Jip99

23 minutes ago, thrilled said:

I never take my passport anywhere in Thailand.I carry A copy of it everywhere I go.

I have been doing it for years.The only time I carry it is when I fly from one area to another.

+1

Photo ID will also suffice for domestic flights.

Flautist

2 minutes ago, dunroaming said:

And yet overwhelming the young who were old enough to vote, voted to remain.  It should be for parents to make sure all doors are open to their offspring, not closed.

That is too naive to contemplate.

The young would have voted in Corbyn, based just on his student loan lies.

My future could comprise 30 years so I have to live with the result. The young don't have all the answers and wisdom ONLY comes with age/experience. My selflessness has cost me £30k in income since Brexit on exchange rates; if my investments were realised and transferred now I would have lost capital of £145k.

One of my daughters voted to remain - her deciding factor (living in London) was that she thought she would be safer (from terrorism) within the EU.

Everyone has their own reasons for voting the way they did.

For me, had Cameron got any balls there would not have been a vote.

4 minutes ago, Grouse said:

 

 

(Your kids will murder you when they find out!)

Then my Will says that they will be disinherited !!

36 minutes ago, Grouse said:

And that is precisely why we don't have "literal" democracy. We can't possibly meet the conditions for that to work. Ask the Greeks!

Don't shoot the messenger...

The system/rules said that the majority vote would determine whether we remained in the EU or left. 

1 hour ago, dunroaming said:

Not in your world maybe but for those of us who care about the future for our kids it's a massive mistake.

I care at least as much for my kids futures which is why I, and the majority, voted to leave the EU.

6 minutes ago, dunroaming said:

No it isn't.  Democracy doesn't mean if you make a big mistake you have to suck it up and accept it.  In fact that is about as undemocratic as you can get.

It is not a mistake.

35 minutes ago, dunroaming said:

When people ticked the boxes they had no idea what they were voting for or the implications.  They were fed bulls*it by both sides and bought it hook, line and sinker.  Rather than facing up to that the Brexiteers choose to just put their fingers in their ears and bury their heads in the sand.

 

Now you have May and her boys rapidly running out of time and still not coming up with any proposals.  If they came up with an answer to the Irish border problem tomorrow there still wouldn't be time to put it into place before Brexit.

 

Just call a general election tomorrow, get rid of this government of idiots and then scrap Brexit completely.  Why do we have to put up with being forced to accept being worse off?

Because that is democracy.

56 minutes ago, smotherb said:

Not sure, maybe. I stuck my nose into it many years ago and told him. Although he grew distant from me, nothing else changed.

Tough one to get involved in................. something of a no win situation...

4 minutes ago, smotherb said:

Well, I said most men, some would marry a sex worker in their home country. I would not marry a sex worker anywhere. Of course, some will say I have just not found the right one or that I am not being truthful.

 

However, yes the women do play the long-con. That's why so many men are cuckolded as long-term customers rather than being the husbands they think they are. I have known one such man for over 40 years. He married his short-time favorite, took her back to the states, had several children with her; some were probably his. She still has a couple of brothers back in the provinces she supports from his money and a couple of tricks in the states.  You see, I knew her before he did; she and I still talk, it's simply her long-term game.

Sounds like he is happy to be the pawn...........

2 minutes ago, dick dasterdly said:

"be prepared to pay a significantly higher price"???

 

Hang on - I already pay uk taxes on my pension income, and pay for any documentary evidence from the brit. embassy - who (I gather) charge far more than other embassies!

Indeed?

Just saying, paying peanuts gets you anything from monkeys to staff who can communicate adequately in English.

For a much higher (read ‘perfect’) standard, then that will come at a premium. 

9 minutes ago, toofarnorth said:

Yes using artificial intrusian such as pork truncheon meat , at least when LBs get wed we know what is put where and by whom to whom .....possibly.

A little bit bit too much information there, I feel.

Caveat emptor......

Pay your money and take your choice....... weigh up the convenience of not having your PP against  the inconv  of incarceration whilst someone accesses your PP and takes it to Bangkok.

Personally, I would take it just to be on the safe side..... even though the risks are minimal. 

If if you are staying over at a hotel, they may insist on seeing your PP.

6 minutes ago, jayboy said:

Sorry to have to repeat you have completely and utterly missed the point.

 

The issue is not the standard of English in Thailand.It is well known it's generally substandard.

 

What you believe is your concern but "shouting" in capital letters simply underlines your confusion rather than adding to your case.I can assure you the British Government does regard subcontracted services as somehow nothing to do with it, especially in a politically sensitive subject like the issue of passports.The whole arrangement will be regularly scrutinized by FCO inspectors.It's not a very challenging distinction to grasp.

 

Whether there will be improvement over time is hard to say.Nobody is suggesting that the standard of English should be perfect there - but it should be pretty good.

It was not shouting - learn Netiquette. Capitals throughout would represent ‘shouting’. The capitals for NOTHING was simply for emphasis.

Are you saying that you could not understand the reply received by the OP ?

