Goinghomesoon

She's had her other vaccines like tetanus, rubella and measles, right? Well like other vaccines I would simply couch it in termsof being the parents responsibility to keep kids healthy. FWIW in Australia now the HPV is part of the regular childhood vaccine program - girls receive the vaccine in 7th grade (around 12 years of age).

I was shopping at the main Villa Supermarket Sukhumvit 33 opposite Emporium today andsaw that their noticeboard had a couple of advertisements from maids looking for PT work.

For a European (if school fees are covered by your employer or you are independently wealthy) I would look at the other 2 top international schools - NIST and Patana. Declaration of vested interest here, I have a child at NIST and we've been extremely pleased. We initially sent our child to one of the second-tier international schools and were not particularly happy with the resources teachers were given, however the teachers themselves were fantastic.

Just a word of advice. Please be prepared to be rejected by clinics if you are a single female. A very good Thai friend of mine lost her husband of 10 years very unexpectedly due to heart failure. They had been trying to have a child together for some time, including several IVF treatments at various clinics around Bangkok.

Hi Greg, what a sad story for your friend. At least one of the big clinics works with singles.

The baby would only be considered Thai if you can proof who the father is, with a sperm bank not very likely.

Yes and the hospital I'm aware of that works with single women sources sperm donor from outside Thailand I believe. Have sent you a private message.

Does anyone know if these buses run from Victory Monument all day, or only in the morning? I need to go on the weekend but won't be able to leave town until lunchtime.

Email [email protected] and they will email you the form you need. Or read the information on the website http://www.thailand.embassy.gov.au/bkok/Consular_P4.html

I make a casserole of skinless chicken thighs and the El Sapo salsa - bake, covered, in the oven until cooked. It's really yummy

Going, are you using just the bottled salsa over the chicken, and nothing else added?

Browning the chicken first...or just baking from scratch?

We have a recipe on our website for a similar dish called "salsa chicken" - essentially the same as described above, but topped with cheese, sour cream, and scallions. Adding beans is optional.

See: http://www.nanaprodu...lsa_Chicken.pdf

More recipes at bottom of the page of this link:

http://www.nanaprodu...om/El_Sapo.html

First time I just cooked it - laid the chicken on the cut up vegies (usually mushrooms and zucchini) and poured the sauce over. Second time I floured & browned the chicken first before putting on the veg. To my mind there wasn't much difference in the taste. I would have used the website's sour cream/cheese option but didn't have any. The prawns sounds good....

I think you can specially order it through some of the Khmer sellers at Klong Toey market. The maid we previously had working for us was Khmer and used to order a few different ingrediants that she couldn't get here and they would source them. If you have a Khmer-speaker they could ask around the market.

I make a casserole of skinless chicken thighs and the El Sapo salsa - bake, covered, in the oven until cooked. It's really yummy

Maybe my views would change if I'd birthed a child but I can't think of anything worse than whipping my gals out in public, no matter what the reason.

I like the taste but not the fresh-horse-poop smell. I'm partial to durian and blue cheese too, I guess I'm drawn to strong flavours.

Yes had a friend here in Bkk with it, she was in Bumrungrad for quite a long period. She has now moved back to Australia.

Does anyone have a list of documents needed to extend the ED visa? Our teenager recently got her first ED visa issued outside the country, that 3-month one expires in a couple of weeks. Her international school has given us the enrolment letter that we need to help with the extension but wasn't able to tell us what other documents we should present. Also is it necessary to take our daughter to Immigration with us when we lodge the extension application?

Mario2008 is correct. I went to try to adopt at the government agency in Bangkok. There are no private adoption agencies in Thailand. The first question we were asked was ' are you married' ? We were told 'no marriage, no adoption'. They then informed us how to go about adopting. We never even let them finish telling us as it was so full of BS. We went down the IVF road instead and now have 3 children.

It's great that assisted conception was an option for you - congrats!

However having been through the adoption system elsewhere I can tell you the Thai application process and assessment is not nearly as difficult or as onerous as most other countries.

As said, it makes a difference, as you want an international adoption.

But in your case, I believe you cannot adopt as under Thai law you must be married in order to adopt.

For more on Thai adoption, look here: http://thailawonline...n/adoption.html

Actually DSDW do occasionally obtain legal exceptions when it is considered to be in the best interests of the child. Both exceptions that I am aware of were granted to single women.

