buffcoat

Actually depending on the appearance of the bb gun it may be illegal .

These toys if they appear to be accurate replicas of real weapons are prohibited. It is now illegal in the UK to purchase, manufacture or import such a replica toy without having a recognized license (if you had one before the Act became law you are ok).This is why you see a lot of toy guns with strange lumps of orange/red plastic on them now.

Most people who have such a license are members of the airsoft hobby which is a relative of paintball.

It is also untrue that air rifles are free of restriction. Beyond a fixed fps an air rifle must be licensed (sorry can't remember the threshold).This is to stop Mr. Average buying gamekeepers air rifles which are generally used to kill large vermin (foxes etc),these weapons certainly could kill a human.

If you purchase in the UK from a genuine retailer you can safely(?) assume it will be within UK regulations but importing your favourite toy from abroad might land you in some grief as UK customs and police have a lower sense of humour regarding 'firearms' than they do with knives.

Having said that on my last inspection I told the firearms officer I wanted to store 5kg's of gunpowder in the house and he suggested I just stick it on top of the wardrobe

I wai my wife's parents and grandparents as a matter of course which makes her and them happy and generates approval from all the uncles,aunts,siblings and cousins.

I respond to the rest of the family with a wai when they wai me as my 'status' in age/wealth as far as I can judge is superior to them ( a sharp elbow from She will point out any errors I make).

Some of my extended family who speak English and have travelled a fair bit will often offer a handshake.

Outside of the family I do not wai but respond with a smile and a nod where appropriate.

Quite happy to wai to officials or anyone in authority when/if I need to but not had to yet.Senior people in any society receive deferrence according to the culture and I have no problem with adopting 'correct' behaviour,why risk giving offence when you don't need to?

EU citizens have the right to live in the UK regardless of their language skills. This only applies to non-EU citizens marrying UK citizens.

The impact on Thai brides/fiancees is therefore to keep things almost as they are now since ILR requires proof of improvement in ESOL standard or passing the Life in UK test which is rated ESOL 3.

At the moment failure to demonstrate this improvement means you are only entitled to request/extend FLR.

I am guessing that as long as you prove you have attended classes or similar they will continue to grant FLR until you meet the required standard.

So good news for those planning to bring their Thai wife or fiancee to the UK,they will not have to go to English school before obtaining their visa.

My wife spoke very good English when we met although her understanding of slang was poor as she learned at school and then uni.

Personally I would not have started the relationship if we could not talk to each other but that does not mean it can't work for others.

The Home Office announced today that they will not require spouses to prove an English language ability before coming to the UK.

Instead they will be required to take English language courses when they get here.

The BIB will check they do and failure may be grounds for removal from the UK (hard to imagine with the right to family life in the EU Human Rights legislation.

Just go and look at my ex-wife

Well I think this guy is a total w*nker he likes LOS because of the cheap food but makes it crushingly clear that he despises Thai people and has adopted the arrogant view that they will hoover your bank account at the drop of a hat (all 65m of them).

Any social interaction with this guy must be a real barrel of laughs with that attitude.

He reads to me as bitter about a number of things stemming from his lack of finance which he attempts to morph into a lifestyle choice to bolster his self image.

The rules on this are much tighter now but I know that EVA will allow you to purchase a ticket on a cc for someone else if you are traveling with them on the same flight.

I guess though you will not be doing this and the money transfer maybe your only option.

Good luck

how often does indefinate leave to remain get refused? is this another big hurdle to jump after the 18 month struggle i had obtaining her visa?

The figures for 2006 are 110,530 ILR applications.

Refusals under the spouse/partner heading were:

Relationship terminated 300.

Refused despite domestic violence 220.

Clearly all 520 are failed relationships.I can only guess about the 220 'violence' refusals but perhaps this means the authorities did not believe the allegation??????

Anyway as long as you are still together and you collect as many bits of paper as possible and apply during the correct time frame you should be fine.

Good luck.

If I understand you, after your near heart attack on being asked for 1mil your girlfriend sorted out the SinSod...does this mean you agreed a figure with her family through your girlfriend?

If a figure was agreed then the renewal of the initial request is way out of line. If they are asking for show money only then they should make that clear.

I personally would stick by the agreed figure(?) and not agree to amend it.

The FAO a UN supported entity estimates global rice production will increase in 2008 by 1.8%.

The problem is caused by two factors.

A short term mismatch of demand and supply and the population growth in those countries where rice is the staple foodstuff.

The longterm implication is that significant increases in the land dedicated to rice production will be necessary to offset the demand caused by population growth.

The supply side will be vulnerable to adverse/unusual weather for the forseable future as there is little chance of a cushion of production being available.

In addition the rising price of oil makes the economic pressure to grow bio-fuels instead of rice a strong competing pressure (the US has already reduced it's acreage of rice production to switch to bio-fuel crops).

