schmutzie

OK, this is the full topic/question:

I'm not UK born, but from an EU country and have been residing mostly in the UK for the last 10+ years.

I met my Thai GF on holiday start of 2009. I moved to Thailand from the UK and lived with her for the last year or so.

I'm now returning to the UK and would like her to join me. I assume I would apply for her UK visa from the UK embassy.

But as I'm not born in the UK or a UK citizen, would this likely throw a spanner in the works? Ie. she will be applying to

join an EU citizen in the UK.

I will talk to the embassies, but I've been wondering for a while what the MO will be.

Also, with regards to visa, when we get to that stage: Of course we can go the route of applying for a student or friendly-visit

visa, but I'm leaning towards a fiancee/wife type visa. Is it better we simply marry now, here in Thailand, to at least have that in the bank sooner

rather than later or is that premature?

I basically want to have the most freedom with regards to her being able to work or study or a combination there of when in the UK and not

have a 6 month visa deadline looming over our heads.

I know these are kind of big questions and will probably require more details. But for a start, it would be nice to know if anyone has

any experience with a visa application to the UK where the guarantor is a non-UK citizen.

I'm due for my first visit to the Chang Wattana Immigration office next week to get a one month extension.

Can anyone offer a brief low down on what to expect - and what to bring?

Eg.:

- How to get there?

- Bring what (passport, departure/arrival card, 2000 baht)

- How long does it take?

- Do they speak English?

Sorry to come across as useless, but sometimes it takes a while to stitch together all the details from posts here

and even the simplest task can get confusing in Thailand...For me, anyway. The visa stuff always makes me a bit jumpy.

On such a small amount you're close to the ATM withdrawal fees (assuming your debit card/bank is giving you a £250 withdrawal limit).

You don't provide the name of UK bank you have. I would recommend you use HSBC if you're in Thailand for the long term.

They will allow you to do an overseas transfer directly from your internet banking service. I don't recall the fee, but it's lower or equivalent to the standard SWIFT transfer rates.

If you don't have an HSBC account maybe have someone you trust relay the money for you.

You need a Thai bank account to transfer to. I use Kasikorn and would recommend them. There will be some minor fees associated with opening the account.

My recommendation would be to do a larger SWIFT transfer via internet from your UK high street bank to your Thai bank when you think the rates are reasonable. Transfer GBP and let the

Thai bank do the conversion.

If you're planning to do this regularly, you might want to consider a forex service. They don't charge fees, but as others have pointed out, the rate they offer is not good.

However, they will allow you to fix the rate for up to 1 year. You should note that not all are FSA regulated. So beware. Moneybookers. MoneyCorp and HiFX are major

forex services (HiFX is what the Post Office is using).

So there you have it:

ATM withdrawals at VISA rate plus fees plus ATM fee (probably 600THB per withdrawal)

SWIFT transfer plus UK fee plus Thai bank fee (probably 1000THB UK + 500THB Thailand) but better overall exchange rate (google Kasikorn Telex Transfer Rate)

Forex transfer - no fees but poor exchange rate. For larger transfer you might be able to negotiate a better rate.

As for PayPal, I believe you'll need separate accounts for your UK and Thai bank details. However, it was not obvious what exchange rate they offered when I looked at this option.

Because most Americans I see on TV appear to readily mix the concept of "The War On Terror" with "The War On Islam".

As such they seem to believe exactly what Al-Qaeda propaganda wants them to believe.

So it's not about tolerance, it's just about not understanding the issue. But funny post.

I can agree that the lack of security sounds worrying. And the delay in the reporting. I guess CCTV and motion detectors are not installed in or around the AG offices.

That being said, security is really a low-paid job anywhere. I've seen plenty of (night time) security in the UK go for a kip once the building has been observed to be empty. They're usually, at best, students, or are holding two jobs two make ends meet.

I have this week started to receive ThaiVisa newsletter emails to 3 separate email accounts, that are not associated with my user ID on this site. I do not have multiple user IDs.

