Brigante7

Focus TDCi then chipped to 160bhp?

Brigante7.

Its all about your personal situation and what you have to compare it to. Generally most people of any nationality are fine with living in their home country for life. Brits may be an exception.

Not sure where you're from Jingthing but every person I know who has left the UK has left purely because the country has gone to shit, that's why, no other reason.

Brigante7.

jeez....sorry guys my MIL is a sweetie...when we visit her once a year....

Same here, both MIL & FIL are great people, ask for nothing but we send a little bit every now and then, FIL works for the goverment so has a pretty good job.

Brigante7.

Brigante, it is unfortunate that some international marriages end in divorce with child custody disputes and that some parents who do not have custody do abduct their children and flee back to their home country. See here for one recent high profile (in the UK) example.

Although I do not believe the OP to be doing this, it is a valid concern of any country's immigration officers and Mario's advice to the OP "Since this is your first travel with her, take along a copy of the birth certificate and a note, including a copy of her ID, from the mother giving consent to travel with you can be usefull" is sound.

That I understand 7by7, what I was getting at is would the same advise be given to a woman travelling with her child? There is a story in the UK press today about a man who was threatend with arrest because he took a picture of his 4 year old son in public, that's my problem and until people stand up to jobsworths like this and the ones at airports it will only get worse.

Brigante7.

Green Card? Isn't that for working in the U.S.?

What you need is to get her a visa, right?

I would look at the Thai Immigration website regarding this because showing up in the U.S. with a seven year old girl and no Mom will raise suspicion.

I figure they'll have you have her birth cert and some other docs.

I'm sorry but since when does travelling with your own child raise suspicion? You both have legitimate passports and the OP is her father, where is the suspicion? What is US immigration going to do, take your own child away from you? Can you just imagine the newspaper headlines in the US that a citizen was returning to the country with his daughter and the goverment took the child away, yeah right.

To the OP, she's your daughter so you have absolutely nothing to worry about and if anybody tries to tell you otherwise then stand your ground.

Brigante7.

My wife uses an international phone card purchased at most hamilton accie corner shops, it's called iphone, but nothing to do with apple, costs £5 and depending on what time of the day you call you get upto 5000 minutes, all you do is call a free phone number from a landline then enter the pin then the number in Thailand you want, it's the same price if you call a landline or mobile in Thailand. You can use the card with your mobile and all it will cost you is your free minutes.

Brigante7.

It seems that so many posters here are unable to adapt to double parking. It's not going anywhere and is accepted as a normal way to park your car here as long as you leave it in neutral, but people DO make mistakes. So many people seem to think that all Thais are out to get them and intentionally make their lives inconvenient. Imagine if this kind of attitude was reciprocated, though I'm sure you guys wouldn't have to worry because you're all perfect and never make mistakes that cause others even the slightest inconvenience.

Not really, I just consider others and don't appreciate it if others don't return the effort. If I can't get a parking spot in a car park then I'll shop somewhere else, it's not rocket science.

Brigante7.

Yes, look in the forum rules, l don't want to tread on any ones toes (again). But readers for sure know what l am refering to and so do you.

How old are you ?, out of interest, because if you are not heading on your way to being a senior or a senior you know nothing, seen nothing, understand nothing of what's happened to the UK over the last 5 decades to the ordinary guy in the street. The English cannot talk in public about their thoughts of what is happening in their country because it can be classed as illegal and one can be prosecuted for it, there you are one of the items on my slippery slope.

What difference does it make to you where l am at present to do with the topic. I am a UK Ambassador,assigned overseas, made any difference, no. Think you should stop nick picking, and say something constructive, get to "your" point. Please But l think the topic will not go there.

i suspect i do know what you're referring to, yes, and it smells more than faintly of xenophobia and potentially racism. i just always find it laughably pathetic to hear brits based overseas as immigrants themselves alluding to what a mess immigration has made of the uk. think you'll find britain's 'problems' (among the highest living standards in the world, freedom of movement, ability to enjoy foreign holidays every year, numerous cars, flatscreen tvs, mortgages they can't afford, unbridled freedom of expression whatever you might claim) are generally of britain's own making. the odd radical cleric here or there is nowhere near the top of britain's list of issues at the moment.

when it comes to who to vote for in the next uk election it'd be wise to pay more heed to the two main parties and what they intend to do in the larger scheme of things than the odd publicity-seeking random religious zealot.

