theoldgit

seeing as Xmas is only 1 day a year I splash out and do it in style so I have booked in at cafe Des Amis again this year

they do a very elegant Xmas dinner with champagne and smoked salmon reception it's very high class i took my parents there last Xmas they loved it, didn't feel like we were in a restaurant, very homely, there menu is on their site, Www.pattayabistro.com

I have to say that this place looks the business.

How awful.

Those bars at the windows "to prevent burglaries" always scare me, I suppose it's a balance between the risk of burglary and the risk of being trapped in a fire.

You might want to ask one of the moderators to move this to the visa section where you are more likely to get the answers you seek.

Just remind me again what is actually achieved by restricting alcohol sales in the afternoon?

A pretty good advert for Eva, I think their response will pay off.

Just need to work on Thai Customer Services now

I wonder it they will be showing The World Cup?

Yes, yes, yes... but, AirAsia doesn't allow you to purchase online when requested travel is within 24-hours.

Now I suppose you will suggest I use their call center and book it that way. You should try that some time!

I thought that when you made your post, I have been in this position a couple of times, have you tried using one of their booths in Tescos and the like? I have usually gone to their booth in Tescos at On Nut, there is direct access from the BTS, it's convienient for me but of course depends where you live.

Are you travelling on an international Thai flight, if so you will of course have to factor in time for clearing immigration in Bangkok.

You can save a bit of time by checking in on-line for your Air Asia flight and printing your boarding pass but if you have bags to check you will have to hope that they have oppened the bag drops early enough, they don't always.

As rheinwise says you should be ok but be prepared for a little nail biting as there some elements out of your control.

Oh well want have to watch AXB Beyond, or anything else for that matter, tonight, the ruddy cable is down again.

Having had a taster of the additional channels on Platinum over Gold I won't be too happy to pay an additional 500 Baht for an additional 6 channels that I won't ever watch.

Nor would I, that AXN Beyond is terrible beyond belief, IMHO.

For me it would depend which package had the football and F1.

and where does one find fresh grapefruit juice pray tell?...I can only find the stuff in cans at Foodland on soi 5...

The fresh grapefruit juice I am referring to comes in bottles, I think called Florida, and can be found in the chilled drinks section of Villa and Tops, they also do orange and apple.

Quite how fresh it is I don't know, but certainly fresher than the canned variety, Tops are also doing Harvey's cartons of grapefruit juice for 89 Baht at the moment, down from 109.

The republic is a schengen state & therefore the wife of an Irish passport holder would be governed by different rules for schengen states than the wife of a UK passport holder.

I am very sorry to correct you Boo but for clarity Ireland is not a Schengen State, though like you I would like know about this little known rule that has been referred to.

Whilst EEA nationals have the right to live and work in The UK as do their families, Non - EEA family members should get an EEA family permit before they travel to the UK if they are visa nationals, maybe this is what he is referring to, but UKBA can still, and do refuse some applications.

Puts a whole new meaning on Stuffing the Turkey.

Maybe a shortage of US citrus this year? These things are seasonal based on crops and weather.

Hadn't even thought of that, I blame everything on the value of The Baht.

You obviously have a narrow view - quote: 'helping victims of the drug trade'. This girl was also a victim.

It was my job, I was trained to do so.

If you are going to quote me please don't be selective, I said "I have spent my life helping people helping getting over their earlier mistakes and this includes the victims of the drug trade, be they addicts, mules and to an extent even the dealers" and that's exactly what I meant, I helped everybody, that's what I was trained and paid to do.

Self righteous I might be, though I am not sure what evidence you are using to prove that, but you are entitled to your views.

I do however find your posts confusing, who actually are the scum you are referring to? You say this girl who, whether willingly or not, was part of the supply chain and still suffers, was a victim, then go on to say that that users of drugs are quick to use the drugs for an excuse for being the scum they are. Also the people who condemn her are also scum, is everybody scum in your eyes?

You will see that I have remained polite, it's not very hard you know.

I have always enjoyed, hel_l I'm almost addicted to, grapefruit juice, I had always thought it was highly priced in the region of 119 to 125 Baht for the fresh Florida Juice but I put that down to the cost of importing it.

I have noticed that of late it's being sold at a price at 145 Baht, that's an increase of about 16%. As the UD Dollar is down in value against the Baht I would have expected it to come down in price or at least stay the same.

I know I must be pretty sad, but humour me.

I think she paid dearly for the terrible mistake - she made as a young lady. So many people here are ready to condemn her for life. These types are the real ignorant scum.

Little naive mules are hardly responsible for the major drugs problems around the world. Perhaps a little education is in order here!

And a little politeness wouldn't go amiss either.

People who condemn others because of their mistakes are ignorant my opinion. But obviously you know better

I am not arrogant enough to suggest I know better and nowhere have I suggested I do, I have spent my life helping people helping getting over their earlier mistakes and this includes the victims of the drug trade, be they addicts, mules and to an extent even the dealers.

Maybe you should show some common courtesy and not say that people who do not agree with your views "are ignorant scum".

I think she paid dearly for the terrible mistake - she made as a young lady. So many people here are ready to condemn her for life. These types are the real ignorant scum.

Little naive mules are hardly responsible for the major drugs problems around the world. Perhaps a little education is in order here!

And a little politeness wouldn't go amiss either.

the French website is saying ideally you should apply for your visa 90 days in advance. does anyone have any experience on the turnaround time from application to acquisition of the french schengen visa at the local embassy?

We went to Paris a couple of months ago, my girlfriend submitted her application on a Thursday and collected her visa the following Tuesday.

It was a painless experience but you do have to provide them with copies of a confirmed itinerary, hotel bookings, travel insurance and the like which they say they will check, don't know if they actually do. They did keep all the paperwork so I would suggest submitting copies, but taking originals with you.

Hope you have a good trip, Paris is a beautiful city and was certainly the highlight of her trip.

Don't forget that if you intend visiting the UK she will need a separate visa, which in the circumstances you describe should almost be a formality.

But it's only for travellers who require a visa entering the country so it will hardly monitor the movements of UK citizens, though I suspect that when e-borders is fully implemented that may provide monitoring of suspects.

I believe that the US has been carrying out fingerprint capture and photographing on all arrivals for years.

" and they will be done by the scanning of two fingers",

Do we get to pick which two we hold up to get checked?

I worded like that for that very reason, but sadly not

Just to advise the UKBA has introduced, from 30 November, the checking of fingerprints against those recorded in biometric capture on visas, for those seeking entry at the Port of Entry into the UK, they assure travellers that it will not take any longer than the current checks, and they will be done by the scanning of two fingers. They say that the purpose of this latest check is to ensure that the person who has actually applied for the visa is the one seeking to enter.

They do warn that if you refuse to have your fingerprints checked you will be subject to further checks, but go short of saying that a refusal would automatically result in entry being refused.

As a matter of interest a similar method of fingerprint capture is used by UKBA Enforcement Officers to check if a person has ever made an asylum claim in The UK or elsewhere in Europe, courtesy of Eurodac.

The poor poor man, I just cannot imagine what he must have been going through.

May he now rest in peace.

I think I have mentioned before that I was nearly mown down some months ago whilst crossing one of the crossings that actually had a red traffic light protecting the people that were crossing on a green pedestrian signal, the woman driver glared at me because here was me, a mere foreigner, having the nerve to cross the road causing her to disrupt the conversation she was having on her mobile phone.

This crossing was actually outside of a hospital, perhaps they installed it to drum up some business.

The crackdowns usually last like 5 to 10 days... then the police go off to do their usual 'work'

Really, 5 to 10 days, as long as that?