Uk Settlement

[chiang mai]

Following on from a separate thread where dozens of TV members await anxiously to learn if their attempts to relocate their respective tillacs back to the UK, this thread hopes to examine what happened next, was relocating to the UK a good move, what problems were encountered, did many of the happy couples turn tail and return to the LOS and what lessons can others learn from their experiences. Doubtless we will hear tales of missed loved ones, som tam withdrawals and tales of nearly freezing to death in the UK winter!

For my part I approach relocating back to the UK with some trepidation but I've moved so many times in my life that I can't get too excited. Having said that I will miss Phuket on a daily basis but will be satisfied I think with trading it for the Dorset Downs, for a while at least. Mrs CM on the other hand is excited, she's visited the UK previously and I'm amazed how quickly she has forgotten about the poor weather and the endless searching for Thai restaurants so that she could have one of her many daily snacks! I've done my best to explain to her that she is very unlikely to get rich in the UK and despite her willingness to work hard, there is still a recession on and the country is not in the best of shape - Mrs CM is not deterred however and thinks that it's all a great adventure, we shall see.

[TiggerFish]

A couple of useful resources that might make settling in the UK a little easier, I used these extensively when my girlfriend stayed for 6 months.

Thai TV on the internet www.dootv.tv

Mail order Thai ingredients www.raanthai.co.uk

[theoldgit]

Interesting topic CM, I wish you both every success in your new life in Dorset, maybe one day you will have a house on Sandbanks, now there is an opportunity for a somtam stall.

I think we are destined to remain in Thailand for the foreseeable future, the first time I took my good lady, lets call her "theyounggit", there we were sitting in Covent Garden on a glorious summer day, hottest day for years, she was cold and would have happily flown home that day.

Anyway once again all the best CM and keep us posted.

[tigerjohn]

mrs tiger has been here just over 2wk now and tho she did come for holiday last yr i have to say she is adapting very well so far, started her new part time job in our local restaurant kitchen yesterday although she werent too impressed when she finished her shift, too bruddy hard she said when she got home haha, we have found a good thai food shop to get what we cannot get in tescos and at reasonable cost too, so shes quite happy so far, but im sure winter time in the nth yorkshire dales will find her out lol, wait and see, good luck with topic cm and lets hope everyone gives us their tips good and bad?

[chiang mai]

A couple of useful resources that might make settling in the UK a little easier, I used these extensively when my girlfriend stayed for 6 months.

Thai TV on the internet www.dootv.tv

Mail order Thai ingredients www.raanthai.co.uk

Also, Mrs CM tells me that the shops in China Town in London carry every item of food stuff the average Thai might want to consume and she's an expert on such things!

[tigerjohn]

i was in china town last yr when my mrs was on holiday and to be honest mate we found it very very expensive compared to thai shops we now visit up north, but if its near to you then spose you will have to use them, but google your local thai food shops 1st mate thats all i did and we have a good one now only 20mins in car away,

[Mercury]

Just picked up some regular Thai stuff from Asda, not online, but in their World Food section. More and more places have stuff. Chinatown can be expensive but you don't buy fish sauce every day. Thai rice available in decent quantities (I buy 25kg at a go) at foreign supermarkets. Also, if you have some form of garden, you can grow stuff, though you may need a greenhouse.

[chiang mai]

Here's a real challenge - Mrs CM plays the "kim" (a multi-stringed violin like instrument that sits on the floor and is played using xylophone type sticks)and she wants to take her kim to the UK, the sounds this instrument produces is just superb and she's been studying for years - it's too big to be hand luggage and it would get destroyed as hold luggage, I've googled "kim sales" in the UK but found nothing. If anyone knows where you might be able to buy a kim in the West, do shout.

[sonicdragon]

i was in china town last yr when my mrs was on holiday and to be honest mate we found it very very expensive compared to thai shops we now visit up north, but if its near to you then spose you will have to use them, but google your local thai food shops 1st mate thats all i did and we have a good one now only 20mins in car away,

What Thai shops are there up North ? We'll be in Leeds and I know a few Chinese mini-supermarkets but don't know any Thai shops....

