MAJIC

Apart from the Bribery and Moral issue,it means the wife will be working for 20 months for nothing,and only break even,

IMO Economic madness,and maybe some more cash will be required after the 20 months period is up?

If anyone can buy a Teachers job,in this way,then it's no wonder Education standards are poor in Thailand.

Perhaps I'm wrong, but aren't international drivers permits a scam?

I can't vouch for every Country in the World,but in the UK International Drivers Licences are issued by the AA & RAC and are perfectly legal,and accepted by almost 3 quarters of the Worlds Countries.

Here's all those 21 year olds earning 20 grand.

Nick Clegg is launching the plan to tackle rising levels of youth unemployment

Firms and charities are to be invited to bid for a payment-by-results scheme to try to get "Neet" teenagers into work or training, in a project launched by Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg.

The £126m scheme is aimed at 55,000 teenagers in England with poor qualifications who are currently not in education, employment or training.

Mr Clegg says it will help youngsters "into the world of work".

But Labour says the project is "too small and much too late".

Chris Keates, leader of the Nasuwt teachers' union, accused Mr Clegg of being responsible for an increase in Neets by scrapping the Education Maintenance Allowance.

'Ticking time bomb'

Mr Clegg described the problem of rising youth unemployment as a "ticking time bomb".

"Sitting at home with nothing to do when you're so young can knock the stuffing out of you for years," he said.

"We urgently need to step up efforts to ensure some of our most troubled teenagers have the skills, confidence and opportunities to succeed.

"Many of them will have complex problems: truancy, teenage pregnancy, a lack of GCSEs and health problems."

Mr Clegg said to see teenagers who have left school with no qualifications "slumped on the sofa in front of the telly is not only tragic for them... but it stores up huge problems for the future if we don't help them now".

He said it was also about getting "crucial early years in a child's life at school right" to "save on so much heartache later".

"If you start early it then allows children to start their school career with a sense of enthusiasm for learning," he said.

The scheme, part of the Youth Contract announced in the autumn, will invite bids for contracts worth up to £2,200 for each teenager who can be sustained in work, education or training for 12 months.

The target group will be 16- to 17-year-olds without any GCSEs at C grade or above.

The aim is for long-term savings from an early intervention.

Almost one in five young people aged between 16 and 24 are classified as Neet - with the most recent figure standing at 1,163,000.

This response from the government is aimed at teenagers at the lower end of this age range who are already at risk of "disengagement" from the world of work.

The organisations that win these contracts will have a free hand to decide their approach - with the emphasis on rewarding a successful outcome.

Payments will be staggered, so that the full amount will be paid only to contractors when young people have remained in work or training for a year.

The funding will reflect the highest level of Neet youngsters in this age group - with £14m available in the West Midlands, where 11.5% of 16- to 17-year-olds are in this category.

The project has been challenged by the ATL teachers' union, which accused the government of damaging the chances of teenagers "by dismantling the careers and advice service and abolishing the education maintenance allowance".

"We have deep misgivings that getting charities and businesses to provide support for unemployed youngsters outside the education system will undermine the likelihood of success," said ATL officer Adrian Prandle.

Shadow work and pensions secretary Liam Byrne also said the Youth Contract would not help most young unemployed people.

Mr Byrne said of Mr Clegg: "He promised big answers to the problem of youth unemployment yet what we have got today is something that won't help 95% of Britain's young unemployed.

"This is much too small and much too late to tackle a problem that is likely to cost our country £28bn over the next 10 years.

"The government needs to bite the bullet and put in place a sensible tax on bankers' bonuses in the next budget to help get 100,000 young people back to work."

'Job snobs'

Meanwhile, Work and Pensions Secretary Iain Duncan Smith has branded critics of the government's separate work experience scheme for young jobseekers as "job snobs".

The scheme offers unpaid work placements in stores such as Tesco and Maplin to 18- to 24-year-olds who have been unemployed for more than three months.

Mr Duncan Smith said in the Daily Mail: "The implicit message behind these attacks is that jobs in retail, such as those with supermarkets or on the High Street, are not real jobs that worthwhile people do.

"How insulting and demeaning of the many thousands of people who already work in such jobs up and down the country.

"I doubt I'm the only person who thinks supermarket shelf-stackers add more value to our society than many of those 'job snobs' who are pontificating about the government's employment policies."

