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bifftastic
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Posts posted by bifftastic
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it's £2 cash fare on a bus in London
as for the mancs and the scousers....they'll both have the sugar out yer tea!
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all good info in the above replies.
the City Tax you refer to is called 'council tax' and is not paid direct from your salary by your employer as is the case with most people regarding Income tax and National Insurance on the PAYE scheme (Pay As You Earn). If you're self-employed then you have an accountant and do your tax returns and pay your own NI. Usually pay too much and get a tax rebate towards the end of the financial year.
Council Tax is levied (as the name suggests) by the local council where you live, and is based on the value of your home (discount for living alone) and varies around the country. Mine (in London) is £73 a month. 1 bed flat (apartment). If you are renting then you need to contact them as soon as you can so they will allow you to pay in 10 monthly installments, if you miss a couple then they send you a nasty letter and make you pay the whole lot in one go.
Hope this helps.
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If you can afford it I'd go with the heathrow express and jump in a black cab from Paddington to Kings Cross, St Pancras or Euston (not far at all even if the traffic's bad) depending on where you're going.
The tube is cheaper but it's a long long way to Kings Cross!
Personally, I find the journey away from the airport the worst part of the whole marathon.
Heathrow Express isn't really an option for me as I live in East London. I hate the tube but my free pass talked me into it!
Re the Oyster card, 2nd january they reckon it will be operational on the national rail links in London. Only really relevant to regular travellers who currently need 2 ticket types to get the cheaper fares in town.
Heathrow is, generally speaking, a complete nightmare to get to, and away from. If you're heading north on a train and don't want the hassle of the tube I strongly advise the Express to Paddington.
Give the bus a swerve too, specially after 14 odd hours in the sky!
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Ah, the lovely Britishisms. Does a bespoke suit have spokes, or tokens? Are they made from main-sail canvas? Is Savile Row savage?
FYI (from wikipedia)
Savile Row (pronounced /ˈsævɪl/, both vowels short with accent on the first syllable) is a shopping street in Mayfair, central London, famous for its traditional men's bespoke tailoring. The term "bespoke" is understood to have originated in Savile Row when cloth for a suit was said to "be spoken for" by individual customers.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Savile_Row#ci...BusinessWeek1-0 The short street is termed the "golden mile of tailoring",http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Savile_Row#ci...BusinessWeek2-1 where customers have included Winston Churchill, Lord Nelson, and Napoleon III
Savile Row was built between 1731 and 1735 as part of the development of the Burlington Estate, and is named after Lady Dorothy Savile, wife of the 3rd Earl of Burlington. It originally ran from Burlington Gardens (then Vigo Lane) to Boyle Street, with houses only on the east side, but in 1937–8 it extended to Conduit Street, and in the 19th century houses were built on the west side.
So, no 'spokes' but 'spoken for' and as to Lady Dorothy Savile's temperament, savage or otherwise, it's anyone's guess.
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It is just an affadavit that shows where you live in Thailand. If you are a USA citizen you complete the form yourself and an Consular Officer asks you if you swear under penalty of perjury that the information on the form is true. If you answer yes they sign it and stamp the official Embassy stamp on it. It in reality means nothing but Thailand loves stuff stamped for your home country Embassy. For USA citizens it is currently 1,030 baht. For UK citizens I think it is around 2,300 baht from the UK Embassy.I see in the first post it says "adress confirmation letter" from Embassy is required.
Is this confirmation of "address" or of "residency" as I am not resident but visit every year for 6 months.?
Might have guessed the good ole Uk embassy would be raving expensive!! So having your name in the Yellow book is no good for proof of address then when applying for a 1 year licence?
Wow this is a long long thread!
Thanks to everyone for posting very useful information.
I think I know what I will need but I have a question. I've seen posts from US citizens saying they basically swear that their address is correct and their embassy take their money and stamp the letter.
Does anyone know what the UK embassy/consulates require for their (doubly) expensive stamp? I'm going to be living with g/f in her sisters house, how do I get proof of living there?
Won't have any bills or official letters in my name there which is the normal UK way of proof of address, anyone got any experience with this? I've emailed UK consul in Chiang Mai (I'll be in Chiang Rai) and hopefully it can all be done by post as I don't fancy schlepping around for paperwork. Going off what has been said in this thread the Amphur documents are no longer acceptable by the DLT, although most of the posts refer to Bangkok, anyone done this in Chiang Rai?
Appreciate your help as always.
Biff
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So he was arrested for carrying sugar or some other form of white powder, not being drugs.
I wonder what the charge will be
Not sure if it's the same in Thailand but in the UK the charge would be 'going equipped to cheat' after the so-called drugs had been tested at a lab.
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Don't even think about trying to understand a woman that is in that situation. AND be real careful when approaching her with your concerns as it may backfire on you. Drugs in particular methamphetamines make people crazy SERIOUSLY CRAZY! You said earlier the other people around know whats happening there. Get together with all of them and speak to a high ranking police officer AND what little official abuse help is available . Sad but it happens way to often and not only in Thailand. Remember to CYA cause you may open a can of worms when you step in and be prepared for anything imaginable to happen cause it will!
