bargwaan

Can anyone please advise me on the best way of obtaining flight tickets from Bangkok to London.

My wife has just received her UK Settlement Visa, I have a one way ticket to go Thailand and collect her then bring her back to UK with me. So I need to purchase at least 2x one-way economy flights in the BKK to LON direction. All the usual websites I use only allow me to book flights London outbound to BKK, also the one-way prices are just as expensive as the return prices. Return flights including taxes etc can be typically £550-650 when booked from UK, I'm hoping to shave £100-200 off this.

I figure if I purchase tickets in Thailand they may be cheaper, is this true?

I may even consider buying return tickets from Thailand as I know dates when we will be returning to Thailand in a few months time, of course this would mean I would then need to continue purchasing future tickets in the same manner i.e. LON to BKK would then be inbound journeys going forward.

Does anyone know/recommend Thai based websites which I could use to purchase such tickets online?

Or telephone numbers of any 'reputable' travel services based in Bangkok which I could call to book flights over the phone from UK? providing they could email me the confirmation details.

What are my best options, has anyone tried to do the same thing?

regards

Karl

If you are willing to pay by CC, PM me and I'll give you the contact of a travel agent I have been using for some years in Bangkok.

Krub, thanks for your reply. Yes I can use CC, I would appreciate any numbers or websites you know of so I can enquire. I tried a website which one of the other quys gave me but the one way price started at £600 and returns at £1000. I'm sure there are cheaper flights than this, I hope so!

many thanks

Karl

Can anyone please advise me on the best way of obtaining flight tickets from Bangkok to London.

My wife has just received her UK Settlement Visa, I have a one way ticket to go Thailand and collect her then bring her back to UK with me. So I need to purchase at least 2x one-way economy flights in the BKK to LON direction. All the usual websites I use only allow me to book flights London outbound to BKK, also the one-way prices are just as expensive as the return prices. Return flights including taxes etc can be typically £550-650 when booked from UK, I'm hoping to shave £100-200 off this.

I figure if I purchase tickets in Thailand they may be cheaper, is this true?

I may even consider buying return tickets from Thailand as I know dates when we will be returning to Thailand in a few months time, of course this would mean I would then need to continue purchasing future tickets in the same manner i.e. LON to BKK would then be inbound journeys going forward.

Does anyone know/recommend Thai based websites which I could use to purchase such tickets online?

Or telephone numbers of any 'reputable' travel services based in Bangkok which I could call to book flights over the phone from UK? providing they could email me the confirmation details.

What are my best options, has anyone tried to do the same thing?

regards

Karl

I might as well get let some of my own steam off as well for what its worth.

I've been going to Thailand regularly for past 5 years and what I've seen in last 6 months, I've been there many times recently, is crazy.

So Thaksin is claimed to be corrupt well I cannot comment, he is a clever man, but whatever you say about him and he does have many enemies the country seemed relatively stable while he was in power. His government was elected to power twice and generally speaking this was because he had the vote of the common man which is most of the country. Unfortunately his abrupt direct talking and personal business concerns did not do him any favours particularly amongst the educated middle classes lucky enough to school their children in the Universities. From what i've seen the manipulation of a small number of protagonists leading this PAD organisation, who were the same people who ousted Thaksin two years ago, are causing havic and stoping the findamental mechanics of the country from working, not just the tourist industry but the whole economy. How can these people be allowed to get away with it? Everyone should have freedom of speech but to hold the country to ransom is simply not acceptable.

The authorities should have stepped in months ago, the PAD overstepped the mark by taking over the government buildings in August. I don't accept the PAD having the power of the people either, what does the power of the people mean. Most of the hard working population around Thailand could not give two hoots, they have work to do, they cannot afford to camp outside a government house all day all night with no food, no water, no toilets and no clean clothes. Why would normal working people want to do this? The country and its governers should be focusing their attention to the worldwide crisis a few months ago this was the price of oil, this has come down but now its banking and credit. Trouble makers like leaders of the PAD who just have an axe to grind with anything possibly related to Thaksin are just getting in the way of all this. If they had any responsibility for looking after Thailand then they would not be rallying in this way. Their cause is not in the same league as Tiananmen Square or fall of the Berlin Wall, they were real just causes. Leaders of the PAD are people of power with connections in high places, they hold no authority of their own however their actions are completely irrresponsible.

