himachal

Hi all

I, my Thai spouse and two young kids (Thai) are planning to visit Spain next year for 2 weeks. We made the same trip 2 years ago, obtaining a Schengen visa for my spouse by booking accommodation because new (at that time) regs meant doing a 'Carta De Invitacion' was going to take forever and still by no means gauranteed. (Local Policia hadn't a clue how to process all the paperwork and so were not intertested in helping!)

Does anyone know if the Invitacion process has got easier (ie. is it pheasable), or is it still better to get the visa by booking a hotel?

(I'm a Brit, so don't need a visa, and my parents have residencia in Spain, so they could invite us - as they used to before the paperwork got heavy and it really was just a notarised letter.)

Thanks in advance for any pointers.

H

Hi

Hoping for a bit of clarification regarding the current state of play for PR applications, please. (Forgive me if the answers I'm looking for are somewhere in this thread and I've been too lazy to go and find them).

First; because of the processing backlog, are applications no longer being accepted, or can I apply at the end of the year?

Second; would I be better off applying at my local one-horse immig. office in Pathum Thani or should I go to Chaeng Wattana?

Third; if my application is accepted, I have to cough up a serious sum of money.... but how much? have heard different figures.

If someoner can help to answer these questions, I'd be most grateful.

Best of luck to all those waiting.

H

Hi

We have about 10 rai of 3-6 yr old durian, and some mature trees. Planning to plant our other 10 rai with rubber, to provide a small but more constant income than from fruit.

First question is: does anyone know which rubber strain is resistant to the fungal disease that kills a lot of durian ('lahk ngao kohn ngao' in Thai. means rotten roots and trunk)

Second: has anyone on this forum had experience of interplanting durian and rubber? any problems, particularly re diseases? (we've heard that rubber trees host lots of diseases and we know that durian are very susceptible to just about everything. We already spray regularly to control pathogens, but would we need to spray more/more often if we planted rubber?

Third: next door neighbours are about to plant 100 rai of rubber so are our concerns meaningless!!???

Any pointers would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks, Himachal

A father is cooking some deer meat he got from a hunter friend, for his kids' dinner.

When he serves it his daughter asks what it is. He replies, "I'll give you a clue: it's something your mother sometimes calls me."

"Don't eat it, brother!" screams the girl. "It's a fu2king arzhole!"

Excellent, one and all!

Have you tried the irish or french embassy, has he has been before and come back should be easy. I took my misses in feb this year and got my visa from the spanish embassy in 3 days.

Thanks, bwalker. I'm amazed it only took 3 days for you. We waited 3 days just to hear they couldn't process it in time.

Yes, we're considering flying to another shengen state and getting a connecting flight to Spain.

Cheers, Himachal.

The Spanish embassy appear to be persuing a zero-tourism policy this year! ie. next to impossible for my Thai partner to get a tourist visa, although he's visited twice before and applications were much easier, and faster. Now they say it'll take 3 working weeks to process (that's one long manyana!) Quick edit: our non-refundable fights are booked for 2 weeks' time!!!

Does anyone know of an express visa service for shengen visas here in Bangkok, please?

Any ideas would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks, H.

Excellent and concise, Lopburi3. Thanks v much indeed! - H

Thanks, Lopburi3. Yes, I have a non-immigrant B visa now (which I've renewed 3 times with my present job.) I can put 400K in an account in my name, too.

Interested to know what the "bunch of other paperwork" is, and the procedure involved, and whether any particular immigration office is easier (or must I use the office of the province where we live?)

Thanks again, H.

Hi all.

Having just married a Thai lady, what is the process/requirements for obtaining a renewable marriage visa? (non-imm O/A, right?)

If anyone here has recently gone through this process and can provide some useful, up-to-date info (how much to show in bank? photos of wedding necessary? map/photos of dwelling? etc. etc.) I would be very grateful.

I realise that many of the answers I'm looking for are probably scattered throughout this forum, but being new to it have no idea which threads to begin reading! If someone could point me to the most informative threads, that would also be great.

Thanks all, Himachal.

Eddie Izzard the funniest straight transexual ever. In my humble opinion

/www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ope-1Zb5t-k&feature=related

How about Kenny Everett doing Glenda Slagg, - "all done in the best possible taste, Michael!"

