fvw53

Yes ....Al Jazeera English TV is broadcasting these days on this subject a program with hidden camera which confirms the headline : Boeing people can be heard expressing their worries.

Castration !, the only sure way to stop teenage pregnancies.

regards worgeordie

This is a too intrusive method

Two years ago there was in the US media a better proposal

QUOTE

Foster Friess, a prominent backer of Republican presidential candidate Rick Santorum, raised eyebrows Thursday when he offered up his own idea for a possible contraceptive method: "This contraceptive thing, my gosh, it's so... inexpensive. Back in my days, they used Bayer aspirin for contraceptives."

Friess's implication is that if women hold aspirin between their legs, they won't open them.

"The gals put it between their knees, and it wasn't that costly," he told MSNBC's Andrea Mitchell.

UNQUOTE

They should have private companies running consulates , much more efficient than government workers .

This concept is well known in the US ...where many people think everything should be privatized

Some time ago the prison system was privatized in several States and I know about at least one judge caught in receiving bribes for every inmate he sent to the prison.

Here's why....

I start with no expectations... I require no assistance and understand that the main tasks of the British Embassy are to drum up business for the UK, with some peripheral assistance / advice for British Nationals in Thailand.

This assistance comes in the way of documentation: i.e. Affirmation of Freedom to Marry / Affirmation of Residence etc...

Recently I required an 'Affirmation of Residence'...

It consists of one Photocopied A4 piece of paper which I fill out, its then Stamped and Signed by someone at the Embassy.

It took 1.5 hrs and cost THB 3080...

I consider this hugely expensive and I'm fed up with having to queue so long for something so simple.

I'm aware there are alternatives, I'm not work permuted at the moment, and I'm unable to get an Affirmation of Residence from Immigration until after I have filed a 90 day report (as I was informed by Immigration at Chaeng Wattana).

So - Why would I complain about the British Embassy? I complain about their excessive pricing on services for which there is no alternative. IF there were viable alternatives or if they were a business operating in the free market they would have no choice but to make their pricing more competitive. Choice is removed, I can't vote with my feet.

The unfair pricing IMO is excessive and borders on profiteering.

I agree that the UK Embassies are providing consular service at substantial fees...but they are not deciding about those fees...this is done in London....so you have to complain to your local MP

On the two occasions I have dealt with the BE I have found the service to be very poor, if it were any other department it would be found to be unfit for purpose.

1). Applied for a passport, the Thai staff were as helpful as a bucket of sand and rude an impolite as any official I have met in all the years of my travels (I can assure the readers that I am neither a pompous or arrogant sole and will tip my forelock to those where I have to).

2) A family member here feel into a coma and I asked the Embassy for information on what I the procedures were for repatriation and after two emails the only response was an automated reply to inform me that I would get a response.

If Embassies are not there to provide guidance and help to its subjects what are they there for?

I am a Belgian and before coming to Thailand I was 20 years in the diplomatic service of my country (6 years as a career Consul before entering the higher ranks).

The Embassies are here first of all to represent their country in Thailand in diplomatic matters.

Nearly all Embassies have also a Consulate attached to the Embassy in the capital city and have also one or more career consulates in provincial cities... and if their budgets are limited they appoint still more but only honorary consuls in provincial cities.

I have the impression that some foreigners in Thailand (and not only in this country) expect from their Consul some social services which can be obtained at city hall in their own country where they pay taxes and where the authorities have means to verify their story : social services is not - I repeat not - the job of a Consul but some assistance can be given on an humanitarian basis.

About sometimes frustrating paperwork to get a passport or to obtain a visa : since the numbers of fake passports, fake marriages and fake visas have exponentially increased since the days that tourism increased 10 or 20 times, the Consuls are more and more warned from their own capital city to be careful ...and check...and check.

The fees they charges are NOT decided by the consul or his assistants but by the Consular Department of the Foreign Ministry in the home country.

Probably it can happen that a consular official or one of his employees becomes short tempered but I have never experienced it during the 25 years I live Thailand : I never introduced myself as a former member of the BE diplomatic service but I know the rules and restrictions under which they have to work.

_{I have 3 computers : one with win 7 and two with Win XP : the two PC's with XP lost use of Skype after an automatic update....}

My contribution under nr 92 got a few sour reactions...but I did not bother to reply

Sanuk 711 who was an immigrant in 4 countries wrote what I should have done..

