chrisoary

Bit far from you but La Senza has a shop in Central Udon Thani, cant see why they wouldn't have stores elsewhere in issan.

They have some nice stuff.

Hi,

I will be moving to Chiang Mai in June with my family (wife + 2 young kids). Whilst we are looking for somewhere more perminent to stay we want rent a serviced apartment or similar for one month.

Would any of you Chiang Mai locals have any suggestions?

Ideally we are looking for somewhere to the south of the city, close to the airport or further out towards Hang Dong. Preferably with a bedroom and seperate living room, but as its only short term a reasonable size studio would be ok.

I have looked on the internet but cant seem to find much. Hopefully one of you knows of a little gem that does not advertise on the internet or that i have missed during my search.

Thanks in advance.

Yes, we paid cash for both the lounge service and the fast track.

We went armed with a cashiers check for the visa and 6000 baht cash for the extras

You pay for the premium service with cash.

Just a quick update,

My wife went into vfs on monday to apply for the family visitors visa using the priority service for 3000thb, last night (tuesday) we had a message saying the passport was ready for pickup. We went in today and had left regent house by 1030 with visa.

We fly tonight.

Just as an aside, we also used the premium service whilst at vfs, so no waiting around. Straight in and done and dusted in 30 minutes. It was 3000thb, as i was waiting outside with 2 young kids i think it was worth every baht.

So all in the cost was 9600thb.

Just a quick update,

Picked up the wifes passport today complete with visa.

Decided against my original plan of booking a one way ticket, so booked direct flights with BA.

Originally I didn't like BA as there world traveller ticket will not allow you to change the tickets in any way. But i found an option that for an extra 2500 per traveller you have full flexibility for 6 months.

Full price for 2 adults 1 child and 1 infant was 115000, if i hadn't added the flexibility it would have been 105000.

I was quite pleased with this flight, leaving @ 0020 tonight.

Thanks for all the advice

I have done a search of the forum and found a similar thread but it was about someones mother in law and there wasn't really a clear out come. So i am starting a new one.

Hopefully we will be getting my wifes visitors visa in the next couple of weeks and will be leaving soon after for the UK.

We are unsure of exactly how long we will stay and I only want to buy a one way ticket initially. I have read that some people have travelled with no problems on a single but others have encountered problems.

Is there anything official on the internet stating that someone is perfectly within their rights to enter on a one way ticket. That i could print out and take with me as proof if we encounter problems?

Myself and 2 kids all have UK passports so no problems there. We will all be travelling together.

I am aware that some airlines offer flexible returns but i am not really interested in this option ( unless i have no choice). I would rather be able to just book a flight as and when i want, and fly with whichever airline i want.

I also read that it is possible providing my wife can prove she has the financial means to purchase a return ticket. Can i just print out a bank statement showing that i have x amount in the bank?

Any advice is appreciated

Cheers

Thanks for the information,

The website boasts of being cambridge accredited, does this not mean that they must meet certain standard regarding teachers etc? Or is this something that is given fairly easily.

Sorry if this is a daft question, my eldest is 2 1/2 and i have only just started looking in to schooling in thailand as an option. i am learning as I go at the moment.

The malaysian international school isnt really an option for me. But I am sure that others may find this usefull.

Cheers

Hi,

I was hoping that someone on here could give me some information about SIS. I have had a look at their website but was hoping that someone with kids attending the school or someone that teaches at the school would be able to give me some feedback.

I always planned to take the family back to the UK for schooling as the cost of international schools here in thailand are a bit out of my financial range.

But i have recently been offered an opportunity to work in Songkla and noticed the school.

The fees are way cheaper than anything in Bangkok so I was interested in finding out more. Is it a case of you get what you pay for or is it a decent school comparable to a average school in the UK?

Thanks for in advance

Chris

Thanks Bob,

This is just what I was after, Brilliant news

As my wife was issued a visitors visa within the last 5 years for a visit over christmas 2012 we are eligable to use the fast track service.

This certainly makes things easier

Chris

OK, so I realise I may get shot down for this but...

A Thai friend of mine overheard a couple talking at Bangkok airport and they said in conversation that they were able to get their UK visitors visa issued to them in 3 working days. They mentioned that they had to pay an extra 4000thb.

Now I realise this is just hearsay but can anyone confirm this?

If possible this would be a much easier option for me to fit a visit in between my work rotation. Rather than waiting 3 weeks and then having to do another spell at work.

