bifftastic

I am afraid that this is a whinge for the sake of whingeing if ever I saw one.......

Didn't appear to be a whinge to me, just a question.

OP clearly stated he thought restaurants were trying to 'lessen the impact' of their food as they want people to enjoy it.

For me, I enjoy hot spicy food from all different parts of the world (Caribbean, southern India etc.) and Thai.

Someone previously mentioned that the same dishes are prepared differently in different restaurants, I think that's a good thing, shows the individual chef's particular 'take' on the dish. I enjoy trying the same thing in different places.

Usually, when ordering, Thai people I'm eating with 'have a word' explaining that I like Thai food prepared as it would be for Thai people.

But no, I wouldn't like them to assume I wanted a 'farang version'. I can imagine a similar English version of the same ....roast beef and yorkshire pudding with fish sauce and 15 chillies!

I do agree I think they may be genuinely worried that we can't eat it or won't like it if it's too spicy but I tend to pre-empt by making sure they know I want the real deal, even if it does set my mouth on fire!

her exact answer "sometimes yes, sometimes no, sometimes maybe!"

top answer! love it !

Funny. I know what you're saying......but here's the thing: the inconsistancy!!! Because she is actually intelligent and educated. If I said something about ghosts, if she thought I was serious, she'd laugh at me, saying I'm ignorant, and if she thought I was taking the piss, she'd say don't make jokes about ghosts, "you don't know that it's not true".

Furthermore, if I make the throw-away comment, "I just can't win, can I?", she says, "Do you have to win me all the time?" ("win me" = beat me (in competition)).

I started making bets with her; If I'm wrong, $50 to her, if I'm right, she pays me $50. (She has the dosh).

Having lost a couple of times, she doesn't make bets for money anymore, instead wagers things like who does the dishes.

hmm yeah inconsistancy i reckon that would p1ss me off too. Whatever stance you take you're wrong. My ex g/f (English) very well educated, bright, funny, intelligent etc. once had a right go at me, and I mean really started to tell me off, as we were driving through London. It went something like this...

her 'did you just go through a green light?' me 'ummm'

her 'you did! I saw that light, it was green!' me 'umm'

her '<deleted> are you trying to do? kill us both? me 'umm'

her 'well that's just bloody typical..blah blah blah (off on a great big rant about all kinds of unrelated stuff, her mother, her father, my mother my father etc. etc.) me 'umm, honey?'

her 'rant rant rant' me 'umm honey? the light was GREEN!'

her 'yes i know!.......(pause) oh yes, green is ok isn't it?.....well you were driving too fast anyway'.....followed by sulking for an hour.

Again, an otherwise perfectly reasonable intelligent woman, late twenties, responsible job, street wise (ok maybe not about traffic lights) displaying an alarming ignorance of an everyday phenomenon and, somehow, simultaneously being able to prove (to herself anyway) that this was indicative of MY stupidity!

After a while I just agreed with her all the time, again, that seemed to prove how stupid I was! Eventually I agreed with that too

^that actually happened to me once

What is it exactly that makes Thais like this? Even intelligent, educated Thais.

The water in the radiator thing...I can relate totally.

As for air in the tyres!!! She bought a new car recently and so clucks over it alot....refills the tyres every week, etc. The tyres have the recommended pressures printed on them so I fill them to that amount....not good enough: the kitchen hand at a friend's Thai restaurant (KITCHEN HAND, with no education and no English language!!!!) told her something else...so I am wrong, and the tyre manufacturer is wrong.

Filling up the petrol, I always selct "fill" and the bowser pumps untill some back-pressure stops it.

GF says, don't selct "fill", but select an amount ($70, say) because you lose all the petrol in the hose.

?????

I tried to reason with her that either way, there is always some petrol left in the hose and I pay for whatever I get. No, her sister's BF told her that selecting a specific amount means you lose nothing. Sister's BF is a scientist or mathematician or something? No. Uneducated, unemployed.....but still smarter than me.

