cme

I have read the above comments and they all differ from my experience.

After my marriage I wanted to register the marriage in the Uk to give my wife some protection (pension rights) should I die. The UK Pensions Office would NOT accept my MFA or any other translation, I had to send the original certificate which they then translated with their own Thai translators. It took 6 months!! I can only assume they sent it back to Bangkok and had someone in the Embassy do it.

Someone correct me if I'm wrong, but I do not recall any government anywhere in the world reducing a tax on gasoline in the whole of human (gasoline) history.

This is insane at a time when all Thai towns and cities have polluted air from clogged roadways. Any responsible government should be increasing taxes to reduce dependence on vehicles, whether two- or four-wheeled. (Or three with some tuk-tuks.) With extra taxes you can begin the much-needed modernisation of the rail system.

Reduced use of vehicles might also lead to better health. Btw, how often do you see a Thai person walking in the city. I am in Chiang Mai, and the only people I see walking are farangs like myself (breathing in the diesel fumes as I wait for traffic lights to change....)

Spot on. You spoke my mind.

Don't know about you but where I live the roads aren't clogged and I've driven many a time from south to north and the only place with congestion on the way is around BKK. Thai roads are pretty empty compared to the rest of the world.

I agree, outside of Bangkok it's a pleasure to drive here, like it was in the UK when I started driving 50 years ago!!

british citizen??????? You do not belong to Schengen!!!!!!

is that the problem??????

Glegolo

No, it shouldn't be, I am a Brit. living in Europe and have never had a problem getting a Schengen Visa for my former GF, now wife.

Thailand has really shown that it wants to be a 4th world country.

So many times this countries government has shown open racism, discrimination and fear of everything that may threaten their shrinking intellect.

It is such a shame that the corruption in this country has grown to such an extent that it is now hobbling the growth of so many people living here. The country is virtually lawless, the rich have so many ways not to pay any tax, while the vast majority are earning less than the minimum needed to pay tax. The laws are heavily influenced by the rich and the grafting is rampant.

Thailand has so many opportunities that are simply ignored because the ones that have the money are afraid that someone else will make some, heaven forbid, without paying a graft to the non-deserving in power.

I feel so desperately sad for the ever growing underprivileged here in this country, it is now time for them to really stand up and demand that all this bullshit stop and a more reasonable fairness should be spread across the country. As all of us foreigners have seen back in our own countries, the rich will still be rich, but there is always an opportunity for the less rich and the poor to build and have better lives.

An excellent post, and all sadly, so true.

Didn't any of you guys notice the date today?

While Thailands premier tourist island cant even tackle a few taxi drivers or thug jetski rentors they want to rebrand (in words not deeds) for quality tourists.

Real quality will come when offered real quality.. Not corrupt official burying garbage on the beaches, selling portions of public land for private use, and due to backhanders and payments allowing sections of the society to beat up and otherwise threaten those sections not yet paying. Simply raising prices doesnt attract the 5 star crowd. When Thailand has 2 star governance they will appeal to 2 star arrivals.. Asking for 5 star prices while having 2 star administration doesnt cut it.

Spot on, Thailand will never attract serious quality tourists until it cleans up the sleaze, both on the streets and in politics. Think about it, what is Thailand world famous for, hookers and transvestites. Which upmarket tourist will choose this over South of France, Caribean, Polynesia etc etc

What I can't currently get my head around is that it seems like it "cheaper" or "easier" to get have my Thai GF come to the UK with me as "non-EEA wife/family" than it would for me to bring

her as my wife to my own country...!?

That is the way the system works; daft as it seems.

If an EEA national is exercising their treaty rights in another EEA country then they can use the EEA regulations to have their non-EEA family join them. But if they are living in their own country then they have to use that countries immigration rules.

However, if they have been exercising their treaty rights in another EEA country and their non-EEA family has been living there with them, if they wish to return to their home state they can use the EEA regulations to take their family with them.

As with most things to do with the EU/EEA, it's complicated!

Well, from my perspective, it's kind of a blessing. And since there's nothing untowards in our application, I can only applaud that one bureaucracy has more common sense than another. But that's another discussion/topic.

From what I gather, under the EEA-family permit, my Thai partner would be able to study and work and receive NHS cover whilst in the UK. There's the caveat about not being a burden on public funds, but I think that's common across all visa types and is not an issue.

The one thing I cannot see mentioned is whether she will have to demonstrate English proficiency as per new regulations of Nov 29th 2010. Will she have to take the test as part of the EEA-family permit application?

AFAICT she does not need to.

I am in the same situation as you but reversed, i.e. a Brit living in Europe.

Get married in Thailand, very cheap,you just need a document from your embassy confirming you are free to marry, then when married, apply at the British Embassy for the EU Visa. This is a facility for all members of the EU automaticly granted, it's free and the best part, your wife does not need to take any language etc tests. You have the right, as an EU citzen to settle in any other EU country and take your wife with you. If the Brit. Embassy starts to bullshit you then send or show them the relevant EU docs (download from Web). For me it was so easy and so smooth, and very inexpensive. Good luck.

Being Dutch they should just use their stash of skunk and bong their way across the waters. Mellow as piss.

" Darling. There appears to be a boat full of heavily armed Somalian pirates ordering us to heave to."

" Whatever. Puff puff give remember? Don't Bogart that joint."

Wonderful, you made me chuckle!

Having said all that, it is to be noted that the EU can get rather picky (I didn't say 'open to bribes....') about fruit & veg. For example, anyone remember the thing about imported bananas not being 'straight' or 'curved' enough? I can't remember which it was but do remember thinking that if that excuse was not bribe-based, it would be completely embarrassing for the EU.