Thanks

[sonicdragon]

Here's a real challenge - Mrs CM plays the "kim" (a multi-stringed violin like instrument that sits on the floor and is played using xylophone type sticks)and she wants to take her kim to the UK, the sounds this instrument produces is just superb and she's been studying for years - it's too big to be hand luggage and it would get destroyed as hold luggage, I've googled "kim sales" in the UK but found nothing. If anyone knows where you might be able to buy a kim in the West, do shout.

You could get it professionally packed in a wooden packing crate; then shipped by sea with a freight consolidator.

We've got a lot of fragile stuff too and that's what we're doing, though we'll have a full container and it's going from HK.

[tigerjohn]

i was in china town last yr when my mrs was on holiday and to be honest mate we found it very very expensive compared to thai shops we now visit up north, but if its near to you then spose you will have to use them, but google your local thai food shops 1st mate thats all i did and we have a good one now only 20mins in car away,

What Thai shops are there up North ? We'll be in Leeds and I know a few Chinese mini-supermarkets but don't know any Thai shops....

Thanks

weve been to leeds sonic (harehills) but wasnt too good, now we go the other way to a shop in darlington, its not a big shop but we get everything my mrs needs what is not available at usual supermarkets tesco etc, and not too dear, also a fresh delivery of thai veggies every tues but have to be fast to get them as they soon go,

[Lickey]

Interesting topic CM, I wish you both every success in your new life in Dorset, maybe one day you will have a house on Sandbanks, now there is an opportunity for a somtam stall.

I think we are destined to remain in Thailand for the foreseeable future, the first time I took my good lady, lets call her "theyounggit", there we were sitting in Covent Garden on a glorious summer day, hottest day for years, she was cold and would have happily flown home that day.

Anyway once again all the best CM and keep us posted.

Small world Old Git, we were staying at the Duke Of Wellington opposite Waterloo station Easter 2005, [daughters BF is manager] we took a walk across the bridge and ended up in Covent Garden, Mrs spotted a Thai resturant,we went in and ordered, when the food came, it was basically a heap of rice with a few peas and maize with 4 prawns dumped on top, Mrs looked at it, picked the plates up and took them to the kitchen, there appeared to be a heated disscusion going on, anyway, she came back, [a bit coulored up] and the plates returned with cucumber,extra prawns,and chopped spring onion, plus 3 chile dip dishes of different heat, and my favorite, the chopped chiles in fish oil, and we really enjoyed it,, now how difficult was that to present an authentic Thai dish?[thats what the mrs told the boss!!] it still cost 32quid though,even with 1 small beer and water,,

And i agree, find a place that can suply thai foods and mrs will be happy, im sure,

Good Luck to you both,

[Mercury]

Try Addies Cafe in Earls Court. Can cater to western Thai taste but can equally cater to authentic Thai style and off menu items. http://www.addiesthai.co.uk/ Been using it when in London for 15 years.

[chiang mai]

Does anyone have any good sources for finding approved ESOL (with UK life) courses in the UK, I've been trying to find something around Dorchester/Weymouth but without success?

[chiang mai]

Also on restaurants and this is a bit of an odd one: The Watermans Arms in Brentford is run by Gordon and his Japanese wife Mako, not a bad traditional English pub with well kept real ale and typical pub food - Gordon is an Asia lover and a talented cook who will, at the drop of a hat, whip up off menu dishes that are a cross between Thai and Japanese, on request - Mrs CM reckons his Asian/oriental food is a far higher quality than any of the Thai restaurants she visited in London (and cheaper also).

[ExoticMatter]

Does anyone have any good sources for finding approved ESOL (with UK life) courses in the UK, I've been trying to find something around Dorchester/Weymouth but without success?

Tough to find courses this year have been looking in Sheffield(which had many by the big colleges and Universities last year), think its the new govs cutbacks.

Try your local libraries they can run small learning groups, also citizens advice and refugee centres. There are helplines such as 084501015200 and carriers advice on 0800100900 , they can search national databases. Make sure the ESOL contains life in the UK elements(most don't) for example http://www.niace.org.uk/projects/esolcitizenship/Home-Eng.htm

We finally found a small independant teaching unit locally.