I've actually become offended with this attitude from her and it has caused problems. Now, when I stand my ground with real science or logic backing me up, I'm a stubborn fool.

tell her you're filling up the hose for the next person because the person before you filled up the hose for you. If you leave 'air' in the hose (i know, there's no air in the hose) a ghost will get in your car/get bad luck.

If science won't work maybe a ghost will do the trick?

I think the trip is coming together nicely (in my mind anyway!)

one more question, does anyone know what documents, if any, Thai children will need to fly within Thailand? I checked Air Asia website and it only mentioned Malaysian children within Malaysia (who, if without ID cards, need to present birth certificates) Anyone done this in Thailand?

Cheers

Apparently birth certificates are required for the children to check in.

French people do have some concept of where the road is but no idea which bit of it they should be on (not quite true, they think they can drive on any part of it they like) and that there might be others using it.(again, they know you're there but assume only because you want to p1ss them off and interfere with their right to drive anywhere they like) I used to see them reversing round roundabouts, driving the wrong way down one-way streets at break-neck speed, flying through red lights…I concluded French people become temporarily insane when they get into a car. (not entirely convinced it's temporary)

I decided, when I had survived driving through France and made it to Italy, that Italians like to prove the existance of god by trying to kill themselves and everybody else whilst driving. The fact that no-one died proves (to them anyway) that god not only exists but loves them and protects them.

Spain was an eye opener too, again I reckon they start the engine, point the vehicle where they think they might want to go and leave the rest to divine intervention, just not quite as fast as in Italy.

Germany, well, as you might expect, they stick by the rules. One rule may well be you MUST drive at 150mph if the rules say you can.

New York was like driving in some kind of weird parade, 5mph bumper to bumper repeatedly sounding the horn.

I've only driven in Thailand for a couple of days around Phuket, didn't find it that bad actually. Bit surprised to see 8 people on a motorbike welded to a food stall cruising the wrong way towards me on a busy main road but they were slow so everyone survived!

I drive every day in London and whilst people generally speaking do stick to the rules, I often wonder if everyone has a completely different set of rules!

Have to say that if I see someone doing 23mph on a 60mph road completely oblivious to the fact that he/she shouldn't be doing that in the outside lane and the lane next to it simultaneously at 5:30 in the evening, chances are that person is Chinese.

A simple CTRL+F5 did it for me without cleaning the cache.

same here FF and vista

thanks btw

I think the trip is coming together nicely (in my mind anyway!)

one more question, does anyone know what documents, if any, Thai children will need to fly within Thailand? I checked Air Asia website and it only mentioned Malaysian children within Malaysia (who, if without ID cards, need to present birth certificates) Anyone done this in Thailand?

Cheers

In the UK night clubs always closed at 2 am - majority probably still do. When I first came to Pattaya the bars used to stay open till dawn. I always knew it was time to leave when i seen monks on the street. However, I now go to bed at 9 and get up same time as the monks - so I don;t have a problem and can see the error of my younger days.

2 am is about right - but seems a bit ill thought out considering the amount of toursim dependent jobs and income that depend on entertainment

in the Uk, well London anyway, pubs close about 12 (ish) 24 hour drinking as decried by the press when it was introduced didn't seem to encourage many pub owners to stay open all night! Bars/club type places usually 3am and larger nightclubs can stay open till 6 or 7am, all above board and legal although some stop selling alcohol at 3am.

There's always the good old fashioned 'lock in' in many pubs and there's always somewhere you can find at pretty much any time of the night to carry on if you want to. There always was even before the law 'allowed' it.

Even if you want to go to bed when it gets dark there's a thriving entertainment industry for people who don't, the clubs that open later (many in London don't open till after 11pm) get the custom from those that chuck out at 12 or 3am, the one's that are licenced till 6am are in non-residential areas, everybody knows the rules and some places get round them. Seems to me that what an individuals particular idea of the 'right time to go to bed' shouldn't really influence licencing laws. Business is business and if people want to party it's quite short sighted of a government to make it illegal as it doesn't stop it, they just don't get the revenue from it.

btw

Samui's had the BiB going round closing places at 2am too

Just read this thread, pool looks absolutely stunning mate! You must be chuffed to bits!

