Dene16

34 minutes ago, 1337markus said:

The second video is poor quality and we have no view of what is happening after he gets the garden tool from the back of the vehicle; so you cant comment on that event.

So he doesn't go running at the other car/driver then. On his own admission he states he beat the car up a bit, If someone is running at you with a machete with your wife and child in the car, are you supposed to assume its just a joke or he's just scared

You obviously think these are the actions of a mentally stable individual

He tried to state that the Thai threw himself on his car. You do not roll off a vehicle in the manner he did if that was true (unless the Thai was a part time stunt man)

The Thai may of stopped his car in front to have some sort of altercation with him but it does not change the Aussies lunatic actions

When you lie/change your story to the extent that the Aussie has, you know. deep down. who is at fault

34 minutes ago, 1337markus said:

The second video is poor quality and we have no view of what is happening after he gets the garden tool from the back of the vehicle; so you cant comment on that event.

So he doesn't go running at the other car/driver then. On his own admission he states he beat the car up a bit, If someone is running at you with a machete with your wife and child in the car, are you supposed to assume its just a joke or he's just scared

You obviously think these are the actions of a mentally stable individual

He tried to state that the Thai threw himself on his car. You do not roll off a vehicle in the manner he did if that was true (unless the Thai was a part time stunt man)

The Thai may of stopped his car in front to have some sort of altercation with him but it does not change the Aussies lunatic actions

When you lie/change your story to the extent that the Aussie has, you know. deep down. who is at fault

3 hours ago, Cheops said:

Besides the lump sum payment you are also entitled to receive  a monthly payment of about 400 baht (not sure the amount now) per child from their birth up to 6 years.

yes my girlfriend gets this each month for our son

After weighing up all the video evidence you have to side with the Thai guy.

The Aussie is seen blatantly lying to everyone in the video

The Aussie is the first aggressor and puts a machete through his car window and runs him over

It was the Thai guy that called the police according to the report

Cowardly punch or not on a 70+ year old, sometimes events (especially such as what has happened) get the better of you

You have to suspect the mental state of the Aussie due to his actions

I would not even be aggrieved if he was deported ( except for his family)as he is a very dangerous old individual

2 hours ago, chiangrai said:

I just discovered Transferwise last week on this forum.

I have been using transferwise for many years now and regardless of what other people have said about other means, after my own research on their options, none have yet been able to match it.

As long as the amounts are not more than £2000 i should add.

Many companies stated they were better but as soon as you went to transfer the rate dropped or was different then previously advertised

It also comes down to how quick you require the money, Transferwise from UK normally talks 4 days but has been 2 days on occasions

I am always happy to hear about other options if anyone has them

On 03/10/2017 at 7:37 AM, watcharacters said:

Some times  I'm nearly stunned by the B.S. guys tell me about their past and accomplishments.

I think we have all met a few people like this in our lives. 

One or two, in my life, who actually turned out to to be very nice people, once they no longer needed to talk absolute BS in their need to try and fit in

The best bit is when a few years later when you know them well and remind them of that same BS and the sheepish look on their face trying to explain their way out of it

On 03/10/2017 at 2:50 PM, wealthychef said:

So what checkpoints are they removing?  The ones that are not for alcohol, crime and security?  What is left?  

Ha ha so true

Even when they do come across traffic violations in the fore mentioned  checkpoints nothing happens except money enters their personal pockets

Until this changes nothing else here will ever change. People will continue to drive without insurance, drink drive, unworthy vesicles, no tax, no licence, the list goes on and on

The road carnage will continue without even a hiccup.

In fact it would probably increase without the added pressure of being stopped

14 hours ago, Chivas said:

No the A350 is on at least one of the two daily flights on Thai I believe replaced the 777 on August 19th

Just checked, you are correct, except it states Sept 19th and A380's to continue to run the lunchtime daily flight  

I booked my flight in june and when i enquired about the plane the only information then was about new A380's during day and still 777's on TG flights 

So a pleasant surprise for me to be able to check it out although probable little difference in economy

I bet it does not decrease the journey time though

6 hours ago, CNXBKKMAN said:

I noticed TG using the new A350's into heathrow so if the airfares ok that could be an option.

i think you mean A380's

i looked into it before and they are not on the TG flights still the 777-300's  i fly in November and that is the plane i will be on.( i presume you mean Thai airlines)

I think the intention was to have one flight a day(bigger plane) but they have decided to keep it at two flights

Unless something has changed 

I have flown on all three.