Thailand as a whole should benefit from this situation over the next decade but that is not to say that the rice farmer in the paddy will to the same extent.

Well the answer appears to be that Buddhism was not spread by the sword but this does not mean all Buddhists are or have been pacifist.

I assume this is basically because the acceptance of other spiritual paths is deeply entwined in Buddhist thought and of course that Buddhism does not define God and therefore cannot demand you believe God is XXX.

Low grade slapstick is popular in the west, all those edless video home accident shows etc demonstrate that very well.

To appreciate Blackadder you need a very good command of English or it is not going to work for you. I don't have any idea if there are Thai comedy shows that rely on a sophisticated knowledge of Thai because I don't have the necessary linguistic ability.

My wife loves Sex and the City and laughed herself silly when she first saw the hooker scene from Full Metal Jacket....unwisely she repeated 'me so horny' whilst only wearing one of my old shirts...

Well the survey got me spot on so whoever programmed the parameters did it well.

As an aside faith appears to be regarded as belief in a spiritual force without having direct contact with it but if you have had direct contact with such a force then is your belief no longer faith as it is based on certain knowledge?

It's the old mentality. As farangs we are relatively wealthy here so they MUST change their laws to accomodate us.

No one says they must, yet may I wonder why they try to keep out people just spending their money here ? The only possible explanation is that someone does not like our money going to the needy

The only possible explanation??????

How about a simple desire to limit the numbers of non-Thai nationals living in Thailand on a longterm basis rather than as tourists.

I think there is a distinct difference between the status of an ESOL course of which there are many at my local college and ESOL with citizenship of which there are far fewer.

If (?) I am reading the Home Office website correctly only progress in the citizenship courses is of use for ILR.

Could those who know please clarify.

Thanks

Well I may be a mug but it does not bother me that I pay farang price...I earned my money and it does not hurt me to part with a bit of it.

I do not buy pirate software or DVD's etc. because often in the supply chain of these items are some very organized,very dangerous criminal gangs and I do not want any of my money ending up in their pockets.

Are you sure it was not a special offer?

Welcome to the real world of having a Thai spouse! My wife started sending money home when she started working,I knew she would do it before she even mentioned it (whilst we were engaged).

The majority of Thai's will do this but it is impacted by the number of siblings and their relative wealth.

I personally would not introduce the notion of giving money to your parents as clearly(?) from your note you never have and this would be an obvious lie unless you can explain it as your obligation to them to repay the air ticket cost.

Obligations to family are paramount for most Thai's and they do not understand our apparent disdain for family and shoving mum and dad in the old folks home dismays them.

Trying to change his priority list may well be futile and at worst cause great conflict.Trying to tell him that you are more important then the parents is a minefield, that typical western selfishness is repugnant to most Thai's .

Personally I prefer the Thai attitude and would not want to change it since I happily cough up the readies for my own parents here and have done for years.

Finally what works for you as a couple will be unique to you so take all advice in here with a pinch of salt but I would advise you to do some research into Thai cultural standards as this should not have been a surprise for you.

Hope it all works out for you both.

I am far from an expert on this but I believe the visa officer will be looking for three things

1/You know each other

2/You have the financial means to support yourselves whilst in the UK

3/ Your g/f will return to Thailand.

The rental document should satisfy 1/ and go a longway to 3/.

Reading your post indicates your life is in Thailand so again this should help with 3/.

Finances will be based on all your assets wherever they are not just your UK bank account. Your income and your g/f's in Thailand should count.

Succesful applications seem to benefit from as much info as possible being provided.

Best of luck with this and wait for the advice on here from the real experts

Yes the child benefit for EU citizens even though the kids are not in the UK is legal.

The UK Govt is so inept it did not understand the impact of the treaties it signed.

Personally I have no problem with Thai wives of UK citizens receiving payments. The entitlement accrues from the husband and the presumed contribution he has made during his working life in the UK.

If a UK born wife who has never worked and therefore not financially contributed to the state is entitled to the payments why should a Thai wife be any different.

The thing about pensions that gripes me is that the UK Govt will freeze the amount you pay at the moment you leave the country

Excellent to read your good news!!!!

Must have been a tough few weeks but hopefully that is all behind you now and you can get on with your life.

Don't have a problem talking about the unusual with my wife as she is very open indeed...I guess because we trust each other and we have no imprinted hangups we don't have any reservations about talking about stuff.

If I was concerned about the reaction of my partner I would probably approach the issue by saying I had read somewhere about it rather than say 'I want to do this what do you think?

I would simply explain what I was thinking about, then remove her gag to find out if she agreed.

Personally never have and never will stray away from home.

It is to your credit that you are concerned but I would strongly agree with those warning you to stay out of things for your own health.