egg

I was told just a couple of nights ago that AsiaAir were doing some very cheap promos London/Bangkok via KL

When I put in dates end May to end June, via KL , it came up a whopping 839 GBP! Surely shome mishtake?

up until a couple of days ago AA were advertising KL to UK for 8300Bt(there abouts)one way,,, l think the book by date has passed ,,, but keep looking there are bargains to be had,, cheers

And yet another hub for Bangkok: Super Skywalk Hub of the World

thailand is strange and sick when it comes to doctors... every time my kid goes to see a doctor, for whatever symptom : they always prescribe antibiotics, which is not only dangerous for my kids health but also costing a lot of money

if it is for stomac pain (some vomiting) or toe pain ...

when will it stop ?

but I as a farang off course pay the full price

so they are not sure if there is corruption, how funny

and no-one can check if person x is a family member or not of person y

they should make a national database to list what doctor prescribes to whom and where and when, then cheating would be obviously found

Thailand is not interested in databases (you only have to got o immigration to learn that),, all they want is to be a "hub" of some description,, and there will be some very bent spokes coming from any "hub' that Thailand has anything to do with

Hi folks ,,,thanks to Rod,Bridge,Theo007,Graham,Mystwoodcol,Madivad, and Aperturebkk (could you please PM me that email address),,,,,,,,,, forget about me as a sponsor ,,, nothing dodgey ,, just the way circumstances are at the moment ,,, l think we will just let the money sit for a month or so and use the bank account(which usually we dont, l hate banks, but they are the same as death and taxes),,,, and then apply , with as many supporting documents as l can get ,,,,, l am not too concerned ,, everything is above board and l have faith in the system (until it stuffs me up),,,,,, and lastly ,, she has to come back ,, for her teaching and also the 2 partime businesses she runs ,, without that l will starve ,,,

cheers and thanks again

Dave

..recent requirement was money (min 80,000 baht) in 6 weeks prior to the date the visa is granted..Always a case by case assessment..best make a quick call to Australia embassy in BKK to clarify.

Thanks for that Rod ,,, much appreciated ,,,, but a "quick" call to the embassy is nearly impossible l have found ,,, but l will certainly be trying again on monday ,,

cheers Dave

l am hoping to take the family (wife and 2 kids) to Aus in April ,, we have tickets to and from ,, accommodation provided for the 5 weeks(and a letter to support that) ,,a letter from my wife's boss(she is a teacher),, 400,000Bt in her bank account , now this maybe where the problem is ,, the money has only been deposited for a few days(average deposit from 1,000 to 100,000, more the lower),,,, will the visa mob accept this or would they want the money to be deposited for a longer term . My wife has been to Roi-Et and spoken with a courier business(or a person that works there)and she is of the opinion that they would not accept the bank statement and if so , would want to know where the money came from ,,, l find this a little hard to believe ,,, my wife has been to Aus before ,, and l am sure we had no such problems then ,,,,,

any advice/help very much appreciated

cheers egg

thanks for that TT ,, how much does one have to change to make the transaction worth while??? ,,, like , if you arrive at swampy and want ,say ,, $2000 changed , is it worth the time and cost to go looking for the best rates or just accept what is closest ?? or is this more for the monthly pension flow ??? ,,, personally ,, the only thing l change regularly is my clothes ,, the money ran out long ago ,,

cheers egg

I'd try to avoid changing anything at Swampy Egg. If the banks are considered a rip off the airport exchanges are even worse!

For example on the same day a Siam exchange booth at the airport will have a worse rate than a Siam exchange both outside of the airport.

If you absolutely have to change some money at the airport change up as little as possible. Enough say for you to get to one of the above listed exchanges. I'd recommend the rugland one near Oasis. In October and December last year they were a good baht or 2 higher than the banks.

As for whether or not its worth it, when I changed money in Oct/December in the Rugland near oasis I was gaining an extra 500 baht per £100 pounds sterling which goes a long way in LoS.

