you have to pay council tax. If only one person in the property is liable to tax (not students and a few other categories) then you get a 25% discount.

If nobody is living in the property, ie because you are in Thailand, then the council will class it as a second home and you pay 100%, even if you are just one person. This is true in Wales and the majority of English councils.

But if you live in the house - and just spend your holidays in Thailand and your wife/partner whatever lives in Thailand and just spends their holidays in the UK then only one person lives in the house (you) and you get the 25% discount.

It appears the length of the 'holiday' period is not defined and can be half a year or more or less.

It appears to be a completely legal way for a couple who spend much of their time in Thailand to only pay 75% of the council tax. Seems fair to me if you're not in the UK for most of the year.

Note that wife/partner doesn't have to be Thai, voter etc for this to apply.

I can read and write Thai hence the need for Transliteration is only of secondary importance, for those odd words with odd pronunciations. However my vocabruary is very limited so explainations etc should be in English

BUT

I spent two hours today back in DK, Surawong, B2S as well as Geko and other 2nd hand book shops to limited success.

No books by Benjawan Poomsan Becker,

The only Oxford Eng Thai dictionary was the river something version and designed for Thai speakers - and had the wrong ISBN.

In the end got the Jumbo English Thai dictionary by Gordon Allison at 195 Baht but it isn't as big (in the number of words) as I would like - about 10,000 words.

Thanks for all the help.

This is probably true.

If a person is not resident in the UK they are not liable to council tax.

If only one person in a house is liable for council tax then you get a 25% reduction.

BUT

If nobody is liable for the tax because nobody actually lives there it can be classes as a second home. In Wales this means you always pay 100% of the tax and I believe this option is now available to English councils, although some still only charge a lower rate of tax.

Hence if you have a house in the UK (England and Wales) make sure one person resides there and all others are non-residents in the UK!

OK - I'll go back and look for both of those again.

Thanks

I'm looking for an English to Thai dictionary that is written in English - if that makes sense!

I want the blurbs and explanations in English, if transliteration is used then transliteration of the Thai word, I can speak a form of English! I'm not looking for a little tourist dictionary as I have outgrown that, but would like a nice sized one with lots of words and, hopefully, some explanations. Something similar to the SeEd's Thai English desktop dictionary.

Does such a dictionary exist - I can't find one in Chiang Mai?

johnfb - you dial 009 44 127 4394611 - if it still says it is a wrong number then it is a wrong number, unless it is just a fault on the system so try again later!

For others, don't forget the web site www.saynoto0870.co.uk that has alternatives to 0870 and 0845 numbers that can always be dialed from Thailand. Often they are freephone (0800 or 0808) numbers that can be dial using skype for free even if you have no credit.

009 44 127 4394611

009 to give you cheaper international call access

44 to give you the UK

0127 is the UK area code, drop the 0 from overseas

4394611 is their number

0870 - the other number - might not be accessable from Thailand or over the 009 network

Condo's are much more secure, some more that others!

Trouble is security is only as good as the residents who shut security doors etc.

I think lotuseater isn't actually planning to ride the bike but.......

Last november it was a smidgen over 500 baht to get the road test (MOT for Brits), insurance and tax including 15 baht because the test centre did everything for me, I went back 3 days later to collect the green book.

They even stuck the stickers on for me whilst I watched their TV.