snuggzzz

I travel with EVA, at Heathrow Airport EVA do charge for excess weight, it is quite expensive to exceed the weight entitlement. Have a good trip...

I am glad stasD is philosophical, I just hope that the very wealthy ex-boyfriend has the same attributes......

Howard came across as professional and accomplished in the latest episode.

The ''SWAT'' team ( SWAT = Special Weapons And Tactics) were a bunch of very poorly trained and inefficient chaps, although looking the part, they fell well short of the International Standard expected of such specialist unit.

Bit like playing 'cowboys and injuns', the main trouble is that it was featured in a built up area like Pattaya, with indiscriminate firing of weapons, the warning shots, then shooting out tyres, shots again indiscriminately fired to prevent the suspect from fleeing the scene.

Whilst under arrest and handcuffed the suspect gets a kicking from a 'member of the public'.

A weapon was indeed found on the suspect, the actual facts of his misdeeds were given in a garbled account by a 'western looking' male, with an accent (baseball bat worn back to front = Cowboy). Is he the Person in Charge of the unit...??

With the berating of Howard and the TPV Assistants, surely this so called ''SWAT'' Team and it's training, leadership etc., should be of far more cause for concern than HM..??

This is simple.

You are a Farang.

You have realised that you have a problem and that you will need assitance.

You are alone in a far,far away foreign country, in a place that is preyed upon by the scum of the earth in order to get your money, or worse.

Who do you turn to?

What face do you want to see?

Cant speak the language.

No one can help me.

Help me.!!

If these guys were,nt needed they would,nt be here. They are here for the benefit of tourists from everywhere.

Dont slag these guys off. I don,t want to spend my time assisting people on walking street, but these people do.

They are here for your benefit and mine.

So come on , be a little more forgiving.

Well said, hear,hear.........

The taking or restraining a person from his or her liberty to await the BIB is apparently lawful in Thailand.

There is no such rule..!!!

He was taking advantage of your hospitality, irrespective if he even had spent 10,000 bht, it is your Pub, you set the rules.

Upon reading this post and the genuine sadness of all replies, particularly the one from the parents of Paul, I am at a complete loss as to the mindset of his thai girlfriend.

To his family, please accept my sincere condolences on your tragic loss.

Upon reading this post and the genuine sadness of all replies, particularly the one from the parents of Paul, I am at a complete loss as to the mindset of his thai girlfriend.

To his family, please accept my sincere condolences on your tragic loss.

Bangkok is the #50 most expensive city to live in, a jump from #61 last year.

London dropped from 1st to 21st place.

-- Source: http://www.citymayors.com/economics/expensive_cities2.html

The GBP has been devalued against all major currencies, it will drop further once the extent of the mire the British economy is in is known. This coupled with a rise in the cost of accomodation, beer etc., in Thailand does not bode well for Tourists from the UK. In fact with lack of jobs, more redundancies not many Brits can afford to go anywhere in the same numbers as 3-4 years ago.

hello,

just wandering if anyone can give me some advice,

my thai wife moved to england with me 18 months ago over the last 6 months the marraige has broken down and we are no longer living together, i do not want her to remain in the country after her visa finishes in 6 months time, i just want to know what i need to do to withdraw my sponsership for her visa and possibly make it impossible for her to get indefinate leave to remain in the u.k.

would writing a letter to the home office informing them we are no longer living together and the marraige has broken down help my cause in any way?

i'm not bitter towards my wife and i just want to get over her and get on with my life, although i will find it extremely hard to do this when she is living near me.

any help with this situation would be greatly appreciated, i do not require any advice on relationships or the like, so just answers related to the question please

thanks alot.

I take it she entered on a fiancee or married visa. Is she still living with you...?? Only she does have rights in the event of divorce proceedings. So withdrawing your support as sponsor will not necessarily result in her deportation.

In addition to the financial and accommodation provisions it is always vital to be able to prove that your relationship is existing and substantial. Most visas for tourists are refused due to a lack of evidence of the relationship coupled with the 'no reason to return to Thailand' embassy excuse. If she is working then get a letter from her employer to confirm this and that she will be allowed to resume her employment on her return. If she has land or property in her name do provide evidence of this as it will help to satisfy the 'reason to return.'