In fact, I have no idea how ThaiVisa would have gotten hold of these account details. The only explanation seems to be that they were harvested when I have replied to ThaiVisa classifieds postings.

I would suggest that you immediately stop this practice, or make it very clear you are retaining the emails entered when using your private reply system.

I have communicated with support at ThaiVisa who have simply advised me to unsubscribe from the mailing lists. They have not addressed how, when and why they obtained these emails in the first place.

Short of putting hundreds of thousands of soldiers everywhere in Bangkok there really isn't much authorities can do to stop urban guerrilla bombers. Isolated bombings would be difficult to stop even with a massive military presence. This is especially true for launched grenades and bombs set in trash bins. There is virtually no way to stop this kind of activity.

In close proximity to a police facility in close proximity to government house? A bomb in a bin in a residential area is a different matter.

A bombing like this should not be possible, even less so when one considers that the SOE is in force.

Respectfully, I disagree. It only takes one second to drop a bomb in a bin. Even if 50 soldiers are stationed within 50 meters of the bin it wouldn't be too difficult. Eyes cannot be on every single location at every instant. That is the terrible thing about terrorism. It is so easy to accomplish.

Getting away is only slightly more challenging. This is especially true in countries lacking the money, equipment, and expertise to do proper forensics.

Which is when you call for assistance from agencies in countries that do.

As for eyes, this is where the public can help a great deal.

Short of putting hundreds of thousands of soldiers everywhere in Bangkok there really isn't much authorities can do to stop urban guerrilla bombers. Isolated bombings would be difficult to stop even with a massive military presence. This is especially true for launched grenades and bombs set in trash bins. There is virtually no way to stop this kind of activity.

True. That's why you have surveillance, informers and other intelligence gathering networks in place and you kick these into overdrive when these things happen. And at least inform the public so they know what to do and what number to call if they find something suspicious.

The lack of warnings are interesting. I would expect someone organised/having a cause, to want to avoid drastic casualties. I haven't heard of any of these being called in beforehand.

I have no experience, but some things that popped up in my head: First of, like others say, how much of a return are you looking for on that investment and how do you see that return grow? If you need say 10k a month for your wife/family, that 120k a year on a 2m investment. Quite good/high by many standards.

And that's disregarding any risk and hedging against that. As others suggested, are you perhaps better off researching investment opportunities/savings with banks, even a high interest savings account with your own home country bank?

I will assume instead that you're also looking for something to keep the family "busy". I would not put all my eggs in one basket, even if 2m is not a lot. And I would be careful that Thai people, IMHO, tend to look over the shoulder at what the neighbour is doing, as in "oh, they sell plastic brooms and seem to make good money so I'll do that too". That is, little originality or "market research".

With all that being said, here's what I would look into:

A local taxi/car hire service. For 2m you could pick a couple of second hand pickups, maybe even a people carrier also. Maybe some local schools need a van to pick up/drop off students. Locals who don't have a car, need one to take stuff to market etc. etc.

Are there any nearby transport hubs? How are they serviced...Rural taxi service is often scant and pricey. You could perhaps carve out something there.

Any nearby markets? What is being sold there? Is there anything that you could perhaps get from Bangkok (fashion) that would sell there? You can set up an exclusive deal with a wholesaler in Bangkok and simply order in bulk from a catalogue.

Micro loans. Locals often need a little money to invest or make ends meet or reach the next pay check. even having to avoid taking a long trek to the nearest bank/ATM. There will inevitably be loan sharks in operation. Of course, you should not become a loan shark, but you may be able to get a decent return even as an ethical lender. You need to research how to do this in a legit way.

With regards to land/property, it's hard to predict how this will pay off without comprehensive research. Student/Lo-co housing seems to be fashionable at the moment. I don't know if 2m is enough, though. Could be. But then it's all eggs in the proverbial basket. I guess the plus side is that you could raise more equity based on the assets you already have.

