VespaSeeker

Hi , can anyone recommend a halve decent hotel or apartment around Sukhumvit in BKK , near Ekamai or prakanum would be ideal . just need something for a month or two , just a studio with decent security and internet would be fine .

bugget up to 12,000

Thanks in advance

Some people seriously need to step away from the main stream media garbage and wake up , especially you USA home grown good old boys !

http://www.larouchepac.com/node/11005

Hello Flatlander,

At Bumrungrad there are actually two places for this.

Allergy Center:

http://www.bumrungrad.com/overseas-medical...rgy-center.aspx

Which has an assortment of tests.

There is also one at VitalLife:

http://www.e-vitallife.com

The website is a separate site from the Bumrungrad one, and there is not too much information there.

The VitalLife test is extremely thorough, and much less invasive - but is also more expensive.

For the allergy center, you can call to find out your options (the center phone number is on the link above), but for the VitalLife one, I would stop by to get the brochure.

Best regards,

Scott @ Bumrungrad

Hi Scott ,

I telephoned Vitallife this morning to make a enquiry about there food intolerance testing and there secratery had no idea what i was talking about ,do you know if there is a specific doctor there i need to talk too .

I am currently living in Pattaya so its a little bit far for me to go and pick up a brochure .

Any help greatly appreciated

Kind regards

Simon

It would seem so, from what the refusal notice you quoted elsewhere says.

However, if it were then the questions and standard of English would be pitched no higher than the standard of English she claimed to already possess; so it seems odd that she was unable to understand.

As you already have a topic running on her application/refusal, please post any questions/comments specific to her situation there and keep this topic for general comments on the review.

Thanks.

As I already mentioned the student visa application form clearly states if the applicant was testes by a internal college placement test DO NOT INCLUDE THIS WITH YOUR APPLICATION .

So how would the interviewer know whet level of english my gf possessed

Well my misses just got refused because she failed a telephone interview in english that they sprung on us with no prior notice and I would say her level of english is very decent.

When you say she failed a telephone interview and her level of English is good, are you suggesting they tested her English over the phone, or, as I think is more likely, the ECO wasn't satisfied with the answers given to questions about her application?

They questioned her 1st in Thai and then asked her about 20 questions in English which she had 2 answer in English , the questions could not be repeated so yes I would say it was a test if her english level .

Yes that's the way I see it, we have to get it overturned even thought it will be too late for her to attend the college in September.

I am going tho contact the college on monday and see what they can do to help and I am also considering using a laywer or agent for the appeal as the possibility of a 10 ban is obviously very serious .

Can any one recommend someone ?, we are based in Pattaya now.

Ok ,reasons for refusal as explained word for word in official refusal document

Confirmation of acceptance of studies ( CAS )

30 points required points awarded 0

ECO Comment –

Your CAS states that your English language ability was tested by your UK sponsor by an internal diagnostic placement test and that you have achieved a score equivalent to the common European framework of reference ( CEFR ) Level B1 . However ,during interview with a visa officer you could speak very little English .

Consequently I am not satisfied that you have the necessary level of Englsih to complete an English course .

I am not satisfied therefore that you have a valid CAS and you have not been awarded any points for the CAS . You therefore do not meet the requirements to be granted entry clearance under Tier 4 (GENERAL) Student and I refuse your application under paragraph 245ZV( of the Immigration Rules.

General Grounds for refusal

ECO Comment :

I am satisfied ,on the balance of probabilities that false representations were made in your visa application . The reasons I have reached this conclusion are contained in the English language interview held on file .

I am therefore satisfied , to a higher degree of probability ,that you fall to be refused under the General Grounds for Refusal as stated in sub-paragraph (a) of paragraph 245ZV of the Immigration Rules and refuse your application under paragraph 320(7a)

of HC395.

You should note that because this application for entry clearance has been refused under paragraph 320 (7a) of the immigration rules ,any future applications may also be refused under paragraph 320 (7b) of the immigration rules ( subject to the requirements set out in paragraph 320 (7c)

A refusal under paragraph 320 (7b) of the immigration rules attracts an automatic refusal period of up to 10 years .The period starts from the date of the previous event in which the deception or submission of falsified documents or information was employed.

