slimdog

the government spokesperson insisted that live broadcast of the meeting will not resolve the problem. He said that if the government is to participate in the meeting, there should be a mechanism that will allow the people to listen to the tripartite discussion.

What exactly does he want? No live broadcasting but people should be allowed to listen. Isn't it absurd?

They sound more and more like Saddam's spokesmen just before Bagdad's fall.

Taping the discussion perhaps..

Is 3 month the maximum? or can you topoff with two 300 baht refills for 6 months cumulative validity?

With AIS there are different values which can be added as a refill, ranging from 50 Baht to 800 Baht. Each value has a different validity period. Not absolutely certain but believe the 800 Baht card is valid for at least 6 months.

Hope of some use

This is a problem for the EC to sort out. Whilst a great deal has been made of the fact that the full quorum will almost certainly not be met, the EC will have to decide whether the full 400 elected and 100 party list members are needed for a parliment to re-convene. Should it decide that all 500 persons do need to be present then the full implications could be very far reaching, as this will mean that in future elections, when hopefully all parties participate, the party or coalition of parties that have the greatest number of votes could be held to ransom by a single person refusing to participate. There should also be some form of allowance for illness, death and juristic actions.

As a foreigner, you will need permission to marry from the Ministry of foreign affairs.

As Khutan suggested, the easiest option is to go to one of the larger translation services. They have all the correct forms at hand, and also will be able to certify that the translations are correct. This has to be stamped by your embassy. If you have been married before then they will probably want to see your final divorce papers. Once you have the embassy stamp, then this is taken to the Ministry of foreign affairs, who will also stamp the papers giving you permission to visit an Amphur to legally get married.

The whole process can be done in a day, but would allow a couple of days to be safe. From what I remember there is no reason for your wife to be to accompany you, as the forms just state that you have permission to marry, and are not tied to you marrying a particular person.

Hope this helps

A bit more info and answers to some of the questions can be found at:

http://www.time.com/time/olympics2002/arti...,212042,00.html

One of the options in Opera is to empty the cache on exit.

Go into Preferences

Click on History and cache

Check on "Empty at Exit"

Click on "Apply"

This is useful if you don't do any Off-Line viewing. It may also be worthwhile to increase the size of the Disk cache (Same page in preferences)

Hope of some help.

For Brits and Irish another country is Kenya. I've just come back from there. Don't know why.

Looks like the yanks need one for Kenya as well so assuming they dont need the "chitty" for Turkey there is still another that we pizzed off.....

FYI...

Nationals of the following countries do not need visas to travel to Kenya:

Bahamas, Bangladesh, Barbados, Botswana, Brunei-Darussalam, Cyprus, Dominica, Ethiopia, Fiji Islands, Gambia, The, Ghana, Grenada, Jamaica, Kiribati, Lesotho, Malawi, Maldives, Mauritius, Namibia, Nauru, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, San Marino, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, Singapore, Solomon Islands, St Lucia, St Vincent & The Grenadines, Swaziland, Tanzania, Tonga, Turkey, Tuvalu, Uganda, Uruguay, Vanuatu, Zambia, Zimbabwe

You will have to add the USA to the list of countries needing a visa :

Ordinary  passport holders of nationals of the following

countries may obtain sticker type visas at the Turkish International Border Gates to enter

into Turkey

Type of Passport : Ordinary Passport

Duration of Stay : 3 Months

Australia, Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Holland, Ireland, Italy, Portugal, Spain, United

Kingdom, United States of America

source: http://www.turizm.net/turkey/tips/visa.html

also:

http://www.mfa.gov.tr/MFA/ConsularInformat...on/visafees.htm

Gives a list of visa fees and duration of stay.

There is a very good reason why Thailand is so far down the list.

Kindly show us the light in telling us what this very good reason might be in your honest opinion?

They overstay.

Unlike many of the foreigners who visit Thailand.

Well done Sheryl. After reading all the coments about Thai Face, I was wondering if anyone would remember that Face has two sides. It's not all about losing Face. Millions of times a day throughout the country, people are doing good deeds for others, sometimes to gain Face for themselves, sometimes for their companies, sometimes for their families or friends.

