Mig15

My understanding of this is that it means more like startled or surprised.

Gentleman scamp – it is not necessary to use the pronoun “Phom” all the time as we would use “I” in English. Just leave it out.

My understanding is that the word farang came form the French traders that came to Thailand hundreds of years ago. As an Englishman I find it incredibly offensive to be called French!

So why don’t old people have big ears?

We British people have put up with silly bar closing laws since the First World War. Why did we ever put up with it? And we are now renown through out the world as drunken louts – because we drink up quick to make the most of it. It will be home from home for us Brits.

It gets you drunk and it’s cheap but it’s not a pleasant drink. Stay with beer or Mae Kong.

If you have a half decent bike you will not want to go to a cheap Thai bike. Your problem will be if you are moving here that you will have lots of other stuff to bring with you. The two bikes I have brought form the UK have been on return trips when I went back for a holiday to the UK. You can get a decent bike for under £200 form probike so maybe that would be better than paying the excess baggage and having to manage a bike as well as all your other luggage at the airport.

Like I said maybe things have changed – I’m talking 1996 when I had my Thai bike. It lasted two – three months. I rode a ancient Chinese made racing bike round Chiang Mai and it was 100% better. The comment about inner tubes is true you can’t get some of the UK sizes here. But she has a mountain bike so that would be the fatter, smaller tubes, I am sure you can get those here. I also have puncture proof tires that help to cut down on punctures.

There is one in the World Trade Center near the Isetan bookshop.

Double pricing is correct in some cases. I think that is absolutely right that a Thai person who has not much money can get to see their heritage for free. I look on it as a bonus when my TGF gets in free. What I don’t like is the woman selling Thai sweets outside my home charges me 20 baht for the same thing as my girlfriend gets at 10 baht.

So I take my business elsewhere.

1. They need to see that it is a real relationship. You need to prove to them that you have had a relationship with your girlfriend over a period of time. So photos of you doing things together – with date on the photos is good! Documents to prove when and where you were in Thailand. Emails, letters over a period of time.

2. They also need to know that she is going to be supported financially in the UK. So you need to show that you are solvent (or her!). Bank statements, pay slips etc. A guarantee form someone else may do for example your parents may guarantee for you.

3. They need to see that she will have somewhere to live.

If you can show this there should be no problem as far as UK visa is concerned. You don’t need to get married but it may help to show that you have a real relationship.

Hope this helps,

Good luck!

I live on Sukhumvit Soi 22 and cycle up Sukhumvit everyday.

Don’t buy a Thai made bike. Unless something dramatic has happened in the past few years the quality is very poor to say the least. I had one and it fell apart. The iner-tubes were so poor I was fixing punctures every week.

Yes, absolutely! I find that not many other people that I know or see use a bicycle here but for me it’s the best way to get around and go to work. I have been cycling here in Bangkok for the past year and I also lived in Chiang Mai and cycled there for the year that I lived there. That is every day to work and back – about 10 minutes each way. And a longer ride at the weekend. www.probike.co.th is the best bike shop near me. They are cheap for repairs and maintenance but parts and bikes can be expensive. I would recommend bringing your own, you can take them on the airplane for free, take the front wheel off and get it in the taxi form the airport.

Cycling is easy as the town is flat. It is not as hot as walking because of the air flow. You can dodge round the traffic. The only downside is that the roads are very dangerous but I wonder how much more dangerous than Birmingham where I lived before moving here.

A mountain bike will be good for the roads as some can be very potholed. I have a crossbreed that I like but you have to watch out for some of the drain covers as they have wide slits in them.

I hate taxis and tuk tuks, I hate haggling over the price every time I want to go anywhere and I hate standing in traffic in a car. I don’t get any of that on the bike.

Personaly I don’t think the PM is going to go for the 12.00. Not with all the other problems he’s got at the moment.

I have heard that single foreign girls don’t always have a good time here but maybe it’s down to personality. If you live in Soi 55 you will be well placed to go to lots of pubs. Londoner, Dubliner, Bull’s Head all around Soi 33ish. Soi 55 Thong Lor has some places of interest as well I believe. It’s a big Japanese area so if you like Sushi you will be OK. Hop on the Sky train up to Victory monument and go to the Saxophone for some live music. There are night clubs as well but I’m too much of an old git for that sort of thing I’m afraid. Make some Thai friends at work and they will take you out.

Yes, Needle King that’s where I got mine made. He is a nice guy as well. They don’t make them on the premises in these places they don’t have the room. But you choose the fabric you want and it’s made from it. If you found the place where they make them you may get it even cheaper but is it worth worrying about for the price they are?

I think that this first post is insulting to women. Looking down on people as if they are damaged goods just because they have been married before and had children. Even bar girls and dare I say it prostitutes are people and deserve some respect. If Thai men don’t want anything to do with these Ladies it is there loss and our gain. One of the reasons that a man form another country will accept a woman who has been divorced and has children is that in our countries most women we meet are in this position. We can see past this pathetic longing for virgins that men from this part of the world seem to have. I like women who know what they are doing and enjoy sex – why shouldn’t they?

Syd, there was a thread about this a few weeks ago. They say you can drink the water out the tap in Bangkok, defiantly OK boiled. Filtered water is OK. I fill up a bottle at work everyday, not so much because of the expense but because it saves me going to the 7/11 to get it. I have been drinking my tea using unfiltered tap water for years.

It’s not the nationality but the person that is important. But I am staying with Thai women for now!

It depends on what you want and what quality you need. I was told to get one for work and got one for less than 2000 made to measure. And that was form a Taylor on Sukhumvit road. It is good enough for what I need.

Red Bull is called Grating Deng in Thai and the Grating is the large fierce wild cattle that are found in this part of the world. If you drink it when with Thai friends they may giggle and tell you that it is very good as it gives you energy for sex!

They are just trying to establish that you have an existing long-term relationship. You can support her and she will not be a burden on the state. She is not trying to get to the UK and just leave you. If you are genuine you will be OK. You do hear horror stories about them asking when you first slept together etc. but I think that is all they are – stories. I had no problems.

Tell him to stop sending her money and forget her or you leave him. Waitress = bar girl. She may be getting money form other guys anyway. If he is serious about you he needs to cut her off now.

The other day on the sky train for Sapan Taxin I noticed a large ad. for “PMT Tower,” or it may have been “PMT Mansions,” I can’t remember. I thought that is not a place I want to live!

Try Prozac, that calms them down.