Right so to sum up they have refused on grounds of the CAS , this I can understand but like I said we never claimed she could speak good English and understand conversation and questions from a complete stranger , we explained this fully to the college and they told us that was fine , her reading and writing however is reasonable good and this is why she passed the written test sent to us from the college , I made dam sure she took the test herself as the college told us she would be re-tested on arrival and if she failed she would not be aloud on the course and we would loose any money already paid in course fees etc .

Now on the second part where the ECO claims false representations were made , she never submitted her written test from the college because the application form states very clearly not to do so,so what exactly is false .

Anyway the appeal form will be going in on Monday saying she never missed represented her English ability and the college accepted her onto the course so we thought her English level was obviously good enough since she was accepted .

We will see what happens , just need to find out if she can fill the appeal from in in Thai language as all it says is use a black or blue pen .

Basically no plan, we have ran out of time as the course starts in 4 weeks so its 3 months of planning out the window.

We are going to check with the college to see if they have any courses starting in the new year but 1st we will be contacting the VSF people to try and get some clarification of exactly what english level is now required to actually study english ( still sounds stupid even typing it! ) then we can see is she can attend a english school and reach the required level in time for next year.

I will also be asking them how they are justified in springing a telephone interview on my GF when there website clearly states applicants may exceptionally be asked to * ATTEND* a interview but obviously this well be a complete waist of our time as it seems they just make the rules up as they go along.

Well she has been refused on the strength of failing the telephone interview in english, absolutely absorb she should be denied a change tho further herself in the English language because they claim her English is not good enought to study english.

Ridicules system, very upset with the college testing system and also the surprise telephone interview sprung on us with no way of us possible knowing and preparing for it.

All in all a complete waste of time and a lot of money !

Well my misses just got refused because she failed a telephone interview in english that they sprung on us with no prior notice and I would say her level of english is very decent.

Hi,

No there was only a written test and write a short storey about her self from the college, but she will be re-tested by the college before she would be aloud to start the course and she informed the lady who questioned her of this, but like you say there is no proof she completed the test her self.

Looks like we will be stressing this one out until they call back.

Don't stress too much, it's not worth it.

If worst comes to the worst and she is refused, you can make a fresh application with a fresh CAS. A refusal won't count against her, but be sure she gets proof of English level; take a test. You'll find that there is actually quite a lot of variation as to what colleges take as proof of B1: some will take TOEIC in the high 300s, others set a minimum of 550. You will not have a problem if you choose to enrol with a college who have a lower boundary.

Even if you want to withdraw her application with the college, you should be able to recover fees less some administrative charge. Sadly, registration fees and the like are often non-refundable. Check the college's Ts&Cs for full details.

Just something to bear in mind for the future if her application is unsuccessful.

Fingers crossed for you.

Cheers, I suppose I can see the reason for the telephone interview, it just would of been nice to know it maybe was a requirement, from memory I'm sure the website states you may be required to attend a interview which to me means a sit down face to face job which I'm sure my GF would of handled much better.

I must say though the system seems a little floored , the college we chose is on the trusted sponser list and we did explain my GF.s english level to them, at no time did we overstate her abilities , if anything we understated them so I am a little disappointed with the colleges testing methods and perhaps giving us false hope that her english was at a good enought level to be accepted onto the course.

Anyway we live in hope and are expecting a phone call early next week so will update then.

Thanks again

That's what I don't understand; the embassy have Thai staff who can tie the two documents together. It is usually not necessary to have bank statements and similar translated. Who told you they were wrong?

The lady processing our documents at the VSF office in BKK told us the bank statement was wrong .

Hi,

No there was only a written test and write a short storey about her self from the college, but she will be re-tested by the college before she would be aloud to start the course and she informed the lady who questioned her of this, but like you say there is no proof she completed the test her self.

Looks like we will be stressing this one out until they call back.

Hi,

Well from what she told me it seems she did fail most of the English questions but she did explain to them that she has studied bachelor and master degree at Bkk University and her reading of english is ok but she struggles with understanding conversation, hence wanting to study English in the UK.

What I am trying to find out is, is failing the telephone interview a instant refusal for the visa or is there a 2nd chance interview .

Thank you in advance to anybody who can answer this question for us .