In all cases, I would seriously look into how that money could be made to grow anywhere but in rural Thailand first. Or invest 1m and do something else with the other 1m (do a long term stock purchase).

I don't get it...Thai people seem to be in a position where they have to accept that the culprits will not be caught and this problem will just go away once the "political situation" is resolved (although Suthep has previously instructed the public not to reach "negative conclusions", meaning that it could, in a "positive sense" just be a criminal act or vandalism?). Or Thais have to assume that the authorities are doing their best and making progress behind closed doors?

I don't get it...

Are you in Bangkok?

I would talk to a large vet/animal hospital. Thonglor Pet Hospital advertises a service for this, WRT getting the correct paper work and check ups for the dog.

I suspect it'll cost a fair bit though, so shop around.

I think you have given the answer already. The problem is that your OCR software/hardware is not processing the Thai type.

You need to either find a replacement solution that does or look for something to fix that issue from the vendor.

What product(s) are you using?

Have used them once and thought them to be excellent. Sadly have not been able to find good deals from them on LDN-BKK since.

Personally i think this is a load of old crock, simple to boost site views with tv's new alliance.

The rules have been in place for years, and i have heard that people have been stamped out in the past day or two with 2years plus overstay with no problem.

But isn't that the whole point. In the past yes, but not anymore.

Like others stated, there are perfectly legal ways to remain here without overstaying. I take it that those who neglect this are doing so for financial gain, ie. they do not want to spend the money to go abroad and obtain a new and valid visa. They're pissing on those of us who do.

No mention of Law.

No mention of "something bad" preventing travel.

No mention of "demand for immediate service".

Well, the Law once said you had to notify authorities of Jews hiding... Laws are written by humans and sometimes those laws are bad. This particular law is nothing but another method of extracting more money out of farangs. Farangs are not exactly competing with Thais to get jobs or get allowance money out of Thai government. No, you are on your own here, unlike in the West where you will get government money in many cases as foreigner or at least health care.

Thailand would benefit greatly by allowing foreign ownership at least smaller companies and making immigration laws much more clear. Visa runs are totally useless, another method of extracting money out of farangs, in a way another broken window fallacy. For example in Mexico, if you can show 1000 dollars per month income coming abroad, you can stay. Easy and simple. No hassle with this mammoth bureaucracy for the benefit of that same bureaucracy.

That's an absurd argument, if even a little distasteful...

I will fail to mention the latent racism that I detect in many a fellow expat that I encounter out and about, but simply advice you to check the immigration laws of your own countries and I think you find that they are considerably harsher than anything you might encounter in Thailand. I think we're applying double standards.

Sure, the "up to the officer" is a completely vague but you can flip it and say, that at least Thai bureaucracy allows for some flexibility. In good and bad ways.

How many times have you found yourself in your home country shaking your head in disbelief, because some regulation says "no"...And just that. No arguing, no buts.

Anyway, it's obvious how to not make this affect your life in any way possible. Simply abide by the rules. It is not your privilege to have the rules re-invented at your convenience. You are not special.

For those who are suggesting amnesty, I would object that the people who have been overstaying have known all along what practice that they were engaging in and that the rules could change at any time. They should either have planned for this or admit that they were playing a loosing game.

Oh finally a good news! i was so concerned about going out at night time (but even during the day for that matter), knowing that i might eventually came across one of the very feared "overstayers" , i can cope with almost any sort of issues or dangers, but having to deal with a man/woman which is not a "quality tourist" is already bad enough, leave alone someone which break this vital law! is just too much, nevermind the killers, scammers, abusers,cheaters,thiefs around us, the constant chronic break of safety standards and human rights, etc.., go and get the overstayers that's the real crime in this country, the main priority for the resolution of all major problems affecting the country for sure, thank you amazing Thailand!

Just pray you never fall into this category, I feel sorry for you to be so anti Foreigner. Use your head, some people just having bad luck.

