Jumbo1968

16 hours ago, xylophone said:

I thought about living there for a while, so before I settled on Thailand, I went to Malta to have a look around and stayed for a couple of weeks and at the same time managed to catch up with an old friend from way back.

 

I had my own apartment and there was a bus stop nearby, as well as the occasional use of my friends car, so I was well equipped to look around, which I did.

 

Certainly there are some lovely sights as mentioned in the article above, however what was most disappointing was the food! Instead of experiencing what I thought would be a cross between Mediterranean and Arabic food, all I encountered were restaurants which seemed to cater for expat Brits or holidaymakers of that ilk, as they were constantly advertising, "burgers, pizzas, English breakfasts, Sunday roasts" – – – and the list goes on.

 

I did manage to find a huge open-air area (with individual table umbrellas) to sample some "local cuisine" but it was very bland and boring.

 

I was extremely disappointed with my visit and there was nothing at all that would entice me to live there for a while, and for the record I had visited way back in 1970, so I was not a complete stranger to the place.

 

Somewhere for a break perhaps, but authentic cuisine of any description would be hard to find in my experience.

There are quite a few Maltese restaurants serving local food its use a matter of seeking them out. Obviously I was there for a while and met a Maltese lady who guided me too them. My favourite is Ta Kris in Sliema, 

https://www.takrisrestaurant.com/

I lived and worked in the Shipyards in Malta 2006 for just under 3 years. Whilst I was there the Euro was introduced, the exchange rate was fixed for 3 months, after that prices went up.

I went back late 2009, looked at several properties but decided against buying one, I wasn’t happy with the layout and the build quality.

i returned again 2018, Malta was always and still is a ‘building site’ with new builds everywhere, the difference is prices of property have at least trebled, maybe I should have bought back in 2009.

The other thing is eating out prices have gone through the roof albeit I might not have noticed before as I was being paid a living allowance when I was working there.

I could live there but sure if I could afford to now although you are very limited for things to do due to size of the island.

3 hours ago, Clifford S said:

Still cant figure out why Milk is twice the price in LOS compared to the UK...

(Blame BREXIT !)

Easy to answer that, milk is a loss leader for supermarkets in the U.K., they ‘screw’ the producers as well.

2 hours ago, Vacuum said:

I think this is exactly what they want.

I think you are a bit disillusioned, Thai Immigration make lots of money from Agents, the last thing they want is Agents activity curbed.

The posters who are saying the new rules make it tougher for Agents are wrong, Immigration will just put their ‘prices’ up.

5 minutes ago, spidermike007 said:

A whole helluva lot more than the average Thai family. And that is just one reason why ex-pats are valuable to Thailand. And we should be treated with some respect. I do not expect plaques, awards, or honors. But, I do not think racist hatred from this heinous administration, and ridiculous hurdles from immigration are necessary. I think they are foolish, lacking in vision, and indicative of the gross incompetency Prayuth, and the entire army bring to the table. They should be spending their time bossing around their subordinates, not leading the nation into the abyss.  

Respect is not in the Thai dictionary, Thais take you for granted. I on many occasions have said to my Thai G.F. where does my money come from. I am on a UK State Pension with a small Private Pension. She always says yes but your salary was better. I can’t disagree but so is the cost of living, wasting my breath to be honest. 

Nope I worked long hours and managed too accumulate savings o nearly 50 years of my working life.Thais from my experience don’t ever try and save, spend it as they get it.

13 minutes ago, natway09 said:

Cheaper in the UK ?

I just went to Big C & chicken breasts 59 Bht a Kilo

Price in Oz & NZ 5 times the price & look awfully white

I bought a single Chicken Breast in the UK from an independent butcher, £1.80, Big C 20 Baht !

I have just arrived back from the UK which I found to be getting increasingly more expensive every time I go back. Utility Bills and food like chicken a lot more expensive, beef similar as is pork not much difference from Thailand.

Clothes, a lot cheaper in the UK and better quality, my GF loves Primark, we bought loads of T Shirts and Shorts for our son and stuff for herself. All better quality she says than Thailand and ironically manufactured in Asia, Cambodia, India and Vietnam. I didn’t see any with labels ‘manufactured in Thailand’.