Ditch the bitch - I'll scratch your itch!

Some funny observations above: well done!

Buying new chairs/lounges/stools and leaving the plastic on it

Buying a car without having the mechanics checked...

Using the same gaudy interior fittings/signage/flower arrangments/color scheme at seminars, workshops etc.

Hardware stores selling rope by the kilo, not by length. Just how helpful is that?

unlike John, we saw that one coming!

Why are women like clouds?

Eventually they F#@K off and it's a beautiful day.

Now I'm laughing!

Surely then the fact that most gays are born to heterosexual parents totally destroys the theory it is genetic ? Just my satang's worth here

No, I don't think so. But it does destroy the theory that it's hereditary.

What do you like to do routinely in BKK that is gay oriented, or even not gay oriented? By this I mean those little things that you do often, some go to Soi 4 daily or Richard's, or go out to soi 2, jogging in Lumpini, browsing in a shopping area in Siam but not buying anything, hitting the free cologne samples in Central World or getting free samples at the Paragon food market, hanging out at Coffee Society, walking around KSR, eating or drinking at the same place every day; how do you like to spend those little pieces of time in between obligations and other activities in BKK? I'd particularly like to know as I will be looking for some time killers that don't cost too much, any ideas?

first floor toilets....second floor toilets.....third floor toilets....first floor toilets.....second floor toilets..... etc.etc

LIVE ON BBC TONIGHT WORLD CUP 2010 PREVIEW (EXCEPT VIEWERS IN SCOTLAND WHO CAN SEE 'OUT OF AFRICA'

Those canny Scots get the better deal again!!!

Does anybody remember that old English cartoon, "Captain Pugwash"? There were two characters with quite interesting names; Seaman Stanes & Master Bates.

Actually, that's not quite correct, although most people seem to think that those characters had those names.

Let's not forget Rodger the Cabin Boy...

Who could forget captain pugwash? "All aboard the Skylark!"

Siam the country, we love and adore,

Bangkok the ciy, mass traffic a bore,

Kaow is the staple, for many to eat,

Isan the poorest, that sleep on the street,

Southern provinces, so much unrest,

Ancient Ayutayah, one of the best,

With tourism down, beach towns so empty,

Holiday makers, next year wont be tempted,

Opposing parties, the people to blame,

Return of Thaksin, should seel the fate,

End is not near, for that we must wait.

Clearly you are no-et a poet!

First time in December,

On an escalator,

Then again in a coffee shop,

Although through glass,

From that first moment,

Never clearer,

That two could grow,

Always together,

Crying sometimes, apart,

Love is growing,

Hopefully climaxing,

Always remembering,

The part of us we lost,

Hopefully not lost forever.

Doesn't rhyme, isn't funny. Verdict: CRAP

I once met a guy in a toilet in Hyde park, London. He was humming a Wham tune. Could it have been???? (I didn't look up at his face!)

Assuming that Al Gore's warnings and predictions of global warming are correct, there are more and more respected scientists saying that IT is true and that IT IS too late already...... even if we could stop emitting those nasties into the atmosphere immediately, IT IS COMMING and some say as soon as 15 yrs!!

So, when it comes and LOS heats up 4 or 5 more degrees to 45 degrees, could/would you stay and endure it or head for the hills?? or North??

I guess the tourist industry would finally crumble to this blow.....who would want to fly all the way here, just to stay in an aircon hotel or get heat stroke??

Real-estate along with it...who would buy here??

How would it affect the agriculture industry?? Rice maybe could survive if LOS doesn't become a dustbowl [as some are predicting].

I, for one would head for the hills or north, as I am finding temps in the high 30's too much to feel comfortable.

I don't want to be accused of spreading gloom and doom, so spare me the accusations and please constructively share your thoughts on this matter.

Now More Than 700 International Scientists Dissent Over Man-Made Global Warming Claims - US SENATE

http://epw.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?Fus...F0-274616DB87E6

A few quotes from the report:

"I am a skeptic…Global warming has become a new religion." - Nobel Prize Winner for Physics, Ivar Giaever.