Hi, can anybody tell me the procedure after a telephone interview, they called today and basically we were not expecting it and they called at the worse time and as usual my gf was to polite to say it was not convenient and agreed to be interviewed, when it came tho the English questions she failed most of them.

Does anybody know what happens next , if she did fail the test is that enought for them the refuse the visa or will they want another interview.

It's hard to explain about the bank statement documents but I will try my best.

The document came in 2 parts, one was like a cover document to say the balance of her account, it had her name in english but no account number.

They other was a printout of her bank statement which had her account number on it but her name was in thai.

So Anybody who cannot read thai there is no way to prove these 2 documents belonged

With each other, the account statement could of been any bodies .

Hi just to inform anybody following this, as I already thought the bank statement issued to us at SCB Bank in Pattaya which wa halve in Thai was completely wrong and useless, luckily for us the very help full lady at the visa application center pointed us in the direction of the SCB bank at Siam square where we got the right document.

One more thing, the cashier check we got at pattaya from the same bank was also completely useless, obviously I should of known this as I must be a complete moron to think you could get a cashier check from a Thai bank, drive 2 hours up the motorway to a capital city and actually use it !

Anyway my advice is do not get any thing from the Pattaya banks as even the guy in Siam Square bank told us there is no end of panicked people the same as our selfs in and out of the bank everyday looking for the correct documents having already got the useless ones from Pattaya.

Chok dee

Thanks for that 7

Just 1 more problem now , we went to the bank yesterday just to update her pass book for the last time before going to bKK to submit her paperwork and luckily i noticed it does not show her name in English so we asked if we could get a statement for the past month with all her details shown in English , the bank ( SCB ) told us they had a special statement they issued for visa applacants so we agreed to get that .

After about 1 hour they finally handed it all over and it was in 2 part , the 1st page a officlal document stating her name in english and how long she had held a acccount and the ballance from the time of asking .( which is enought for the visa ) but no account number .

Then then the other document was a full 3 months statement print out with her account number but did not show her name in English .

Now to me this is no use because all the visa docs need be in english and like i said the statement part is in Thai and there is no way to show these 2 docs belong togethor .

Now as usual the Bank were addament these documents are correct and the Visa will accept them .

My question is has anybody used these kind of document before as evidence of funds as they are or do i need to run around today and find a laywer to translate the statement page before our appointment in BKK tomorow to submit the documents .

Many thanks for any helpfull comments in advance

I have my own green bags i got from Tops after spending more than 800bt i think it was a while ago , but sometimes i dont have them with me and constantly have to wrestle with staff to stop them using to many bags , last week i was in Tescos and had 11 items placed in 4 seperate bags , i think thats my record ! , i'm just used to the staff and everybody in the que staring at me in disbelieve now as i empty all the bags out and place the stuff in 1 ! even after i done this a few days ago the staff tried to grab my single bag back and double bag it !!?? Unbelievable !

Surely some staff training is required here , wouldn't hurt to speed them up a little too !

<P>Hi , we are applying for a Tier 4 General Study Visa for my Thai GF to come to the UK and study English as a foreign langiage full time , we have already applied to a college in London and have been accepted after they sent out a basic english skills test for my GF to complete .

We have paid the course deposit and have received our CAS from the college already .

We have also made sure my GF has the required funds in her Thai bank account for longer than the 1 month period before we apply for the visa .

So now we are at the apply online stage and make a appointment to go and submit her documents and Bio Metric details , i should add my GF already has the clear of TB certificate which is also required for the Visa .

Now as far as i can work out from the Visa website from the VSF people documents we should submit + copies are as follows ---

bank book to show funds

TB certificate from the hospital

CAS document from the college in UK

Cashiers check for the visa fee

One passport photo

Biometric details ( taken at appointment with VSF )

And thats about it as far as the website details , plz correct me if i am wrong !??

Now people keep telling me we will need to show evidence she intends to return to Thailand once her course is finished , now 2 things about this confuse me if indeed it is true , what would qualify as evidence ? ( i see no mention of this on the website )

and no2 according to the website she has the option of stayin on in the UK if we apply and are accepted onto a thurther study course at the same College depending on funds etc .

So can anybody clarrify this for me , as i have also phoned the VSF and they bassically told me it is there policy to not give out help or information in choosing or completing a visa appication.