We have had all this work for Training and no pay under previous Tory Rules,all that happened was Employers took advantage for the one year "Training" period,which was really free labour,and then showed the youngsters the door,and then took on a new "Slave by it's correct name" what a farce,it must be difficult for Tesco to train up Shelf Stackers,poor dears have only got 4,000 plus Superstores Worldwide,generating billions in profits,so I can see why they can't afford to pay Trainees.

I think we're needing a Brits in Thailand forum, possibly sub-titled Wingeing Brits in Thailand.

Talking of wingeing,there are others on tv,that can be likened to Arthritus: a constant pain, with no benefit to the victim.

Jetairways are generally good, Indian Airways not very good and Kingfisher has financial trouble and delays.

Jetairways: My experience,the worst Airline food ever,and being shuffled around in transit for two hours in Mumbai,like a flock of sheep.

Even though we own a car, many times when traveling from KKC to BKK we opt for the bus. 5 hrs by car 6 hrs by bus, but the bus is convenient, cheap, and safe, they give you bottled water and snacks, a chance to take a nap, or watch a bad Thai movie, and not have to deal with BKK traffic . I never had a problem, never seen a problem.

Just my experience.

I think you have been very fortunate,never to have seen a "problem" (accident) personally I have seen many coaches which have been laying horizontal,at the side of the road,and in ditches.The same as Sugar Cane lorries,which are often ridiculously overloaded.

I have a Thai friend who has a Coach rebuilding business,not far from Bangkok,who's only business is rebuilding coaches that have been in a roll or other type of accident,at any one time he has space for six coaches to be repaired,and five people working on them full time.

All in various stages of repair,one goes out and another comes in,before they go out in their nice new paintwork,you would never imagine they would ever be Roadworthy again.And I don't suppose you have ever seen the top half of a coach cut off,prior to the rebuild either?

His business never stops for lack of work,and the only thing that stops him from expanding is the lack of space! and of course there must be other businesses doing similar work. Having spent a large part of my working life in quality Engineering,if I could see beyond the pretty flamboyant spray paintwork,I would never enter a Coach or Bus ever again.

Sorry I can't agree with you that Buses are safe! it's the last resort of travel for me,but don't take my word for it.

Why do the PTP keep bringing up this "she's a woman" thing. The opposition are attacking her because she's the PM. They are not attacking her because of a supposed sexual meeting at the hotel. They are attacking her because of a secret business meeting at the hotel.

Correct,

and she was as usual taking yet more time off, and in this case working for herself,and the Clan, and Sod the people!

majic, #117

Of course the view that "Yingluck is in the dark" "is not shared by a Majority of the Electorate" that's because they are all living on the same Mushroom Farm,on cloud cuckoo land!

I have been quite impressed with the Thai electorate.

I recall the no-holds barred assault during Samak's election campaign by the Opposition media.

Likewise during Ms. Y's election campaign.

Yet the electorate saw through this smoke and conducted themselves much differently than the Opposition media expected.

Impressed the hell out of me.

I guess you are easily impressed.

This must be why the PM was visiting that hotel. She was being kept in the dark.

In the dark? Why is she in the dark?

Did someone turn off the lights?

Or draw the curtain/blind close?

Or put the blanket over her head?

If she was anymore in the dark she'd be a mushroom.

Again, the electoral majority which brought her to power in the full knowledge of all her associations,would elect her again today in perhaps an increased landslide,

So to suggest that she is "in the dark" as referenced here, is not shared by a majority of the electorate.

However, I understand that whatever negativity is floated about Ms. Y. regardless of credibility and validity, would be accepted at face value by the minority electorate.

Fortunately the last election removed them from relevance.

Of course the view that "Yingluck is in the dark" "is not shared by a Majority of the Electorate" that's because they are all living on the same Mushroom Farm,on cloud cuckoo land!

Seems it would be best to contact the UKBA Rules,before committing yourself.

Returning residents

Please note that ILR status can be lost if an individual remains out of the UK for more than 2 years on a single occasion or when it appears that an individual only spends short periods of time to retain their status and does not appear to have made the UK their principal home. This is known as the ‘returning residents’ rule.

It may well be seen that if you spend more time out the UK in another country that that country is your principle home.

Edit for double Post

Seems it would be best to contact the UKBA Rules,before committing yourself.

