doctormann

I spoke to Lufthansa this morning concerning my flight to Frankfurt tonight and my onward connection to Birmingham tomorrow. The message at the moment is to check in as normal as they are assuming - there goes that word again - that European airspace will be clear by the time the flight from BKK gets there. They say that they will contact me if anything changes.

I have a feeling that it will all go belly up and that if I make it as far as FRA I shall get stuck there. Certainly nothing moving out of FRA at the moment.

Nothing to do except to follow instructions I guess. Can't really cancel my non-transferable, non-refundable tickets. Probably the best option would be if LH rescheduled everything to the following day. I could live with that and hopefully the ash will have moved off by then.

Living in hope!

DM

A bit of a b*gger. Due to fly out to Birmingham via Frankfurt tomorrow night. Looking decidedly unlikely I can make it past Frankfurt unless the wind changes. I suppose we'll find out more tomorrow.

And to think that my main concern was a BKK closure because of red shirt activity! Ah well, live in hope.

DM

Bookemdano

Consider taking your GF on a quick trip to Singapore, Malaysia or Bali. The ECOs at the Embassy like to see some history of previous travel outside of Thailand. No visa required for her to visit these countries.

No point in applying too soon - 3 months prior to intended visit date is soon enough.

DM

Be aware that Mor Chit 2 bus station is nowhere near the Mor Chit BTS or MRT. 10-minute taxi ride required to get from one to the other.

Have you considered getting the local train to Laksi and then either walking down Chaeng Wattana (maybe a 15 min. walk) or getting a taxi from there?

DM

chlorine kills bacteria but can't defeat a virus.

well, Malaria isn't a virus.

Nor a bacteria.

Malaria is caused by a parasite.

Dengue is caused by a virus.

Both diseases are carried by mosquitos - malaria primarily by anopheles and dengue primarily by aedes egypti. Other nasty diseases out there as well!

DM

this area is situated just south and east of Siam Country Club, near Maprachan Lake, East Pattaya.

and... I have no idea. Help?

This might just be the very large pineapple plantation that's in that area. I've been up there on the push-bike quite often - whether or not there are pineapples depends on the time of year - and what you can see is a vast network of sand tracks that are there so that the pickers can get at the fruit.

You can get all the way from the Huay Yai road to the 3 Kingdoms Park and Horseshoe Point on the road that runs past the plantation. Partly surfaced, recently, but already breaking up, but the northern portion is still just a badly eroded sand road.

DM

Yes, I've had this occasionally. Seems to me that it can occur when there's not enough bandwidth available. Maybe also if the remote server is either very busy or has some problem. As the message says, 'try again later' and it may well work OK.

DM

Might just be something to do with tourist 'evacuees' from Bangkok deciding to avoid any potential re-shirt trouble. I was in town on Monday evening and it certainly did look busier than of late.

DM

I would love to do it but i cannot get my head around that price $2210 for 4 days 3 nights also bringing the safety record into it,i think it is extortionate when you can fly for peanuts.It is not far enough to validate the price they are charging.

Agreed, but believe me it's nothing like flying - an entirely different experience.

I don't know how it works in your country, whichever that is, but in the UK it's normally possible to get prices heavily discounted if booked as part of a package. I certainly wouldn't have considered paying the sort of price that you quote - only paid a small fraction of that but we got a refund of about £800, which probably represented the true cost of the train segment of the holiday. That was back in the 90's though so it's sure to be more expensive now. Anyway, if you really want to do the trip, look at getting some sort of a package deal.

DM

Just seen on Sky News that the UK ex-pats pension increase case has been lost. No details but I think that this was the final decision and cannot be appealed.

DM

I assume that your wife is intending to act as sponsor for the visit. This is OK but she will need to provide a letter of invitation to her friend - and a sponsor's letter to the UK Embassy - and will need to demonstrate that suitable accommodation is available. If she is intending to cover her friend's expenses she will have to demonstrate that she has the funds to do this.