Before coming to Thailand I worked in 6 countries (not including my own country) for total period of 20 years : so I really know something when I wrote that - although nothing is perfect - Thailand is the easiest country to live between Istanbul and Tokyo

I have been an immigrant in 4 countries-so lived in 5, I have always come across like people as the negative posters, they complain about everything, usually from the second day that they arrived. One of many things they have in common is that a very large portion don't leave, their just happy to dam whatever country it is they live in, until their actually taken away to the burner. I really do have sympathy for their Thai wives/Fans, a race that has many hardships but can always raise a smile & joke, to be constantly battered by this negativity. The Australians had a saying for them--The whinging Pom (because most of their immigrants came from UK) one of the many jokes that they used was..."How can you tell if the plane is full of Pom's--- Well the engine has been turned off but you can still hear the whining" The word whinging Pom is now so recognized around the world as a bad immigrant, that it has made it into the Dictionary http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Whinging%20Pom & yes I come from England.

Another thing they have in common is the lack of facts in their argument--- they just cant find figures to prove just how much of a hell it is living in Thailand.

i think there is simply less inbound people, compare to before. For example compare to before perhaps there were 6 inbound and 4 outbound, now the ratio is like 1 inbound and 4 outbound,---mike324 Yes mike324....& that figure came from what bar

Yes, they have been leaving in droves for the last year or two and no surprise.--- Kabula,........Maybe they drink in the same bar.

I was astounded at the numbers and they are not just small firms but some very large ones---expat .........We would probably be astounded to if you could show us the same figures you saw.

You really could go on with these non statical guys & make it a mega post, but not only do they not want (can't) post stat's they don't read them when they are posted, Hhfarang posted a chart showing the best / worst places to retire--- worst was Cambodia 2nd worst place was Dominican Republic.

Just after that you get quandow posting --I'm getting the hell outta dodge and moving to the Dominican Republic.-----quandow

Something made you all want to come & live here--possibly its just your perception that has changed since then, because many of the post citing reasons for leaving are quite silly in as much as that was the way it was when you arrived.....you accepted it & settled in, & now some of the laws that were here when you immigrated--your unhappy with.

And some of the customs

You only have to watch some of their TV games to wonder just what it is that makes them tick or more important turns them On, they seem to have a built in sense of sadism.---n21mp

And of course the self importance factor---yes I am here saving Thailand

We (The Ex Pats) bring money, expertise and support to a community that does nothing (Generally) but attempts to suck the life blood out of us one way or another in their attempts at getting as much money out of us as possible, Indeed it is a national sport or haven't you noticed?---n21mp

Please if you want to leave---do so , life is very short, I left 3 of the 4 countries I immigrated to, but do so with some dignity--Thailand is not for everyone, but if your excuse for leaving--are laws or social customs that were in place long before you came, then you will be viewed as the proverbial "Wandering Whinging Pom"

I switched to 3BB about a month ago (it is a VDSL 30Mb/3Mb connection) and my mystery is that since then my Gmail freezes randomly in Chrome ..and freezes the whole desktop PC. I have no problem when I open my Gmail in IE8 or Firefox

There is nothing wrong with my PC as I am writing this reply after opening the link for this topic in TV and ...using Chrome : anybody has a suggestion?

I am also interested in the reply or replies

Last month I asked MAIGE where their servers are situated ...and I got as a reply that this information is kept confidential.

If the servers are not in Thailand then I am afraid to have also with MAIGE constant "buffering" and even "time outs" as I have now with another IPTV box

When British PM Cameron asked the UK parliament to vote a permission for joining the USA to intervene in Syria ...he did not get a majority...people from his own party voted against it.

In many countries of the developing world making a vote which does not reflect the wish of the party leader - who probably financed your election - would be seen as betrayal and the end of your political career.

In the same developing world - including some SEA countries - "politics" seem to imply that "the winner takes it all" which explains that the same parties are in power for many years, even since independence.

The slogan "Respect my vote" should indeed be shown in Thailand but not only to demonstrating people but also directed to all the elected members of parliament.

Let us remember that in the Philippines the Marcos dynasty won all the presidential and parliamentary elections in which they participated ...but they emptied the country so much that it has still not fully recovered.