Returning residents

Please note that ILR status can be lost if an individual remains out of the UK for more than 2 years on a single occasion or when it appears that an individual only spends short periods of time to retain their status and does not appear to have made the UK their principal home. This is known as the ‘returning residents’ rule.

It may well be seen that if you spend more time out the UK in another country that that country is your principle home.

That was also the way I read it.

History repeats itself.

We have seen such thing happen again and again all over the world, and this won't be the last.

The up-raising of the common people.

To struggle for a more open and free democratic society.

Last happen in USSR, Romania, Yogoslavia, East Timore, Tibet, Egypt, Iraq, etc

We congratulate then if the up-raising is a success.

We condem then if the up-raising fails.

This has absolutely nothing to do with democracy, in fact, just the opposite. Remember, this is Thaksin, not some benevolent patriach.

Yep.

Isn't it funny, or rather sad, that almost always when states or groups refer to themselves as "democratic" or fighting dictatorship, that they are the exact opposite?

Case in point PAD. They had some very undemocratic ideas.

Case in point UDD/DAAD: Also have some very strange ideas about what is democracy.

So Thaksin in Dubai pulling the strings of his Puppet Clone and his PTP Party is Democratic then? Or Shinawatra family Democracy?

Seems it would be best to contact the UKBA Rules,before committing yourself.

Returning residents

Please note that ILR status can be lost if an individual remains out of the UK for more than 2 years on a single occasion or when it appears that an individual only spends short periods of time to retain their status and does not appear to have made the UK their principal home. This is known as the ‘returning residents’ rule.

I like the jet ski boys… I like the fact they don't get all subservient with the cretins. Those ones that come with that ever present western sense of superiority.

Have a stroll down the beach and give the Thieving Crooks some of your money then,i'm sure they need it,now that the world knows their Scam / Scum.

Simple guide.....any e-mail that starts....

My good friend

My friend in god

In god we trust

I got your details

I am the son of

From the desk of

I am the manager of the bank of Fasou, Nigeria, Kenya, .....add infanitum

Your last price please

We have never met but

I have studied your profile and thought i should introduce myself

Confidential business proposition

Your basic details are all that is required

From the Coca Cola Company

Nokia awards has identified you...

Pay Pal . there is a query with your account

Western Union...your money is ready to collect, just give me some personal details

And so on and on and on and on..............

Yep I get 2 or 3 of these scam emails every week without fail. Surely people are not so stupid as to part with money,often the spelling and grammar is very poor,and in theory should not fool anybody. I suppose they must play the percentages game,one hit in a thousand or whatever,pays the monthly salary. There must be a pay day sometimes or they would have given up by now.

Why do you need a British birth certificate ?

What complications are there if you don't apply for one ?

My son is 2 years old born in Thailand, he has both thai and British passports and only a Thai birth certificate.

Complications would arise if you needed to produce it,in a hurry,and didn't have it! but surely you already know what UK Bureaucracy is like? and you never know when it's going to be needed.

You need a certified translation of the Thai birth certificate. A UK birth certificate is not necesarry, but makes it easier to obtain one because you than can get one from the registrar in the UK.

Some people wait till to go to the UK and than get a Britsh birthcertificate. I believe it is cheaper.

At September 2010 it wasnt possible to obtain a certificate in the UK, regardless if the child was there or here.....application for birth cert had to be done in BKK, cost per child for birth cert and UK passport was 12,700 inclusive......things may have changed in the past 18 months though.

I believe you are correct the same thing was applicable to Registering the Birth of my child in May 2007,and yes of course things may very well have changed,and become easier.

My costs for the Registration of the Birth 6624 baht + Certified Copy of Entry (uk) 4248b + 40b (postage thailand) Total 10,912 baht.and all done by the British Embassy Bangkok.

With no passport added,at that particular time.

Perfect answer. Thanks a lot .

Out of curiosity, roughly how much is charge??

Well it's been quite a few years now,but I can remember the Birth Certificate was 10,900 baht.as for the UK Passport,it may be best to look up the costs on the British Embassy website,the costs of everything has gone up quite considerably in the last few years,be prepared for a shock!

When the child is born you will get a Thai Birth Certificate from the Thai hospital, You will need it Officially Translated into English at your local Thai Registration Office. On the Thai Birth Certificate and English Translation,it will state "Nationality Thai" you only need the Thai Birth Certificate to get the Child a Thai Passport,which will also state on it "Nationality Thai"

You are then in a position to go to the British Embassy in Bangkok,with your documents,and request a British Birth Certificate (which is not cheap) you must do this in the first year of the Childs life to avoid complications.

