MrMuddle

My Grandfather fought in the first world war, He was in before it Started, he was a Career Soldier. He joined to get out of working in the mines of Duram in the noth East of England, he was a black smith. He became a Horse Sargent. because of his knowledge of horses, he rode a horse into battle.. also he was one of the first soldiers to drive the tank, , it came out of Rushden Bicirus factory in Lincoln in the UK, where they where made. he told me when i was young that when they drove them at full speed they where thrown around inside them, I have his Diary's and Books from the first world War, Some are harrowing reading, he listed all his men that had died and how they died, Some where gassed and some just disappeared in front of his eyes. blown up. When he died in 1971, he still had shrapnel in his body, and some in his legs. Pity all this knowledge is being lost . there are not many old soldiers around from that war now.

Thank you for sharing the story of your Grandfather with us. Thankfully he survived to pass on his experiences to you, but sadly so many did not survive. Ordinary men, from ordinary backgrounds, committed extraordinary acts of bravery, and went through all kinds of horrific experiences so that we may enjoy the freedom we have today. The bravest of the brave.

Bless them all. May they rest in eternal peace, never to be forgotten.

I hope you have more luck with your Bank letter than me. I use the Bangkok Bank in Phetchabun, and every year it's a major drama to get this letter. Last time they kept me waiting for 2 hours, despite us going in earlier in the week to request it. The attitude of the woman dealing with this was unbelievable, she went for her lunch, at 11a.m. just to annoy us, as we'd politely pointed out to her how she was wrong. She said we needed to send our bank book to head office, and that they couldn't write us a letter for immigration locally, despite us having had letters for several years previously, again with problems from the local branch.

How hard can it be to keep a letter on file and update it once a year ? They're drinking in the "last chance saloon" this year.

Good luck with your application.

Children having children, one of the truly sad things in our world. Like Moonrakers, I can't believe the age of consent is 12. How on earth is a child of that age supposed to make an informed decision on sexual intercourse? Absolutely ridiculous.

Let's hope the poor girl has supportive parents who can help her bring her baby up, it's hard enough when the parents are adults, and there are two of them.

Actually 90% of the time it is not the government distributing the food anyway, its volunteers. The volunteers get the food donated to them by normal people and/or businesses. They use their own vehicles, petrol and time to do this out of the goodness of their hearts. Many people do not understand this but next time you meet one of these people just ask them. They will tell you the same story (90%) of the time. It's true there is little coordination because everyone is doing their own thing, privately or with Foundations, NGO's etc. They never have or never will coordinate with each other, its just the way it is. Every now and then the government will "request" a larger organization to give aid to certain places but otherwise its entirely up to the groups themselves where and when they donate or help. The government actually has very little to do with all the rescue and relief efforts going on. The volunteers are awesome! Pity people do not understand this, road spiking is just pure ignorance, stupidity born of desperation. Its a sad mess Thailand is in right now with so many people suffering, I am volunteering everyday and talk to many people, there stories are really sad and just make me thankful how lucky I am. There's a lot of unseen misery around but if you take the time to sit down and listen you will hear so many sad stories that you could have never guessed looking at the victims smiling faces. Can't wait till it's all over.

Well done for volunteering. It makes a refreshing change to see someone making positive posts about this crisis.

We've had minor flooding in previous years in our small village, and everyone helps each other, with whatever needs doing.

I can't understand why so many people on here are so negative about Thailand, and yet continue to live here. Let's hope this crisis is over soon.

"The department surveyed groundwater in 18 spots and found that 6 per cent was poor, 11 per cent was fair and 6 per cent was of good quality".

I'm no math whiz but shouldn't these numbers add up to 100 per cent?

They dropped the calculator into the flood water.

UK people are lucky that their present day conservatives are actually liberals on social issues such as this. The USA conservatives are almost as bad as that Ghanian president, and certainly would never support action against oppression of gays abroad.

Sorry, I think you're wrong here. Present day British Conservatives, who have not been able to gain a working majority in Parliament since 1992, are merely trying to protect, and hopefully increase their share of the "pink" vote. It's also interesting to note all the praise for Cameron, who is the leader of a coalition government with the Liberal party. The Liberals are historically, much more likely than the Conservatives to push this kind of pro-gay action. Cameron is an opportunist, he knows he will gain more votes than he loses by taking this stance.

Personally I think for a nation to punish it's citizens for their sexual preferences is abhorrent. However it should be remembered that homosexuality was illegal in the UK until the mid-1960s.

I do, however, agree with those who say all UK aid should be stopped, to every country, especially in the current financial climate.

I hope this is a new start for the people of Myanmar, after so many false dawns, it would be nice to see a new era begin with Thailand's neighbour. Aung Saan Suu Kyi has been in the political wilderness for far too long, even if this amendment isn't everything she hoped for, maybe now is the time to take the olive branch that is being offered.

Hi,

If your extension of stay (retirement stamp), expires for example, on the 29th July 2012, if you go to renew on June 30th 2012, (30 days early), you will get a further extension until July 29th 2013, that is you won't lose 30 days, for going early to renew........that's always been my experience, and I've been retired here quite a few years now.

Also the qualifying financial proof, as mentioned by Jingthing, if you use the money in the Bank method, make sure that the Bank letter, and the copies of your bank statement or book have the same date, which should ideally be the day you apply, though depending how far you are from an immigration office, a day or two before the application is usually acceptable....at the immigration officers discretion. Also ensure the money has been in the Bank for the qualifying period, which offhand I can't remember, I'm sure someone will post what it is, if you're unsure. As long as you complete the relevant documents, particularly the 90 day reports, you should never have to leave Thailand again, unless you want to, of course. Ensure you get a re-entry permit if you do leave, as this will allow entry back to Thailand, and allow you to go back on the retirement extension, without the hassle of qualifying again with the O, or O-A visa.

Hope this helps, good luck.

If we're speculating on theme music, may I suggest "Send In The Clowns" ??

Is it impolite to ask where these women kept those phallic shaped bottles ?

On a more serious note, this concoction of drugs, prescription or not, could have had extremely serious consequences for the men they were given to. I would hope the sentence given, would reflect that, but somehow I don't think it will.

Hi, I'm new on here, could anyone please supply links for the procedure to be followed when renewing a British passport ?

Mine is due next year, and I live in Northern Thailand, and only go to Bangkok for medical check-ups. My next one is due in January 2012, and I was hoping to send off the passport forms, fees etc, while I was there.

Any help gratefully appreciated.

If you Google "British Embassy Bangkok Thailand" this will give you

the embassy website with a link to "passports" on the top right of the

homepage and procedure for renewal. Note you can renew a passport up

to nine months ahead of expiry, remaining time is added to your new

passport, important if you plan to exit Thailand in the next few months

as remember you need six months validity on your pasport when

re-entering the kingdom

Thanks for your help, very much appreciated.

Hi, I'm new on here, could anyone please supply links for the procedure to be followed when renewing a British passport ?

Mine is due next year, and I live in Northern Thailand, and only go to Bangkok for medical check-ups. My next one is due in January 2012, and I was hoping to send off the passport forms, fees etc, while I was there.

Any help gratefully appreciated.