RetroGTAndrew

You need to get closer to the left hand margin so they can't sneak up the left side.....

Used the new system to register my stay, (staying until 01/01/24) but due to a family bereavement we're off back to the UK this week (lhelpfully the tickets were fully flexible this time). Is there any need or ability to edit the departure date or re-register with the new departure date? We're probably not going to be back until later in January anyway. TIA Andrew

On the subject of eVisa application to Royal THai Embassy London, have they simplified the web form by removing some questions? I'm sure that some of my previous applications you had to submit a head and shoulders photograph holding your passport bio page and also download, sign and scan a declaration? Andrew, Confused of Oxford

Place rice in a seive and wash liberally with running water until the water run into a jug is clear, cook in a rice cooker with more or less water depending on if you prefer it wetter/softer or drier/harder.......

I've been coming to Thailand once or twice a year for >20 years and driving here for the last 15 or so years, so out of interest this year I thought I'd make a concerted effort to try and get a Thai driving licence to save keep getting international driving permits. I tried at BangPu (SamutPrakan) land trasnsport office when we went to renew the car tax earlier this month, and was ushered in for a chat with the boss who presented me with a printed slip in Thai & English detailing the requirements for a licence. 1: Signed copies of passport bio and latest entry/visa pages. Easy enough to do. 2: Certificate of address from immigration. Went to immigration, however they were adamant that they can only issue residence certificate if you're on a long term visa and not my TR60 visa (obvious really as a tourist isn't a resident). I did an online TM30 on arrival but that didn't count. 3: Medical certificate. Should be straightforward enough, I still have a pulse! Evidence of completing 1 hour DLT online eLearning. Easy enough if you can stay awake through some pretty banal rubbish and answer some easy questions. Went back to DLT and asked the boss man 'if there was any other way' and his only suggestion was to get a residence certificate from the UK embassy, but on their website it specifically mentions that they only do them for long term visas. So unless anybody has any suggestions for 'shortcuts' it looks like I've drawn a blank until I move here Andrew

It became protect self and self serving!

I did exactly this on our last trip (on a TR60) here, Thai Airways changed their timetable mid trip and moved us to a 16 hour BKK>HKT>LHR flight on day 58, after asking nicely they moved us to a direct flight on the 61st day @00.15 Hrs. Not a problem as we obviously cleared immigration earlier in the evening of the 60th day. Certainly maxed out the value of the TR60 Visa!

At 18.20 tonight (full moon) the ChaoPraya is pretty high on the riverfront at SamutPrakan city hall, tide tables say about 3.6M. The level seems about the same as the November 2011 floods in that the footpath nearest the river is just underwater. As the river level is a good 1~1.5M above the car park it's interesting to see the concrete structure leaking a bit! Andrew

Good point, I'd forgotten that option....... Andrew

That was quick! Have you checked your spam / junk mailbox? Some providers like btinternet filter emails before your email app sees them. You should perhaps use a web browser and check your emails online instead of with an app. Andrew

@edwardandtubs I'd bang your application in anyway, I'm not convinced that the eVisas are processed in the UK, as the eMail with my other halfs eVisa was sent @ 05:20. The eVisa website is a .gov.th run by the ministry of foreign affairs and Monday is a normal working day here. Andrew

If you've got all your documents scanned and ready whack your application in quick, it's only 16:00 on a Friday in the UK. You <should> be OK, I put my application in online on a Friday afternoon and got eVisa @ 18:00 on the following Tuesday, so only two full working days. However....... submitted the little womans application on the Saturday morning and finally arrived @ 05:20 on the Friday so 4 working days. Hers might have been delayed as she's Thai by birth, naturalised British. Andrew

@worgeordieBy 'tree rats' I guess you mean squirrels? If it is squirrels I'll be surprised as all the times I've been here I've never seen any and we've got a big Mango tree in the garden where I've seen 'Gingaa' (a small lizard/iguana) before. Andrew

Hi, As in the title, does anyone have contact details for a Snake / Reptile catcher in Samut Prakan? We're quite near to the 'Robinson Lifestyle Centre' on the Sukhumvit Road. It appears we have what is probably some kind of lizard in our bungalow roof space and I'm too fat and old to go climbing about above a suspended ceiling! When we were here at the beginning of this year we heard some scrabbling above the ceiling it but it sounds louder / bigger now, pretty sure it's not squirrels (never seen them around here) or Tokae (we've had Tokae outside before and would hear them calling), could be rats I suppose, but sounds heavier than that. Family reckon they've seen baby water monitor around so probably it's grown a bit and could do with removing. Andrew

I agree that it's likely to be the footprints of a gecko, but it's odd that we haven't heard them out and about. The Tokaes we had before were around 300mm long but these prints belong to something a good deal larger. When we had Tokae geckos on the other side of the house before we would regularly hear them doing their unique call but the resident family members got rid of them and I haven't heard them for several years.

Yeah, had a little look by lifting a suspended ceilng tile in the bathroom but couldn't see anything. I'm nowhere near fit enough or small enough to go crawling about up there! It's certainly accessible because the TV antenna installers have been up there to run a couple of cables across. I wish I'd bought an infrared wildlife camera with me from the UK to stick up there for a few days, might have to go and have a look in Pantip Plaza or Fortune Town and see if there's anything available.

Allegedly a ~1 Metre Water Monitor has been seen around here...... Don't know if they climb walls like that though? I know Geckos have sticky feet but they seem bigger than any Gecko I've seen and I haven't heard any Tokae geckos since family got rid of them a while ago.

We had pigeons nesting on on the little roof over the door next to where the footprints are, gone now and access blocked off with some netting. What we heard last night subjectively sounded heavier than a squirrel...... Also I've never seen squirrels in the mango tree or around here, we had Tokae geckos before but haven't heard them for a few years.

Haha! It must be my age, or the little woman chattering about taking the washing out of the washing machine, anyway here are the photos I meant to post, last one is the one I saw in January

Not so much a pet question, more an animal question. What would leave these footprints on the wall? About 30~40mm long under a window (with an easily climbable cage on). We're in SamutPrakan and stepson reckons it's a Water Monitor, if so it's probably what we hear sometimes scuttling about in the roof space, sounds like we may need to find a snake/reptile remover! Seems believable as when I was here in January I saw a 3 metre long Water Monitor lazily swimming up the khlong alongside the Sukhumvit Road near Robinson. TIA Andrew

Hi, Earlier this year before our return to the UK Thai Airways had a timetable change which unceremoniously dumped us on a 16 hour BKK>HKT>LHR flight rather than the direct flight we'd booked. I was completely unsuccessful in contacting Thai Airways in Bangkok and eventually messaged 'ThaiAirwaysUK' on Facebook Messenger, they were really helpful and they sent me this link which is really for UK departures but I very politely explained that we would prefer to fly direct a couple of days later and they fixed it for us fairly quickly. If all else fails this is their eMail address [email protected]. Andrew

@Dart12 I need to get one each for Bank and Driving licence, How did you find an agent? Did immigration recommend one or? Whereabouts are you? Andrew

Now you mention it it was 2011~2012, Damn! Time flies when you get older!!!!! Andrew

That does annoy me about taxis too! Also I was amazed that stepsons recent Nissan Navara pickup (bought in the government tax back initiative) doesn't have any rear seatbelts. I won't let my wife ride in the back due to the risk as she takes blood thinning medication. Andrew

Yup, as above that's what I did, I think the difference this year is the prompt at the top of the login page to use IE8~11 or Chrome, so I used Chrome and it went OK. Andrew