Designer clothes, the original ones are cheaper in the UK but not by much.

3 minutes ago, rickudon said:

True, but what qualifies as 'resident for 6 months' ? Never seen a definition in an insurance document.

Living at a U.K. address, the last time I got Travel Insurance my 6 months were spread over a year, a few days/months etc.

If you did make a claim I am sure the first thing the Insurance Company would do is ask for was your Passport.

As we know Insurance Companies employ people to investigate claims.

10 hours ago, rickudon said:

My thoughts ..... The number of people applying for OA visas will half. They will move on to 'O' Multi-entry.

 

If applied to 'O' multi-entry visas. Then the number of retirees will fall, and many others will either change to single-entry 'O' visas, tourist visas, Visa exemptions .... Immigration will have a lot more work to do.

 

If you spend 6-9 months a year in Thailand, you do not want to pay insurance for 12 months.

 

I can get travel insurance for about one-third of the price, for a year.

 

Why not just make expats pay into the Public Thai health system, at a similar rate as Thais pay (Haha! no falang price!)

Unfortunately you have to be U.K. resident for 6 months prior to taking Travel Insurance out.

18 minutes ago, cracker1 said:

I think ALL people entering the country should have comprehensive health insurance cover for the duration of their stay.

Let’s make it a level playing field all tourists etc who come too the U.K. including all the Thai partners when coming must have Insurance.

2 minutes ago, dode57k said:

With Skyscanner you almost always book through an agency but that makes no difference. Your ticket is with Qatar airways and they are responsible for getting you to Thailand. The transit times can be short indeed. I've done it often with times as low as 45 minutes. Assuming no delays it's doable. Just be aware Qatar will not hold a flight until you get there but they WILL put you on the next available flight. One flight I had from Edinburgh left 25 minutes late, I was met at the arrival gate in Doha by friendly staff who told me I'd missed my flight but had been booked on one two hours later...Don't sweat!

You have to realise when booking through Skyscanner with a Agent, if there any changes you have too go though the Agent.

i for personal reasons had to change one leg of a flight BKK-Dubai-Newcastle booked vis Skyscanner through an Agent, £295.

i had booked a return flight through Emirates Newcastle-Dubai-BKK and BKK-Dubai-Newcastle, I changed both dates, £130.

Yes the Agents are cheaper but any changes if allowed are expensive and most don’t offer refunds if you cancel.

2 hours ago, tomster said:

I am such a person, Thai wife and our kids, the kids have Thai and UK passports but she only has Thai.

 

I thought long and hard about going back to the UK (or Germany, I have a German passport as well) but decided that it was just too far from Asia.

 

Instead I went to Cambodia. Not everybody's cup of tea, but the people are 1000% more genuine than the Thai's and the country is growing like crazy (all Chinese money of course but where in Asia is that different).

 

One of the very overlooked places for people with Thai family's that want to leave but don't want to go to far from Thailand is Siem Reap. Great city, very tourist based but expanding rapidly and a new airpoort being built that will reallly increase the overall size of the city.

And if your wife is from Isaan, it's 2.5 hours to the Surin border, back home for the weekend is easy. A handful of cheap, good quality international schools for the kids, huge selection of restaurants, easy visas even for freelancers and online workers, 100% company ownership if needed, Grab app that works perfectly, good (great) wine for $10 a bottle, cheap fast internet, airport with great Asean connections, housing similar to Thailand (not quite as good yet), really not that many neagtives.

 

Bit on the hotter side of warm, can get dusty, loads of tourists constantly, but they are confined to the tourist areas mostly and the are generally not looking for sex, mainly just backpackers, Chinese and wealthier Europeans.

 

If I was a single guy I wouldn't like it, way too boring. But for mixed family's looking to "soft exit" exit Thailand and get away from all the ridiculous new rules and anti expat feeling, currently Siem Reap is a easily doable, affordable option.

What type of long term Visa could my Thai Girlfriend aged 41 get in Cambodia ?