Eva , Thai, and BA. Eva is my favoured airline. The crazy thing is (from my experience) they are more expensive then the others if you book early but when the time nears (2 months their prices seem to drop) and they become the cheapest .

I believe Thai airlines have started using new planes  A380-800 (more expensive)but not on the TG flights, Boeing 777-300 (i think these are night flights from UK and return from Bangkok at 2pm )

2 minutes ago, Oxx said:

Wow! It's only been since 1999 that individuals have been able to invest in stocks and shares in an ISA. 

 That's true i was only referring to cash ISA's as the OP is a very apprehensive investor (hence his decision to get a fixed interest mortgage at larger cost). My presumption was that these are what he has

Thank you for your reply it brought a smile to my face

1 hour ago, hocuspocus said:

But if loans go up so will the interest on my ISA's go up so happy days.

Wow! if you have money invested in a UK ISA it was, is and will continue to lose money 

The best ISA's are paying half of the inflation rate so all you will be doing is lose less money

I have been investing in peer to peer lending and stocks and shares  for many years now to very good effect 

I realise people are worried about losing their money but that is exactly what you are doing now in ISA's

UK banks can not afford to increase interest rates without a knock on effect

Inflation is high due to the drop in pound and thus higher cost of imports (to simplify things) 

I have always believed that it is a false economy because it creates the belief to the rest of the world in it is causing more stability by stopping people borrowing and thus increases the strength of the pound

In a period where we are desperately trying to lower the countries debt an increase will not help

In some circumstances it will help but this is not one of them. You could speak to 10 economists  and get a 50/50 split

There is no proof at the moment that inflation,hopefully, is spiralling out of control. 

I must stop blabbering sorry 

3 hours ago, eyecatcher said:

Almost certainly settling due to lots of rain and inadequate foundations, quite normal in a Thai built house.

He is not saying 100% and you even admit it yourself that it's probably due to shrinkage so why make such a big deal of it?

i would say that 60% of the Thai houses have such cracks and it more likely to do with a combination of both shrinkage and settlement

It is very easy to assume that it is due to inadequate foundations by the very nature of the sub standard earth and settlement process they use hence some larger 2 story buildings use pylons (for lack of a better word at the moment)

The fact that most houses are single story allows for the fact that this is not of too much of a concern

That's not to say it cannot be avoided

It is great that you have given a more detailed observation (especially in regards to the noise which is probably spot on) but the op is somewhat putting his mind at rest before the poster gets over worried

That why 2 heads are better than one, ranting does not help anyone

2 hours ago, laislica said:

Can she apply for a new passport without my consent?

Will she be able to leave the country without my consent?

I can not find any information on the first answer but i would of thought possible

Second question i have found the following

In Thailand parental child abduction is not a criminal offence. It is considered to be a dispute between the parents and a civil matter to be settled by a court of law.

Parents with custody of a child have an automatic right to remove that child from Thailand. This includes for the purposes of holidays. There is no requirement for a special application. In principle the agreement of both parents is required for a child to leave the country. However, this may not be strictly applied by the authorities at ports of exit. There is no law requiring a left-behind parent to give authority in writing to the other parent.T

The child would not normally be stopped from leaving the country unless an immigration official had concerns about travel or legal irregularities. It is possible, through the courts, for one parent to prevent the other parent from leaving the country with their child without the left-behind parent’s consent. If the court rules the child must not be taken out of Thailand, the resulting court order can be passed to the Thai Immigration Bureau who should notify all immigration checkpoints not to permit the other parent to leave the country with the child. The Immigration Bureau will not normally act on a direct request from a parent, in the absence of a court order, to prevent the child leaving the country. A parent can submit a legal appeal against a court order preventing the other parent from taking a child out of the country. 

19 minutes ago, GarryP said:

I thought Cairo was much worse than Bangkok. Absolutely amazing.

A long time ago now but i remember they had a roundabout near the Cairo museum with what seemed like 5 lanes of traffic and no markings on the road 

13 minutes ago, laislica said:

In other lifetimes - been there etc....