It will be difficult finding work as an architect. That being said work does come up now and again, particularly on the larger projects such as the new Bangkok Airport which is nearly completed. Few people I have met involved in civil engineering have been able to stay in Thailand permanently, most seem to go from one regional contract to the next.

One website for you:

http://www.expatengineer.net/exe/exevacs.n...orm&p1=THAILAND

There are a few other links at the bottom of the page.

Best of luck

If you have any problems getting the book, then maybe worth trying

http://161.200.139.232/cgi-bin/main/2003/d...e=9780582403857

Hope it helps

One thing to add, just in case you were unaware. Whether you have a Christian, Buddhist or both ceremonies, these are actually more blessings rather than official ceremonies, as the wedding can only become official once it has been registered at an amphur's office, and official wedding certificates are issued. As a foreigner you will need to have permission from the ministry of foreign affairs. There are plenty of threads on this subject, and what is needed.

Seems to have included the end bracket into the link. Try:

http://www.driveandstayalive.com/articles%...-BAC-limits.htm

Hi Jayenram

A bit difficult to give you 100% accurate information as there are many variables when measuring the Blood Alcohol Content of a person, namely weight,gender and period over which the alcohol was consumed as well as the amount of alcohol consumed. That being said, here is some info for you.

The maximum amount of alcohol allowed for driving in Thailand is below 0.05 BAC

(source: http://www.driveandstayalive.com/articles%...BAC-limits.htm)

Looking at the BAC calculator at: http://science.howstuffworks.com/framed.ht...to/baccalc.html

A large bottle of chang is 660ml which is equivelent to 24oz or 2 units

Alcoholic content of Chang is 6.4 (example is for 5.4) so you would have to add on approx 20%

So for average male drinking one bottle of Chang and then driving the BAC would be marginal to the maximum amount allowed. Having any alcohol in the blood from the night before, being female, or less than average weight could easily send it over the limit.

A little more info on measurement can be found at:

http://science.howstuffworks.com/breathalyzer2.htm

Hope it helps

How heavily are news stories on thailand filtered.

Last week I saw on the thai Tv news that about 6 mobile phone towers in the south had had their electrical cabling set on fire - I didn't see any other mention of this only one quick excerpt on television.

This afternoon on television they showed a video of a shooting that happened in a government office in Nong Khai - I have not see this incident mentioned again.

Do stories get dropped for image reasons often?

Whilst I am sure some stories do get dropped for "Image" reasons, it is also a dilema for many news organisations, both in thailand and throughout the world to decide how much publicity to give to an illegal act who's primary purpose is to get publicity for a particular cause. Regardless of what they decide to do, the news organisations are probably going to get some flack.

I would think it would be better if you both went through the Non-Eu channel together rather than her trying to go through the EU channel.

I don't think she will be asked about money, but my wife has in the past been asked to show her return ticket, and also immigration frequently ask where she will be staying, and whether she has family or friends in the U.K.

Hope this helps

For me the funniest movie I have watched in ages is the brilliant "Wasabi" with Jean Reno. Even though it is sub-titled from the original French, it takes nothing away from this non stop hillarious film. Particularly good are the katoey bank robbers scene, and the wasabi scene.

To answer your question, No, you cannot get a Thai visa in Thailand, all visa's have to be obtained outside the country, although it doesn't have to be obtained in you home country.

In response to Gumballs reply, the answer is that "Technically" all foreigners have to have a valid visa (or be visa exempt) when in Thailand, there are no waiver's due to a persons age. Due to your child being born in Thailand, then currently the child is visa exempt, this will continue (I believe upto 2 years of age) unless the child leaves the country, after which they are "Technically" under the same obligations to obtain a visa as anyone else.

That being said, Immigration are exceptionally good with children, they are free of any overstay fines until they are 14 years of age.

As for EVA ratings, check this link:

http://www.airlinequality.com/Airlines/BR.htm

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You would also find that Thai, Bangkok Airways,Emirates and China Airlines have exactly the same rating...

http://www.airlinequality.com/StarRanking/4star.htm

Along with quite a few others....