However, this is only the tip of the iceberg, so to speak. It is not your wife that has to apply for the visa, it is her friend. All of the usual provisos will apply, the most important of which is to convince the ECO at the UK Embassy that she will leave the UK at the end of the visit.

I don't rate her chances very highly but you and your wife will obviously know far more about the individual circumstances than I do. I strongly suggest that you read around in this section of TV as there have been many, many posts about this and related subjects and there is a wealth of information and advice to be had.

Good luck,

DM

My ex-wife and I did this trip back in the 90's, as part of a package booked through Kuoni in the UK. The holiday started off with a couple of days in Bangkok then the itinerary was to travel to Singapore on the EOE, stay in Singapore for a few days and then fly back to Hua Hin for a week.

It was great and the EOE train offers you a very high standard of comfort and service. The view of some of the track-side life is very interesting at times, also. I only have two reservations about the EOE:-

Firstly, the track is narrow gauge which results in quite a swaying motion at anything above crawling speed. OK in the daytime but it does make it a bit difficult to get a decent sleep at night.

Secondly, the track is not in the best of condition, as evidenced by several derailments in recent months so there may be a safety aspect to consider. When the ex and I were on the train it actually fell off the rails near Butterworth in Malaysia and could not continue. No serious injuries - a few bruises only but still not the best of experiences. The up-side was that EOE immediately broke open the champagne and we sat at the side of the track drinking copious amounts of this, free, while waiting to be bussed into Penang. The EOE secured accommodation for us at the Shangri-La in Penang and we were then flown down to Singapore next day. First class as well but as it's only a 45 minute flight there's little benefit from this.

The remainder of the holiday went as planned - can thoroughly recommend the Dusit Resort and Polo Club near Hua Hin, by the way - but the best bit was getting a full refund from EOE for the 'ruined' holiday. They even paid the full going rate for the train section of the holiday, which was just about the same as we had paid Kuoni for the entire trip. That's what I call a result!

I certainly would recommend the EOE - it's not an every day experience but is something pretty well unique in this day and age. Fairly expensive but you won't be disappointed - provided that the thing stays on the rails.

DM

1,000,000 cc of blood from 100,000 people.

Thats going to be a logistical nightmare. That volume of blood equates to roughly 260 US gallons or, to put it into perspective, rather more than 6 of those large drums that oil tends to come in and will have a mass of roughly 1 metric tonne.

I don't somehow think that this is actually going to happen! TiT though so it just might!

DM

I've used DHL a few times and not had any problems. Quite expensive though.

DM

You do not need an appointment to submit an application for a UK tourist visa - just turn up.

The opening hours for application submissions at VFS, Regent House, are 08:30 - 15:00. Monday - Friday. Get there reasonably early, before it gets busy, and you should be in and out in about an hour or so. Regent House is a short walk from Rachadamri BTS station.

Be aware of these points:

There is a visa agency next to VFS - don't go in there by mistake as they are expensive and will not do anything for you that you can't do yourself. The VFS office is clearly marked.

It is unlikely that you will be admitted to the VFS office itself - you can, of course, enter the building - as normally only the applicant is allowed inside. No real problem here as she will not be interviewed, as such. She might get asked why she wants to go to UK (holiday, presumably) but probably no more than that. She will have her 'biometrics' recorded.

You need to pay the visa fee with a banker's draft - VFS will not accept cash. Again, no problem as there is a bank on the ground floor of Regent House that will provide this.

I am assuming that your GF is applying for a 'General Visit' tourist visa and that you have filled in the form VAF1A. If the purpose of the trip is to meet family members then you need VAF1B instead - similar form but needs a few more details. What constitutes a family member is defined in the advice notes on the form.

As always, ensure that whichever form you use is filled in accurately and that adequate back-up information is provided. The usual reason that applications fail is because the applicant has not demonstrated that they will leave the UK at the end of the trip. You really need to provide some 'concrete' evidence on this and often this is not easy to do. There have been numerous threads on this very subject running on this forum so I suggest that you do a bit of reading to find out what is likely to work.