Hope this helps

thanks Jimmy ,,, l hope to be going back to Aus in april(family holiday) and wil be wanting to change Baht to Aus $ ,,, what and where would be the best place to change the money ,,, here or there ??

cheers egg

Sorry,

but i take that as an absolute insult to me AND all the others in thailand that keep their visa`s up to date and often loss intrest on money we have to bring in and show in our thai bank accounts for visa`s.......SHAME ON YOU SIR

get a life

thanks for that TT ,, how much does one have to change to make the transaction worth while??? ,,, like , if you arrive at swampy and want ,say ,, $2000 changed , is it worth the time and cost to go looking for the best rates or just accept what is closest ?? or is this more for the monthly pension flow ??? ,,, personally ,, the only thing l change regularly is my clothes ,, the money ran out long ago ,,

cheers egg

does anybody really care who the Russian president sacks ????

Air Asia is flogging tickets ,, Bk to Stansted ,,travel July to Sept for 6230Bt , l presume it's one way ,,,and only carry on luggage ,,, is that cheap ?????

Does it include taxes?

When does this BKK to UK service start? I'm only aware of their KL to UK services so far.

l think it is an all in price ,,, check out the Air Asia web site ,,,,they seem to have different promo's every week

chers egg

AFAIK there is no equipment in Thailand to make a good determination by sight so biopsy scrape has to be done. My doctor, thinking I traveled (being foreign) suggested having exam in western country where there is now microscopic viewing ability available (not sure of medical name). But for your nose a simple razor sample should be enough to make the decision. I had BCC on my nose a few years ago and had to have surgically removed. Biopsy is about 1,000 baht or less and not that invasive so worth it in my opinion. If you think it should be checked have them do so even if they are not sure it needs checking. As said most do not suspect cancer here.

l dont spend enough time on the computer ,,, it took me half an hour to figure out what "AFAIK" meant ,,, now that l have solved that major issue l think you answered one of my questions and that was ,,, how much has to be removed to get a biopsy done ? ,, there is not a lot of skin there to be going to deep , so a shaving would be great ,, in the past l have had things cut from my arms , face , ears , etc ,,, and the couple that l have been able to see (these have been cut out then the biopsy done , and came back cancerous) , have gone in rather deep and l was thinking , if they do that on my nose there is only going to be a hole left ,, which is all that is needed anyway l suppose ,,,, OK ,, off to get a biopsy done asap (next week ,, l work by Thai time now),,,,

cheers Lop thanks again

egg

I had a worrisome mole removed from my back a few years ago at Bangkok Christian hospital on Silom Road. Perhaps I was lucky, but the GP I ended up seeing had worked in Florida for years so was highly familiar with skin cancer. He suspected that my particular mole was not cancerous but agreed I should have it removed and tested just in case - it was benign, thankfully. But all around professional service and very knowledgeable doctor.

do you know his name? would be useful.

Lop ,Sheryl and Jeebusjones ,,, thanks for the info ,,, l have a couple of problems on my nose , had a skin graft done a few years ago and now a couple of scabby looking things are coming back (not in the grafted area),,, l would like to find someone here that knows a little more about it than me ,,,, then l can decide what to do ,, operate here or go back to Aus ,,,, its cheaper for me here if l can find someone in a government hospital ,, but then the professional competence might be lacking ,,,, l was a bit surprised to find that the Cancer Centre at Udon Thani had no-one that could even give an opinion ,,,,, l will keep plodding along ,,, AEK Udon next week ,, that is if they have a dermatologist ,,, thanks for the help

cheers egg

Most hospital dermatologists will have a fair knowledge but perhaps those treating elderly will be more helpful. Do not believe many specialize in cancer as that is discovered in normal skin exam/pathology. It will also make a difference if treatment is for a Thai or foreign skin as suspect few without foreign experience will be confident (all the more reason to check if any suspicions). If questionable and they suggest a biopsy do it (in my case several Doctors were 99% sure were not; were - it is a small price to pay).

