daiwill60

If you live well outside it's 2 trips to Bangkok to simply renew a UK passport so they spread the pain around as it is.

That's got to be a tough one,what every 10 years? you can get someone to do the trip for you if you don't fancy a night in Soi Cowboy

I only had to do one trip to Bkk to take my renewal application paperwork, then for some unknown reason, following a phone call from a DHL depot, it came back to me at my place of work via a DHL delivery driver who just got someone in the school to sign for it before handing it over to them , to this day I do not know who that person was. So mmuch for the now improved security measures that are supposed to have been put in place when they changed the system recently. And the Brit Embassy have a cheek to lecture us about looking after our passports.

Additionally I also once washed my old passport when left in a pair of jeans, Yeah some of the stamps smudged a bit , but nobody ever queried its validity, they weren't to sure if i money was laundered though.

mmmmm , to be believed ???

"EU inspectors are currently in Thailand evaluating Thailand’s performance regarding IUU fishing problem. Their work is expected to be wrapped up in 2-3 weeks".

And when they go home , what ?

He said the government had told EU delegation that it would step up efforts within the next 2-3 to improve performance in addressing IUU problem.

“They (EU delegation) did not tell us when the yellow card will be removed. But they told us to carry on doing. Anyway, we have to do it whether we are slapped with a yellow card, red car or a green card. Don’t we worried, we will do our best,” said the deputy prime minister.

2-3 Days , weeks , months , years? or is this a reference to the fact that the inspectors need to see an improvement before they go back in 2-3 weeks?

Don't we worried? Who proof reads these reports ?

"The teams will be comprised of workers from the local police, Special Branch, Office of the Narcotics Control Board, airline and bank employees".

Why not just create some full time jobs for others, rather than for people already in jobs. Oh Yeah , they have already , they are immigration police . HUH ???

Excuse me boss (bank manager) i am going up to the airport tomorrow to work there, because immigration officials cannot do job, can you cover me for the day?

It was reported that none of the officers failed the drug test, however the Police Chief has vowed to continue drug testing his officers and next time no notice of the tests will be given.

Aha! so that is why none were positive , stay clean off the Ganja for 28 days before and clear. Not sure how long for other drugs until a clean result would show.

I wonder how much notice they had before that day of testing? How many cops are in Pattaya's jurisdiction, and how many were not tested, ie, on the sick that day ????

Anyway , I guess it is a start ain't it ?

Why is there a cop bringing his gun down to shoot an unarmed cop, in this picture ?

With reports of how many bars are becoming quieter and quieter it would make sense to close down opposition bars not owned by BiB I guess, therein the BiB owned bars maintain their slices of the decreasing pie.

I overstayed by a month due to the dope at immigration giving me a 1 month stamp instead of 2 on entry, I had a double entry visa.

Come time to go home I got pulled into the immigration office at Suvarnabhumi airport, what followed was like a comedy routine with various Thais appearing one of whom had a large calculator into which he would input the fine I would have to pay which was a few hundred pounds, the large amount of the fine seemed to amuse them, as they were laughing , and grinning at each other non stop . When I pointed out the mistake was theirs, as I had a visa from a UK Thai embassy, a women who appeared to be more senior, and of Thai upper middle class by the look of her made an appearance. A short conversation between her and the Thais followed, and I was informed I would not have to pay a fine as long as I promised to come back to Thailand before my visa expired. Needless to say this did not happen, and I was worried this would be picked up on any future trip, but nothing ever came of it except I now double check my visa stamps to make sure Thai immigration are doing their jobs properly.

Even if an immigration officer makes a mistake and stamps the wrong date you are still required to leave on that date. it's your responsibility to make sure you have the correct stamp, you always need to check no matter what country you enter. I have had it happen to me in Italy and Hong Kong. Immigration offices are people and we all make mistakes.

What would happen if an immigration official actually stamps wrongly in your passport , and you immediately point it out to them, can they alter the stamp if required to do so? Does this mean another stamp having to be made in your passport? would they change it if it meant losing face on their part? or can they officially change BY pen the initial stamp done in error with another stamp or signature being added to verify the change.

After all, it is not as if they show you the selected date on the stamper before stamping your pass, is it ?

By the way this post is not a facetious dig, just a genuine thought about what does happen in the event of ......

French police made arrests in Rayong?????, Voila! Thees ees ow real poleeece doo do there job Monsieur Somchai.

So is it Pakistan or India? The Brits should just let the two argue their merits. They'll never agree.