Argentina is still bankrupt because of populist policies initiated by the Peronists a generation ago : they too won all the presidential and parliamentary elections in which they participated.

Thanks , what I see from Truemove .. it is not cheap

Better I buy a network 3G sim in the country where I go to, in this case Indonesia

I have tried fo buy a local sim card in Indonesia during my previous trip but it was difficult

First I landed with Airasia at terminal 2 which has not much international arrival and no shops to buy a local sim card

When I found a local sim card shop they only had large formats which did not fit in the slot my smartphone

Australian passport holders can get a visa on arrival at a number of ports in Indonesia, including Polonia in Medan, is that where you mean, Thai passport holders don't need a visa?

Don't forget you must have six months remaining on your passports when you enter Indonesia.

http://www.indonesianembassy.org.uk/consular/consular_visa_type_arrival.html

Do you need to get a Thai Visa whilst you're away, I don't know if the Medan Honorary Consulate issues visas, you might be better asking in the Thai Visa Forum.

Polonia airport is closed since more than one year : now Medan used the new airport at Kuala Namu : I went there 2 months ago with a EU passport using a flight from Hat Yai ...getting visa upon arrival took les than 5 minutes ...all the other passengers did not need a visa and I assume they were Indonesians or Thais

Go to website Immigration Bureau

http://www.immigration.go.th/nov2004/en/base.php?page=download

Download application form "Transfer stamp to a new passport"

Wife tells me the talk on Thai Facebook is this Japanese guy is very rich and thinks himself clever and wants to spread his clever genes around.

..then this Japanese guy may be a disguised North Korean and in fact be an uncle of Kim Jung Un who is preparing for a situation described in Bertholt Brecht’s famous epigram: “The people have lost the confidence of the Government; the Government has decided to dissolve the people, and to appoint another one.”

I do not understand OP

I am a Catholic

Lord Buddha is not considered as the creator of the universe

It means that Buddhism is a religion which is not rejecting or accepting the mono theistic teachings of Moses, Zoroaster, Jesus or Muhammad

I think that true Buddhism does not address the issue of believing in God but rather focuses on the second commandment of Moses i.e. threat your neighbour as you want to be threated yourself etc...

Being married 26 years to a true Buddhist ( no superstition etc..) Thai wife I bless the day that she came into my life and I believe there will be a place in heaven also for her and her 84 year old mother.

Does somebody have experience with using Viber ?

I am surprised that she had not yet tried to blackmail you because she is pregnant....if you succeed to kick her out she could come back in this condition supported by some heavy handed family members.

This is not a remote possibility for I have seen this happen...but in this case the real missus went to reply the door calls ...and then it was over...

Many of us are significantly older than our Thai spouse.  My Thai spouse is 30 plus years my junior.  So for me, not really an issue.  My concern is making sure she has no issues laying claim to my worldly possessions.  And yes, I do have a will.

 

But for those who do not have as large an age gap, I cann see this being an issue.

 

Yes the normal thing would be that you leave this planet before your wife...but in the condo where I live two farangs lost their much younger wives due too road accidents...it is unpleasant but we should also think about this possibility.

 

 

Problem is -when- you get into an accident, your insurance is void, and paying that off won't be a 200 baht fine.

 

And yes, getting one is almost equivalent to going to 7-11, only different store.

 

 

Are you talking about travel insurance?

 

no, he is saying that if you get into an accident and you don't have a valid drivers license then your vehicle insurance is invalid. if you injure someone then chances are you will go straight to jail at the Mae Ping Police Station in Nong Hoi. if you kill someone then the stakes are higher. and you will be liable for untold sums of money.

 

....except if you are the owner of an energy drink empire and you drive a super expensive sportscar

 

 

 

he got a much lesser jail term than the gynecologist who cut his wife in pieces

every ISP has low download speeds from servers outside Thailand after 5 or 6 p.m.

It would depend on where you apply. Some big offices have seperate desks fr these task, while others will do it all at the same desk.

 

2. It is free.

 

3. a letter from your embassy asking to tranfer stamps to your new passport

 copies of old paspsort and arrival card

 

...and what if the new passport is issued by city hall in my country of origin ?

You can of course also just apply for your new passport by post in Belgium, similar as how it is done with the Embassy.

No for the new passport with biometric data they need for instance your finger prints and those have to be provided while only by you to a passport officer ..otherwise you could send the fingerprints of somebody else