briley

I can't see why counting the days is so difficult if all our comings and goings are on the computer - can't the computer do the counting for the immigration officer and say 'this bod 12 days only'?

I just sent my Thai telephone bill that the Irish Bank accepted

Only a year later did I discover it wasn't in my name!

If anyone can tell you the best time to buy tickets they must be clairvoient.

I watch the price and tend to buy a couple of months before the date. £430 for a 2 month trip is not bad, I've been looking at nearer £400 for a trip in October but I think Jan tends to be a bit higher.

Lot depends on whether you have to travel, you can hold on until Jan and if the fare isn't good enough then don't travel?

If you get a realy good discounted ticket the infant price can be more than 10%,

Often children's prices on discount fares are 75% instead of the normal 50% which does mean it can be cheaper for you to travel on the deep discount ticket and the child or infant to travel on a less discounted ticket but get a 10% or 50% fare.

Couthy - don't disagree with you, just I had problems.

But you reminded me that your temporary NI number is TN date of birth as ddmmyy then M for male F for female.

For an ISA you have to be UK resident, and if UK resident the DHS (or their current name) will give you a NI number.

Supposed to be very easy to get but when I tried it for my daughter I had problems that took a while to overcome. In her case no job until she had an NI number, no NI number until she had a job (that bit was untrue)

PS Resident in this case is resident for UK tax purposes, ie in the UK for over 183 days in one year or over an average of 91 days a year for the last - is it 3 or 4 years?

Taggart - I think you're mistaking the limit over which transfers have to be reported to the central bank/authorities.

AFAIK neither country has a limit on the amount you can transfer each year.

XP can read a multisession DVD but win 98 and before can't, nor off the top of my head can WIn 2000.

There is also a problem with definition of multisession as, to the best of my knowledge, there are two ways of making a multisession DVD and two flavour's of DVD that can't be multisession (Video and ISO). It is possible that you have made a multi session DVD using a method that can't be read by Windows.

Previous sessions are always there, but it seems that you can't read the linked directory structure - the computer has to read the first directory and then the link to the second directory and so on, the final directory struture should contain all the information to recover files from all the sessions. If the computer does not read the directory information it can't recover the files - but the files never 'go away' like they do on the hard disc.

There are programs that can recover individual sessions, but the one I use is not free and not worth paying for for just one or two problems

To get a result it is not difficult to convert 8mm to video, to get a **good** result is difficult!

I did all mine using a projector and a DV camcorder - but any camcorder will do.

Simply project the film onto a screen to make the smallest picture possible. Point the camcorder at the screen and record the video. Do it in the dark. The camcorder will also pick up the sound, and coughing and the projector noise but that adds to the ambiance?

To make a better recording feed the video direct from your camcorder to your TV card in your computer and the sound from the projector direct to the sound card in your computer and record onto the computer as though recording a TV program, but set the recording to be from composite/AV/SV or what ever it is called input.

The one problem you get is that the angle for the video is wrong since you can't get the camcorder and the projector in the same spot, the recording you make is slightly out of rectangular. You can reduce this effect by putting the camcorder as near in line as possible, above, below or to the side of the projector. Or you can project onto a mirror at 45 degrees to the projector and then reflect it into the camcorder - ie the camcorder and the projector are at 90 degrees to each other. I believe this works but haven't tried is as my 8mm film was so old that 'out of square' really didn't matter.

I then played about with the video using Virtual Dub (free from somewhere?). You can cut up the picture to make it square again, remove hairs in the gate, improve contrast etc. Given lots of time you seem to be able to do almost anything with the program.

Incidentally even the cheapest of TV cards can be used to digitise the video into the computer. The quality of the cheapest card is better than the quality of domestic camcorders and definitely better than the quality of my 8mm film.

I'm told the profit is in the credit deal most Thai's take when buying a bike, so the price is not negotiable as there is no profit in the price.

Just wondered if the key for retired2 is the word 'football'. Many stations can't stream sports as they only have the local rights to broadcast the game - eg try listening to live football, cricket or formula 1 on the BBC

If your log-in uses drop down menu's for password letter that have to be accessed using a mouse then keyboard loggers are defeated.

