Successful visa application!

Got the good news today that my wife has been granted her Family Visit Visa for the UK!

I have to give a special mention to the good folks at Thailand-UK. An excellent forum with very helpful and knowledgeable members, without whom we would not have been able to get this done by ourselves.

No agents, no dramas, submitted on the 17th August 2011, approved on the 19th August 2011!

Result!

UK visa application, the second part...the Thai side of things

Ok, so in this post I told you about all the evidence of my relationship that I have gathered over the past eighteen months or so which will be included in my wife's Family Visit Visa application.


Now I'm going to touch on what's required in Thailand.

A visa application.... (hoop jumping UK style!) The first part...the evidence.

Well, after my last visit to my second home, the next part of the 'Thailand plan' is for my wife to visit my home country. More specifically, London. If you want to get picky, East London.

When we, as UK citizens, want to go to Thailand, we just go.  Unless you're staying longer than thirty days, you don't need anything more than a return ticket. You show up at the airport having filled out your landing card, show it and your passport to the nice people at immigration, and that's it.

It's not quite the same in the UK!

My wedding in Thailand...

Last year, I set off back to London with a plan.

To raise enough money to buy a house and marry my girlfriend in Thailand. This post goes into more detail about the best part of a year it took me to do it.

There are  couple of other posts about the house,the transfer of the title deed and and the whole registration process so if you've read them you know about that part of the plan.

This post is about the wedding itself. You can see the video here on the blog or on YouTube,

As with all my posts, if you click on the photos you can see them full size.

Nong Laai... he loved music and dancing.

Those of you who were at my wedding in Thailand may remember a guy who stayed right till the end, dancing and singing away to himself, smiling and laughing with everyone....small guy, dark skin, his name was Laai,(In Thai, when someone you regard as 'like a brother or sister' is younger than you, you pre-fix their name with the title 'Nong' hence, Nong Laai) he was from a country called Myanmar which we know as Burma, which has a border with Thailand about 10km away from my house at what is referred to as 'The Golden Triangle' as there is also a border with Laos PDR

A spiritual awakening? (A rolling aural tsunami and a bloke selling spanners!)

As I prepare for my next trip to Thailand, my thoughts have wandered back to my last visit.

I recall lying on my bed up in the sleepy village on the banks of the Mae Nam Khong (River Mekong) as the sounds of the rest of the family waking up slowly penetrate my half-asleep conciousness.

They are always up at the crack of dawn, showered and off in the 'tractor' pretty much at daylight.

The previous night's sleep had been fitful to say the least. When I show photos to my friends they comment on how peaceful it looks, well this time around, some of them are about to find out the truth!

The government want a photo of my toilet, and my girlfriend needs a new cushion!

It's true! They do!

If you've read the post 'Mai Dai!' you'll be aware of just how bureaucracy in Thailand can chuck spanners around like they're going out of fashion.

I've been involved in a house purchase in France, and I thought they liked 'hoop jumping' as a spectator sport until, that is, I ventured into dealings with the Thai government!

Good luck ceremony

This post was started months ago, I just noticed it, unfinished, in the archive and have now sorted it out. Hope you enjoy!

I woke up one morning to find that the family had not gone to the farm as they usually do. I should have realised because the tractor...






                              hadn't woken me up at 5am!

Mai Dai!! ไม่ได้!! (Thai language and dealings with government employees)

If you have been in, or visited Thailand for any length of time and have a grasp of even a smattering of the language, I guarantee you have heard this phrase many times!

A long year...

2010 was, for me, a very long year. I have neglected my blog. It was, in the first instance, mainly as a record for myself. I've looked back at my life and wished I'd kept some kind of record of it. So this time, when something interesting (at least to me!) is happening, I decided to record it for posterity.

It seems as though at least a couple of people 'out there' in the world have appreciated my writings, so I've had harsh words with myself and here I am, writing again.

I will try to make it more regular, as it tends to sooth my soul somewhat. Not that I currently have an un-soothed soul or anything, it's just that...well, you know, it's good to get things 'out there'. I always enjoy reading other people's ramblings so I feel I should contribute some of my own on a more regular basis.