Firstly i would like to say that this situation must be an absolute nightmare. The children are suffering every day. Very difficult to know the best thing to do.
I think the advice I quoted is by far the best I've seen as yet.
Often, in these situations, the woman is caught up in something she cannot, for reasons of her own (drug dependency, emotional issues, possibly grown up in a similar environment) see any way out.
It is very possible that she will not respond to offers of help and you can get yourself in trouble and not make the situation better.
But something does have to be done.
If you can, then I would definitely go down the route of involving as many people from the community as possible, contact the institutions that neverdie has researched for you together.
From the outset it needs to be clear that the whole community is as involved as possible. Everyone will be thinking the same. 'we want to do something but don't want/cannot be singled out by this scumbag as retribution is very possible and puts us and our families at risk'
Get everyone together with representatives from the help groups and show a united front. You will all be able to do something about this terrible situation. Even if he has some police on his side, if you all make a stand he will at least have to move and the agencies neverdie pointed you towards will have strategies in place to approach the woman and 'hopefully, rescue her children.
I hope, for the childrens sake and for the neighbourhood that you can all manage to do something.
How awful it must be to hear their screams through your wall!
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I see that this thread has wandered off into 'I think it's wrong because it's like buying a wife...I would never do it' versus 'It's what Thais do you should just pay it' and the ensuing slanging matches between people of the different viewpoints.
In the end, everyone must do what they and their wife to be are comfortable with.
If a woman in England is married twice the father of the bride may or may not cough up again. It was the tradition but people work around it and these days most people pay for their own weddings.
My girl was married before, only Bhuddist ceremony, no paper, same as the OP. Husband paid 30,000 baht plus 2 baht gold. She says 'can pay two times or three or four is ok up to everybody' I think she means you need to talk about it with your g/f and her family but there's no hard and fast rule that it only gets paid once. She definitely knows it's just for show at the wedding and you should negotiate the return of at least half of it if you will need the money for the future success of the marriage (ie buying a house etc.)
As for how much 'Up to you'
Silly to leave yourself skint just to show off at the wedding, having said that many people in the UK do the same, borrow tens of thousands and blow it all on 'the big day' then spend years paying it back whilst others are more sensible.
If you can afford it then you'll be showing them that you have money to throw around. If you were marrying my daughter and I hardly knew you, and you threw money around I'd ask you to keep throwing it, in my direction!
If you talked to me and told me you wanted a great wedding day but also wanted to make sure you could provide for a stable future and would definitely not be sponsoring the whole family ad infinitum. I'd respect that.
Cultural things are what they are but everyone has to live in the real world and you, and your wife to be, need to be happy. So you need to talk about it with her first and the family next.
They may have an idea in their mind about what would happen ideally and they will need to move towards your position and you towards theirs.
Hard to say what is best to do without knowing them. I know my friends daughters boyfriend impressed him when he (eventually) plucked up the courage to tell him to '<deleted> off and mind his own business' I'm not suggesting that as a course of action, merely trying to point out that you need to get to know the rest of the family, rather than just seeing them as this whole 'Thais are like this or Thais are like that' thing. They will also be regarding you in similar terms 'Farang are like this Farang are like that'
Everyone involved in this brings their own cultural perspective to the table but if happiness is to be one of the products of the whole process then they will all have to see through as much of that as is possible.
They're people, and people are all different.
Good luck
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Thanks,
didn't take it the wrong way. I thought there was enough information in the OP. Can't think why anyone would need to know why I asked about Chiang Saen.
I'll google.
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No-one? nothing? not even a 'don't bother'?
*sigh*
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I'm coming to Chiang Rai in January and have spoken to a few people who have been there already and it's precisely because it's not a tourist destination like Phuket or Koh Samui that I and the people I spoke to want to visit.
As residents you will be more aware of the development needs of your area and, as is the same for many provincial areas in many countries, there must be a 'talent drain' to the larger cities and more prosperous areas which would almost certainly need to be addressed for a number of very valid reasons.
But as far as food goes, I can eat farang food every day here, if you had 100 farang restaurants I wouldn't go in one of them. OK a pie and mash shop with real licker I would frequent, but those are dying off in London anyway!
I'd be interested to know about the expat population in and around Chiang Rai, are you mainly all in the city itself or spread out around the countryside? It strikes me that the countryside must be so beautiful I would imagine you are all a bit spread out, which again would create problems for anyone catering specifically for your needs.
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Quality! it's on my facebook page now!
Thanks very much, love the way you and your mate join in!
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Remember, everything is perfect just as it is............even though it may not feel like it.
Nice one
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I'm a thicky and I have a western salary in Bangkok. Have done for 10 years and hired locally.