Most of the time Brussels (EU) produces rubbish dictats, and usually very costly for the minions (that's us) to stick to, so it's good to see that occasionally they can do something worthwhile for the good of the people.

To Sting123

I don't know where you live, but here in the North East is is cold.

Thai houses do not have insulation and have no heating. So I suggest you turn off your heating and leave your windows open for a couple of days, and then when you awake at 6am with an inside house temperature of about 14C, you will understand.

The speed looks about the same to me.

Having said that my Internet Connection is pretty bad so would probably not notice any difference.

For half of the year I use the Forum from Europe and it is and always has been fine, probably because you are all in bed when I am on-line, but the other part of the year I am in Thailand and then mostly the speed is rubbish, but I don't think it matters much what you do with your servers, routers etc. the problem is the chronic state of the Thai infrastructure. Lack of bandwith, maybe only 1 or 2 Gateways to the 'outside' world. Until the Thai government accepts that Thailand is not just limited to the greater Bangkok area and that the majority of its citzens live beyond Bangkok, I don't expect much improvement.

Actually we are using a content delivery network, with servers spreaded around the world, that will deliver the moust of the content to you from a nearby server. This will not help too much if you have a slow connection to the internet but will help a lot if your connection to internet is fast in general.

OK, that would account for the fast response in Europe and the slow response in NE Thailand.

The speed looks about the same to me.

Having said that my Internet Connection is pretty bad so would probably not notice any difference.

For half of the year I use the Forum from Europe and it is and always has been fine, probably because you are all in bed when I am on-line, but the other part of the year I am in Thailand and then mostly the speed is rubbish, but I don't think it matters much what you do with your servers, routers etc. the problem is the chronic state of the Thai infrastructure. Lack of bandwith, maybe only 1 or 2 Gateways to the 'outside' world. Until the Thai government accepts that Thailand is not just limited to the greater Bangkok area and that the majority of its citzens live beyond Bangkok, I don't expect much improvement.

I think the best solution would be for the Army to take control again, but this time for at least 5 years. I don't think the Thai's are ready for democracy yet. During this period Thaksin's money would hopefully diminish and his influence would be reduced accordingly, and the Red shirt movement, who I have a lot of sympathy for, would be able to evolve into a proper democratic and serious political party. Then they would have an excellent chance to win control of this country for the ordinary Thai people, and remove the corrupt power families that have held these people in serfdom for so many years.

I'm still looking.........

Hi, Did you have any luck? I am also looking but so far without success.

I had Dengue 2 years ago, no diarrhea or rash just the very high fever and terrible break-bone pain. I would suggest your diarrhea is from another source, maybe just simple food poisoning or a reaction to you antibiotics which do nothing for the fever. I spent a week in hospital and just had a saline infusion and pain killer tablets, but NOT Aspirin etc as these tend to thin the blood, which is the last thing you need with Hemorrhaging type illness.

Good luck.

If you were to be married, your partner may qualify for a free visa for Germany (being the spouse of a British citizen) which she may then extend in to a residence permit. Depending upon the circumstances, she might then get free visas for the UK, too.

Scouse.

Thank you Scouse, I am now back in Germany and will look into your suggestions from here.

she will need to reside full time in the Uk for 3 years before being entitled to apply for a british passport after passing the life in the Uk test requirement.

Another option is a multiple tourist visa for the UK instead as there is a possibility to get 5 or 10 years tourist visas. I am not sure if the shcengen has something similar?

Thanks, I will check out the Shengen possibilities from Germany.

I would appreciate any advice for the following situation.

I am a British Citizen and Passport holder that moved to work and live in Germany in 1986.However I have two adult children both married and living in the UK that I visit regularly. Four years ago I retired (aged 60) and for the past 3 years I have spent my winters in Thailand with my Thai partner and my summers in Europe, based in Germany. My problem is, my partner plans to retire in 2 years time and we would like to spend the summer months in Europe together. However, she currently needs to obtain both a UK visa and a Shengen visa, which I believe will shortly be restricted to 3 months duration each, which is both time consuming and expensive as we live in the North and so must travel and stay in Bangkok each time. If we marry she could apply for a UK settlement visa but as we do not plan to settle or live in the UK it would not be much help. Is there a possibility of getting her a UK Passport, this would then allow her to get a Residence Permit for Germany in her own right and at the same time give us free access to the UK and other European countries as and when required.

Ive had an enlarged prostate for many years. I dont like cemicals, so I went with saw palmetto. It worked wonders. Took 3 months to notice results. I used to travel to the states occasionaly, and would stock up. Now, I am here permanantly and ran out of saw palmetto 2 years ago. I was fine for about a year, then the symptoms came back.

Im considering going to the doctor to get a prescription (cardura, or whatever he suggests), and am wondering what others who have taken these drugs think. Do they work well? Any side effects?

I would like more saw palmetto, but the initial costs, plus shipping would be a bit too much for me.

I have been using Tamsulosinhydrochloride tablets (1 each 24 hours) from Germany for the past 3 years with no side effects and they are great for me. Not sure what they cost (I get them free on the German Medical Insurance) but they are a generic version of Ommunic.

To enlarge on geoffphuket's post, almost every ADSL/Cable ISP here is going to do you a promotion that includes the router.

I would like to say thanks to all of you that responded, I guess I will just bring it and try it when I arrive.

cme

To enlarge on geoffphuket's post, almost every ADSL/Cable ISP here is going to do you a promotion that includes the router.

Could anybody tell me if a European ADSL Modem/ Router (FritzBox 3030) will function in Thailand? I have been unable to find out if the ADSL Standard is a global standard or if each country/region has its own version.

Thanks,

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