sandyf

You have led a charmed life if it has not happened to you elsewhere.

One day the xenophobes on this forum will realise you cannot get western standards from the Thai GDP. It should also be borne in mind that Thailand has not had the luxury of a protracted learning curve like the west, about 130 years in the US. "The Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) estimates an average of 6,000 people per year are injured on escalators. However, one of few studies on the topic gives a higher total. Published in the National Institutes of Health’s (NIH) National Library of Medicine, the study notes that 10,000 escalator-related injuries per year require emergency care in the United States." https://www.penneylawyers.com/elevator-and-escalator-accidents/10-interesting-facts-about-escalator-accidents/#:~:text=10%2C000 injuries require emergency care every year&text=Published in the National Institutes,care in the United States.

Obviously your approach would be to test all components to destruction before fitting them. In the real world quality control is based on the laws of probability.

Maybe you think it would be normal to be "taking a look" seven years later.

Of course it does. If people are looking at who they are talking to, they cannot be looking elswhere. They are oblivious to what is happening around them and expect others to take avoiding action and move out of their way. Those suffering from smartphone addiction should be in segregated areas like smokers, after all they are a danger to public health.

It is a bit hit and miss with the tanks. I have a mitsu 105 model and had to replace the tank on that after about 18 months. My sister in law not long ago had to replace the tank on her mitsu 255 model, I have been here 15 years and the pump has been there longer than that. I also have a Hitachi 150 model thats 13 years old and only 2 weeks ago that started to short cycle due to a pin hole in the tank. I replaced that with a new Hitachi constant pressure pump 250 model, no tank to worry about in the future. Got that discounted down to 6690 baht from the new MegaHome store. If you are in need of a replacement SS tank, best to shop around the local pump repair shops. My SiL was about 1800 baht for a tank and to have it fittted. I was 1000 baht but that was smaller and some years ago.

Bit of an outdated thread, the new rolling stock was introduced at the end of 2016. A major improvement in second class but for first class I preferred the ex Japanese stock with only the one bed per cabin. We used to book early and get adjoining cabins, with the doors open it was like a twin bedded hotel room. No upper deck so to speak.

Going about oblivious to what is happening around you makes you a danger to yourself and others. However it is not surprising the default assumption on this forum is that it is all down to how the Thais do things, no investigation required.

You are being told garbage by VFS, not uncommon, I suspect they may be getting mixed up between general applicant and family member. You have a couple of options. You can challenge VFS and say you will report them to the Austrian Embassy. I did that once and they changed tune in a flash. You could ask them to quote the section in the handbook that restricts entry to the EU for family members by air. https://home-affairs.ec.europa.eu/system/files/2020-06/visa_code_handbook_consolidated_en.pdf You can make the application in the UK. it is preferable for a third country national to make the application in their own country but is not cast in stone. You need to have a fairly good reason why it was not done in Thailand. A friend of mine took his wife to Holland for the weekend on the boat. Did it in London and said it was a last minute discounted offer, not a problem. Good luck.

Anyone using mechanical assistance in any form should be paying attention to what is happening, those on cell phones are not doing that. In the interest of personal safety it is a personal responsibility to take care when joining or leaving an escalator or walkway. The 700 baht PSC is a ring fenced tax for airport security, upkeep and passenger services, fairly obvious from comments that those on this forum would like to see that raised to improve the upkeep.

The only thing amiss is people who think they know it all without any reference to the facts of the matter.

Luck of the draw, twice yesterday it hit 45.25 before dropping back a bit. All that can be said is we are nearly back to where we were about 2 years ago which can't be bad if we get the same sort of duration.

Dropped back below 45 today, looks like the fall in the baht has been postponed.

In the same way it happens in every other country. The real novices are those that believe corruption is unique to Thailand, when in fact they are only following the leaders.

Cannot be both, your visa status will be married or retirement.

There are only 2 ways to be in Thailand, legally or illegally.

You didn't read the comment correctly. "Doctors in Thailand tend not to prescribe generic alternatives for expensive medications" I would agree, when expensive medication is required it would normally be branded. I was prescribed apixaban and policy at the time was to provide Elquis, policy changed and they changed to another branded drug, forgot the name, which was twice as much as I was paying for the Elquis. I declined and sourced a generic apixaban.

Selective memory. It is less than 60 years since someone of a different nationality in a prominent country wasn't allowed to dream. Another western country took a page out of that book.

You should try looking at it from their perspective. During the pandemic they could see much higher level of death in western countries and came to the simple conclusion that there was a much higher level of infection so became vary wary of being close to foreigners. That will be very difficult to get over. I have also had the same experience since the pandemic but it will improve with time. I was in hospital last week and while waiting for the doctor all the nurses crowded round asking questions, just like they did in the past. Learn to live with it, there are more important things to worry about.

Memories of the north from that time a bit vague, usually stayed in the south and the north was like a night out. My days in Pattaya as a singly were from 99 - 05,after that I started to stay in Bang Saen before coming to live in Chonburi. I also sometimes reflect on "chances missed" but no regrets, "Private Dancer" was always at the back of the mind.

I plan to do exactly the same in September, just hoping the service is not affected by industrial action. Not going to bother having stamp transferred as extension due for renewal in Nov.

Really. 60 years ago they were objecting to school uniform in the UK, but out of school they wanted to dress the same and with the same haircut, or lack of it. "Male mods wore button-down white shirts, Levi jeans, trendy puppy shoes and parka coats " https://relcolondon.com/blogs/style/difference-between-mods-rockers School uniform is an equaliser and takes away any controversy over innappropriate dress. The real issues are that costs should be controlled and uniform is fit for purpose. I spent 14 years of my life in uniform and still remember the marks on my neck from the collar studs.

Always been a variable, I didn't need a letter when I last renewed passport in 2014.

The British Embassy has never had much in the way of services for expats, that was the responsibility of the British Consulate within the embassy. A few years back on the pretence of cost cutting primary consular services were moved to India which closed down the visa dept in the consulate. Since then the remaining services have been quietly discontinued. If you look at the consular fees, the highest fee number is 22 but there are only 9 fees currently active. This would indicate that at least 13 services have disappeared. The UK authorities have nothing against expats per se, they are against anything relating to immigration or migration. The writing was on the wall when they got into bed with VFS some years ago. On saying that I have to say that when I got caught up in the passport fiasco in 2014 the embassy staff stepped up to the plate and in the nick of time prevented an ETD being required. Somehow I doubt the same support would be availabe today.

Talent doesn't come into it, Gary Glitter?