It was expropriated in Lahore which, at the time, would have been part of India, but is now in Pakistan.

In 1849, after the conquest of the Punjab by the British forces, the properties of the Sikh Empire were confiscated.

The Koh-i-noor was transferred to the treasury of the British East India Company in Lahore.

http://kohinoordiamond.org/history-of-kohinoor-diamond/

Yeah , love the way it is always stated that the diamond was "presented". Right sure , under some force no doubt!

Over the last few day I have been contacted on Facebook by people posing a friends. I have been informed that Mark Zukerburg is giving be US$ 175,000. When I asked question only my friends could answer, the chat was cut short..

What???? you actually wasted time and bothered to try to see if it was real ???

Immigration Bureau asked by NSC two weeks ago to monitor Syrians

The Nation

BANGKOK: -- Immigration Bureau Commissioner Commissioner Pol Lt Gen Natthatorn Praosunthorn said Friday that the National Security Council had asked his bureau two weeks ago to monitor Syrians entering and leaving the country.

He said there were 231 Syrians entering and the latest checking conducted Friday morning showed that only 21 of them remain in the country.

"The remaining individuals' visa that allows them to be in Thailand for 2 months will start to expire starting from December 15. Six of them are those who work for embassies while the 15 others have tourist visa and four of them are women," he said.

He said he had already sent the list of the Syrians to the NSC.

Source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/breakingnews/Immigration-Bureau-asked-by-NSC-two-weeks-ago-to-m-30274310.html

-- The Nation 2015-12-04

Round them up now then and double check them all then, if you can ??

Remebering the Ebola airport escapee who wasn't where he was supposed to be, after they had escorted him to his supposed hotel.??????

Havent they been doing this since the BKK bombing ???? Amazing Thailand

Will they do the same for links to Hao 123, baidoo and other seemingly inoccuous browser malware that seems to infest so many Thai computers ???

it should not even be news to start with.

Can I even say that without fear of the Angles rocking up on my doorstep at 4am all dressed in black ?

is that all 360 angles ???

He may even get a few lesson in how to catch terrorizing criminals and do proper forensic evidence searching.

So am I to assume that thugs who wear masks are foreigners and not Thais ? The police will have this case wrapped up in no time if they have already worked that out. The police have done a wonderful job so far, they found traces of blood on the ground ( not surprising after someone just had a hell of a kicking ) , a gun magazine ( mmmm, I wonder if there may be some prints on there ) , a steel baton ( and maybe prints on this too) , three 9 mm cartridges ( used or unused, someone being careless dropping unused ones about the place) , a black cab ( oh that's where the Vigo went , wonder if they looked in the back of the cab for the victim ) , a Casio wristwatch ( cheap crap) , and adhesive tape at the scene ( for putting up the wanted posters )

Is Caraboa owned by the rock band of the same name?

Curious me found a link https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carabao_Daeng

Aed Caraboa owns the drinks company and is in the band Caraboa.

Wick'eed it and still cannot spell Carabao properly !!!! 3 times

Just a catch up for you all My new UK licence arrived at my mother's house yesterday after a 4 days wait. Who says the DVLA is <deleted> ?

I applied for a change of address and photo, I could not supply a photo, so took the option of providing my passport number and they extracted the photo from that to use on the card.

There we go then, ok for another 10 years now.

I did get an email form the DVLA regarding a query I made with them, and was told that I would have to be a resident in the UK to get my renewal, obviously this has not been the case, though I could be in deep do do"s if it were ever discovered that my xmas visit is only a holiday and not a long term return to the UK.

Who knows, I may stay or I may come back , that is my perogative and should not be a determining factor in my eligiblity to renew something I paid for and passed previously.

Anyway Thanks again chaps.

And does the British Council voice support of existing British English teachers in Thailand to try and safeguard their jobs long-term here?

Don't be silly, they are a commercial organisation masquerading as a charity, who have just landed a nice fat contract. A particularly good contract, because the whole farrago of "face"means that no matter how abysmal the results actually are, it will be presented as a roaring success.

Michael David Selby, the adviser to the Deputy Education Minister, must think all his Christmases have come at once.

He is no doubt an expert.

Many years ago, in a far off galaxy, I remember "expert " being defined as: "ex" is a has been, and a "spurt" is what happens when you put a drip under pressure!

I poster earlier that we can expect a claim that the classes were so successful and that classroom understanding has rocketed.