I wonder whether you would be kind enough to cite the relevant immigration rule or guidance(either from UKBA or VAC websites or elsewhere) which even vaguely confirms your assertion that "it is always vital to be able to prove that your relationship is existing and substantial" for the purposes of a visitor/holiday visa to the UK. Whilst for purpsose of settlement visa it is very clear that the relationship/marriage must be genuine and subsisting, for a visitor visa, I am unable to find any documented evidence to the effect as asserted by you.

As for OP, I suggest you follow the sound advice provided by '7 by 7' and 'Mossfinn'.

I believe that orchidofsiam was reinforcing the point to evidence how long you have been together, with photos, emails, telephone bills to Thailand, perhaps a letter from his Parents stating they will provide accomodation, whilst these are not mentioned per se, the more evidence provided in a folder (which I did) with an index, all the better, I also provided bank statements proving income,Deeds to my House, Council Tax bill, her bank book proving sufficient funds to return home in case of emergency as well as other documents. The Visa is issued for minimum of 6 months, so although she is going for 2 weeks, she can stay on if she wishes. Under that premise, the Visitors Visa should be completed with as much info as possible, particularly as departure is only a few weeks away, only one good shot in view of time constraints...........

She is a Filipino and a HACK of a doctor IMO

Who knows where she got her license from , apparently she is married to a Thai guy so she is able to work legally here but pose any serious issues to her other than a cold and you will be referred to Bangkok Pattaya Hospital as she will openly tell you she is only a 'general practitioner'...

<br />Dr Bellan i always use when i am in pattaya, her clinic is on sai 4 across from soi 6 ,come of second road and about 100 meters up on the right side , a lot of expats go there speaks perfect english ------ tel 038-410295<br />

<br /><br /><br />

From a personal point of view, do not go to the Pattaya International Hospital; but the Bangkok Pattaya Hospital. The PIH charges are exorbitant, also, surgery is of poor quality, it required some 3 operations on my broken ankle, upon returning to the UK I required a further 2 operations in order to clear up a massive infection, plus to reconstruct my ankle, which had been described as a 'dogs dinner' in fact the X-Rays have been held by the UK Consultant to show other would-be surgeons how not to do it...!!!

Thanks 7by7 for your thoughts on this one,

Orchid of siam, yes i think best to seek more advice ,will let him no in due course.

Please dont get me wrong,this guy is not a freeloader,he has just been dealt a couple of shitty hands in the last few months,(apart from his

beautiful baby daughter being born) .

In your opinion 7by7,OOS,

Could they (the UKBA) if they revoked her visa or did not grant ILR,could they split /seperate the mother from the baby,I.E send her back to thai

and leave the baby in england with the father?even though the baby was born in england,will have british PP and birth cert or could they ask them

both to leave, or even worse deport them?,if she was in breach of her visa conditions.

The UKBA cannot revoke her Visa. The advice given by 7by7 is sound, it is the best way to go. There is no way that his wife would be sent back under the circumstances you describe. Tell them to go to the CAB for options, but I'd stick with the advice given already...!!

Whilst it's a good point about speed BusyBee, a helmet is a potential life saver at all speeds. I crashed doing 30 and if I had not been wearing a helmet my head would have been smashed up big style.

Also, a 500 baht lid is better than none.

Speed does kill, motorcyclists without helmets, or wearing one not strapped up just increase their odds of dying or suffering serious injury, it is so very sad to see repeated news bulletins of fatal motorcycle accidents in Thailand.

It was not staged managed, the Royal Marines would never have been involved in that at all. All R&R personnel are warned not to cause any offence or bring any disrepute on the Ship and Ship's Company whilst in a foreign port, the penalties for any transgression once back on board are very harsh indeed.

Plus with a film crew present filming every action, it stifled a proper response, until the provost marshall turned up. JJ was aware of all this, he played up to the camera swaggering about holding a rifle with a lot of 'helpers' milling about. Now he says it was staged managed, he has to say that he was told what to do for the filming, otherwise he's toast.

HM stated that this was the 'real Thailand' in an earlier post, which indeed, we know does go on, however, it appears that the Thai authorities do not want this aspect of Thailand to be viewed by the world.

I very much doubt that the film Company can claim a diplomatic incident out of this filming being stopped and likely prosecutions being made, they, by concentrating on the 'seedy aspects' of Thailand it has brought the wrath of the Thai authorities down on the heads of those involved.