Do see Doctor as most such things can be easily and painlessly removed but as time progresses so does the damage/danger.

thanks for that Lop ,,,,l have had a few problems removed in the past ,, but nothing for the last 6 years and its about time things got checked out ,,,l will head for AEK at Udon and take it from there .

cheers egg

this has probably been done to death , but in searching l cant find much ,,,

l need to get a few skin problems checked out ,,, does anyone know of a capable doctor in the Udon Thani area or further afield that knows a little about skin cancer and could recommend a course of action ,,,,,,,,,,,, any help is very much appreciated

thanks egg

Air Asia is flogging tickets ,, Bk to Stansted ,,travel July to Sept for 6230Bt , l presume it's one way ,,,and only carry on luggage ,,, is that cheap ?????

Thai children need their own passport.

For procedure: http://www.mfa.go.th/web/473.php?id=3167

Cost is 1,000 baht per passport, for 35 baht they send it to the home address within 5 working days.

Terry and Mario ,,, thanks to both of you for the replies

cheers egg

l wish to take my 2 Thai kids (aged 8 and 11) to Oz ,,, do they need there own passport or can they travel on their mothers ??? thanks for any help

cheers

egg

and happy new year to all you lot

I went through "the process" in July.

Our baby was 8 months old, born in Thailand, Thai mum, me - Aussie father.

First we had to apply for Citizenship by descent.

The main problem was to find an official (from the list of allowable officials) who could swear that this baby was our baby.

I went to the embassy with my wife, her sister and my 11 year old stepson (all of whom had close contact with the baby since birth).

We had photos of the baby taken from day of birth and many others taken since, together with me, my wife, her sister and my stepson.

We presented the Thai birth certificate registered on the day of birth in the same town as the hospital where she was born.

The embassy would not accept our statements that this was our baby. We had to have an official witness!

We drove back home (only 350Km) to find a suitable witness.

We live on a farm and we did not know any suitable official persons in the area who had seen our baby, let alone vouch

for the fact that she was our child.

side note: I have witnessed hundreds of applications for Australian passports over the years (I'm a dentist in Australia)

but my word stating that "I was in fact the father of the child" wasn't worth a pinch of shit as far as the embassy was concerned.

We went back to the hospital where our girl was born. We asked the young doctor on duty to verify it by filling in the form.

He made a total mess of the form, filling in the wrong info with a leaky felt-tip pen that penetrated through the paper.

crossing out lines and making ink blots. His final statement said "I have known this baby for one day."

He had completely misunderstood the purpose of the form and was not really interested.

We drove home (the last 35 Km). I was furious.

I only had that one form but fortunately I had a scanner and a paint program on my computer at home.

So I scanned the pages of the form, put them into the paint program and deleted all the doctors mistakes, then printed out "new" forms.

We returned to the hospital to ask the midwife who had delivered our baby to sign the form but she refused because the Doc

would lose face (as she was subordinate to the young doc) and she was afraid of any legal consequences.

So went home to our farm again.

My sister in-law thought of a lady that worked in the district office (about 40km away) that once saw our baby when my wife went

there for some business to do with changing her address.

So we went there and spoke to the lady who said she was happy to sign the form but since she did not read or write English

she did not know what the questions on the form meant ... by this time I was ready to blow a fuse!

My sister-in-law said she knew a lady that had a dress shop who could translate the form for us. So we drove over there

and about an hour later we had the Thai script of those difficult questions like "first name", "last name", "address" etc.

Back to the council office.

The lady could not write the answers so it was up to me to write everything and she signed it in Thai and used an official government stamp underneath.

In fact I copied the details off her Thai ID card !! Why didn't I think of that earlier?

Drove back to Bangkok to the Embassy and presented the application for citizenship.

The clerk discovered that the forms were not originals - she was ready to reject them as unacceptable!

By this time I was in tears!

I explained the difficulties with getting a witness and the problems of distance etc

The forms were accepted with a warning that Canberra may reject them ..

We were told if Canberra accepted the forms, the citizenship certificate would be ready in about a week.

I wanted to present the application for our daughter's passport on the same day but that was not possible (because we still didn't have a certificate of citizenship!)

