theoldgit

Anybody know if and where I can update maps for my GPS, the current ones are listed as being 2007?

Which map(s) do you have installed now? Tools/Settings/Map/Map Info should get you a list of the maps installed.

Thailand StreetMap v8.10 NT [English]

I have had no problem using my Kasikorn atm to withdraw cash and make purchases in the UK and mainland Europe, not sure about the fees but I remember thinking at the time they were reasonable..

I have always got Euros, GB Pounds and US Dollars on demand at Suvarnabhumi, not sure what the air ticket requirement was, suspect is was a rule made up on the hoof.

Thanks chaps

Not really very GPS literate, hope somebody can help me.

A friend has given me the co-ordinates to his house to six decimal points but my Nuvi only seems to have five so rounds it up. So 13.***476N becomes 13.***48 and 100.***941E becomes 100.***95E, not really sure how accurate these things are so would the five decimal points get me there?

Anybody know if and where I can update maps for my GPS, the current ones are listed as being 2007?

Thanks

Not sure where you got that information, your girlfriend (remember she applies, not you) doesn't have to wait for 12 months from the issue of a tourist visa before she can make another application.

There is no rule saying that she needs to be out of the UK for six months before she can return, though she would normally only be permitted to stay in the UK for six out of twelve months.

She can apply whenever she likes, but of course she needs to satisfy the ECO on each application that the visit is genuine and that she will return at the end of the proposed trip.

I have only needed to do the 90 day reporting twice, both times in Bangkok.

When I exited the country a couple of weeks later I left the reporting receipt in my passport and the IO pushed it back without looking at it, so the next time I left the country after doing a 90 day report I kept the receipt in my pocket, I was stamped out without asking to see my 90 day report.

I just wondered if anybody had been asked for their 90 day report when leaving the country?

I'd imagine it has something to do with the facts that:

--Thais traditionally drink cheap beer and cheap whisky, and often even homemade...

--Thus the Thai beverage conglomerates make their money on cheap beer and whisky...

--Whereas wine has been a mostly niche/expat thing subject to import duties that help protect and preserve the alcoholic beverages market dominated by Thai beer and whisky concerns...

--And, from what I gather, only relatively small areas of Thailand have a suitable environment for growing wine grapes, being the cooler mountain area around Khao Yai.

--Plus, I'm sure, some other reasons as well....

So nothing to do with the health of the Thai people then??

I have found the Mont Clair to be perfectly acceptable and usually keep one of the boxes of the white in the fridge, ok I wouldn't serve for a gourmet meal but needs must.

Does anybody know the reasoning behind the high taxes for wine, given that you could buy two or three bottles of Thai "whiskey" for the same price of one bottle of wine?

Pretty sure you can, have a read of this recent thread, some people say it's far easier in Hong Kong. Some travel and visa agents will do it for you I believe.

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/223068-china-visa-update/page__hl__china+visa+bangkok

Theres no smoke without fire

A well thought out and fully researched observation that adds much to the debate, thank you for taking the time to submit your post.

Thank you for the post, March...

But... HUH????? That's a new one on me. I've never heard the criminal justice legal system here works in that fashion....

Dvornikov said Pletnev, 53, was released on bail of an unspecified sum and was not asked to surrender his passport. Thai law requires suspects to post bail even if no charges have been filed, RIA-Novosti reported.

It's similar in the UK. If the police arrest you because they suspect that you've committed a crime but they don't have enough evidence to charge you, can make you come back to the police station at a later date. In the meantime they will try to find more evidence against you or clear your name. Not sure if it is called bail, but it amounts to the same thing. Nothing unusual at all.Sometimes it takes time to invetigate a crime. You have to have enough evidence before you charge the person. Seems normal to me.

Yes it's called police bail, but in the UK there would be no media circus somehow turning up on your door step - unless you happened to be called Pete Townshend.

The media, Thai Visa included, should be publishing things like this were people are suspected of pedophilia. All it means someone is suspected and their name and sometimes photos are spread all over the world and their life is ruined for ever. Someone makes a possibly false allegation, police search their home find nothing and they are forever a suspected pedophile possibly ruin their own life.

Thisis gutter press

I really think you mean, shouldn't be publishing things like this.

It isgraceful to be trampling on young boys.

It most certainly is, but before one is subjected to the biased media circus, and even more biased TV posters, there actually has to be some evidence.

Let's just hope you don't find yourself subjected to such a media frenzy.

Regardless of the charge and the outcome ... What a nightmare to have that media circus trample around in your house without being able to throw them out. Disgraceful!

Absolutly right, and I suppose the media circus just stumbled accross this raid.

Bringing alcohol into any country "duty free" is supposed to be for your own consumption so it would be whatever the minimum age you would be legally allowed to drink, I think that would be 20 in Thailand - of course nobody under that age ever drinks alcohol in Thailand.

The alternative way is, get the company who want proof of address to write a letter to you, at said address, then sign and return their letter, they even let me return the letter as an email.

That's what I had to do when I got a Post Office Box in Bangkok, the Post Office sent a card to my home address which I had to take back to them, of course I also had to give them the obligatory copy of my passport.

Slightly off topic, I wonder how many people and organisations I have given a copy of my passport to over the years.

I think they would still want to see the details of her income or at least an indication of how she supports herself in Thailand, I would be providing an explanation of the discrepancy, backed up with evidence, in her covering letter.

As it was for a family visit your wife would have had a right of appeal, did you consider that? that would have been the time to point out the differing figures.

I'm assuming you and your wife live together in Thailand.

I have always thought Paul at TVE to be an honest broker and he is the first give advice and to say that an agent is not really required for straight forward applications like the one you describe, especially when you have researched everything on this forum, of course TVE is a business and they are not going to turn down work. As "Thonkorn" has said applying for a tourist visa is really quite simple, it's really a case of reading the rules and convincing the ECO that it's a genuine application and the requirements of the visa will be complied with.

Anyway, really happy for you both hope your girlfriend has a good holiday.

Yes i have and im sorry i dont concur with your brown nosing of the ECO's.

A very good result for you both, then you go and spoil it with a stupid remark like this, compounding it with the use of a large font.

Nobody, especially 7by7, is suggesting you "brown nose ECO's", whatever you mean by that, they can only make decisions on the information supplied, so I agree that you and many others will learn from your experience.

Anyway, well done and I wish you both all the best for the future.

Have you let the MFA know the latest news you have? This has to be your next move. They may be able to trace where she went after this if you let them know that she left Singapore on the 24/05.

That certainly is your next move, do they photoraph Thai's as well as foreigners? then they would be able to ascertain it is her.

Sorry attachment went bonkers.

The OP doesn't say what the check is for, he would of course only need to get any proof translated if it's not required in Thailand.

I'm in a rented condo and had no problem putting the landline phone in my name, just went to the True office in Fortune Tower, I am not on any tabian baan, yellow, blue or any colour.

They even sold me a VISA electron card for account that works fine abroad but not for online purchases as it does not have my name on it.

You can get an electron card with your name embossed, takes a couple of weeks and there is no extra charge. Still cannot be used online though, but as ThaiRich points out you can get a web based card for most online purchases, though a lot of airlies don't allow you to use them.

The account itself is not much use though to be honest, pay money in, draw money out, debit card that is useful (but only in Thailand), but not much else.

Don't really understand what you mean when you say the account is not much use.

My Kasikorn savings account gives me internet banking, as the op suggested, and the debit card can be used worldwide to access cash and make purchases, not sure what else I would need. OK you don't get a cheque book, I don't really need one as everything can be paid electronically, some countries are already in the process of phasing out cheques.