I actually wrote my post before reading yours

Your post has some structure unlike others that were some what one dimensional

I also did not realise until later that he was in Thailand as he stated he was British and presumed he was in the UK

I presume you have been with your wife at least 11 years for your step son to be able to get Spanish nationality

loving the  news of your good relationship  as i believe there are many more happy ones than sad one's

Although you would not think it. sometimes, on here

1 minute ago, laislica said:

Dene, this Idiot is not trying to destroy any relationship......

I realise that, hence i said mean well also 

Idiot i admit was a bit harsh

People that have not been in similar situations do not have an objective view from both sides of the coin and do not look at it from the child's point of view.

I would love to be able to tell him the right decision but it revolves around his opinion of his ex girlfriend/ wife

That is something that only he knows and no one here can answer

1 hour ago, Jimmyjames120 said:

I don't think she can take the child out of the country without a letter of consent from the father, my wife needed this to bring my son to visit when I worked in Italy, something to check anyway.

This is the case in Thailand if not married but on the birth certificate

They have joint custody and are under UK/ Swedish law so no problem although he mentions ex girl friend, not wife, so not sure

New law in UK,  about 10 years ago, states all fathers on birh certificate have guardianship. Not the case before. I had to get this because  when i took my daughter on holiday if she need something like a blood transfusion it can only be given by a guardian 

We were not married

It is not clear if he is in the UK or Thailand, after reading again it seems Thailand. As she moved to Sweden as a migrant i presume they were also married. Not sure what an economic migrant is

Not enough information 

Too many people here are trying to destroy your relationship with your daughter without realising it, Idiots(but mean well)

I understand your apprehension of the matter but it is delicate one. if you refuse now and the next time she will likely rebel as she gets older, in effect you will be driving your daughter to her mother.

You have joint custody giving your ex the same rights as you, however a court in Sweden or UK will look at the best interests of the child. As she has lived with you for the last 9 years it would be detrimental for her to remain anywhere else (that won't be any help if the worst case scenario should happen)

Only you know the mentality of her mother. If you decide that you do not wish for her to go, as you are scared she will try to keep her, you will need to explain that to your daughter however young. 

Does your ex work, how will see look after your daughter, lots of unknown scenario's

It is only natural that at some point in her life she would want to see and spend time with her mother. For some children its the point when they finally decide they no longer wish to see the other parent (namely her mother)

This is a decision that only you can make but do not just say no without telling her that she can go when she is older.

All cases are not the same but my daughter came to live with me as she could not live with her mother who  loved her very much . I Always stood by her mother in that respect and now they are inseparable and we are all very happy.

Its delicate because she is a at very impressionable age

This may not help but your heart needs to tell you what is the best decision. A lawyer can only give you a few legal aspects which will not really help you 

Just realised you are in Thailand which will not help matters as UK law may no longer be applicable

when you are dead or seriously injured because you have use your front brake while riding in the rain, over a manhole or on very dusty roads you will finally understand what people have told you here. using both brakes will obviously give you more stopping power and stability but should only be used in normal dry circumstances.

Incidentally my/wifes Honda 125 scooter can be changed to apply both brakes at one time on the left brake lever I'm sure many of the other can also. Bigger bikes no, probably because its too dangerous and needs rider judgement

7 hours ago, Guitar God said:

Also I've been paying 2650฿ for 100mb DL speeds and found out they've been selling the same service to new clients for ฿900 a month for over a year. 

Its only 700 Baht  now on the website

2 hours ago, Naam said:

incorrect assumption. my pension is tax free.

Are you Australian? i believe their pensions are tax free

Most countries however would normally pay tax on their pensions the UK only on sums above £11,200

3 hours ago, NanLaew said:

unlike the noisome 30%, they don't feel the need to post about how their innate weaknesses, insecurities, social inadequacies, narrow-mindedness and bigotry sets them at odds daily with the locals, their lifestyle, culture and politics .

harsh but fair

What else would you do in the evenings if you didn't have the delight of reading such stories, watch thai soaps?

I think TV has become a big part of many expats lives here, advice, amusement, and stay in touch with ones compatriots, all in one place

long live Thai Visa

1 hour ago, citybiker said:

There's been far worse than her however evil she wasn't.

I wish she were here now doing the Brexit negotiations

Although she would never of allowed us to be in this position

23 minutes ago, rwill said:

Here is mine where the renewal date was 2 Dec 2014 and was changed to 31 Jan 2015.

I cannot comment on  your extension but the op is talking about doing his extension early not later, This was similar to my case when they categorically told me no and told me to do a border run to change it