Your advice and any pointers in how to go about this would be much appreciated.

Chris

I am going to be moving back to the UK for my kids schooling in 2015.

Planning to stay there until they go to university or can take care of themselves/ make their own desicions.

Then me and the Mrs will move back to the village, we are both only 32 so plenty of time to enjoy thailand yet.

I am quite looking forward to going back and being close to friends and family, but i envisage a couple of extended holidays every year.

I am very interested to see how this thread progress's.

I am in an almost identical situation, I am currently non resident living in thailand and employed in the offshore industry by a singapore based company. We plan to move back to the UK for my eldest boys schooling next year.

Let us know how you get on blue72.

Good luck

Chris

Thank you for the tip, looks like i will be heading to the singora hotel area then!

Thanks, I was beginning to wonder if there was anything happening down there.

I didn't expect it to be busy, i was just hoping to have enough to do for the couple of days we may have in port.

Hello all,

I am probably going to be alongside in Songkhla port for a couple of days later this month, I have never been to Songkhla before and was after a bit of info,

1. Where can i get a decent massage (no funny business). After 4 weeks sleeping in my cramped bunk i need sorting out!

2.Are there any decent all you can eat buffet bar-b-q places in town? Possibly with a live band. I want to try and get the rest of the survey crew out for some decent food, they are mostly indonesian, vietnamese and chinese. I am a brit.

3. On the off chance I am there over the weekend where is the best place to watch the football, somewhere there will be some other brits/ euros/ yanks. I am the only westerner on the ship, the other lads on here are great but i need a bit of western interaction.

Thanks in advance for any suggestions

There is a place called baan bung kan on the main road towards nong khai.

Its the last unit in a row of town houses about 800m (right side of road) from the main intersection into town. Next to the CAT office.

Typical thai club with live band and dj, the locals will tell you its rough but I have been there several times always had a decent night and never seen any trouble.

Thanks for the information, as you suggest we will get it all submitted about 3 weeks before i want to travel..

Cheers

Just a quick question, I have done a search and cant find the answer.

Need to get the wife a visitors visa for the summer visit to the west country. She has been before so not worried about getting the visa, just want to know about waiting times. Last time we applied was during the bangkok floods, so everything was delayed.

What is the approximate waiting time between submission of application with VFS and either getting the passport sent to my address in the boonies or picking it up from bangkok?

Your replies will determine whether we have a few days on a beach somewhere or head back up to the sticks.

Thanks

Chris

I use a android app called TV Thai and hook my tablet up to the TV.

Its not live streaming but in some ways its better because you can pick what you want to watch from the last few days TV schedules.

The wife loves it

Here's Alfie 2 years old, soon to have a little brother to play with.

If I have been winding the Mrs up I often get asked "are you taking a piss on me"

Something she thinks she has heard me say

I have explained several times that it should be "are you taking the piss out of me" but with no success. I just let her carry on now, always makes me smile

Thanks for the information, this covers pretty much everything I wanted to know.

suppose we will have to wait until we are ready to move, I was hoping we could cut some corners!

Hello,

I know that there is a long thread about the changes being made to the UK settlement visa requirements, but I have quite a specific question and dont want to drag the thread off topic.

We currently live in Thailand and have a son in nursery, we have another child on the way. Our plan is to move back to the UK so that my son can start compulsary eduction (age 4) in 2 1/2 years time.

I am confident that my wife would qualify for the settlement visa but my question is -

Once the visa has been issued is there a minimum amount of time per year that we will have to spend in the UK?

Can we get the settlement visa now even though we dont plan to move there yet?

The main reason I ask is because things are getting harder (ie take longer for my wife to get UK passport etc).

sorry if this is a silly question I would just be interested to know.

Thanks

Chris

Depends where in Nong Khai it is.

Not sure about the rest of the provence, but where I live its certainly a money maker. However its not technically Nong Khai anymore, I am just south of Bung Kan.

There is plenty of rubber land either side of the road from Bung Kan to Nong Khai and the other way down towards Nakhon Phanom.

Land prices are going through the roof near my place, even land that is prone to flooding is being bought raised and planted on. Rice land is dissapering and making way for rubber plantations. The wifes family are certainly doing alright from it.

The wife and I have got a few trees (1500) they are still young and will not be cut for a while yet.

However I have friends that live between Nong Khai and Udon that say several people have tried unsuccesfully to grow in their area.