They normally send off applications for Birth Certificates to the UK in batches,so there is a wait of 3 months before the British Birth Certificate is forwarded by Post to your home address,which will state on the Birth Certificate: "Claim to Citizenship..S2 (1) (a) British Nationality Act 1981) on it.Which gives the child the right of abode in the UK,the same as any other British Citizen.

At the same time you can apply for a British Passport for the child.Which will also state on it "BRITISH CITIZEN" (the British Embassy did not ask for my childs Thai Passport)

So yes Dual Nationality can be done.

There has been some talk over the years,that when the person becomes of adult age they must make a choice of Nationality,the UK has never forced a Citizen to make a choice,and up to the present, to my Knowledge neither has Thailand.

Can't see anything to make a fuss about here,

Thailand is reputed to be among the Worlds leading Countries in AIDs control,so a very sensible addition to the battle IMO.

name='SlyAnimal' timestamp='1329285482' post='5057465']

Your situation sounds similar to mine

e.g. you're 30, met a 27 year old country girl and got on well with her. Then the parents want you to get married or engaged or something and make a commitment. Only difference is, my girl is 25, whereas I'm 29, she has a bachelor's degree and can speak English (So Sin Sod would go up by a lot), and I actually live close to her village already (prior to meeting her) where I teach English.

When I first started coming over for dinner / lunch pretty much every day, there weren't any problems. However people in the village started to gossip and start asking her mum when we were getting married. Because in conservative Isaan, you don't have a man come to visit a woman at her house for dinner etc unless you're going to get married soon. Likewise we were seen holding hands once or twice in public too, so people were 100% sure that we were getting married soon, because why would you hold hands unless you were getting married soon right?

So to stop the gossip, we elected to get engaged and so I spoke to her mum about the Sin Sod, and what "Down payment" would be made on the Sin Sod when we got engaged. What basically eventuated, was that I could get engaged and pay a low % of the Sin Sod, and appease gossip but not really get much additional freedom compared to when we were just bf/gf. So what I offered, was to pay a much higher % of the Sin Sod instead, and then have more freedom. As callous as it sounds, to think of selling your daughter, it is a bit about that, also having a high Sin Sod paid gains the family a lot of respect in the community. As a result, if you have more freedom with a girl, then she essentially becomes "damaged goods" as far as the community is concerned, and any future wedding would have a significantly lower Sin Sod (if at all), so you need to pay a higher amount to get more freedom.

My gf thought that the Sin Sod which you'd pay in total, would be around 100,000 Baht, give or take a little. Although they will probably also ask you to pay more for "Show", which will then be given back to you, as it will raise the respect within the community for the family. If the family ask for more than that, then they might indeed just see you as a walking ATM, imo get out while you can, as 100k is a lot for an uneducated 27 year old ugly girl (Remember that she's probably never been married because Thai guys don't think she's pretty, with a 3:1 ratio they can afford to be picky, and they don't like girls with dark/tan skin and small noses).

Likewise, the Sin Sod (And any down payment at engagement as well) will usually be given back to you anyway (Well given to your gf/wife anyway, to do with as she pleases. In my case, my gf used it to repay her mother's debts and take out some life insurance policies on her mother).

As for how much money you give her and her family each month, that'll be upto you. I give my gf a lot (15k per month), because I don't want her to work, so that she has time to look after me, and because I wanted a figure whereby she can save money each month. Then if her family want to borrow money, they can borrow directly from her, rather than from me, which should make repayments a lot easier. You could however give your gf a lot less than that, as she doesn't have an education, so her potential salary from working in a shop or on a farm or something would be around 6-8k maximum. Also remember, a Thai guy only makes around 8k a month in the countryside, so your gf wouldn't get much from them, however if you have the ability to pay more, then why not?

You are correct "100,000" baht is a lot for an uneducated village girl of 25, the last Thai Village marriage I went to: the Girl was 18 and the thai man 23,and all that was on the floor for the Sin Sod,was 20,000 baht. Think Thai Sin Sod,if you are going to pay any at all?

Hmm, ok just to make it clear, just because I want it doesn't mean I would go at it with anyone.