If this is your GF's first application then there is really no point in asking for more than a 6-month visa. The validity of this, if it is granted, will run from the date of issue UNLESS YOU CLEARLY REQUEST IT TO BE POST-DATED.

VFS will courier your GF's passport back for 300 Baht if you don't wish to collect it in person. You will be provided with a tracking number for use on their web site so you can check the progress of the application on-line. However, you won't find out if you've been successful until you open the passport and find that nice UK Visa sticker inside, or not.

Good luck,

DM

If you are out of the country when 90 days reporting is due, Is that a problem upon return?

No. The counter is reset to zero when you re-enter.

Thais can go to Peru as well, but not by motorcycle.

DM

Thonas My advice would be to E Mail them. If only to get conformation that they have received Your application.

And Do keep sending them E Mails. I was told when I made telephone calls that they were very busy Until 10 months later They told me they had not received the application.

So do keep your sent mails and any reply you get. I am still in the process of sorting mine out They owe me 18 months back pay for my wife @ £57 per week.

Now I have to go to Tribunal on 14th may I do have evidence. Thank the lord But who knows.

They do require you to send your wife's Original birth Certificate as well as your marriage Cert.

Best of luck Keep at them.

I'm still in the process of trying to get the Pensions Service to fork out the £57 per week for my Thai wife. I'm pretty certain that the money will be paid, eventually, but the application was submitted in September 2009 and progress has been incredibly slow. All the relevant documentation was provided back then - It's even been returned to me!

I rattled their cage just last week and was told that they have actually got round to applying for a NI number for my wife, without which nothing can be done. OK but why have they taken 6 months to get this far and why is it, apparently, going to take another 6 months to get the NI number! Even when the number is issued it will still take time for them to authorise the payments. How long? No-one seems to know. Never mind, when the money does eventually appear, probably sometime next year at the current rate of progress, it will at least be backdated.

DM

Well for those who might be in a similar situation to mine in the future I am happy to report back that the 5 year family visit visa was granted after a 5 working day wait. Needless to say we are very pleased.

Thank you once again for the advice offered,very much appreciated.

Well Brizzle, that's very good news. I just wish that, in retrospect, my wife had applied for the 5-year visa rather than the 2-year variety, which was granted. I think that next time we'll go for 10 years!

DM

Hi Brian

Yes, this is definitely the case. Just make sure that you complete the paperwork accurately and you should have no problems, provided that you do actually qualify for the visa. You have to show that the application is for a genuine reason and, most importantly, you have to show that it is likely that the applicant will leave the UK at the end of the visit.

When you visit Regent House be aware that there is a visa agency operating in the same area as the VFS office. VFS personnel are easily identifiable by their uniforms and badges. You should not interact with any persons not displaying the correct VFS identification unless you wish to pay a substantial amount of cash for little or no service. You do not need these people if you are making a standard visa application. The VFS office is located slightly to the right on the first floor of Regent House and is easily identified. The agency, whose name I forget, is located next to the souvenir shop on the same floor and is likely to have a sexy lady outside to tempt you to go inside. Resist the temptation!

DM

Hi Brian

Depends how busy they are but usually a few weeks.

BUT you don't need to make an appointment - you can just turn up to submit the papers between 08:30 and 15:00, Monday through Friday, unless it's a public holiday.

Don't confuse making an appointment to submit the application, which you don't need to do, with the remote possibility that the applicant may be called for interview to clarify some aspects of the application. This rarely happens with tourist visa applications but can delay matters substantially when it does. Allow plenty of time - you can apply up to three months prior to the intended travel date and the visa can be post-dated on request.

If you just turn up at Regent House and submit, you should have the passport back within seven working days and it's often a lot quicker than this. The passport can be couriered back to you on payment of 300 Baht so you don't need to collect it personally.

