theoldgit

I'm not a fan of the police in general but this guy seemed to have been the exception to the rule, or at least my perception of the rule.

This outstanding officer has dedicated his career to trying to bring peace and fair play to a very difficult region, and is brutally murdered by these mindless thugs as he neared his, well earned, retirement.

RIP my friend and my sincere condolences to your friends and family.

Maybe, just maybe, this brutal and pointless murder may be the catalyst that turns the tide on these cowardly acts.

I would send via DHL for peace of mind.

DHL have refused to accept credit cards when I have tried to use them and EMS is only for items posted in Thailand, but I agree that International Signed For from Royal Mail is the best way.

When the average house falls to around 120000 (being 3.5 times main plus additional) then it may be deemed that a point of sanity has been restored.

You may well be right though I suppose those stuck with high mortgages on their inflated properties probably wouldn't agree, so would would happen to the economy when there are large numbers defaulting on their loans?

a mate of mine books through netflights call centre if leaving the next day (Netflights). I believe bookings departing within 72 hours must be booked through the call centre as opposed to the website.

anyway, I guess this post is too late....

and of course you would need a credit card which the OP said he didn't have, maybe he has a debit card.

http://www.englishmansretreat.com/

Worth a look

Is it this one?

http://www.englishmansretreat.com/

I have never stayed there but I have heard good reports.

In these dates of heightened security a lot of airlines are wary of last minute travellers who pay cash, it seems this is, or at least was, the favoured method of terrorists. Just be aware that if you go down this route you will probably get a flight but might be subject to special attention by security officials.

Yes, unless you both attend the amphur she has to file for divorce through the courts using specific grounds.

I posted the grounds some time ago.

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/post-a87458-...ivorce.pdf.html

So I can see the headlines in The Daily Mail now, I have paid National Insurance premiums for nearly 50 years (and yes I know entitlement is nothing to do with previous contributions) I still pay £500 a month on my occupational pension, I return to my homeland in despair and am refused NHS treatment, whilst the next person, who happens to be an illegal immigrant who is seeking asylum, is able to enjoy the full benefits of the NHS.

What's next then, no state pension for those living overseas?

1 - Yes Im sponsoring her and will show in the application I am able to do so. This will mean providing proof of my current financial affairs, possibly back 6 months.

2 - I just wondered if proving how was able to fund my time in Thailand was really necessary?

1 - That's all you need to do, it's your current financial position they will be intererested in, and of course that it's appropriate for you to be a sponsor.

2 - I wouldn't have thought so.

Is this necessary? Isnt the application about my partner and not me??

I have explained how I work freelance and work dried up towards the end of Dec 2008 and this gave me an opportunity to spend some time in Thailand. Do I need to show Employment contracts and bank statements???

yes, the application is your partners but if she is applying for a visa to spend time in the UK she will need to convince the ECO it js reasonable to do so.

If you are sponsoring her and paying her expenses then it you will need to provide bank statements to prove that it's affordable for you to do so. If she is paying for the trip herself then it is not neccessary for you to provide financial details, but she will need to to prove that the trip is affordable to her.

First of all your girlfriend will have to declare that she broke immigration rules in South Korea and was removed in her application, and whilst all applications are considered on their merritt, that will certainly be taken into consideration.

I presume that as you are considering the expense of a trip to Thailand to assist with the application that you are considering sponsoring her, in which case she doesn't need a wad of cash in her bank account, in fact a sudden influx will probably ring alarm bells with the ECO who considers her application.

Basically she needs to to prove that the trip is genuine, affordable and she will return at the end of her stay. If you are sponsoring her, you both need to explain that it is appropriate to do so and it's affordable to you.

The most important thing for her to do is convince the ECO that she will return to Thailand at the end of the proposed trip, does she have a job, is she studying, does she have property or other strong ties.

I would read through the posts on this forum and if you have any further specific questions then come back, but I wouldn't be jumping on a plane just yet.

I have said it before, it's not the Baht that is strong it's the GB Pound that is weak.

Thailand has seen an increase in the number of tourists and exports are up, so why does it need to devalue it's Baht to please a few Brits? and I am British.

Britain on the other hand is in deep doo doo, it is deep in debt, the political situation is in turmoil, the currency is falling against the US, Canadian and Aussie Dollers, the Euro and just about major currency. The economists and political pundits are all saying that the UK actually needs a weak pound to help the country get out of the deep sh*t it is in, so I think we need to buckle up and settle in for a rough ride as I think it will get a lot worse before it gets better.

So all I have to do is make a copy of your passport and send an application to Hong Kong with the small payment to cause you a great deal of trouble (your passport in invalid on receipt of application) and someone, at the address I put for return, gets a new UK passport. They seem to believe signed for receipt means something - in my experience it only means a body signed - not the person it was addressed to.

I still can not believe my eyes. Or all the old UK passports that will be available to counterfeiters from the trash bins.

I must be missing something. I must be missing something.

I share your amazement, but it's not just the trash bins is it, how many times are you asked for a copy of your passport? banks, checking into hotels, car hire and even the Jet-ski guy in Pattaya, as you indicate all a criminal needs is a copy of your passport and they can get a shiny new one sent to them by post, and the first time you know there is a problem is when you go to use your old one that has been cancelled. I am sure they have thought this through, maybe the photos submitted with the application that will be checked more rigorously, I really don't know, but I am sure that if the passport isn't used to evade border controls there will be increased cases of identity theft.

No way is any government going to issue a passport on the basis of a photo copy and mail back without verification. Am very sure you will have to use the Embassy for this in some way or other.

