Higgins

Getting pricy now. If you get a pull. Its still a decent deal that you get a free run for a week if you carry your ticket.

The scary thing for me is the sanctimony. And that makes me very worried that samui will end up like crudhole that is ... well ... pick your place.

And drive slow people.

weather fine in september. No probs for holidays. Expect some rainstorms that wont last too long, but its nowt like it is end october or november.

Its a very special day. My lucky number 1 boy was born on this day too (just) in Chumphon at 00:05, and the hospital made it a freebie and he got lots of gifts.

shazbat

I preferred it when it was the Barracuda

They look to have done the accomodation and pool side up very nice tho.

Theres one in Lamai ... i think on that road out to Nathon. Heading out that way its on the left. Not my specialised subject (i was after a crab line) so i dunno how good the gear is.

We got a not-too-expensive one from a sofa shop on the main road opposite Meanam market for about 12-15k bht range incl delivery. Its comfy and L shaped.

Ha ha, You get rid of that snake Dunc… and any misfortune-bound-to-happen-sometime-soon will be all down to your inability to listen

Indeed. Well that and the Kipling Yarn about the mongoose.

If you kill a Mr Snake then doesn't a Mrs Snake come back at some point somewhat miffed and look to take it out on someone? Dunno how that works if Mr Snake gets taken away somewhere else.... maybe Mrs Snake assumes he's run off with another snake.

We had a cobra appear at our gaff once and my Missus's brother saw it off with a broom and never saw it again. You want to be careful in the grass when it rains was the local advise i recieved on the matter.

Is there a Springbok bar in South Chaweng? The one from the beach road up to the main road. That sounds close.

Sounds like we are in the same boat then Mig. I sent my application off to the high court last week so will see how it goes.

Wow, thats heavy reading. I'll try and digest it later. Sorry for piggybacking your thread MIG15, but thanks Mossfinn, its all useful stuff for me too.

and...

1. he will have to take my name

You can chose the name he will take ... its a question on the application form. Your choice as far as i can make out.

And, aside of the fact that i'm Dad to him and want to adopt this boy etc... its also important cos if anything bad happens to mum (*touch wood*) then i can take care of him for sure.

I just started proceedings with this. I'm adopting my 5 yr old stepson who's been here since March 07.

It took me a while to figure out exactly what the score was. It seems it all rests on (due to the distance of a natural father) how you present things. Along with how the welfare people report things. I kept getting asked (by my local adoption people at the council) to go get legal advice. I haven't.... I’m flying solo. But It seems that if the natural father consents then it’s easy. Not easily achieved in this scenario. And if he doesn't, then you have to convince the court (Note. in this case it’s the high court... not the county court) that:

a. Either the father can't be contacted, or

b. isn't capable of giving consent, or

c. it’s in the best interests of the child to grant the adoption.

(It appears to be the same legislation for the adoption of a UK national)

As well as the contactable father issue, I've put in my 'statement of the facts' (which you have to supply in the absence of the natural fathers consent) that due to the sole custody thing with the settlement visa rules... that we don't need his consent as he no longer has legal responsibility for the boy. But I’ve an inkling... after a chat with the staff at the high court that they could swing either way on this and might try to contact the natural father somehow on a last know address thing. Call me a cynic… but this strikes me as a 'well at least we tried' type thing.

I’m giving this a shot with what I’ve managed to find out so far… it’s by no means concrete. Its £140 for the court fees… so I’m having a bash.

sbk's old one ruled. The one that looked like a pink angel.

Avatars suk btw

Yep, that weblink has all you need. We did this back at the end of march and just received the boys thai passport using the special delivery. Make sure you ring up for an appointment, we just turned up at the Embassy and didnt have one, fortunately the staff helped us by letting us fill a slot which someone didnt turn up for, but we might have been made to come back. And make sure you get the 2 photocopies of everything.

My missus has been using this site to practice.

I'm convinced she was the only person i know who was aware it was St Georges day a few days back

What the others have said really. But to add, i'm working full time, and i claim both child benefit and tax credit for my stepson who is here on the dependant settlement visa and for my my son who was born here. The only complication came in that i had to get a national insurance number for my wife in order to claim the tax credits... cos thats a joint claim. The tax credit people arranged an interview for that to happen for us (eventually).

OP Bungalows. They have a website i think.

Or try Coconut apts behind the Ark Bar area. You might have to just turn up and book for coconut cos i doubt they have a website.. but its very central. and clean and good value etc

Price should be reasonable at both.

In Dec I put my 4 month old boy in the warm waves for the first time and watched him smile.

In 3 weeks we fly back again (3 flts LHR-HKG-BKK-USM for a 12 day rtn trip) ... me, mair, 6 month old and 5 year old, 3 suitcases, pram, numerous kong len and (cos i'm a nice bloke) a new guitar for someone. Its chaos and hard... but my boys will be happy and more. Its very very right.

Mrs Higgins (a local) often says to me...

This Samui: You want to be careful daling

The price isn't that much an issue for me... and i take the first or last often. But my last 3 flights with Bangkok Air have resulted in 2-3 hour delays. I will try Thai... purely on the basis of that.

Car or Motorbike.... Thai or Farang. Drive slowly. Please

Maybe im stating the obvious (as ClaudeFeller says already) and i've seen threads about this before, but.....

.... There used to be two newspapers... one good and one not so. The good one isn't around anymore and the not so good one is. But i still buy it. The other one was bi lingual and quite interesting. Mrs Higgins found it interesting too.