sandyf

Asking questions on here will always lead to conflicting answers. I have done it a couple of times, first time you had to go to the embassy but then they opened the VAC. I found it all very straightforward but I was on a Non O. I would suggest you just make the application in Bangkok and when interviewed you can plead your case. All you need is fairly reasonable reasons why you did not get visa before travelling. The same thing is said about Schengen visas for Thais, yet I know of several successful applications made in the UK. I would also suggest that your case would be stronger if you came to Thailand on a tourist visa rather than visa exempt. I am aware that many will disagree on that but it is all about perception, at the end of the day, up to you.

Tell me about it, some of it very vague now. As you said a small world, looks like I may have been on the same VC10. After Sharjah I went to Brize Norton, workd in the instrument bay before going on the VC10s/Belfast Line.

You can go to Bang Saen, not that far away. I was 14K to have a chunk of my ear removed.

Certainly can be. Take it you were at the army garrison, I was in the RAF there from Jan 70 till Dec, got early repat as they started to close down. Think the Queens Own left in April 70 but can't remember who replaced them.

Abu Dhabi is not part of Dubai, it is a separate Emirate, the airport for Etihad. I haven't been back to Dubai, other than staging, since I was stationed at Sharjah in 1970, lot has changed since then. In those days they were called the Trucial Oman States and Dubai was nothing more than a shanty town. The oil came along, the British pulled out and the rest is history.

I usually have Tapper in, great when watching TV. I also like that Carabao Dunkel that has come out, being a dark malt beer not so gassy as the average, goes down a bit too easy. Made by Tawangdang.

It is each to their own, and not always about the money. I was on Multi Non O from 2018 till 2014 and went to Ban Laem all the time without a problem. Right sleepy hollow at the time, could be 'out and in' in around half an hour. Got held up one time, the IO asked my wife to help load some carpets into her pickup. The debate about staying the night has been around for as long as I can remember but like many things in this life, pay your money and take your chance. Of course you can reduce your chance, a friend of mine went to Ban Pakard and wouldn't pay for the Cambodia visa in Thai Baht, insisted it should be USD. He was lucky it was only 5 hours to get his passport back, that could have been an overnighter.

As far as I am aware passports were returned to the appllcant by courier when it came under the FCO. In March 2014 foreign passports were transferred from the FCO to HMPO. It was originally intended that passports were returned by courier, hence the requirement for proof of address in Thailand. However there was so much chaos in the beginning the policy never came about. I was one of the first to use the VFS service in April 2014 and had to get the British Embassy to intervene and try and get my passport back. When it did turn up my wife went to collect it and she was told by VFS that I should cut the corner off the old one. They never asked to see the old one, only interested in the letter of authority to collect the new one. Looking at the Home Secretaries there has been since 2014, not surprising things are not as they should be. I went back to the UK in Sept to renew mine.

My wife has done about a dozen visitor visas and I have never used any of the online options from VFS. You can pay for courier return when submitting application.

Online news is the internet, articles like this appear with monotonous regularity. https://www.nationthailand.com/in-focus/30345744 Note the last paragraph. "According to the Women and Men Progressive Movement Foundation, which provides aid and legal consultations to victims of sex assault or harassment cases, half of all rapes in Thailand as reported in 158 national news stories in 2011 were committed by family members (father, step-father, grandfather or brothers) or acquaintances (neighbour, friend, teacher or monk). Only 33 per cent of such cases were committed by strangers." As I said previously, on my first visit to Thailand I went to a wedding in Buriram. One of the guests, right in front of everyone, tried to sell me his daughter for the night, girl couldn't have been any more than 10 and looked quite petrified. Bit of an awkward moment, absolutely horrified and just shook my head. I didn't understand what had been said and a girl that spoke English explained what had been proposed, as though there was nothing unusual.

Likewise in Pattaya, I was into my 50s when I first came to Thailand and not interested in the schoolgirls. However through association with younger guys I knew from the UK I got to know quite a few girls that were underage.

Why do you feel compelled to try and put words in the mouth of others, seen it in almost every post you make. Certainly not ok, but there is no easy answer. Obviously you would have the authorities round them up and sent home to be abused. Shutting down premises is not going to help, just mean more on the streets, not going to stop them travelling to find work. The only hope is that time, investment and education will reduce the need for girls to leave home at an early age, certainly not going to come from foreign media documentaries.

I did look into an FCD a few years back and if I remember right one of the selling points was the ability to repatriate foreign funds without conversion. If what you say is what happens in practice then I don't see much benefit in that type of account. FAQs on BBL website would indicate transfers should be able to be made without conversion. As far as the OP is concerned I noticed this statement. "However, the users are still unable to transfer funds from FCD accounts into overseas account via Bualuang iBanking Service."

Many of the underage girls in Pattaya have been sexually active for many years, usually with members of their own family or close family friends. They are probably safer and better cared for working in Pattaya than staying at home. The so called do gooders always think they can find an answer, looking in the wrong direction.

Why the compulsion to distort the context? I can only take it that you fail to realise that software can prevent a human from seeing ALL relevant data. "Glitch" is the common term for software malfunction, transient or long term. Your "90 day lady" is nothing more than a low level accessory in a software controlled environment, it's not called "online" for nothing. If you want human control you can do it in person.

The shouldn't be any problem repatriatng funds that have not been converted, it is only the Thai baht that is subject to BOT restrictions.

Don't know if popular in Thailand, but the group that appeared on BGT recently went down a storm.

Offices can say anything they want, reality is something else. One online application I did last year had approval by return, so fast it had to have been automated. Maybe a sign of things to come. The following application went back to normal, taking a couple of hours. Haven't done one since,next in a couple of months. At the end of the day nobody really knows what is going on in the background. Software is regularly updated and in most cases without anyone noticing, other times could mean a temporary problem.

Indeed, but in doing so you distorted the context of my post which is a breach of the forum rules. I made no reference whatsoever about the documentary or it's producers, just agreed with another poster that said "probably BS". Like him I wouldn't bother watching such rubbish, after 25 years I don't need the media sticking their noses in. It has never helped in the past and not going to again. Not going to hold my breath on an apology.

The leader being Senator McCarthy? Maybe not so much blindness as tunnel vision. Not good to generalise, everyone's perception is based on "how" they were taught. "I've looked at life from both sides now From win and lose and still somehow It's life's illusions I recall I really don't know life at all"

You would have to show me where I mentioned left wing, I only agreed to it being BS. Your assumptions say a lot about you. The very first time I came to Thailand I went to a wedding and one of the male guests tried to sell me his daughter, about ten years old. That is where it needs to change. You probably believe that the prohibition period in the US stopped people drinking.

Sounds about right.

In 1970 Bill I was posted to Sharjah. The Arabs used to feed the goats on cardboard boxes, and still got milk. "Recycling", before anyone had heard the word.

I haven't done a TM30 since 2015 and never been a problem, lost count of the times I have been out of the country since then. In Oct I returned on new visa and new passport. The OP would be better asking at his office than on here.

Quite, it's like a "must have" topic in the CV of every naive journalist. Would have been hot news in Roman times if people found it easier to travel. In 1972 I was posted to Germany, only a stones throw from Amsterdam, no shortage of red lights there.