If not then change bank to one that is more secure.

Unless keyboard loggers have got a lot more sophisticated?

I find that sending mail from most Thai based SMTP servers get bounced by some recipients and just swallowed up by others, especially AOL.

Send and recieve via Gmail is by far the easiest method and allows you to move around, use any ISP in any country and it still works. But do set the port numbers carefully.

Seem to remember yes -

Going clockwise around the moat, before you reach Taipai gate there is a big photo place that can do almost anything.

Sorry but 400 baht is the fine and the police will show you the official list of fines for the different offences.

100 Baht is a bribe and I for one will never bribe, I pay the 400 Baht.

When you get to the airport sign the standard waiver to say you will not hold the airline responsible if you can't enter the country.

Except, rainman, 712,000 baht is 88,000 baht short of 800,000 baht so they will need 88,000 in the bank.

I heard that Hull's consulate is the grandson of someone who did a favour for the King and has been granted the status of honourary consulate in perpetuity - so they can, within the law, be a generous as they like!

Mind you might easily have trouble with the airline refusing to let you board until you sign a waiver saying you'll pay your return fare if refused access to Thailand etc etc.

Make sure you have a credit card as well, if you do get megga problems then you can always buy a ticket from Bangkok, and then cash it in when you get to Bangkok. I've never had to buy a ticket but have often had to sign a waiver.

That is the problem with asking airline checkin staff to act as immigration officers for every country in the world.

Seems as though you can still get multi-entry tourist visas, but only from outside the region - try your home country.

Some consulates are very easy going on giving multi entry non-imm O visas (Hull for UK nationals springs to mind).

But yes you might end up having to move, at least until you're 50. Not many countries allow non-nationals to just live in their country, Thailand has been very friendly so far.

Don't talk to lawyers if you don't want to be confused .........................

Sunbelt gives the best advice, and tells us that you or your husband gets a retirement visa (800,000 baht in the bank or income) and the other person gets a depentants visa - no cash retirement but you MUST have a marriage certificate.

Do it yourself, very easy and immigration are very helpful.

Edit - sorry no cash requirement!

Sorry Scotsman but I am partially wrong, but also right.

Have spent some time on the NHS site and find on this page

http://www.dh.gov.uk/PolicyAndGuidance/Int...&chk=mJFm70

That anyone who "anyone who spends more than 3 months living outside the UK is no longer automatically entitled to free NHS hospital treatment in England" (What about Scotland and Wales???)

Later on the same page it says "If you go anywhere abroad for more than three months, either for a one-off extended holiday for a few months or to live permanently for several years, but then return to the UK to take up permanent residence here again, then you will be entitled to receive free NHS hospital treatment from the day you return."

This is what I always thought but then another page

http://www.dh.gov.uk/PolicyAndGuidance/Int...&chk=uhB/w0

It starts to refer to a House of Lords ruling that anyone who is "Ordinary Resident" is entitled to treatment and this is undefined!

Finally another page (can't find it now) says that if you have been resident and working for 10 years in the UK and not working for more than 5 years outside the UK then you get free treatment.

I think the rules are so complex that any Brit who presents themselves for treatment will get it.

Levent - you can still get a tourist visa, even a year long multi entry and do border runs every 60 days. It appears to only be the 30 day visa exemption or 30 day visa on arrival that can only do three back to back visas.

But whether they stop the multi-entry back to back visas in the future is open to question. I'd keep your eyes open for the next few weeks as all the new rules come out and bed in.

Luck?

Or maybe that was the rules 4 years ago - although it is in my memory that 4 years ago Farangs couldn't get 5 year licence only 1 year so...........!

Despite what a lot of people think it is difficult for non-EU nationals to get NHS treatment, Social payments, housing etc in the UK.

Within the EU everything is recipricol (spelling?). Poles get UK NHS treatment, including paying prescription charges whist if a Brit goes to Poland they get the Polish equivalent of the NHS. Seems fair to me.

However the court have interpreted the Human Rights Act in some very strange ways .................................