I'm sorry but appears the UK Government will, this is the relevent instruction from their web site, I am sure they can check the validity of the old passport:

In addition to your completed application form, photos and fee, you will need to submit a clear photocopy of the data page of your previous passport. The passport being renewed will be electronically cancelled and is therefore not valid for use from the moment you submit your application. On receipt of your new passport you must physically cancel your old passport by cutting the corners of the front and back covers. Failure to do so may leave your replaced passport open to abuse.

And to prove I'm not making it up, this is the link to the relevent page on their website, it's on section 4.

http://ukinhongkong.fco.gov.uk/en/help-for...ssport-renewals

its technically illegal to send you passport over international borders without the person concerned accompanying it.

There is no such rule and passports are sent across borders every day of the year and legally so (to obtain visas for countries with no Consulates).

What is not legal is for your passport to pick up border stamps without you.

I believe the new UK passport trip is by diplomatic pouch from Bangkok Embassy and return to Embassy where your old passport is void. But have not seen any first hand reports.

That may well be the case, but I asked the UK Passport Agency if I could send my passport the the UK for renewal and they replied:

Only applicant's residing in the UK can submit their application forms in the UK. You cannot send your passport to an office outside the the country you are residing in for security reasons.

The new arrangements involve only sending a photocopy of the biometric page to the Regional Passort Centre in Hong Kong, not use of the diplomatic pouch.

Certainly is interesting, imagine only sending a copy of you PP in the UK to renew and what would happen ??, guess this is a knee jerk response as the penny has dropped in the British gov that its technically illegal to send you passport over international borders without the person concerned accompanying it...

Bit more than technically, I emailed London asking if I could send my passport to the UK for renewal, they replied that it was not permissible to post it overseas - I thought they would catch on in the end.

Interestingly, you don't need to send your old passport to HK, only a photocopy.

That is interesting and solves my concern about being in Thailand without a passport.

Makes me wonder why we bother having a consulate in Chiang Mai.......

It's an honorary post, for which the post holder gets paid peanuts. The Honorary Consul is there, on behalf of the FCO, to represent the interests and provide emergency support to British Citizens in the area and is nothing to do with UK Visas.

It's worth noting that if you need to renew your passport overseas it will now cost 34% more than if you did so in the UK, a 48 page passport will now cost 8788B, including the DHL costs to Hong Kong, as opposed to 6500B in the UK.

Certainly worth renewing in the UK if time permits.

People intending to fly into the UK on 8th, 9th and 10th March should be aware that due to strike action by port staff from 07.00 on the 8th until 07.00 on the 10th, the UKBA are advising of delays clearing Border Control. They are putting contingency plans into place, though there will be delays. I suspect that people travelling on visas will be waved through and not subject to undue questioning, but I could be wrong. The action revolves round expenses paid to UKBA staff at the Juxtaposed Controls, so I suspect their will be little public sympathy.

http://www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/sitecont...dustrial-action

Wasn't sure whether to post here or on the travel thread, but I thought people travelling to the UK are more likely to read it here, maybe I should have posted it in both.

Nope, the visa fees, whether for non-immigrant or immigrant visas are the same for all countries, thus a rich Londoner pays the same as a Kumphawapi rice farmer for a visa APPLICATION. That's just for the application process, no guarantee that a visa will subsequently be issued.

Except that the "rich Londoner" (are there any left?) can visit the US using the Visa Waiver scheme, so doesn't need to apply for a visa for a holiday.

For me it's just the concern that money is flowing out the UK in such a marked manner. Modern economies rely on money flowing around internally, especially UK at the moment. It's got nothing to do if someone has faught in a war or not, or interfering with fundamental rights.

That may well be the case but also you must also factor into the debate that the UK is awash with workers from overseas, some legal and some not, some paying taxes and some not, many if not most are only in the UK to send money to their families in their own countries, though some are happy to make their new home the UK and will benefit the economy, though there are many "native Brits" suffering from the influx of foreign workers, maybe some of the affected are too lazy to work, but not all.

The UK spends more than seven billion pounds a year on overseas aid, now whilst I am not suggesting for one moment that this is cut I wonder how it compares to the cost of paying pensioners the pensions they have worked all their working life to receive.

All I am really saying is give the pensioners a break.

You misinterpreted me, Git. I was saying the same thing you are.

Sorry I was having a senior moment, it comes to us all, you will get there one day

Ummm ..... excuse me .... I take great offense with this statement. Receiving social security payments in retirement is not an entitlement, nor is being pissed about getting fecked out them a form of whining. Quite the contrary of sitting on one's lazy ass and sucking off the government teat during productive working years.

Calm down, why on earth should you take great offense, or as we Brits say great offence, receiving a retirement pension is actually entitlement in the UK and something you pay for during your whole working life. Brits have to pay a percentage of their salary into a National Insurance fund to pay for health and other benefits and to entitle you to a pension following your retirement.

So say you take offence about somebody expecting to receive a pension that he has contributed to throughout his entire working life seems a little odd. Your comment "Quite the contrary of sitting on one's lazy ass and sucking off the government teat during productive working year" actually doesn't make sense to me.

What I will agree with in earlier posts is that when paying National Insurance contributions it doesn't actually go towards funding your pensions, it goes towards funding current pensioners, and that is not sustainable. It's also worth noting that us spongers pay a fair bit for our pensions, when I retired three years ago I was paying in the region of 14,000B per month into the National Insurance pot, and I cannot receive my pension for a further three years.

For the avoidance I of doubt I am not whinging, wining, complaining or anything else, I knew the rules before I moved to Thailand and accept them, but it is very tempting to return to the UK, claim everything and be a real burden on the state.