jacko

Jackie Brown

Hope you can see this.

Probably, I usually exclude their parents from the bedroom.

As stated I did this BA flight a year ago, round trip. That old equipment made for a pretty crappy flight...but that wasn't the complete reason. And I flew up front. Their shuttles between London and Manchester let them down too.

Unbreakable.

No need if you are a monger hanging around Pattaya (and probably a few other tourist areas).Every need if you are in business here or spend a bit of time in the boonies. I am personally surprised how utterly bloody useless I am at Thai, after quite a few years here. In my working time I was in Central and South America a bit and Spanish was coming along. All these years in Thailand and I am still useless, and when I listen to Thais nearby, or even on TV, I can't make out anything. Have to face facts, it isn't going to happen.

I still have confidence that Sterling has some value. Thailand's inflated value, due to a lot of investment for one, is the surprise. Sterling is looking flat at the moment and with a General Election I am expecting it to remain so, outside influences excepting of course. I will post a pic probably Friday.

I flew in to work at Thai Oil, Laem Chabang, many years ago. What a collection of piss heads and dead wood there was on that project!

It is some years ago but I recall I could not get into the Residence Garden, or had to move out for 3-4 days because he was fully booked. He offered me The Boathouse, his property in Jomtien and I took him up on it. I was bored witless there and getting back and forth was a complete drag. How is it in Jomtiem now, I see a lot of flights straight into U-Tapao from Russian Cities I have never heard of.

If you were a vegetarian, why would you need to eat something that looks like meat or indeed impersonates closely something that epitomizes a meat meal. Do we expect to see KFC, made from soybeans, wrapped around plastic bones, coated in shit and deep fried? Or is this simply targeting those who have recently given up meat, or simply want to skip meat for the day, without really knowing? I have often had a subway sandwich, and the meat component is well disguised by the time I have made my selection of toppings, may well have left out those miserly slices of ham or salami. Should I try their veggie option? I recently spent 200 baht on a few Brussels Sprouts in Villa, for some reason I fancied them more than a steak. Congrats to Biggles for returning us to sex from an unlikely starting point.

The Fifth Element.

I was in Europe with a group of Muslims and they got quite upset over finding ham in their salad, wouldn't touch it or order again. Although I caught another munching on a bag of scratchings once, when I told him, he said 'tastes good'.

I have often watched as my bacon is cooked on a flat grill and wondered if the Muslims complain or go for poached.

Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy..

If someone using this then did a runner on a hospital bill or two.... It is public here.

Well, if more people have to show insurance, and at this time not so, for non-imm-o based retirement extensions, I would certainly expect agent demand to increase.....and with that price. But who knows, many people might decide enough.

Good feedback.... agent fees expected to rise!

Moving to Expat Issues.

I thought Insurances had to come from an approved list , and Thai companies, I believe. You would need to check your own Embassy website. Blue Cross / Blue Shield copies seems easy and I can only bow to the OP's experience. Here is what the London Embassy States. Copy of evidence stating that applicants have insurance as stipulated by the Office of Insurance Commission and health insurance of Thailand which has insurance coverage for outpatient not less than 40,000 Baht and for inpatient not less than 400,000 Baht. Please check < http://longstay.tgia.org> for more information regarding the insurance requirement.

Re-entry permits are based on your Permitted to Stay date, not the visa validity. I am quite convinced the previous changes to keeping the money in the bank (retirement extensions), were a bit more about pushing people towards agents than really making evasion of requirements tougher. I could only imagine it stopped people borrowing money for 3 months, or a few guys circulating the same money. In your case, you got 800,000 baht released I expect, and less effort. This new O-A requirement is likely to seriously reduce applications for the visa. As to those on O-A based retirement extensions , I guess they need to change to a regular 'O', or a married extension, or get insurance if they can. Scaremongering here,( so far not required) are we testing the ground for future obligatory insurance for all retirees?

All O-A Visas are requiring health insurance now since Oct 31st. But it does not end there. On arrival you would normally be stamped in for a year, now it is expected you will only get a Permission to Stay up to the expiration of your insurance. As the O-A is a multiple entry, this also means you would expect to be stamped in only until that same date, when the insurance cover ends on subsequent entries (previously you would get another full year if Visa still valid). The previous benefits of an O-A, that you could stay in Thailand up to 2 years, and leave your money at home, seem to have been defeated. And worse, it is reported that those seeking retirement extensions at Pattaya Immigration, whose initial permit to stay stemmed from an entry on an O-A, are also being asked to show medical insurance of minimum 400,000 baht cover and 40,000 baht out patient. This is all quite new and we may be in a state of flux wrt the retirement extensions. Extensions originating from other Non-Imm Visas (eg O or B ) are not required to have insurance and marriage extensions are not affected. Please do not take my post as verbatim, it is simply gleaned from Thai Visa site.

Just plug Western Union Jomtiem into Google Maps. There is one at the Post Office on Soi 5, towards the beach from immigration..

Two for one....

Dragonflies...it is the season for them. Get them over my pool and many now, sometimes 2 stuck together in sexual multi-winged Chinook impersonation dipping its tail .

Here we seem to be doing the opposite. Are Thais especially more kind do you think than the people back home? It will likely depend on your origins, but as a kid growing up in Northern UK, people were kind frequently.