alant

error "is" an eclipse

how odd, there in an eclipse that day, now theres a thing

The simple answer is yes and the counter staff are, in my experience, very helpfull.

as mentioned elsewhere, there are a few drawback;

• the cheque will be cleared in the UK, this also goes for bankers drafts etc and this can take 30 to 50 days it depends on how well the paperwork was done, if someone had a heavy night etc
  
• if the sum breaches the $20k limit you will have to explain the reason for it and this can delay things
  

i find the charges, if any are hidden and given the exchange rate tends to be better than uk tourist you are often better off.

Transfer (wire) is much faster (a couple of days) but my bank has a heavy charge so the next time i am in the uk i may just get a wad of old fashioned cash and do it that way!

My advice would be to try a part of Thailand that isn't full of working girls to start with ! As another poster said. I cannot understand why a couple want to go to a part of Thailand renowned for its sleaze? I suppose that some people thnk Pattaa is Thailand ? sad really !

It is Thailand though. Also name me a town or city here where there aren't working girls.

Try Chiangmai a great place and if there are bargirls here they are well hidden haven't seen any yet and been here 2 years.

Really, I think you jest, or your wife reads your posts

I new they would stop flying pigs when Thai stopped advertising booze.

With 600 confirmed cases of flu, mostly in Mexico and no Thai airways flights that originate in Mexico (I think) this global hype is getting silly. If anyone had any sense they would just start up the smoking section on flights again thus removing the panic from a cough and catching the rare virus in the sticky mess the air filters would become

many thanks, +1 please

Hi

I think you have had some good info so I wont try to answer anything except yes there are Harley riders here and we have some nice rides to take especially if you like mountain views. Go to Richco for Harley on Wualai rd near Chiang Mai Gate.

just about all the comments that have been made re Pattaya V Chiangmai are correct including the one that you can always pop back down to Pattaya for a holiday which is exactly what the mrs and I are doing today now Songkran is over.

cheers

Hi Dustoff

sorry cant help, in fact asking if you will post when you have done as this is looming for me.

thanks

do you hold a PHd in scottish footballing facts and info?

Hi all, I am alant from Chiang Mai and I support BURNLEY

Just noticed today that there are quite a few visitors to the forum, who don't usually post. We like the football banter on here and the more the merrier.

So come on, introduce yourself and tell us who your favourite team is. It always helps if we know who we all support when it comes to a bit of banter.

Jockstar, could you make this a sticky?

I'll start,

Fav team= Manchester City. Discussion thread here:- http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/index.php?sh...&start=1600

However, i now live in Rochdale, so they are my favourite lower league team. Well, maybe not favourite but i look out for them every week Discussions on lower leagues here:- http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/index.php?sh...5&start=275

National Team:- Intentionally left blank, until i get my head around last nights result

Fair invite, thanks

my name = Alant

Fav team= BURNLEY I live in Chiang Mai and am usually the sole person wearing a Burnley shirt.

Unfortunatly as a champlionship team I dont see them on TV often BUT as long as we beat Southampton on Saturday, its the play offs!Will be in Pattaya, Nicks bar this Sat soi 7 if there are any more Clarets around (or Pompey fans given who we are playing)

Weeeeeeeeee, another thread about us and them.

When you use the term "us", please don't assume that we are all the same. If your "us" includes people of marginal income, lacking needed job skills or not possessing an ability to truly contribute to the well being and economic growth of Thailand, then yes, your assessment is correct. Horrible isn't it that

So let's look at your complaints shall we?

draconian visa regulations

Thailand has the same position as other countries like Australia, Canada, the USA and the EU. When was the last time you saw Australia set up a recruiting booth in Africa, India or even Europe and ask uneducated people that would contribute nothing of great value to the society or economy to move to Australia? You do realize that the UK, USA etc. all impose financial requirements in order to obtain investment or retirement visas right? Do you know how difficult it is for a Thai to get a tourist visa to a western country?

things like double pricing,

We already have a thread going on that but I know from my own experience in other countries that I often paid more for local services. Need some examples? Take boring Canada;

- University tuition for "foreign" students is in the tens of thousands while students resident in the province pay only a few thousand.

- Medical care is "free" to residents that may pay for some services such as non hospital based tests. Foreigners pay rates and costs that would preclude most Thais from obtaining medical care. For example, the charge to a non resident for a doctor visit can be $100-$250 depending upon the province. This is significantly higher than the $20-$40. a foreigner is charged in Thailand.

- Entrance to SixFlags amusement park in Montreal: Non residents pay approx. 2X the cost of residents.

150 baht charge to take your money out of an a.t.m.

What's your point? Western banks do the same thing. When use a bank that isn't my branch in the west, I pay an atm access fee + my bank's added fee. This can amount to 150B as well. I just noticed that my west issued Mastercard has been adding 200b fees to my card for purchases I made on the internet in the west.

,not being able to own land ,

Did you know that in Prince Edward Island, Canada non residents are not allowed to purchase land? The locals passed the law because they were worried about all sorts of rich foreigners coming in and buying up the province. It has withstood all sorts of court challenges because the law was intended to protect the local culture. Just like in PEI, if there would be a free for all in Thailand that would occur if foreigners were allowed to own land. Large chunks of agricultural land would be drawn out of the economy. Nevermind that, but alot of folks whining about not being able to buy land might then be whining about Indians, Chinese and Arabs forcing up land prices beyond the reach of western retirees because they were on buying sprees.