Since when is being concerned about the state of your country make somebody a racist and guilty of xenophobia? since when has the UK have a high standard of living? Certainly not for ordinary hard working natives who are shafted at every turn and who no matter how hard they try to improve their lives and that of their families, it's like pissing against the wind, a complete waste of time and to have people (Can't use a stronger word or I'll get kicked off of here) like you to sit there and have a go at people who are worried about the state of their country is shocking. Tell me StevieH what is a racist and a xenephobe?

Brigante7.

Tut Tut, why is it sh_t, this high ranking minister is preaching religion, perhaps an all Islamic audience enjoying what they are hearing but for an ageing Englishman slowly watching my country slide down the slippery slope of no return, over the years, it's quite worrying. Our long reigning government has bent over backwards to satisfy every Tom, dick and Harry to get votes, even appointing religious minority ministers to secure that religions votes. But the way things are going his religion won't be the minority. You talk about us who live in Thailand and whing, you forget, our family's are still in the UK and we should worry.

what does this sentence even mean?

Not allowed to say on the forum, but it has several meanings.

and is there a good reason that you're not allowed to say them on the forum? as in they're generally reactionary <deleted>?

where are you watching your country slide down this slippery slope from out of interest?

Scotland, why?

Brigante7.

Why not just smash the window and move it yourself, it would serve the idiot right for blocking you in and being an inconsiderate pr_ick

Brigante7.

Hi Yorkieb

My wife was in a similar position a couple of years ago. She was studying ESOL and was at level 2 and hadn't progressed to level 3 so she had to apply again for FLR.

Application process was straight forward, we added a covering letter with the application form which explained why she was applying again for FLR. She now has ILR as she passed ESOL level 3.

Best of luck bud.

Clive

Hi Clive.....If they complete the ESOL at level 3 does this mean they don't have to do the test, I did the practise test and failed!!! It's a worry me and my wife have when the time comes for her ILR?

Also how long does it usually take and how much does it cost?

Thanks

Andy

Hi Andy, if your wife completes her ESOL course she'll complete level 3 but she only needs to progress 1 level to qualify for her ILR, my wife started at level 1 in the September and completed level 2 by the February and applied for and recieved her ILR in the March but continued the course until the June and completed the course. My wifes ESOL course was free and started in the September and finished in the June. If your wife completes the course then she doesn't have to do the Life in the UK test.

Brigante7.

I recall reading that all guiness is no longer made under licence in other countries but is made in Ireland only and exported.

Brigante7.

Instead of preparing to go through the Life in the UK test for her Indefinite Leave to Remain visa, my wife enrolled in an ESOL course at her local college which radicaly improved her reading, writing and speaking of English, and when she completed the 9 month course she applied for and recieved her ILR visa, this could be an option for your wife as she will make loads of friends who are in the same boat and she will improve her English.

Brigante7.

8. Bar girls/go-go dancers: They operate in all the bars in the aforementioned areas. Some are very attractive and all will tell you how handsome you are. If you decide to take one of these girls back to your room for sex you can be assured that they will then demand money. As "kenallday" mentioned prostitution is illegal in Thailand so under no circumstances should you give them money. I recommend that you immediately call the police and let them sort it out.

Or alternatively I recommend you marry them, move to a village about 100 kilometres from the nearest western style toilet, convince yourself that when you stroll round the village the locals are laughing at you because you're a "quirky farang" rather than the fact that your wife is being knocked off by her "brother" every afternoon at 4pm and losing 10k baht a day playing hi-lo with her mates behind the temple, revel in the fact that the person who you intend to spend the rest of your life with comes out with in depth opinions such as "You bad maak maak" and " You no love me no more", once again bail out her pissed up cousin from the local nick who borrowed (without permission natch) the Isuzu pick up you bought and stacked it into a parked car, endure 3 days of "the little woman" not talking to you due to being a basket case, open a hair salon for her which lasts all of 3 months because it's less about cutting hair and more a place for her and her mates to sit and natter all day and then drink yourself to death on the cheapest beer and spirits you can find trying to tell yourself this is all a terrible nightmare and you'll wake up soon.

