mr_hippo

It is not a rhetorical question

gummy, if these test had been introduced many years ago, how would this have helped Mrs Big Spuds? She would still have to sit it.

Please allow me to interject - the issue of introducing the test years ago was brought up by me - if you read my first post in this thread, I said that I think the test is too difficult. I don't have a problem with having a test, but I just think it should be easier. If an *easier* test had been implemented 30 years ago it would have been to the advantage of many bona fide spouses of british nationals, and to the general good of the country.

Many apologies. Why do you think the test should be easier?

gummy, if these test had been introduced many years ago, how would this have helped Mrs Big Spuds? She would still have to sit it.

markr, you say that you failed the test, if you had studied the 'Life in the United Kingdom' handbook then you may have passed.

Big Spuds please read http://www.ind.homeoffice.gov.uk/6353/1146...wledgeqanda.doc and Mrs Big Spuds may be able to get free tuition

Just had a look at the questions, been here 25 years (all my life) and failed!! doh!

The really annoying thing is that they expect our thai partners to answer these questions but the person that wrote them cant even spell 'steel' correctly!! take a look!

Now thats a piss take

Mark

Ps I know its only a mock but you can see where i'm coming from...

I'm sure that it is only a typo that's been missed - similar to yours!

Perhaps you are right as I seem to recall it was not untill the 60's that British Passports were changed from "Right of Abode in the United Kingdom". However the labour shortage was only in certain areas, Basically 2. One was that after WW11 we had no bus drivers so hence, as there was an abundance in the West Indies owing to their highly developed transportation system, they quickly came to the UK to help us out. The other shortage during the 60's of course was in social workers. As during the previous 20 odd years most of the nation had either been directly or indirectly involved in opposition to A. Hitler there had been inadequate training and education so as to develop and advance the social services area. As a consequence we had to allow the immigration of many highly trained persons from other countries that did possess these skills, such as Uganda, SW Africa etc. where as we all know they have special skill sets in social welfare and community wellbeing.

Then of course the Rt Hon Enoch Powell was derided for being a visionary.

You are not very good at history, are you? The West Indians came over in the late 40s/early 50's to fill gaps in the labour markets, not primarily as bus drivers - there may have been some and others may have qualified after they came to the UK and which of the islands had a 'highly developed transportation system'?

You mention a shortage of 'social workers', do you mean nurses? There were always shortages in nursing, I come from a long line of nurses, I followed my parents and one of my sisters into the profession as were most of my aunts and uncles. Most of the Ugandan Indians came over in 1972 when Idi Amin kicked them out, most of them were traders and shopkeepers.

Enoch Powell, although remembered for his 'Rivers of Blood' speech was instrumental in bringing in Commonwealth citizens to shore up the NHS.

I only know of one place in BKK that does a proper English breakfast, done the way I like it - my house and, no, you are not invited!

anyone missing to please contact the police.

Thai logic

Why the misquote?

A custom made, cabon fibre framed 20 speed road bike - my thighs provide the power!

John Drale's car was a Lotus 7, not a Westfield.

You are thinking of a Westfield as your 'first' car? Do you mean your first ever car or to add to your stable of cars and have it as your number one car? If it is your first ever car then I would say forget it. You need a lot more driving experience before even thinking about it. You could not handle the performance or the handling, in my never too humble opinion. You also comment on the lack of doors. It has no doors because it was designed that way but you can get side-screens.

I agree that having no planes is a "minor technical issue"

Are you talking about this:-

A sola topi / topee maybe old chap!

Sola topi = pith helmet

The question is 'Why do you want one?' The colonial days are long gone. There is a Vietnamese style pith helmet - similar to the Bombay style - shown in an earlier photo - but in olive drab. Check out e-bay for various styles/prices.

Are you talking about this:-

The 'man bag' has been around for years and it is free and available in many different patterns - Central do a nice one in red with gold lettering, Big C has a lime one and I think Tesco do a striped one.

Or if you want to take your mountain bike out -

The Taif-Riyadh Highway in the late 80's/early 90's (perhaps even to today) It's a nice, wide, well made road, in parts there are 3 lanes in both directions. The problem with it was the Otaibi tribe lived in the desert and made frequent raping and pillaging raids onto the highway. RSAF, Taif, frequently scrambled F-5's to discourage them but to no avail and alliance ground forces fared no better.

Maybe we qualify with the least expensive wedding...

We were married in the US, so our only expense in Thailand was a taxi ride to the amphur office to register the pre-existing marriage, giving us local Thai documentation we needed for some other bureaucratic activities. I think there was a "copy fee" but it was much smaller than the 200 baht taxi ride (round trip).

The US wedding was more expensive... we must have spent $100 US or so, including the marriage license and some fuel for the car... Our honeymoon involved several tanks of fuel, a national parks pass, a camping stove, and a peaceful cabin in the woods (Sierra Nevada in California). I am proud that we pulled off an almost perfect anti-wedding.

$100 + 200 Baht - still too expensive!

Book a seat on any airline and they will tell you the aircraft type but not the specific aircraft - why? I think the answer is obvious, don't you? They do not know that far in advance, you can only be certain when the aircraft is at the gate. Let's book a flight - BKK-LHR, Thai, you know that you are flying on a B747: You say "I want to fly on Golf Oscar." I can just see the travel agent and airline rolling about on the floor, laughing. It is not an airline conspiracy against you, onzestan, it's a matter of logistics.

THerre's no suspension on my road bike, my mountain bike has front suspension only and I hate it! I have never had any stability problems on the TACX. It takes me a whole 2 minutes to get the bike road ready

First of all, you are not taking in 'copies' of football shirts but fakes. You seem worried. So you have now landed at a UK airport. You will have been watched in the baggage hall - either live or on CCTV. You now have your bulging suitcase and go through the green channel. Do you think that the people who are stopped in the green channel are stopped at random? You will have been watched for any signs of unusual behaviour and 'gut feeling'. You have not been stopped, got through 'green' and into the arrivals area, do you think that now you can breathe that smug smile of relief? Then think again, you are still being watched.

I enjoy the best of both worlds with the TACX I-Magic, in door on the I-Magic and take the bike out for road work.

My wedding was five years ago in Bangkok. Without revealing what mine cost yet, I was seeing if there were posters whose costs were similar to mine.

I'm just talking about ceremony, clothes, reception and any added ectras but excluding dowry. Spot has chipped in with 73,000 Baht - anyone cheaper? I'll reveal mine later!

I keep reading here about how much a wedding costs but who had the cheapest?

To drive in England, you do not need a brain!

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/6430859.stm