Thailand relies heavily on Tourism, 70% are single men, I do not know whether or not if this will affect there individual holiday plans, a friend of mine has rung me to ask about the scams, druggies, full moon parties and general lawlessness toward holidaymakers and single men, after he had seen the programmes, I told him it's like any Town and City on a Friday and Saturday night in the UK, only here you are made responsible for your actions, that's when the scams start.

I can only speak for the Phuket foreign TPVs..

'Arrest' is a formal procedure whereby the person being placed under arrest is cautioned etc 'I am arresting you for xxx, you do not have to say anything etc etc'

Phuket foreign TPVs do not have that authority, but they do have authority to detain or restrain a person until a formal arrest can be made by a Thai police officer. That is exactly the same authority that any citizen has in the context of 'citizen's arrest' (which is not really an arrest in the above definition).

I have detained and/or restrained persons on a few occasions, (when they have been complete tw*ts and their actions likely to incite a slap or worse from others...). I have never arrested anyone because I have no authority to do so, and that process has been left to my Thai police colleagues.

Can't really speak for other volunteer groups. Would be nice if we were all singing from the same hymnsheet

Simon

The definition of Arrest : Is the taking or restraing of a person from his or her liberty. So in actual fact you have 'arrested some people...!!

1/ Get a PC for her family in Thailand, then she can go online anytime to talk to family via webcam, it costs nothing other than service charge.

2/ Get hold of cheap telephone service, SKYPE etc, again for communication home.

3/ On PC subscribe to Thai TV.

4/ Unlike previous posts, encourage her to make friends with other Thais, even on-line.

My wife now has a job working with other Thai friends, has a driving licence, is about to take life in the UK test. As she transitioned mentally from Thailand to UK her dependence on 1 -3 above has become less and less, not that it was a major feature anyway, more a reassurance that she can keep in touch whatever the distance.

Good Luck....

Any Businessman in the UK, or retired Police Officer, anyone of official standing that can be checked up to prove your case....

"Campaigns among men to deter them from buying sex from women should help - if there are no buyers, there won't be sellers," she said.

unbelievable comment

I agree it is a stupid comment. 70% of Tourists are single men, they contribute greatly to the Thai economy, they also like to see Thai Girls......... legislation permitting Prostitution is a good idea which would allow the Government more in Taxation, safety for the Girls and regulation which would benefit all...!!!

I agree and personally i think the government is fully in charge and able to control any situation.

i think these are all bunch of hot air. I know the wounded dogs always bark louder.

Uhhh, sort of like they way they can control the airport? Umm yea.

There will be no civil war at this time, but only because no one cares. Despite the gutter talk and the pettiness, people are not willing to die on either side of the political divide just for the sake of changing one pair of soiled knickers for another.

Marvellous..........well said......

I had no idea such a thing occurred in the UK in such recent times. Appalling treatment of a fellow human being.

Being homosexual, ever since Victorian times and just before, was seen as an abberation, a defect of personality, many people have been the subject to this ostracism, which now thankfully has been put aside in the UK, unfortunately this mathematical genius, a very very talented man was forced to suffer a chemical castration due to his homosexuality which ultimately led him to take his own life.

The accolade from Gordon Brown has now acknowledged the vital work he did at Bletchley Park during the war.

Unfortunately, being born a 100% natural coward, the comment ; if I tell you I'll have to kill you' is enough for me .....................

Culturally, Thailand is unique, understandably, some people with closed minds or with fixed views will find that some aspects of Thailand's open approach is somewhat distasteful, however, it is all part of the rich culture that appeals to tourists and ex-pats alike...

Please define Thailands "open approach" for the people with "closed minds"

There is something which cannot be discussed openly in this Forum.

To say it another way the standards of morality are slightly different in LoS(less hipocrytical?)

Thanks for that mauGR1. Some people from the West with strict morals may not appreciate the 'cultural differences' in the East

I do understand the OP's position as it happened to a friend of mine, he found himself initially helping the family out domestically, in order to be seen to fit in with the family. It came to a point that he found having displayed these 'skills' he was expected to carry on doing them. As for the sex part, 5 years is a long, long time.

It would be better to challenge his wife away from the family environment in order to find out her true feelings about him and the situation. I wonder what the age difference there is, if any, that may be a factor in her denial to be affectionate; it may be that she has him where she wants him........tied to the sink doing her job...!!

Culturally, Thailand is unique, understandably, some people with closed minds or with fixed views will find that some aspects of Thailand's open approach is somewhat distasteful, however, it is all part of the rich culture that appeals to tourists and ex-pats alike...