Thanks very much for sharing the pics here.

.......naked and semi-conscious foreign man lying on the front bonnet.

....... according to the stated address on his driving license.

So, um....where does he keep his licence?

There will have to be a bit of bus travelling or maybe we'll cadge a lift (Chiang Saen to Chiang Rai) but I can't be doing with 12 hours on a bus, the kids did it once but... hardly the best way to start a short break, anyway the flights are about the same price and it will save the best part of 2 days in total so the plane it is I reckon :-) for myself I do quite fancy a long train ride at some point but for this trip I just want the kids to get their feet in the sea/sand asap really (can't wait to see their faces when they do! hopefully i can post some photos here afterwards)

car hire from swampy might be a good idea (thanks) and we'll be going towards the end of Jan (22nd/23rd) so I'd be more comfortable with something pre-booked, if the place is on agoda etc. then the prices can easily beat the walk in rates, but I'm thinking there might be somewhere not known by the usual websites that members here can recommend (I'll check out springfield beach resort, thanks xonax)

thanks again everyone, very helpful. Keep the ideas coming :-)

Thanks for all the replies, some great sounding places.

Do you reckon we can just turn up and find a hotel? I must admit I'm a big fan of booking in advance, specially with the nippers in tow.

Flights seem easy to sort out, minibus/taxi from BKK sounds like the best way, i did try to look for flights chiang rai to airport near pattaya but couldn't find anything sensible so i reckon it'll be swampy.

Anyone recommend any specific hotels?

Cheers

Hi,

firstly, I do realise that Chiang Rai is about as far from the sea as you can get, and no, I wouldn't choose to start a trip to the beach from there!

I will be there in January and want to take g/f and two children (girls 8 and 6) to the seaside for a couple of days as the girls have never been to a beach.

I'm thinking fly to Bangkok and drive/taxi/bus whatever down to Cha Am/Hua HIn? But that's just off the top of my head and from looking at the map!

Anyone else got any better ideas? Experience of doing something similar? Places to avoid? Recommendations for hotels etc?

Nothing fancy, just for 2 or 3 days somewhere near a nice safe beach. Don't need nightlife/restaurants/bars etc. Clean rooms,Thai food and a beach will do just fine.

Thanks

Thanks everyone for the replies,

I can imagine someone at Hull inundated with such emails as i haven't had a reply since I sent the email over 10 days ago!

They should post a link to this forum instead!

As always well informed and knowledgeable.

I'll go with 'no evidence required'

Thanks again

Before I applied for a multiple Non Immigrant O in July to visit my girlfriend, I emailed the consulate in Hull asking the evidence question and they replied saying no evidence was required.

thanks for that,

I did try that but, as yet, they have not replied. I'll assume the answer they gave you still stands.

Cheers

Thanks Maestro,

appreciate your quick reply

The Hull website is confusing. With a bit of decyphering the reference to letter of invitation relates to volunteer work. Hull is a liberal consulate so do not believe you will have problems. No reports so far of any 'additional' information requests; just send in usual application form, passport, photo and fee. If you enclose a pre-paid special delvery envelope for the return of your passport with your application it will save you a few quid.

Thanks Thaiphoon,

I just checked out the application form from the Hull website;

Telephone (day-time): ___________________________________ Telephone (evening): ____________________________________________

Email address: ________________________________________________________________________________

_________________________

Current profession / job: ________________________________________________________________________________

__________________

Date of departure from UK: _______________________________ Date of arrival in Thailand: ________________________________________

Proposed address in Thailand (if known): ________________________________________________________________________________

_____

Proposed duration of stay: _______________________________ Travel details after Thailand: ______________________________________

Evidence substantiating purpose of visit (Non-Immigrant visa only):

_____________________________________________________________

I hereby certify that the information given in this form is correct

Signature of applicant: ___________________________________ Date: ________________________________________________________

Are you saying that I can just leave this 'Evidence substantiating' part blank?