I asked if, when the certificate arrived, could they please just give it to the consulate section (down the hall) with the passport application, but that would not be possible.

We had to pick up the certificate in person and then do the passport application.

We drove home again.

A week later we drove back to Bangkok and at the embassy collected the citizenship certificate.

Then we went down the hallway to the consul section and handed over the application and money for the new passport.

On top of all that - one of the consul staff noticed that my wife's Thai passport had EXPIRED!

OMG - We had to get her a new passport in Changwattana!

In the 3 weeks I was in Thailand we travelled nearly 4000 Km to get all the paperwork done!

By this time we had 10 days left before our flight to Perth.

I filled in the envelope with my name and address so the passport could be posted to us as soon as it was ready

4 days later we had a phone message to say that passport was ready to be picked up - <deleted>?

It was Friday evening and the embassy was closed already.

Monday was a holiday, so Tuesday morning I called the embassy. ( not easy to get an answer)

Finally got through about 10.30am and asked to speak to the consular section.

The guy said "yes your passport is ready to be picked up - you can come in today?"

I told him my instructions had been to post the passport to us and that I had even addressed the envelope for that purpose!

(If he had posted on the Friday there would not be a problem!)

He said it's a bit late .. if I post it, no guarantee you get on time for your fly ..

I wasn't going to drive down to Bangkok again!

So I said post it !

So the passport arrived half an hour before we had to leave home for the airport. My nerves were a mess!

What an ordeal - I never want to go through that again.

I wrote to the complaints dept in Canberra asking for them to consider giving the embassy more discretion when it came to identifying a child

Through no fault of our own we could not prove that the child was in fact our child.

Getting that lady to sign was a farce because she hadn't seen the child more than once (it could have belonged to a niece or have even been kidnapped)

It makes a mockery of the system! Just getting a signature to satisfy the bureaucracy in Canberra.

I will refuse to witness any more passport applications, on principal.

The answer to my complaint was the standard photocopy "we are sorry for your trouble, but rules is rules"

Nothing will ever change ..

Good luck to the OP

my heart goes out to you mate ,, if that wasn,t so stressful it would be hilarious ,, l am happy to say "its not my problem" so l wish them better luck than what you had ,, but l guess the end result was worth it ,,,

thanks for that information

cheers egg

If he is listed as the father on the birth certificate then the baby can have citizenship by descent and get an Oz Passport. no visa would then be required.

If not then the bub will need its own Thai passport and visa application.

cheers Graham ,,,, absolutely perfect , the baby is due about now and he(the father) will be on the birth certificate ,, thanks heaps for that

egg

A quick question from a friend.She will give birth to her baby soon ,, very soon ,, she wishes to take the baby to Aus in April to visit her husband and father of the baby (one in the same , an Aus citizen),,what visas does she need ?? and can the baby travel on her passport ,,, any help will save me a lot of time searching government websites and therefore will be very much appreciated,,

cheers egg

try eating a few prunes every day ,,,,, you should then be able to crap through the eye of a needle at 40 paces ,,,, should you wish to do so ,, if not ,,only eat a couple ,,, they work for me ,,, good luck

SORRY

wrong forum ,,, by a long way

egg

Hi ,, l hope someone might have clue as to what might happen ,,

l have a mate (farang),,, he loaned a guy(Thai) a few hundred thousand baht to buy a new tractor, my mate has a bit of paper signed by all that needed to sign and witness plus more saying that if the guy defaulted on the repayments my friend could reposess the tractor,,,,,,,,,,,my mate goes to court early next month with a solicitor who says he has no problems(that worries me),,,, but my friend is having trouble finding out what exactly the result could be,,,,, will the court just give him the tractor? or order the other guy to sell and repay the loan? and possibly give him 12 months to do that ?? ,,, or ?? or ?? ,,,,,

has anyone any ideas what could the outcome be ???

sorry l have not gone into much detail ,, thats just a condensed version ,,,, and l am working on the fact that my friend will win in court , open and shut (as they say),,,, so please dont go veering to much off the track ,,

thanks for any thoughts

cheers egg