Good luck.

[ExoticMatter]

Also on restaurants and this is a bit of an odd one: The Watermans Arms in Brentford is run by Gordon and his Japanese wife Mako, not a bad traditional English pub with well kept real ale and typical pub food - Gordon is an Asia lover and a talented cook who will, at the drop of a hat, whip up off menu dishes that are a cross between Thai and Japanese, on request - Mrs CM reckons his Asian/oriental food is a far higher quality than any of the Thai restaurants she visited in London (and cheaper also).

Amazing how TW can tell immediately that a place is 'mai alor', I mean before we've even sat down!! Just by the smell and general attitude of the place sometimes. I know a couple of good ones in Sheffield but none down south .

[chiang mai]

Does anyone have any good sources for finding approved ESOL (with UK life) courses in the UK, I've been trying to find something around Dorchester/Weymouth but without success?

Tough to find courses this year have been looking in Sheffield(which had many by the big colleges and Universities last year), think its the new govs cutbacks.

Try your local libraries they can run small learning groups, also citizens advice and refugee centres. There are helplines such as 084501015200 and carriers advice on 0800100900 , they can search national databases. Make sure the ESOL contains life in the UK elements(most don't) for example http://www.niace.org.uk/projects/esolcitizenship/Home-Eng.htm

We finally found a small independant teaching unit locally.

Good luck.

Thank you for that, much appreciated.

[sonicdragon]

What Thai shops are there up North ? We'll be in Leeds and I know a few Chinese mini-supermarkets but don't know any Thai shops....

Thanks

weve been to leeds sonic (harehills) but wasnt too good, now we go the other way to a shop in darlington, its not a big shop but we get everything my mrs needs what is not available at usual supermarkets tesco etc, and not too dear, also a fresh delivery of thai veggies every tues but have to be fast to get them as they soon go,

Thanks tigerjohn - do you have more details on the locations of these two thai shops ? I did a google search but didn't come up with anything specific....

[tigerjohn]

What Thai shops are there up North ? We'll be in Leeds and I know a few Chinese mini-supermarkets but don't know any Thai shops....

Thanks

weve been to leeds sonic (harehills) but wasnt too good, now we go the other way to a shop in darlington, its not a big shop but we get everything my mrs needs what is not available at usual supermarkets tesco etc, and not too dear, also a fresh delivery of thai veggies every tues but have to be fast to get them as they soon go,

Thanks tigerjohn - do you have more details on the locations of these two thai shops ? I did a google search but didn't come up with anything specific....

cannot remember the one in leeds cos it was last yr when we went there, we only went the once cos they advertised as thai but when we got there it was actually phillipino, but the one in darlington is called phutawan, if you google it you can get the address and also there is a phutawan thai restaurant next door but not eaten there so cannot comment on that, shop is not massive but my mrs says its a good one and have everything she need what cannot get in tesco, have to be quick on a tuesday for fresh thai veg tho mate, but we just use that one and tescos now so must be ok lol

[Guest jonzboy]

must admit, these kinds of mini supermarkets do exist but are not so easy to find

I'm a month away from moving back to UK now that the wife has her ILE. When we visited during the summer we were keen to locate such shops. We found one near to my mother's place in Egham, Surrey, where we were staying. Then another in Plymouth (Barbican area) which is not too far from where we will be living. Both stores are Chinese run but stock products from a range os South East Asian countries, such as Thailand, Malaysia, China, Philippines, Japan and Korea. These shops are very popular with students from overseas studying in UK, so both shops were quite close to university campuses. Both stocked a good range of products at reasonable prices and mostly the kind of stuff you can't get in Tescos. A bit like the raanthai website mentioned in an earlier post.

I wonder if there's a good cause to co-ordinate details of these shops around UK as a sticky on this forum?

[Mercury]

Most of the shops which stock Thai goods are either Chinese in origin, as in Chinatown in London or generalists which stock items from a number of Asian cultures. There aren't enough Thais to warrant a specific Thai shop in many places.

As ever, if completely stuck for ideas, a trip to a Thai restaurant should yield some information.