I go out on dates to get to know them because personally I find men more attractive sexually once I get to know them a bit better (hence I find this photographer unbelievably irresistible) If all a girl wants is sex from a drunk stranger then I agree with you we usually have no problem getting it... and I have no problems with girls who do that but that's not me. What I am after is not just someone to go to bed with, but a nice caring relationship where you can be yourself together and sex is also important...

I know I don't come across as easy, but as you can tell from this thread I'm not that difficult either. I'm very polite at first but once I get to know someone I'm quite straightforward and I'm very eccentric and say things that might sound crude or out of place. I guess I'm more used to open, easy going kiwi men, with whom I find quite easy to open up to in general. English men on the other hand seem quite reserve to me, and I admit finding it hard to be anything but polite to them, though I've come out of it. What I am used to is a few dates, sex, then relationship, but 7 seems to me ridiculous, and it gets me questioning myself, whether I've done something wrong on these dates, if there is something I haven't quite understood about these men (hence the thread), or is it just pure bad luck....

after reading all your comments, I agree... this is quite hard to believe.... and I bloody well wish it wasn't true

The first date I had with this guy he actually said, I can't believe a girl like you isnt taken, to which I replied, believe me, I'm as shocked as you are.

So ho hum...

Impressive. A woman who has lived in the Western world for 5/6 (?) years understands all the vernacular well enough to use it in posts ...

All credit due..........its the best Troll for a long time!

Your English is too good,even your spelling,

your argument is too well thought out,

you don't come across as a female at all,

more like a proffessional wind up,looking for someone to bait,

Sorry I'm not buying it!

Depends on the age difference if the Thai lady is 15 years plus younger than her farang partner then she will almost certainly have affairs behind his back (seen this happen so often)

Why is it more likely to happen outside Thailand than inside Thailand?

I will tell you one true story - of which I have many. My last Thai wife was quite young and very beautiful. It was few years back when I was still in reasonable shape and looked OK-ish , but of course anyone could see there was a wide age gap.

I once took her on a luxury cruise out of Singapore, and she was the only Thai lady there - one of few ladies on the cruise under 30 - and I can tell you, she dressed to kill.

A majority of the passengers were middle aged couples from Perth in Australia. We became quite friendly with a number of them, but it transpired that many took my wife to one aside and told her that they felt so sorry for her being 'saddled' with an 'old' man and that they were generally disgusted that I would have the affront to marry such ayoung girl and parade her in such a fashion. This view was coming from both men and women.

My wife thought it was hilarious as she had never heard anyone say anything like this before, as of course in Thailand, no matter what anyone thinks, they would keep it to themselves. In any case, large age differences in Asia, are pretty much accepted - not only amongst farang/Thai couples, but also with Thai/Thai marriages. It is not at all uncommon for a rich Thai man to marry a Thai woman a third of his age - as indeed was the case in Europe a hundred years ago.

The point of this anecdote is that if I had taken this particular wife to the UK, she would have become more aware that such an age difference is frowned upon in the west and this would have undoubtedly made her feel more uncomfortable s time went on. It may have eventually contributed to a break down into the marriage.

Well, it broke down anyway... but that's another story..

Personally, I have always thought that it would be a mistake to take a very young Thai wife to live with me in England for this very reason. The only one I did take was many years ago, when I was much younger and the difference in our ages was only 10 years!.....

Age.

The three letters that Western females obsess about more than any other.

It is the one thing they fear more than anything......being traded in for the younger model......it makes them sick with worry at a certain point in their lives.....

The guys on that cruise were universally jealous of you...........

The women were fearful of you, because you put in front of their husbands the one thing they could not beat..........a young thing. In their nightmares their husbands were already contemplating contacting the divorce lawyers and booking a holiday to Thailand.

I am not being misogynistic by saying this.....I know this is true as my Western girlfriends have told me repeatedly that it is true. Amusingly my first gf after my marriage broke up put it to me like this.......

" Your wife will look at me and judge ( correctly may I add ) that she is taller, more beautiful, bigger t*ts, better dressed and sexier than me......but I'm 10 years younger than she is and that wild drive her wild".

She was right.......age......the final frontier for Western women......

How strange you should mention that blether. "being traded in for younger model" I used to say that to my Ex English wife,in a joking manner,and of course in better times,before the eventual divorce.Of course at the time,the very thought had never been my intention.

I always wondered if she thought I had planned to be married to a younger women all along,but I never asked her! And I don't suppose her new older husband would appreciate the irony either.