Why has this not already been sorted out? everyone knows who the leaders are, should they not be arrested on charge of causing unrest in the country? The reason is that there are too many Police Chiefs and Army Generals all jockying for power, like the world banks and insurance companies today who see the risk of lending to anyone too great in the credit crunch these officials are all afraid of losing their own face and backing the wrong guy and losing their positions of power.

Now we have a stalemate situation neither side want to step down this would be losing face! In the meantime the poor old Thai people are losing out! If the underlying security officials i.e. Police and Army Chiefs cannot back an elected government by doing their job and taking control of these people then they will have to take control themselves with a coup. Maybe this is why they are happy to sit by the sidelines all along! Whatever for god's sake someone do something and take action!!!!!!!

Someone told me a story last time I was in Thailand, they said the main leader of the PAD, I can never remember his name but the guy who owns the TV station I think, was billions of baht in debt. He used to be very co-Thaksin until he went to his old friend asking for a government loan. But Mr Thaksin rejected the request and since then he has had a vendetta against him. It could all be lies I don't know but it would not surprise me.

PS: I hope this is sorted out before I go back to Thailand in a few weeks time?

Thanks for everyones replies (TH, MAC etc), this has been very useful.

I only have a week in Thailand so basically my plan is this starting on Tuesday:-

1. Tuesday go Embassy and submit Affirmation, needs to be done by about 3:30pm;

2. Wednesday go Embassy at 9am and collect Affirmation or signed affidavit then get it translated into Thai before going to Thai MFA (not sure which place is quickest to get it translated a place near Embassy or outside the MFA), all needs to be done by about 2:30pm, note this is on assumption that MFA don't care that this is 3rd working day in the country;

3. Thursday go Amphur in home town, get marriage certificate and Thai ID card for wife changed with new name;

4. Friday go passport office in Bangkok apply for new passport for wife with new name then go to a translator and submit the marriage documents for translation.

Following week my wife will submit translated papers with application doc and fee to the Embassy.

What do you think, is this possible?

Karl

Before I can marry a Thai national in Thailand me and my girlfriend must go to the Thai Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Don Mueng, Bangkok) and apply for the statutory marriage licence. I understand that when doing this that I cannot marry in Thailand until I have first been in the country for 3 days, can anyone confirm:-

i) whether this is meant to be 3 working days or does this include Sat/Sun? does the ministry normally pay that much attention to this?

ii) also will the Thai Ministry of Foreign Affairs be able to issue us with a marriage licence if we go there before the 3 days have passed so we can use at an Amphur a day later (i.e. does the licence have a valid from date?)?

The problem for me is that I only have so many days in Thailand before I have to leave again and we want to change the name on my Thai girfriend's Thai ID card when we marry so this means we have to travel to her local Amphur to do this. These sort of issues are not easy to determine until you go there and do it however I might need to book flights etc upfront so information from anyone would be appreciated, I would like to prevent any surprises when I get there.

regards

Karl

I am twice divorced and about to marry again. I have my English divorce decree absolute for first marriage and I have a Thai divorce certificate for second marriage. When I submit my Affirmation for Marriage document at the UK Embassy in Bangkok which I need to do before I can marry a third time to my Thai girlfriend then will I need to translate my Thai divorce certificate from the second marriage?

I know I have to obtain some certified translations such as the Affirmation document which must be translated afterwards before I go to the Thai Ministry of Foreign Affairs to get the marriage licence (affadavit) etc....... but do I need to do this for the existing Thai Divorce certificate as the Embassy does have Thai employees working there. Infact is it necessary for me to declare this Thai divorce certificate at the Embassy since I can show this along with the signed affirmation document to the Umphur when we register the marriage?

If the answer is yes I do need to declare this and yes it does need to be translated then is this a translation that I could get done through the internet so I don't have to do it when I first get to Bangkok, are there certified internet translation companies that can do this online?

regards

Karl