Merry Christmas Everybody!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

LMFAO, what a joy to behold you are.

Brigante7.

I was definitely not drunk, but was more than likely over the limit and to this day can not remember why I lost control of the vehicle.

Concussion can cause amnesia such as that, where we remember the before and after as if it was yesterday, but not the few minutes or even few hours before such a knock on the head. I suppose for some people that amnesia can span back a lot further than a few hours.

Don't be too hard on yourself. It wasn't, by the sound of it, as if you'd been out on the grog all night and were totally smashed on booze - not two or three glasses of beer over a couple of hours. What you don't remember may have been the more likely cause of it, but it's these things that we will probably never remember that will continue to haunt us if we let them.

OK so you're advocating drinking and driving as long as it's only 2 or 3 beers but not if it's 9 or 10, is that correct?

Brigante7.

Why not ride the bike from BKK - CM? Give yourself 2 or 3 days and see some of the country.

Brigante7.

Anywhere serve a decent Guiness in this town?

Now there's a good ol Boston Boy..

There's a couple of Paddy Gaff's like the Dubliner down on Sukhumvit but i'm not sure of actual locations so i'm sure others will let you know..

I think The Dubliner is around Sukhumvit soi 24.

Brigante7.

Cheers Moss,

Yeah was werth it in the end mate.

Alot easier than the Settlement visa.

Just one more thing, can the Mrs travel now abroad without obtaining a Visa?

Places like Spain, Greece, paris, Amsterdam etc etc etc

Cheers

Scotty

Afraid not, no.She will need a Schengen visa to travel to most of Europe which can be obtained from the relevent country's consulate.

Brigante7.

My wife had a hel_l of a time getting her NI number, it took around 6 months.

Brigante7.

If there are 3 lanes on the road and each lane is filled with stationery traffic then each lane is occupied, if a motorcyclists wishes to risk his life with a stupid manouvere like weaving in and out of each occupied lane then he has nobody to blame but himself if he comes a cropper. Just because something is done by many people doesn't make it right.

Brigante7.

If that was the case, then there would be no way to get out of the door after you opened it because you wouldn't fit through the gap.

---o0o---

There are two different laws in Thailand for motor vehicles: 1 for cars and trucks and buses, and another for motorbikes and buffaloes. Motorcyclists accept that we have to park in separate parking lots and are not allowed on freeways like you big'n'rich car-driving road hogs, jujst as you must accept that you can't get to the front of the traffic lights because you chose to drive in a big fat car, while we took the quicker yet more hazardous option.

It's dangerous enough as it is without idiot tourists opening taxi doors on us when we just want to all get to the same place, by that I don't mean the afterlife. The perpetrator of the collision in this thread almost killed two innocent motorists by some ignorant behaviour with a lethal weapon.

Guilty. Case closed.

---oo0oo---

By the same token, this thread is an excellent textual conduit for the improvement of motorcycle safety and vitality in Thailand.

I have no problem with waiting in traffic while I'm in my "big fat car" If it bothered me then I wouldn't drive my "Big fat car" like the Big 'n' rich road hog that I am or I wouldn't ride my motorbike either. As for your statement that "Idiot tourists almost killed two innocent mototcyclists by ignorant behaviour with a lethal weapon" was a classic, please keep us entertained with your sense of humour. The fact is if motorcyclist want to endanger their lives by weaving in and out of stationery or moving traffic then they should expect the unexpected.

The problem with motorcyclists, and cyclist for that matter, is that they expect everybody else to make allowances for their stupidity and risk taking.

Brigante7.

SeanMoron, seriously, you make no sense. All your arguments and illogical thinking are alot of work! Woudln't it be far simpler if people simply adhered to the law and didn't drive at high speed past cars next to the curb on the left?! Why should we all work so hard to protect stupid people from themselves? I get what you are saying about what we should do since we live in Thailand, but defending the dangerous idiots and blaming the law abiders is so outrageous I honestly think you are just having fun with us.

My, that's a first!