We can be sure the British Council will not contradict any such claims or publicly report any lack of attention and application, poor attendance as teachers find something better to do and so on.

Talked with a friend recently who works for the BC in another nearby SE Country, who reported that the BC is now a <deleted> org to work for as opposed to a few years ago.

Now staff have to hit targets and provide evidence of what they have been doing etc etc.

If anyone doubts this, next time they advertise jobs, see the application process, same as the modern day UK Civil service bureaucracy .

You may call me a synical old scrote if you will, but to have an " intensive " 6 weeks course in English, AND to also have instruction on teaching techniques and methods in situ.

Now that just isn,t going to work, whether the instruction comes from the British Council, or the Wandsworth Council.

However, if there were courses run at reputable Universities over a period of maybe a year, then there would be some small chance of advancement in the system.

I may even call you cynical??

Additionally, to run courses effectively at a university, such as one of the one I work at ( which happens to be in the top 5), one would have to reduce class sizes for 1 st year undergrads from 60- 120 + to about 20 students, and that ain't gonna happen while maximum money rolls in, and expenditure is minimalised, in employing farangs at the same amounts as they pay basic Gov't school teaching farangs.

Is it just me that has had this thought but when the other half is watching Thai soaps and they show invariably guns and gunshots but not pixelated out but when its a movie and they show someone smoking they pixelate the cigarette out...... so video or pictures of people smoking is outlawed and acted on to prevent it being seen but video or pictures of some guys wielding a gun or knife is not and is generally shown on TV Soaps with local well known Thai soap actors at popular prime times......

So if Im an impressionable teenager and see smoking blurred out.... this might send the right message to me..... but by the same logic to brandish and use a lethal weapon is not so , that sends a message as well.

Im not saying this is the root cause but it does show that guns and brandishing lethal weapons with intent is not something that is deemed abhorrent or incorrect in Thai society......... I find it laughable that authorities go after actors who are merchandising beer etc yet condone the same actors/actress's thrusting a gun in someones face even if it is on fictional soaps.... what do you expect if the wrong messages are continually condoned and sent.......... dont even get me going on the journo who is up before the court on flak jacket possesion.... can you imagine if the poor bugger had of been smoking and had a can of beer in his hand as well at the time ........

Some shows do blur out guns and knives though, few and far between nowadays, and also depending which soap and which channel of drivel you watch.

Makes me laugh everytime you see an alcoholic drink on a table ( not blurred ) then when someone picks it up , it is blurred . same goes for weapons too. But you can go to a movie in a cinema and nothing is blurred !!!! MAI KHAOW JAI MAAK!!!

one and all

Ok Guys I have discovered today that if you go to the online appn page and say you are replacing a lost or stolen or just renewing your photo, along with using a known address ( i my case my mother's as my new address and my old marital address where my original licence was registered, you can do a appln online, If you click on a box and say you have no photo ID you can also then give your Passport details and use the photo supplied as on your passoport, I got as far as paying with Visa and now verification checks will be made and hopefully now I should receive a new licence at my Mother 's address within 2 weeks , in time for me on my arrival at Xmas( fingers crossed ) Cost 14 quid .

Hi.....are they going to learn BBC English or ?????

And the same would be if they are going to learn MidWest USA English if the next idea is to give the contact to the USA

I knew a German who lived by a US army base near Frankfurt , never set foot in the USA but talked perfect english if you lived in the Bronx New York City,

I think they need to broadcast these lessons on Thai TV

Have you ever watched the Thai TV channel, DLTV14? It appears on page 199 on my True vision package. It is an all day English Channel, presumably sponsored by the Gov't ( maybe ) and full of minor mistakes.

Just found out that my 10 year UK plastic card driving licence has totally expired 2011, even though on my paper licence it says it is valid and I am entitled to drive in the UK until 2030.
So which is it nowadays??? I did a test that validated me until 2030, now it seems, that since the introduction of the card system, that those dates are now totally meaningless. Is this really the case these days????
I put my details into the DVLA website and no record is found. What is the UK coming to ???

I intend to go home for Christmas and borrow / rent a car friend in the car trade. last time i did this 4 years ago he just registered me on the company block insurance as one of his drivers , and away to go. But now this may not seem possible in view of my situation.

I have a valid Thai 5 year licence and am wondering if I could get a Thai International licence to take to the UK in order to drive around for the couple of weeks I will be there . If so, where do I get an international licence in Thailand before I go to the UK???

Any ideas anyone ?