I'm thick too, gis a job, I can do that
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Don't listen to any of us. We all have different opinions. We all have different experiences. Most of us have an Ex somewhere. Many of us are still bitter. Sit yourself down and make a list of pro's and con's. Keep the list for a few days, and add to it what you think of. I did this once for a woman I was living with. Only it was to stay or leave. I listed her pro's and con's. When I was done I had about 25 things listed on the con's, and one thing in the pro. I looked at the list for several days before I relized there was getting nothing from the relationship. It was all there in black and white. I only stayed with her because I didn't want to be alone, and didn't know anyone that could take her place. After I left my life improved 100% I didn't have to replace her, everyone I dated was way better. I upgraded. I should have listened to myself years before that.
Make your list, take a few days to let it sink in, and to make additions, and corrections. Then act on what you have written down. That is how you really feel. Believe in your own experience and judgment.
If you do the list thing....and you decide she's the one for you.....
DON'T LET HER FIND THE LIST!!!! DON'T TELL HER ABOUT THE LIST!!!! BURN THE LIST!!!! NEVER MENTION/THINK ABOUT THE LIST EVER AGAIN!!!!
If she finds the list before you've made your mind up, crying 'but honey the list was good! There were hardly any cons!' probably won't help.
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but there's a very sound argument to be made that football isn't about excitement. it's about winning by any means necessary.
The point is that it's those one-off affiliations in any given game that create the excitement and not the football itself.
I suppose you could argue that football isn't about excitement, but if it wasn't exciting why would you spend so much money going to the games in the first place? When I'm watching a game on the telly, that doesn't involve my team, it needs to involve one of the teams I have a specific dislike for, or be a game of very high quality, for me to watch it all the way through.
As HH said these dislikes are ingrained in me from my experiences actually watching and travelling to games in the UK rather than on a screen.
I reckon it's something you either grew up with or didn't. It's a tribal thing.
As for wearing a shirt, in and around the house more than out on the street really. Trip to the beach/pool/waterfall etc. (practical, dries off easily) Did wear the claret an blue in a pub in Bangkok for the Chelsea game end of last season, but mainly to p1ss my mate off cos he's a blue (didn't work they beat us!)
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serious , i do not laught at all
hahaha! well, I liked it, made me chuckle.
Thanks :-)
and Lange's comment made me laugh as well ;-)
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Hi,
I'm looking for a small house/bungalow for me, g/f and 2 kids for 3 weeks in mid january.
Anyone know any? How much should I expect to pay etc.
Your help, as always, much appreciated.
Cheers
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The problem is that most farangs demand "real" Thai food and then cry like babies when they get it and want a free replacement dish that they can stomach even though they had to have the real thing. Thai restaurant owners know this and tone it down so they don't have to give freebies to rich whinging farangs.
I do not believe that! Those of us that ask for the real deal do not send the food back even if we are crying and sweating buckets! Really, you are wrong about this. That is NOT the reason.
Me neither, really hot/spicy food is supposed to make you sweat/nose run etc. I've eaten it for years (about 20) and it always does the same, I know this when I order it, why would I complain when it does what I expect it to do???
P.S. I don't go for the 'full burn' every time, some dishes don't completely blow me away but i do like it from time to time. (great if you feel a cold coming on)
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any buses from swampy?
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"quick, quick get up, mayday mayday, your bottom finger"
just brilliant! she actually said 'mayday mayday'????
too funny!
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ok, I'm sure that if your 'interaction' gets further than a keyboard and they find out you posted their photo's on here...you'll be able to provide first hand evidence of Thai temper!
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shouting on the phone to someone a long way away....africans do that too. So does my mate! (English)
paperwork/beaurocracy FRANCE!!! not only do you have to wait 6 months for your house price to be agreed but then you have to go to the Notaire's office at the same time as everyone else involved in the deal (could easily involve 5 or 6 family members from different parts of the country) in order to sign the papers!
Map reading skills/lack of..... In Phuket, about to set off for a drive, study map (in Thai and English) together with Thai girl, everything appears to be fine, she points successfully at where we're going, where we are now, traces route with finger, I'm hopeful.
In the car and off we go.....
(map upside down) Honey?...you can read map? 'yes' you sure? 'yes! i tell you already!' ok ok...... 1st junction (map still upside down) Honey which way?
'mai loo map mai dee' (smack in the face for laughing)
maybe not specifically Thai but made me laugh, and it was my fault we were late too!
oh and i too now have the unfortunate image of mca with his arse in the pan and his legs sticking out in front of him in my mind! cheers!
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If you have a UK sim card in your phone in Thailand it will connect if the card supplier has roaming facilities and they are enabled on the sim.
It will cost YOU when they call you. They pay for the connection to the UK number as normal then YOU pay for the connection from the UK to the local Thai network your sim is roaming on.
They may well know you're abroad too as the ringtone they hear is often different from the normal UK 'two rings'. So if it's your boss calling to see if your 'bad back' is any better then that might just give the game away!
Also, 'Hello weeelcome haaandsum maaan' in the background might be a clue that you're not in Skegness
10% London Price...
in General Topics
Posted
I think OP means a price comparison rather than the exchange rate for £3.50 being THB35.00
I still think it's a bit wide of the mark though