For those of "us" that are responsible citizens and have either the financial wherewithall or important job skills or that can help the economy, the welcome is there. If someone just wants to sit around drinking beer and copulating with impoverished sex workers in Pattaya and that would be considered trash in his or her own country, no the welcome isn't there.

Maybe we arew the lucky ones, the final generation to enjoy a fading paradise. I for one am glad I dont live in the too PC world of Gordon Brown et al in the UK.

Do I wish I could own fully my house and land? sure and if I was not so happily attached maybe I would be looking at new destinations like Vietnam but overall, it aint bad

good post, I agree with most said. Thailands needs to actually believe tourism matters at goverment level not pretend there is no problem.

Yes difficult times to attract tourists, but more can always be done. People have already mentioned prices and promotions (advertising) but these are just two out of dozens of pieces of the jigsaw. It needs a co-ordinated planned approach and that is something the Thais just aren't good at.

I thought I would take the slackers option and just re-cycle a letter I did for the Nation newspaper a while back (unpublished) ...

"Tourists are won, not bought"

I write in relation to yesterday's call by the Association of Thai Travel Agents for the Government to provide "money to promote growth and persuade tourists from everywhere to return".

Presumably another roadshow or two, and a few million baht more spent on glossy advertisements.

Travellers are already aware of Thailand, but they have limited funds, limited time, and almost 200 other countries to choose from. In making their holiday plans they are heavily influenced by their own previous trips to Thailand, and the Thai travel experiences of friends and family. It is in difficult times like this that Thailand needs to be able to draw on stocks of goodwill and loyalty amongst the travelling public. Alas this international goodwill account is now well and truly in overdraft.

Seeing a magazine advertisement will not be the deciding factor, more likely it will be memories or the recollections of others concerning:

* having goods stolen from them whilst travelling within Thailand, either by the staff of airports, hotels, and bus companies - and the subsequent wholly ineffective response by management, police, and TAT/Ministry of Tourism

* emailing repeatedly to hotels or tour operators but never receiving a response

* being accosted by street scammers and finding themselves bailed up in a gem shop or similar

* being unable to use the capital city airports because authorities had allowed them to be overrun by rent-a-crowd hooligans

With the exception of the last point, these are issues that have been ongoing for years due to buck-passing and other utterly ineffective responses by those who should be protecting the interests and security of foreign travellers.

So please no more roadshows and advertising campaigns. Instead start by opening your complaints folders and addressing long-standing issues there. And then publicise the decisive action you have subsequently taken to address such issues. You might find that this strategy achieves more than you would get for a 100 ad campaigns.

On a broader note, countries like Australia realised years ago that the responsible tourism agency could achieve little working in isolation. Tourism is not an industry as such, it is an amalgam of parts of many other industries - industries like accommodation, transport, retail, and so on. Thus the health and direction of Thai tourism is affected by decisions (or non-decisions) made by many different government agencies.

The first step is to educate all these various departments about the importance of tourism, and the significant role that they play in its success. The next step is to develop a whole-of- government strategy for tourism. Such a strategy must have input from all relevant government agencies, and a commitment from them that they will do their part to ensure its timely and seamless implementation. This is the stage where Thailand should be by now, but sadly simply isn't anywhere close.

The policy will be as always, "problem, what problem?" as the government refuse to admit that there is a problem with tourism or that tourism matters anyway. as times and money gets hard landlords will demand more, more businesses decides why bother and more out of work. Just watch, there will not be a problem

Does anyone know if kippers are available in Thailand shops, preferably Chiang Mai?

Quite happy for them to be the pre packed in vacume plastic etc. I have managed to track down most decent Brit breakfast items but this is proving difficult.

hi,

I have not digested all of detail here but I too had an application for a visit to the UK refused for my other half. In this case we were taking a holiday, myself, my partner (wife without papers etc) and her mother including seeing my partners sister and family. I filled in all visas, my partners was refused whilst her mothers was granted (therefore the trip was not possible). resons included uncertainty about return, financuial viability and a lack of evidence that we were an item. This despite the fact that we had provided evidence of our relationship and copies of our co ownership of our property valued at 10 million baht etc.

i came to the conclusion that they did not really read the application which is made worse by the fact that you do not see the visa staff on application you see a 3rd party. Even worse they smugly tell you you had every chance to get help, this is not true as they did not answer my phone calls (the 3rd party agancy you apply to).

an appeal takes forever and although i lodged an appeal i also made a further application with more detail itemising why the last one was refused.

this resulted in a face to face meeting for my partner and a visa. we had our trip and have now added another visa without problem

and the moral is? who knows

Up the Clarets, burnley smash yet another premiership side in the cup (well OK this time a different cup)

Burnley Supporters Club lives on! (Thai Branch)

No TV though and the BBC radio 5 said it was presenting the Arsenal v Cardiff game.... what game?

Hi

My Thai Wife has a current Family Visit Visa in her passport and we would like to take her daughter (14 y/o) to visit UK too. Which form does her daughter have to fill in as the form my Wife filled in VAF-1 asks about children but which form for a child that will ask about parents?

Any ideas would be greatly appreciated

Thanks

TJ

Hi

As far as I know, the same visitors visa applied fro on line is that one required for a visit. I have just fulled in applications for my Thai partner (her second visa), her daughter (first visa) and her sisters daughter who is visiting her sister in the UK married to a Brit living in the UK. The application was on the same form on line although the form varies the responses it requires depending upon the information you enter. One more thing, because of the value of the baht v the £ the visa fee stated on the application that you print out is incorrect, it is too high. You can buy a draft in the same building in Bangkok that you go to hand in your paperwork and do the biometrics