paully

I'm sure 7by7 is right, Mark, you just have to address the issues raised in the last refusal notice in her next application, in particular explaining the confusion about Pattaya/Jomtien (and, as you say, don't use an agency for this), and make the application as positive and truthful as possible.  Good luck.

I guess this maniac wanted to play the game of chicken against the autopilot, his actual intention was to get the ultimate control on flight U4 9525. Maybe no intention to destroy the airplane or kill the passengers.

Possibly, yes, he may not have deliberately intended to kill them all when he reprogrammed the automatic pilot to descend. He may even have been in a sort of trance or automatic state, we'll never know exactly.

Er no, just before he committed suicide.

I hear that images and videos from inside the cabin have been found on cell phones. I hope they remain unavailable to the public.

Yes, details published in Bild and Paris Match, link to the latter here (not very nice reading and confirming that most passengers were aware of something going disastrously wrong several minutes before the crash):

http://www.parismatch.com/Actu/International/Exclusive-The-final-moments-before-the-crash-736774

I suspect that we'll never know the 'actual' reason for what he did

No indeed. The flight data recorder, even if found, won't help with that either.

I have my doubts that the Captain would exit the cockpit, if he thought it would be necessary to use an axe to gain entry.

He was, reportedly, just popping to the loo! Hardly need an axe for that.

And of course the guy did massive damage to Lufthansa and Germanwings - no insurances cover business risks.

Yes, around £20 million in compensation payouts alone, reportedly.

A rate of decent was chosen that didn't set off any alarms or warnings. The weather in the area was reportedly cloudy with scattered showers. Apart from those at the front, the bulk of the passengers would have been unaware of anything seriously wrong. The screams heard on the CVR in the final seconds is probably when the plane was low enough to clear the clouds and they suddenly realised they were flying into the mountains.

The weather was, reportedly, clear and certainly clear enough for those on board to see that they were descending far, far too close to the approaching mountains. The very fact that screams were picked up on the CVR in the cockpit merely indicates how very loud those final screams were, not that there was no alarm before this. Sorry, but imagining that those on board were fine until the last seconds is not likely. A horrible way to go.

Reports say there was no free fall, but a gradual, slow descent. From what I have read here in this thread, the passengers were unaware of what was happening until the very last moment.

A very nice sentiment, but unlikely, I'm afraid. The descent was relatively rapid, no announcement to the passengers appears to have been made and those at the front of the plane would have clearly seen and heard the pilot using more and more force on the cockpit door to try to open it. Latest reports indicate that he began to use an axe on the door. None of this would have been exactly reassuring to the poor passengers.

One of my former students in Thailand is now reading for a Masters' degree at NIDA in Bangkok and as part of her studies is doing a survey on Singaporeans working in Thailand. She would be most grateful to anyone who would be kind enough to complete a survey she has designed for her studies (open the link below). She has commented as follows:

"I am doing research about factors affecting Singaporean engagement in organizations located in Thailand.

This survey is developed fas part of my Master Degree Program in HROD (Human Resource and Organization Development) at School of Human Resource Development, NIDA. It is a part of a research team on Employee Engagement in ASEAN people working with Thai companies.

The survey will be used as a diagnosis tool for organizational development. Responding to this survey will not be linked in any way to you directly and the results will be kept confidentially. Please would you kindly answer the survey truthfully to benefit organizational support improvement."

https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/Emo-meterinASEAN

Thank you so much to anyone completing the survey. She is a good and conscientious student and your help is much appreciated!

^ Time and expense? MA TESOL web-based at Nottingham Uni is two years and £14420 in fees. Ouch.

Chula appears to do an MEd TEFL course and not an MA TESOL course. I don't know if the exact title of the degree is important to you but have a look here:

http://www.chula.ac.th/en/admission/international-programs/faculty-of-education

This is going to be the big problem with attracting foreign students to courses at Thai universities:

"Thailand's quality of higher education is ranked eighth in Asean, while Laos is again in sixth spot."

http://www.nationmultimedia.com/opinion/Lao-children-are-better-educated-than-Thai-kids-30243024.html

Of course some Thai unis are okay, but the general standard is pretty poor.

I think you can argue that they are not public funds for this purpose.

it would be arguable that this ruling violates Article 14 of the European Convention on Human Rights.

That said, even though your marriage is recognised in the UK, I would register it there formally under Article 12 of the same convention. Note that these are your rights that are being violated.

In all honesty, I don't think that the 'violating human rights' argument will get the OP very far, except for the fact of 'being told' that there will be no more tourist visas, which would indicate a closed mind on the part of the authorities. Visitor visas in the UK, as elsewhere, are for short-term visitors not for regular extended stays that leave the suspicion that his wife is in effect living in the UK. She could still apply for a settlement visa if she wanted to so all options are not actually closed.

Registration of the marriage in the UK has absolutely no legal effect whatsoever. If it is a legal marriage in Thailand it is also a legal marriage in the UK. The right to marriage is not being questioned.

we didnt really want to settle in the UK , but looks like the only possible route now .

There isn't a 'come and go as you please' visa for her, I'm afraid.

How is it justice when they refuse to consider evidence? I don't know if this stuff would help or hinder her but in most countries ALL tendered evidence is evaluated.

By not doing so they open the door to an appeal.

Only if it was actual evidence, rather than self-serving horse-poop. One suspects that it consisted of the latter..

a wonderful reporter

That's debateable.

Will the beer bars be open tonight? I need to celebrate the coup in style!

Safest to be in a hotel bar, depending on what you mean by 'tonight'.

Yingluck has fled Thailand. Probably gone to Cambodia. Army was seeking her arrest. Thai News feed.

No doubt she already had the Louis Vuittons packed and platinum credit cards to hand..

That is implied in the last statement on the constitution.

They've just suspended that. No point referring to it now.

Anybody think this will effect my swampi international flight out of Thailand tomorrow morning?

No, but you might find your seat taken by a Shinawatra or two..

Whatever did Thaksin see in this man ? Yes - he's a heavy - but can he think ?

He's not paid to think...just to carry out His Master's Orders

Yingluck is far and away the cleanest, least corrupt PM this nation has ever seen.

Do you fancy her?

Here's a link to the Nottingham Uni PGCEi in October 2014:

http://www.nottingham.ac.uk/education/pgcei/bangkok.aspx