You are aware that the application fee can only be paid by banker's draft? You can get the draft from the bank in Regent House and this is the way to do it as they know exactly what you need. There have been reports in the past that drafts obtained from other banks have been refused by VFS, for whatever reason.

Good luck

DM

Many thanks for this.

So let me get this straight... In terms of a UK visa:

She can fill in the application online, print off, compile sponsors dossier, get all the relevant documents and simply walk into the office and submit the application?

That would be a great help if this was the case.

Also I never realised the visa could be post-dated.

re The appointment, do I still need to make one? I forget how the online application system works.

Thanks for all your advice BTW, very, very helpful.

Hi Brian

Depends how busy they are but usually a few weeks.

BUT you don't need to make an appointment - you can just turn up to submit the papers between 08:30 and 15:00, Monday through Friday, unless it's a public holiday.

Don't confuse making an appointment to submit the application, which you don't need to do, with the remote possibility that the applicant may be called for interview to clarify some aspects of the application. This rarely happens with tourist visa applications but can delay matters substantially when it does. Allow plenty of time - you can apply up to three months prior to the intended travel date and the visa can be post-dated on request.

If you just turn up at Regent House and submit, you should have the passport back within seven working days and it's often a lot quicker than this. The passport can be couriered back to you on payment of 300 Baht so you don't need to collect it personally.

You are aware that the application fee can only be paid by banker's draft? You can get the draft from the bank in Regent House and this is the way to do it as they know exactly what you need. There have been reports in the past that drafts obtained from other banks have been refused by VFS, for whatever reason.

Good luck

DM

No need to bother with an appointment, just turn up and submit the hard copy. The time slot for submitting applications is 08:30 - 15:00, Monday - Friday and, in my experience, they are seldom that busy. You should be in and out in about an hour.

DM

Just went through this process and you are correct, the biometrics have to be done at Regent House in Bangkok. Just turn up, you don't need an appointment and if they are not too busy you will be in and out in about an hour.

VFS will courier the passport back on payment of 300 Baht so your partner doesn't need to go back to collect it. My wife recently submitted her Family Visit application on a Monday - no queue at 11:00 - and the passport was returned the following Monday. This was faster than we expected as the Embassy were not processing applications for two days that week, due to a computer upgrade.

DM

Hi Brizzle

I see that no-one is coming up with any info for you so here is my tuppence worth:

The information on what constitutes a family member is in section 8 of the VAF1B form. Unmarried partnerships of more than 2 years are covered so you should be OK on that score.

As far as getting a 5-year visa is concerned, that might be a little ambitious. I asked UKBA for some information on this, back in June, last year, and got the following reply:

Thank you for your e-mail of 21 June.

Obtaining a longer term visit visa such as a 2 year, an applicant generally must have previously obtained at least two 6 months visas. The issuance of longer-term visas is a gradual process and is based on individual qualification, therefore issued at the discretion of the Entry Clearance Officer. Please note that the visa fees are non-refundable therefore we cannot refund the difference of visa fees if the longer term visa is not issued.

Information on the application process can be found on the following web site - www.vfs-uk-th.com. Straightforward visa application takes 2-5 working days to process. However, if an Entry Clearance Officer has further queries and/or needs further clarification on some of the issues, an interview may be required. The waiting time for an interview for a visit visa is around 6 weeks.

I have just obtained a 2-year family visit visa for my wife, who has had 2 previous 6-month visit visas. We were not certain that we would get the 2 years but the gamble came off. Maybe we should have gone for 5!

As the application fee for the 1 and 2 year visas is the same you might as well go for the 2-year option. If you're feeling lucky then go for 5 years, although this is a more expensive option.

As always, prepare the application carefully and remember that 'reason to return' is of paramount importance.

Good luck and I hope that this info has been of some use to you.

DM

In the past I have used a ring binder and transparent pocket separators to organise the various documents. Each separator is labelled appropriately, e.g. passport copies; finances; correspondence etc. Seems to work and you do get back the binder once the visa is, hopefully, approved.

DM