Cheers

Not many people giving advice on this other than blaming the OP for smoking on his balcony. I can see your point, some people hate smoke. Maybe OP has, unintentionally, p1ssed off the upstairs neighbour by smoking and the sub-bass is his retaliation? Would have been better IMO for siad neighbour to say he didn't like it but hey, seems it's degenerated into a 'tit for tat' 'you do something i don't like I do something you don't like' thing now.

I've had situations like this before, one neighbour (downstairs) decided he didn't like it when I swept my floor at 10 at night but it was ok for him to scream and shout at his wife/kids at 6am EVERY day, another played very very loud reggae music but was amused at my request for him to turn the treble up so i could hear it properly. One situation (the reggae music) was resolved amicably, (we ran some tweeters into my kitchen and he didn't play music when I was working nights) the other rapidly descended into hostility.

Really, dialogue is the only answer and, often, that doesn't work either.

I would go see him and apologise (yes I know you don't HAVE to but it helps) for smoking outside, explain that you didn't want to upset him, smoke inside instead, and ask him if he could stop with the sub-bass.

It may be that he will or it may be that he won't. If he won't at least you have tried to be reasonable and then you can try to escalate via the building management.

Neighbour wars are horrible and I hope you can resolve this amicably.

Living in buildings with other people can be a 'lucky dip' with regard to neighbours, sometimes you have to move out for peace of mind.

this is from the public toilets near Bang Pae waterfall in Phuket, spelling's ok it just made me wonder...they must have had a problem with this kind of behaviour in order to have the sign made!

The toilet was very clean btw so the sign obviously worked!

I flew KL to Stansted with Air Asia in September this year and it was ok, not much legroom, no free drinks etc. but it was fine. Flew Thai before and although there was (a bit) more legroom it wasn't really noticeable. Being in a plane for that length of time is sh1t anyway so unless you're forking out grands for 1st or business I would say there's not that much difference.

Saved £200 on the flight(s) so I was more than happy. Definitely use them again. Also, depending on where you're going in the UK, Stansted is a dream compared to Heathrow.

Hull will issue. By all reports a letter from friends is not required.

Just fill the form in , enclose the money and post it.

OK thanks everyone,

I'll go with 'fill the form in, enclose the money and post it'

and if they want a letter I assume they'll ask? Or will they just turn the application down?.

If they do ask for a letter, what should the letter say? 'Please be so kind as to issue (my name) with a non imm 'o' visa so that he can visit me/my family in Thailand?' simple and straight forward, or more detail, as in itinerary/dates, travel plans etc? Getting a letter won't be too much of a problem, it'll just take a bit longer.

Also noted a post here about someone's multi entry visa being stamped 'used' at BKK effectively turning it into a single entry so I'll watch out for that on entry to the Kingdom

Thanks again

Agree with above - if going to stay for three months (often works out to be a bit longer) the multi entry non immigrant O visa sounds like a good option to get now. How long that "O" option will be available is starting to be an issue - several sources have seemed to have gone dry in last few months.

Thanks for the replies guys, I think the multi entry non imm o sounds like the best option. Seeing as it may not be available for much longer I may opt for getting one as soon as possible and cover both my visits with the one visa. Do you know if Hull are still issuing them or are they one of the sources that have reported to have 'gone dry'?

Also, on the Hull consulate website it says they are available for 'visiting friends or family' and that a letter of invitation is required, anyone have any pointers as to what should be in the letter?

I did email them but, as yet, have had no reply (I think I'll call them tomorrow).

Cheers.

Hi,

I have a very similar question so I hope it's ok sticking it on this thread

I will be coming to Thailand (Chiang Rai) in January,for three weeks, arriving from the UK by air so I will get the usual 'permitted to stay' 30 days on arrival stamp in BKK.

I want to visit Laos for maybe a day or two, leaving and re-entering by land border. Will I have to wait until the 15 days I will get when I re-enter the Kingdom is enough to cover the rest of my stay or can re-entry permits be obtained on a 30 day permission to stay stamp?

I'm assuming that when I leave Thailand for Laos my original permission to stay expires. I'm going to be applying for a non-imm 'O' from Hull as I hope to be coming back in May for three months so maybe I should get that before the January trip? Advice appreciated

Thanks