I'm pretty sure the poster was being sarcastic, hence the emoticon at the end of the post...

Those on overstay will just stay here and not go near a border, some of them are working here so why risk being arrested at a border, why not try and get as much money as possible.

Computerising the borders and all Immigration departments and then linking them to Central Immigration, would help as then they would have names and address, and know exactly when the visitor will have to do a border run, if no border run is done or no departure card/extension entered into the system, then the name is flagged and immigration start searching for the Overstayer.

What makes you think that this is not already the case?

Hello Natwest give me a card but i don't have to do anything with you,whoes Hi Fix then..No Charges,sounds a bit to good to be true.:jap: .

TorFX is another option. I don't understand too much about these type of businesses but I am looking into them as a possible way of transferring my UK State pension to Thailand when I start to receive it next year.

Check out their website at www.torfx.com/personal

Hi FX looks good to me. More streamlined than some of the other FX services I've looked at in the past.

Also need to read the small print just to be sure, but the current THB rate they offer seems good.

But it's really only the fact that Natwest are unable to provide a decent International Transfer service that's pushing me to do this. Silly.

Hmm, I'm one of the few that occasionally will let my dog sleep in the bed. Needless to say, ticks are everywhere the next morning and I change the sheets and clean the bed room.

I'm pretty sure I've had a stingy sensation more than once, but I just never gave it serious thought. You have me a little worried. But not too much

What goes up must come down again. I'm sure the Baht - Euro / - GBP / - USD etc. will return (more or less) to its' former value. It's just a question of time (or another crisis).

Do you mean the 25 Baht to the Dollar and 38 Baht to the GBP that it was in the early 90's ?

Thats the one, and what happened in late 90's??? a crash.

In my opinion, the one coming this time will be much worse then the previous one.

That's a pretty vague prediction. I guess you're not betting millions on this actually happening.

I haven't really followed the USD vs THB rates that closely, as my money is in GBP. And that currency seems to be on a bumper ride that I don't see with even the USD.

Having 10% wiped out of my savings is not the end of the world. More like a hard lesson learned.

I don't see how the appreciation of the THB will affect tourism numbers that much. Again referring to a 10% difference, I can't see how that will put off your average tourist.

I'd say a family coming here for two weeks on a budget of maybe 2000-3000GPB will not stay at home in order to save. They'll be aware that they've lost out a bit, but they'll come: Thailand still offers great value in terms of climate and options for any kind of budget. The backpackers spend so little it won't make a difference to them either.

The main threat to tourism is the political violence. And I'm seeing lots of white faces in Sukhumvit, even though that was at its height only a few months back.

I am concerned that Thailand appears to be a little ahead of the curve in Asia. And still not convinced low income population stands to gain in any way, unless the government starts pouring billions of baht into the education system.

As for the UK and the GBP I fear the worst. But she'll sort herself out eventually.

OK, I guess talking to people in the area is the way forward. There's another similar building nearby, which the abandoned project looks like it might have formed part. Will start there.

Is there an easy/quick way to locate the owner/title holder to a land/building?

Specifically, I want to find the owner/developer of an abandoned construction project in Bangkok.

Normally, I would expect to get this information from the local town hall/planning department. What would be the equivalent for that in Bangkok? What are the fees?

As always I urge anyone contemplating attending a thai language school to go visit as many as you can, and attend as many free lessons as you can BEFORE you pay your tuition money. What I may think is the cat's meow as far as a school and/or its methodology, you might try it and think it totally bites. What works for me may or may not work for you giving different people learn differently. Please do your due diligence BEFORE paying for a school, don't bitch, piss & moan afterwards because you didn't.

I think this is sound advice and confused why I never even thought to do just that. Had my mind set on a particular school as they are spread over Thailand and seemed "established". But as pricing is similar for the 1 year ED visa, I think it would make sense to at least test the waters with 5-6 other schools and study their method before dropping the money. Thanks.