[ExoticMatter]

If you get off the motorway before Leeds guys theres an excellent thai shop in Sheffield called Thai Panna(on London road),

www.thaipanna.co.uk

Its owned and run by Thais and caters well for Thais(like those hard to find crispy snacks); every tuesday they get a delivery of airmailed fruit+veg(real smelly thai garlic,mint etc not the usual dutch stuff!)

Its the only time I've been able to buy a Durian fruit in the UK, mmmm tasty:)

[chiang mai]

We're moving towards this becomming a "Thai food in the UK" thread which I agree is an important aspect of UK life for relocating British ex-pats and their respective others. But was I was hoping for here is that we might get some feedback from those who have made the transition from Thailand to the UK and how it all worked out, warts and all!

[Mercury]

What about the practicalities of TV ? I've heard about a few websites over the years but now we have HD TVs isn't there some means of streaming TV from the net to your TV ?

What I'd be interested in would be some way of getting UBC/True either via the net or satellite, not necessarily for free either.

[chiang mai]

What about the practicalities of TV ? I've heard about a few websites over the years but now we have HD TVs isn't there some means of streaming TV from the net to your TV ?

What I'd be interested in would be some way of getting UBC/True either via the net or satellite, not necessarily for free either.

www.dootv.tv - ask and yee shall recieve!

[Mercury]

What about work ? What I have seen is Thais employed as little more than burger flippers, restaurant staff or cleaning up after old people who can't make it to the toilet in nursing homes. Now I know there are language issues and not many will have high levels of education but surely this is not the future we would want for them.

Even if your family doesn't need the money from their work, I guess most would like to earn something themselves and contribute to the household.

We've a young child and at least until school starts that will be her main job but after that I'm not sure. A business sounds good but I'm not sure it is a viable idea in reality. How did you deal with this ?

[ExoticMatter]

What about the practicalities of TV ? I've heard about a few websites over the years but now we have HD TVs isn't there some means of streaming TV from the net to your TV ?

What I'd be interested in would be some way of getting UBC/True either via the net or satellite, not necessarily for free either.

www.dootv.tv - ask and yee shall recieve!

Still looking for the fabled Thai Ch7, the site you recommend is a pay site.

I'm not a cheapskate but there are many free online tv viewing sites and excellent programs such as Readon TV viewer; can get astv news and ch5 easily but for some reason Ch7 always jumps. Tried tweaking media player data rates but that only resulted in sound only(but clear) ,lol.

Theres Thai movie,comedy and music channels(+ch7) using Readon by way.

[chiang mai]

What about work ? What I have seen is Thais employed as little more than burger flippers, restaurant staff or cleaning up after old people who can't make it to the toilet in nursing homes. Now I know there are language issues and not many will have high levels of education but surely this is not the future we would want for them.

Even if your family doesn't need the money from their work, I guess most would like to earn something themselves and contribute to the household.

We've a young child and at least until school starts that will be her main job but after that I'm not sure. A business sounds good but I'm not sure it is a viable idea in reality. How did you deal with this ?

That's a really tough one Mercury, I'm in the UK currently for a few days and the employment situation in general seems very poor, have met a number of twenty to thirty somethings who have graduated and come across well but are doing menial work because there are no other options, Tesco seems to have upped its entry criteria, Asians I have seen are all working in Shell stations (presumably Asian franchisees)?

[chiang mai]

What about the practicalities of TV ? I've heard about a few websites over the years but now we have HD TVs isn't there some means of streaming TV from the net to your TV ?

What I'd be interested in would be some way of getting UBC/True either via the net or satellite, not necessarily for free either.

www.dootv.tv - ask and yee shall recieve!

Still looking for the fabled Thai Ch7, the site you recommend is a pay site.

I'm not a cheapskate but there are many free online tv viewing sites and excellent programs such as Readon TV viewer; can get astv news and ch5 easily but for some reason Ch7 always jumps. Tried tweaking media player data rates but that only resulted in sound only(but clear) ,lol.

Theres Thai movie,comedy and music channels(+ch7) using Readon by way.

Fifty quid a year, not a bad option.