Baerboxer

13 hours ago, ikke1959 said:

as long as no one can fail, students will not learn.. Why should they??? they pass always.. and the result is laziness and low education. Abolish this stupid law and start with the western way to stimulate these kids to learn..Not enough points FAILED!!!! Next year you will see they are doing their best much more

 

Oh dear, this old chestnut. Guess what, in reality, students do fail. Then they have to retake and pass, or try again and again and if necessary repeat a year.

Shocking that all those bar room myths aren't real, but there we are!

21 hours ago, Surelynot said:

There's milking it and there's milking it.........getting bored now.

Yep. British and EU politicians crawling out the woodwork now as if they've been heavily involved all along and just knew this would happen.

What a "clever" little lot they are!

11 hours ago, RichardColeman said:

Wonder what his chosen subject on Mastermind is ?

Answering questions on "the bleedin'obvious" ????

1 minute ago, NilSS said:

Realistically though, in spite of the odd exceptions reported, the chances of anyone here getting an unsecured credit card without a work permit are close to nil.

Note also, a secured credit card IS a real credit card. A pre-paid credit card is NOT a real credit card. For the purposes of this discussion, a credit card based on WP and income, or a credit card based on money on deposit, are essentially the same thing in the backend.

Disagree with you first sentence. Anyone whose a privilege or whatever name their bank gives it customer will almost certainly get an unsecured credit card on application, IME.

The OP says he got a not unsubstantial amount with his bank too. 

On 12/4/2020 at 6:55 PM, Upnotover said:

No it is not correct.  With a work permit you can get a real credit card.  Without, you can get a card but need to deposit an amount in a locked account which covers the limit on the card (you may need to deposit more than the limit, depending on the bank).

Not true. I have a credit card issued from a Thai bank. I have had it for over 10 years and never ever had a work permit.

It is not linked to any deposit in any kind of locked account.

Wasn't she Thaksin's anointed choice for PM if Pheu Thai had formed a government after the last election?

2 hours ago, 2530Ubon said:

HAHA, that's exactly what the EU want - a level playing field (competition rules)! You just made the EU's point!

Only it's not level. Not all member states interpret the rules the same. Some are rather creative when it suits.

Start with France and work you way around. 

10 hours ago, Hi from France said:

So the Brexiteers government chooses access to the European energy market over some fish quota, not a big surprise considering the attractiveness of the offer made.. 

 

 

But "nothing is agreed until everything is agreed" 

 

 

And even if there's a deal, the British government doesn't trust it can speedily import Covid-19 vaccine from Belgium just across the channel 

 

 

 

Now, there are two much bigger hurdles, the first being the UK access to the European market while undermining European standards with low pay or pollution 

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2020/dec/06/major-breakthrough-on-fishing-rights-brings-brexit-deal-closer

 

 

 

The second is the newly-acquired reputation of the Brits as liars, signing a treaty and then reneging 

Check which current members of the EU pay low wages and check who the biggest polluters are. 

But it's do as we say, not as we do, of course.

21 hours ago, Dumbastheycome said:

I asked  that question  a long time back and the answer is that a driving licence or  international driving permit is required to be issued from the country of nationality in your passport if and where it  is accepted as valid for short term use, and not from a country other than your original nationality. Unless  you have  dual and Thai passport to match Thai diving licence.

I've hired cars at Heathrow in the UK using an Abu Dhabi and Thai driving license in the past. I only have a British passport. No international driver's permit; just the licenses.

14 hours ago, OneMoreFarang said:

The UK should just cancel the talks. They don't want to agree to a reasonable deal with the EU. Ok, fine, then don't waste everybody's time.

Boris and others always said no deal is better than a bad deal. Fine. No deal is it.

If that is said now then everybody has at least almost a month to prepare for the consequences. There is no point in talking, talking, talking and then on the 31st December nobody is prepared.

Bye bye UK. It would have been nice to continue on reasonable terms with you. But you didn't want that. Good luck for the future, you will need it.

The EU don't want a reasonable deal. They want control and all their own way.

This behavior was so clear it resulted in Johnson being elected with a substantial majority. Other factors influenced that of course but British people were become alienated by the EU childlike behavior.

Had the EU listened to more reasoned voices, like Guy Verhofstadt, and gone on a charm offensive, the  results could have been very different, given the close initial referendum result and clear majority of remainers within parliament.

But, like most people, threats and bullying often provoke the opposite response.

5 minutes ago, polpott said:

No lies. Junker made the Eu's position clear before the referendum. The deal would be on their terms and would punish the UK for leaving the club. If you publicly slagged off your local golf club and terminated your membership would you expect to be welcomed back to the 19th hole with open arms?