32 minutes ago, jayboy said:

I have no problems with the place at all since I have never used their services.My response was to a direct quotation which involved slovenly and unclear English.That is not acceptable in an agency which is contracted by HMG to provide services to UK citizens.

 

 

I think you expect  too much.

It is not about ‘standards’ it is about recognizing that where English is a second language, it will not be perfect.

If you want English staff or properly educated local staff them be prepared to pay a significantly higher price.

5 minutes ago, jayboy said:

 

You and others are completely missing the point.It is an agency of HMG serving UK citizens and therefore clarity of communication is essential.Slovenly English cannot be tolerated in this instance - and I am usually fairly relaxed about these matters.


Sent from my iPhone using Thailand Forum - Thaivisa mobile app

 

I am not missing the point at all.

The fact remains that Thai English speaking standards are generally lower than many other Asean countries - live with it, rather than overact and resort to pedantry.

This is NOTHING to do with "HMG" - they outsource the delivery service of documentation to a third party.

On 3/15/2018 at 9:39 AM, Bangkok Barry said:

I have lost the receipt that I was given when I made my passport renewal application, and wrote to VFS Global asking if it would be a problem when I show up with my old passport to collect the new one. This was their incomprehensible and grammar-challenged reply:
 

You can print out the collection letter along with your old passport to provide when you collecting a new passport in our office.

 

I would expect staff dealing with British citizens to be able to comprehend and write proper English. But maybe I'm just being fussy.

So, are you saying that you didn't understand it ?

I certainly did; only a pedant would struggle that.

14 hours ago, Bangkok Barry said:

More confusion now. My wife has received a message, in Thai, from DHL saying that something is being dispatched for me from London today, delivering to the Trendy Building, and I will have seven days to collect it.

 

Putting aside the fact that I gave my wife's number only as a secondary number and they contacted her and not my own phone number or email address, and they directed the message to me, a foreigner, in Thai, do I assume that VFS will accept the shipment on my behalf and then inform me that my passport is ready for collection - if indeed that is what is in the shipment and not my forms returned for some reason? So it's treated as my name c/o VFS?

My money is on it being your renewal passport.

Don't make a meal of it........... the system works fine - certainly by Thai standards.

For the record, even if your passport was being collected by a third party, and posted to you, you would still have got a call from DHL. Not perfect  -  but barely worth posting about.

PS... just my input..... if I wanted to maintain standards of my home country I would not have come to Thailand - that is obvious to anyone. That said, I have recently found that my home country is making a good job of lowering it's standards and Thailand is looking better all the time.

On 3/15/2018 at 10:06 AM, sandyf said:

Why not look at it the other way round. You can put your VFS appointment back quite easily, done that a few times, and get the Schengen visa first.

Unless things have changed, as the spouse of an EU citizen, there is a walk in facility at the Germany Embassy and I can assure you that the process is very efficient. They do it in half hour slots and unfortunately we were at the back of our bunch, had to wait about 20 minutes in the queue and then it was only 5 minutes at the desk. The only downside is that for the walk in you have to be there before about 09.30.

When we did the Canada/UK trip, I did the Canada visa first and then we collected the passport from the Canada office and walked next door to the VFS UK office. My wife saw them write on the application form, Canada visa issued, and her passport was back in a couple of days. May have been coincidence but it could have helped speed things up.

 

PS. Sorry did not notice your comment about UK visa first. Where did you get that from. I have done 3 Schengens and never heard of that. As the spouse of an EU citizen there should be no restrictions, other law related, on the issue of visas.

You don't need a UK visa first (although there is some logic in the sequence of events - unless the applicant is exiting directly to Thailand).

What you do need, certainly for Spain and Italy, is evidence of a flight back to Thailand.

Strange, isn't it, that when you see a headline like that you automatically think it is a Farang.

Obviously, it is not only Farangs who struggle with life/health issues (in Thailand).

R. I. P.

6 minutes ago, thaibeachlovers said:

Most every one of the Westerners would not dream of doing anything, but have sex, with a sex worker in their own countries; yet they come over here and fall in love with the girl they just paid.

Hmmmm.

I knew a FEW ladies in the business back home that I'd like to have fallen in love with. Genuinely lovely women, and ( some of them ) married. 

 

Given that the paid employee ( the sex worker that marries a farang for money, not love ) often comes to think that she's an equal with ( or better than ) the farang, it's not surprising that it goes pear shaped. I guess that that can be put down to familiarity breeding contempt.

I also think that sometimes the woman is playing the long con, or they married for the wrong reasons, thinking that because he gave them lotsacash he must be a great person, when he was anything but compatible. In either case, by the time the farang realises it's not working, it's too late for him to get out without losing a lot. 

Come on, TBL..................... you know Thai girls are different............

1 minute ago, Chomper Higgot said:

I see Theresa May and her cabinet became very pro-EU this week when they needed moral and practical support in responding to an assault on UK sovereignty by Russia.

 

I can't for the life of me think why she didn't simply wave the Union Jack and speak as a single nation without the need for the support of 'Johnny Foreigner'. 

That would be a rather stupid approach, if you don't mind me saying.

That approach would not have been taken prior to EEC entry nor will it be after EU exit.

God Bless America!