4 hours ago, RJRS1301 said:

Yes, they know the boarding requirements for visa, tickets etc, so checking another document is not that hard

Modern communication , put the policy number into a system, then is comes back as valid or not, the systems are available, not an impossibility.  Some one will always try to rip off a system, but most abide by rules and regulations.

 

You ever tried too read the the many pages of the Terms and Conditions of an Insurance Policy ?

6 minutes ago, KC 71 said:

I think you have had to been there for at least the last six months or so


Sent from my iPad using Thailand Forum - Thaivisa mobile app

If you live out the UK for more than 6 months in one year you lose the entitlement to free medical treatment although they don’t ever refuse emergency treatment irrespective if you own property.

Although you are liable for UK Tax if you own a property in the UK ?

4 minutes ago, giddyup said:

Immigration could check tourists on arrival for health insurance. The onus would be on the tourist to purchase insurance before their arrival in Thailand.

So an I.O. could read and understand the Terms and Conditions of an Insurance Policy no matter what language and at the same inspect it too see if it was genuine ?.

4 minutes ago, Snow Leopard said:

Okay, have a buy it online option before arrival. 

They can’t even get the 90 Day Reporting to work efficiently online, that involves maybe a handful of Expats, what chance is there of setting up a system to deal with millions of tourists ?

1 minute ago, Snow Leopard said:

No, it isn't. You buy it at the airport. By far the biggest burden on the Thai health care system is tourists with no medical insurance. 

Thousands of people queuing up at the desk too buy Medical cover then ?

14 minutes ago, the guest said:

Long overdue, they should extend this to tourists as-well. Scrap the VOA, and ensure that all visa applications include valid insurance. EU visa applications require mandatory insurance, don't see why thailand should be any different.

Impossible too ‘police’, the queues at Immigration at the airport are bad enough, imagine the I.O. checking every tourist to check if they had Insurance.

Whilst I agree having money in the bank to cover health problems or an Insurance Policy would the IO have the time or the knowledge to check if an Insurance Policy was valid !

Why couldn’t you apply online in London and if your application was successful authorise the Honorary Consulates too issue the Visas.

2 minutes ago, ubonjoe said:

The consulates in the UK are honorary consulates which not be an option show on the website for a applications.

 

Only official Thai consulates would be shown and there are none in the UK.

Joe Buck said you could choose your location not me, I believe at one time Hull could issue most of the Visas but are limited to what they can issue ?

8 hours ago, BuckBee said:

^

the plus side is you choose location of appointment so may have a closer consulate option .

One can only hope they get to retain postal application even if just for most basic visa applications .

It will be a mess during transition period and is a shame as London embassy pretty efficient with current setup .

I can’t see where it says you can choose the location of your appointment, for me it reads it can only be collected in London ?

5 minutes ago, lamyai3 said:

I chose to go in person as it's faster, issued next day and any issues with documentation can be clarified on the spot. Postal applications take 3-5 working days.

 

The new e-visa system looks to be a retrograde step where neither postal or walk-in applications will be possible. I got the sense that the embassy staff were not at all enthusiastic about it. 

Obviously the staff won’t be too enthusiastic instead of dealing with postal applications they will have to be dealing face too face with applicants instead of sitting on a back office.

For me it could be very expensive, a return journey from the N.E. of England and a possible overnight stay in a hotel.

Arrival/Departure Cards, does some one actually input all the details, ok there is a barcode but I lost my Departure Card and filled a new one in at the Airport with a different Barcode therefore they couldn’t match my Arrival Card with my Departure Card or is the bar code irrelevant ?

There must be huge warehouse some where or a giant shredder ?

3 minutes ago, beeyonder said:

On the website on the Thaï Embassy at Paris they say they want to apply this system to all embassies of Thailand around the world. But, when (if of course) it will happen, what will happen for people who want make a visa and who lives in Thailand?

 

We will have a choice or we must imperatively make our visa in a Thai Embassy of our country?

Interesting point, I apply for a multi entry non o Immigrant Visa based on me being in receipt of my UK State Pension in London by post, will I be able to apply at any Thai Embassy or will I still need too apply in London.

i have all the relevant documentation, Pension Statement so why can’t I apply in Thailand ?