Seems from this para (3rd from the bottom of the release in Harrry's post) that it may actually become easier for people to be outside Australia longer than 13 weeks and continue receiving their pension:

"New, more generous rules from 1 July 2012, will allow people receiving DSP who have a permanent disability and no future work capacity, to travel overseas for more than 13 weeks while retaining access to their pension."

Ah SBK I envy you, dealing with a small office I wonder if Chaeng Wattana will be that accomodating?

If you do a local Thai adoption then your country may not recognise this for citizenship purposes - you need to check with your Embassy.

I suspect they will tell you that you must complete a formal adoption, in which case you need to go to the Adoption Centre at the Dept of Social Development & Welfare, 225 Ratchawithi Rd, Bangkok. Take a taxi from Victory Monument skytrain station. You can just walk in during business hours and a social worker will see you and give you the application paperwork. They speak English but it is best to take a Thai-speaker with you to clarify things if needed.

I understand the local adoption process can cost quite a bit if you need to involve a lawyer. However there is no cost for an intercountry adoption through DSDW except for medical, passport and other minor fees for which you will be get receipts.

Thanks - I just found out I will be travelling for work a few days before my extension approval should come through and won't be back for at least a month. Can I get the 12-month extension stamped at an embassy overseas (spouse won't be travelling with me)?

Well I'm from a dairy farm, but we always called the castrated boys the "steers" and the rest were "beef". Not sure about any difference in taste....maybe this guy is comparing the meat of female beef cattle with the meat from steers?

Rats! Thanks

As my initial 3-month visa based on marriage to a Thai will expire soon I will have to go apply for a 12 month extension. My question is whether I can travel during the one-month period while waiting for the outcome of my yearly extension. Is the one-month deal multiple-entry or do I have to apply for a re-entry permit at the same time I apply for my extension?

Well I chose to go there today for my Mothers Day lunch. It was somewhat different to the DTF experience in Taiwan. Like the original you are handed an order form and fill it in while you wait outside until a table becomes available. Several items on the menu were crossed out and no available, including several of their dumpling varieties, which was disappointing. We arrived at 11:40am and they were just seating table #110. We were #130 and there were probably 40+ people milling around outside waiting. Based on our Taipei experience I would have expected to be seated quite quickly - the original restaurant works at a frenetic pace, the waiters fling steamers of dumplings onto your table as they hurry by, and you really are not permitted to linger once you have finished eating. That actually part of the DTF experience, which is not really a "restaurant" per se, but more of a cafeteria-type shophouse, with outstanding food.

This restaurant does have the kitchen viewable from all sides through glass windows, so we were able to entertain ourselves for a while watching them create dumplings. Everyone wearing masks and cleaning the place regularly and it did look very hygenic.

So after 30 minutes we got seated. By then they had people in the high #160's waiting outside for tables. When we got inside we realised that the restaurant is not fully open yet and they have a section of 30 tables roped off that they are not using yet. That might have explained the long delay in getting a table.

The waitress had logged in our order of food as soon as we were seated and our drinks arrived quickly. We then waited....and waited....and waited....for our dumplings. First up was xiao long bao (THB195 for 10) for which DTF in Taiwan are famous. They looked delicious and smelled great. Compared to most Thai dimsum places these were also a big decent size. The table was set with vinegar and soy sauces, plenty of chopped ginger and chili in oil for dipping. I've got to say they were very yummy with lots of juice inside the little package. The only problem was being seated under an airconditioning vent, the dumplings quickly cooled, but we were so hungry we didn't care and scarfed most before they become too cold.

Our second steamer arrived with pork and shrimp steamed dumplings (THB225 for 10). Once again these were big - probably double what you normally get in Bangkok restaurants,. However I felt they hadn't been cooked quite long enough. They were just not as hot/steamy as the earlier bunch and were a bit bland to my taste. I probably wouldn't order these again next time, they were a nice filler but nothing special.

The third tray was vegetarian dumplings (THB235 for 10). These were always my favourite in Taipei and they were fantastic today. Very hot and steamy with the bright green vegie and garlic mix was perfectly cooked inside but not soggy.

The service was not what I expected- lots of waiters running around aimlessly with piles of steamer baskets because they hadn't memorised the table numbers yet. There were a couple of quite stressed floor managers double checking that each table had gotten the correct delivery, and ticking things off our list.

Combined with two softdrinks our lunch was THB853 inc VAT and 10% surchage. Not a cheap lunch but not super expensive either and the majority of the food was really excellent. This will make a nice addition to the family favourites I think. Well to MY favourites, at least!

Make sure you call your embassy and check the progress on your passport. I know with mine the worldwide standard is 10 days but they are often ready sooner.