Bassically have i missed anything from my required docs list ? and is this thing about showing evidence to return needed or not and if required what the hel_l could you show to prove she will return ? Would a addiction to Central stores be acceptable ??

Cheers

Is it anything to do with the TV channels being moved to Thaicom 5?

Channel 7 - Wheres It Gone?! - Thailand Forum

Thanks. I found this post on there.

It would appear that Fifa do not want anyone watching their competition.

What a bunch of Prats.

apparently fifa and rs have stopped the transmissions on c-band as you will find the the channels only stop transmitting when the games start. the only way to see them if using to is to use an old fashioned television ariel. Go Fifa.

Sorry but getting confused now , can i still watch the England game tonight on channel 3 or 7 ? I have True but dont want to wait until tomorows re-run on Truesport 1

If it was icing why would the air get warmer? - It would get less but stay cold, wouldn't it?

Is the fan actually slowing or is the airflow restricted - i.e same fan speed, less air?

You don't have climate control - right?

just a thermostat.

..and the fan speed remains the same- it is just the airflow that is restricted?

BTW - most manufacturers suggest that you give the car a "gulp" of outside air every now and then.

i'm just trying to think this through.

If the fan slowed due to an electrical fault, then reduced airflow might cause icing, but, contrarily icing wouldn't cause the fan to slow, only restrict air flow.

Ok , just returned from driving too and back from BKK to pattaya , 1 hour 45 minute each way , all i can do is describe excactly what happened .

Driving to Pattaya on toleway staying under 120km per hour this time , after 1st 45 minute i switched to outside air for 8 minutes ( missus switched it back because of smell ) dont know why it should smell bad too because filter replaced last week , anyway 10 minutes later puled over for gas , but did not turn of air --- so far working ok

Then back on the road , about 25 mintues later notice air starting to warm up and less air coming from vents ,the fan still seems to be going the same speed because fan noise does not change , so anyway switched air off , left fan running , air turned really cold and regained volume after about 1 minute ( this is why i think its icing up , soon as the aircon is swithed of the air comes back threw leading me to believe the ice is melting inside the aircon box and allowing the air to flow through freely again ) , then after 2 minutes more the air started to warm up , i left it another minute or 2 until too hot inside the car the then switched the air back on , air came back cold and good volume after about 1 minute .

Did this i think once more before arriving into Pattaya .

So then bassically the trip back was the same , just i turned the air off a few times more because we never made a stop .

So like i said before i think the icing up explanation fits the problem ,its just why is it doing this ? also why does the air smell so bad when switching to outside air , feels like were getting slowly gassed !

"the Aircon stops working , it gradually gets warmer and the fan gets less and less"

OK - just go over a couple of things, please........

What gets warmer? The air from the vents or the overall interior of the car?

The FAN - what gets less - the volume of air coming through the vents or speed of the fan?

The air from the vents gets warmer and volume of air drops from the vents too , you have to turn the fan up to 4 ( fastest ) to get the same volume as you normally would from the number 1 setting .

As i said swiching to outside air or turning the aircom of for 5 to 10 minutes fixes it , but i just want to know why its icing up like this when the car is driven over a speed 120km per hour

Cheers

Well had the gas changed and new filter fitted and air system checked at the Chevy garage and still having the same problem .

If i drive the car at 120km its ok for about 2 hours then i will have to switch to outside air coming in which always smells abit and starts the missus off complaining , but going over this speed the aircon ices up after about a hour and i have to switch to outside air for about 10-15 minutes or pull over and turn the air off and let it de-ice for about 10 minutes , i know its doing this because there is a large pool of water under the front of the car after i stop .

So i am just wondering why this iceing up is happening when i drive faster ? i dont think its the thermostat because it seems to be working , turning it up and down you can feel the difference in temperature easily .

So anybody got any more ideas ?

Thanks for the replys , doesn't seem like there are many falangs in Surat then , and as for no Central thats going to upset the missus ! Great for me thougth .

Not sure what the traffic comment means , last time we were passing threw Surat on the way to the airport it didn't seem that bad and surely it cant even be close to the madness off driving around Krungthep .

Anyway we are still planning a long weekend down there next month some time to check the place out so if any body has some tips on somewhere nice to stay for a few days they would be much appreciated .

Cheers .