Sorry Sean ---

1. Parking (again) does NOT equal stopping. To park at a curb you are allowed approximately 18" from the curb to your tire.

To stop at a curb or stop in traffic has no minimum/maximum distance requirement. No matter what (2.) it is illegal to pass inside of a car which is occupying the left lane. Keep attempting to justify it and you will get the same responses. Passing a vihicle that is in the left lane by passing on the left of the car is the violation.

1. Fair enough, because the same applies that motorbikes can't ride through a gap of 18", but anyone who can't park within 6" of the kerb shoulod not be driving a taxi. The taxi driver in this example was NOT parked.

2. It has also said to be illegal to pass on the right-hand side of a car which is occupying the left lane, but if the car is stationary, then there is no law against riding past it.

Don't open car doors in traffic without looking first or you might murder some innocent motorist. Sorry if this is too much for some people to understand. It might explain a little bit about the high road toll of motorcyclists in Thailand.

If there are 3 lanes on the road and each lane is filled with stationery traffic then each lane is occupied, if a motorcyclists wishes to risk his life with a stupid manouvere like weaving in and out of each occupied lane then he has nobody to blame but himself if he comes a cropper. Just because something is done by many people doesn't make it right.

Brigante7.

Think yourself lucky you got off easy.

NEVER open a car door in traffic without looking first. You could have murdered someone.

Please remember this. It's one of the greatest hazards for cyclists and motorcyclists, because you're not the only ones to do it.

Cyclists and motorcyclists don't always have room to get out of the way of suddenly opening car doors in traffic. You got off cheaply, which is lucky and no offense intended, but that is a classic cause of accident. Much cheaper than a uni degree, so bargain-priced learning.

I'm sorry but you've lost me, for arguments sake lets say there are 3 lanes on the road and each lane is at a standstill with traffic, shouldn't all traffic be stationery, or is it because cyclists and motorcyclists are so bloody impatient that they risk their lives doing something they are not supposed to do and when something happens to them they moan their <deleted> off. The passenger getting out of the taxi should have told him to get lost and that it was his own fault for driving between waiting traffic.

Brigante7.

And yes I do ride a motorbike before all the flamers start and no I don't put my life at risk, I wait until the traffic starts moving again before I do.

Why would you stop on a motorcycle, that is the whole point you can go on when cars stop. That is also the whole point car drivers dont like you because you can go while they have to wait. If there is space you can go. I do it all the time but not as crazy as some Thais, i make sure i dont go too much faster as the cars that stand still.

The Thai traffic law states you can do it, even in the west you can do it without problems. Its the car drivers who are at fault to open doors without watching. You cant get out of a car without watching its plain stupid. But then again many farangs are not that bright.

It's plain stupid to weave in and out of moving or stationery traffic but people still do it, but then again many people are not that bright.

Brigante7.

Midnight sitting outside Subway at Sukhumvit soi7 and watching all the drunk tourists going back to their hotel with a ladyboy of the night and laughing my <deleted> off just thinking about the look on their face when they stick their hand down and find the old meat and 2 veg, lol.

Brigante7.

Sir! I was NOT drunk!

LMFAO.

Brigante7.

And so what happens when you have to push a car out of the way to get your car out and the car you have pushed hits another car?

Brigante7.

Think yourself lucky you got off easy.

NEVER open a car door in traffic without looking first. You could have murdered someone.

Please remember this. It's one of the greatest hazards for cyclists and motorcyclists, because you're not the only ones to do it.

Cyclists and motorcyclists don't always have room to get out of the way of suddenly opening car doors in traffic. You got off cheaply, which is lucky and no offense intended, but that is a classic cause of accident. Much cheaper than a uni degree, so bargain-priced learning.

I'm sorry but you've lost me, for arguments sake lets say there are 3 lanes on the road and each lane is at a standstill with traffic, shouldn't all traffic be stationery, or is it because cyclists and motorcyclists are so bloody impatient that they risk their lives doing something they are not supposed to do and when something happens to them they moan their <deleted> off. The passenger getting out of the taxi should have told him to get lost and that it was his own fault for driving between waiting traffic.

Brigante7.

And yes I do ride a motorbike before all the flamers start and no I don't put my life at risk, I wait until the traffic starts moving again before I do.