 

 

Can you provide citation for where Junker specifically said that please?

14 hours ago, welovesundaysatspace said:

Expect in two days an article reading “UK and EU keen to get a deal, but time is running out” 

 

Then two days later “We want a deal, say EU and UK, but not at any price” 

 

This starts to feel like that Bill Murray movie. And it will probably go on like this for a while, even after 1 Jan 21. 

Totally agree. If you read Negotiation books, one of the tactics is called "broken record" tactic. Basically one side simply keeps repeating its demand / standpoint over and over and over again. The idea being that the other side will eventually tire and give in particularly if all the other points have been agreed.

But here, both seem to be trying the same idea!

1 minute ago, polpott said:

You voted to remain in the EC in 1975 (we were already members). I voted to leave. Presumably you voted leave in 2016, I voted remain. You were lied to by the Tories on both occasions. Fool me once, shame on me, fool me twice, shame on me.

Lied to this time by a factional section within the Conservatives to be precise. A section that never expected, like Farage, to actually win. And have little clue what to do when they did.

Notice how quiet some of them are now. 

15 hours ago, worgeordie said:

Yes and the UK is taking exactly the same position....

regards worgeordie

It seems they are both using the same playbook - Negotiation Skills for Numpties!

And are too dumb to notice. 

3 hours ago, puipuitom said:

As the English so overwhelmingly voted for and confirmed by voting Boris Cummings again in Dec '19. Just a 31 days, and all from the UK is a "WTO-Third Country". Not only going inside the EU, but also a lot of countries the EU has agreements of. For instance: cars / lorries, whatever machines: when all components are over 90% of EU origin, it is imported there under the EU treaties for instance road building devices into Nigeria. UK outside the EU, and... no treaty, so the full WTO import duties.  

I wish you good luck with your fish quota, you first sold to EU fishermen, and you now want to confiscate back. Do not forget the EU allowance numbers when you want to export your fish into the EU.

Curious who the Australians are going to trust ? The British, who betrayed them so much when they slipped into the EU in 1973 as the "Poor man of Europe"?

A few months ago the EU in the French port of Calais did a trial with the new software: just 70 seconds to verify the documents of the incoming lorries. Result: a 7 km traffic jam. 

Your either being sarcastic or simply have little factual knowledge.

Maybe you should start by looking at which country has actually left the UK and how that decision was arrived at. Then you might research the history of France, and their sometimes rather colorful interpretation and implementation of EU rules, when it suits.

Poland and Hungary are looking likely to fester soon, as France tries to lay down the law for all member states hoping Germany doesn't mind!

Most countries are in the EU for what they can get out of it, not for the common good or what they can put in. Another failed experiment in human nature.

4 minutes ago, 7by7 said:

We've left.

 

Blame Johnson putting his personal ambitions ahead of what's best for the country and his ERG backers. If not for them this would have all been over at least a year ago.

 

According to UK Fisheries, who know more about this than you or I, the UK imports most of the fish we eat, and exports most of the fish we catch. 

 

No doubt, even if tariffs make it more expensive. But will they buy ours when most of what we sell them can be sourced elsewhere or has, like the thousands of financial services jobs and £1 trillion worth of financial trade, already moved to the EU. Then there are the manufacturers warning they will probably have to leave the UK for the EU if there is no deal.

 

The level playing field works both ways.

 

Would you be happy if EU governments subsidised their exports to the UK in order to undercut UK companies and price them out of the market?

 

Or would you call that unfair tactics by the EU?

 

I suspect the latter.

 

We've left; and I'm sorry that we did. But the die is cast and we have to make the best of it.

 

Which means both sides using some give and take in the trade deal negotiations; which from various reports is happening more and more.

 

But many Brexiteers still want the impossible dream Vote.Leave promised them in 2016: the EU to do all the giving and the UK all the taking!

Actually the EU does subsidize poorer member states and funds the movement of businesses and jobs to those countries from wealthier states. It also, when considered appropriate, turns a blind eye to state subsidies from some of the supposed wealthier countries who dress up protection of certain industries.

This is usually brushed off with comments about bringing up the poorer countries to the wealth of the richer ones. 

Check out who gets more out than they contribute; over years for a clearer picture. And who protects certain industries.

13 hours ago, ardsong said:

so the hard border between Ireland and the province of UK , North Ireland, is not longer a point of discussion but rather a fact, be it with or without a deal; which could also block a trade agreement with the States of Biden.

Northern Ireland isn't a province