"Since I am no longer affiliated with any organization nor receiving any funding, I can speak quite frankly….As a scientist I remain skeptical." - Atmospheric Scientist Dr. Joanne Simpson, the first woman in the world to receive a PhD in meteorology and formerly of NASA who has authored more than 190 studies and has been called "among the most preeminent scientists of the last 100 years."

Warming fears are the "worst scientific scandal in the history…When people come to know what the truth is, they will feel deceived by science and scientists." - UN IPCC Japanese Scientist Dr. Kiminori Itoh, an award-winning PhD environmental physical chemist.

"The IPCC has actually become a closed circuit; it doesn't listen to others. It doesn't have open minds… I am really amazed that the Nobel Peace Prize has been given on scientifically incorrect conclusions by people who are not geologists," - Indian geologist Dr. Arun D. Ahluwalia at Punjab University and a board member of the UN-supported International Year of the Planet.

"The models and forecasts of the UN IPCC "are incorrect because they only are based on mathematical models and presented results at scenarios that do not include, for example, solar activity." - Victor Manuel Velasco Herrera, a researcher at the Institute of Geophysics of the National Autonomous University of Mexico

"It is a blatant lie put forth in the media that makes it seem there is only a fringe of scientists who don't buy into anthropogenic global warming." - U.S Government Atmospheric Scientist Stanley B. Goldenberg of the Hurricane Research Division of NOAA.

"Even doubling or tripling the amount of carbon dioxide will virtually have little impact, as water vapour and water condensed on particles as clouds dominate the worldwide scene and always will." – . Geoffrey G. Duffy, a professor in the Department of Chemical and Materials Engineering of the University of Auckland, NZ.

"After reading [uN IPCC chairman] Pachauri's asinine comment [comparing skeptics to] Flat Earthers, it's hard to remain quiet." - Climate statistician Dr. William M. Briggs, who specializes in the statistics of forecast evaluation, serves on the American Meteorological Society's Probability and Statistics Committee and is an Associate Editor of Monthly Weather Review.

"For how many years must the planet cool before we begin to understand that the planet is not warming? For how many years must cooling go on?" - Geologist Dr. David Gee the chairman of the science committee of the 2008 International Geological Congress who has authored 130 plus peer reviewed papers, and is currently at Uppsala University in Sweden.

"Gore prompted me to start delving into the science again and I quickly found myself solidly in the skeptic camp…Climate models can at best be useful for explaining climate changes after the fact." - Meteorologist Hajo Smit of Holland, who reversed his belief in man-made warming to become a skeptic, is a former member of the Dutch UN IPCC committee.

"Many [scientists] are now searching for a way to back out quietly (from promoting warming fears), without having their professional careers ruined." - Atmospheric physicist James A. Peden, formerly of the Space Research and Coordination Center in Pittsburgh.

"Creating an ideology pegged to carbon dioxide is a dangerous nonsense…The present alarm on climate change is an instrument of social control, a pretext for major businesses and political battle. It became an ideology, which is concerning." - Environmental Scientist Professor Delgado Domingos of Portugal, the founder of the Numerical Weather Forecast group, has more than 150 published articles.

"CO2 emissions make absolutely no difference one way or another….Every scientist knows this, but it doesn't pay to say so…Global warming, as a political vehicle, keeps Europeans in the driver's seat and developing nations walking barefoot." - Dr. Takeda Kunihiko, vice-chancellor of the Institute of Science and Technology Research at Chubu University in Japan.

"The [global warming] scaremongering has its justification in the fact that it is something that generates funds." - Award-winning Paleontologist Dr. Eduardo Tonni, of the Committee for Scientific Research in Buenos Aires and head of the Paleontology Department at the University of La Plata. # #

700 scientists have spoken out against the idea that the world is warming up? That's a lot......... then again; how many people voted for Reagan, Bush, Thatcher and Thaksin?

If you go down to the woods today

.... get ready to run away,

For Daddy and Uncle and Baby Bear

Have found a new game to play.

Beneath the leaves where nobody sees,

They've Goldilocks tied up to a tree....

You bet your life he's getting more than porridge!

Anyone know if the casino bus to Poipet still runs from Rangsit? (The early morning, non-stop bus). We caught it 2 years ago but lost the contact details of the company. Not sure if posting the company name here breaks forum rules, but if you have it, please PM me.

Thanks a lot, Himachal