Just checked.

Also got the "Good channels", been a subsciber for a long time now, so not an introductory offer..

Maybe UBC's Happy X-Mas to everyone

Thanks for the Head's Up

Would have to say on the figures you provded, probably No.

To give an example (Maybe not the best, but all I could find quickly), you could just about afford to buy a studio condo in pattaya, (View Talay 2)

http://www.farang-services.com/?button=Details&id=586

This comes to B1.45 million, although I am sure you could negotiate some form of reduction..

Rental for a similar studio (also view talay 2)

http://www.apartment-pattaya.com/rates.php

This gives you a maximum return of just over B5,000, and as Charles said, you have to allow for periods of non-rental plus management fees etc, plus money out for maintenance.

It is possible to make money on property, but generally, the initial outlays are considerably more. It is possible to find someone desperate to sell, but even then I would say your expected returns are on the optomistic side..

Maybe worth a look on the inside.....

http://www.phaseloop.com/foreignprisoners/exp-inside.html

I would concur with Thaiflyer1

I have received similar stamps in the past, never a problem, and they have always given me exactly the amount I have requested...

Jockstar

Maybe worth a look:

http://www.limousinethailand.com/car_limousine.shtml

Hope it helps

Lakdee

According to the Bern website you shouldn't have a problem. The first thing you will need is a Thai birth certificate.

Birth Certificate

A child born to a Thai parent outside Thailand is entitled to acquire Thai nationality, the parents can apply for a birth certificate for their child at the Royal Thai Embassy in the country of birth. For the child who was born either in Switzerland or Liechtenstein, the parents can apply for a birth certificate at the Royal Thai Embassy in Bern.

The following documents are required in order to obtain a Thai birth certificate :

- 2 copies of the Swiss/Liechtenstein birth certificate and its translation into Thai; both documents must be legalized.        

- 2 copies of the marriage certificate of the parents and its translation into Thai; both documents must   be legalized.        

- 2 copies of the passport of the father and the passport of the mother (either two Thai passports or one Swiss/Liechtenstein and one Thai passport)

- 2 copies of the identity cards of the father and of the mother

Birth Certificate is issued free of charge.

Document Legalization

DOCUMENT QUALIFIED FOR LEGALIZATION :- 

According to the regulation issued by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Thailand, the Royal Thai Embassy is authorized to legalize documents bearing the seal of Swiss Federal Chancellery only.

DOCUMENTS AND ITEMS TO BE SUBMITTED :-

1. Application form 

2. Original documents to be legalized

3. A copy of each page of the original documents to be legalized.

4. Fee 22 CHF

DISCLAIMER :-

The Royal Thai Embassy assumes no responsibility for the contents of the documents submitted for legalization.

Once you obtain the Birth certificate then you can apply for a Passport

New Passport for Thai Children born in Switzerland and Liechtenstein

Children who may apply for a Thai passport must be those whose either one of  their parents has Thai nationality

REQUIREMENTS:

1. Thai Birth Certificate

2. Parent’s valid passports together with two copies of pages, which show endorsement

3. Two Passport Application forms (please fill out both front and back of the form) Signatures of both father and mother are required in the back of the form

4. Two Legalization forms and Investigation forms filled out by father or mother who is a Thai national. (If both parents are Thai, the forms are required to be completed by the father.)

5. Two copy of marriage certificate of their parents

6. Three recent passport-sized photographs (2"x2"). (Photographs must have a light-plain background with a full-face view of the child without wearing a hat or dark glasses. Proper attire is required. Tank top is not acceptable.)

7. Fee 105 CHF.  (for the processing fee of 100 CHF  and the picture zooming fee of 5 CHF)

All of this was obtained from:

http://www.mfa.go.th/web/1409.php?id=1510

I am not 100% sure, but suspect that it may be dificult to get the Thai birth certificate outside of Switzerland, as that is where the child was born. Once you have a Thai Birth certificate then I can't think of any reason why you should not be able to obtain a passport for your child either in Switzerland or in Thailand.

Like other posters, both my daughters obtained Thai passports when they were less than 6 months old with no problems

Hope everything goes well for you