Q3

“Never take the word of anybody on here, make your own choices and decisions” (Q3)

Yes spot on 100%, so I did and found out the truth myself.  Mine doesn’t come from the news or other people’s opinions. So Q3, what’s your life like and judging form previous comments, not too good eh? Here’s some news, the recession is officially over – must be true, some EU Minister said it. Austerity is good for you, again true DC said it. We all have choices, you stick to your minimum wage building site guard job and I’ll stick to the opportunities I’ve found here. No Q3, you are not a leader, you’re one of the systems followers; you’ll do as you’re told and spend your life complaining and moaning about it. I’m life’s drill sergeant and you know I’m never wrong, remember?   

P.S You probably came to Thailand looking for smut and found it, lots of it. (Naughty, naughty). Shame you had to go back three times to re-check; if you’d have asked I could have told you that any major UK city has red light areas and you could have saved yourself the trouble.

To all

There are plenty of firearms available in Thailand. They’re available everywhere in Asia and many are leftovers from Pohl Pots Cambodia and the Vietnam war. Here’s some more news based on personal experience; the UK inner cities are also flooded with them and I could as easily have bought one in the UK as I can here in Thailand now. Political unrest? Yes certainly, back in 2010 and the occasional riot – just like the ‘summer riots’ and looting in the UK. I’ve walked around Bangkok often at night, when is the last time any of us including me walked around an inner city area in Liverpool, Manchester or London? From personal experience I feel a lot safer here in Asia than I ever did in the UK and I’ve not come across a ‘no-go’ area for foreigners yet.

Don’t get me wrong, I wish I could have had this lifestyle in the UK, but I’m one of those that will never be officially rehabilitated and just as you would move to another part of town, or to another part of the UK to improve your job prospects, I moved 6,000 miles away to improve mine. The only difference is distance. I still work in the rat race, I still have to pay taxes, I still have bills to pay and it’s certainly not all lying on a beach under a palm tree stuff. A dream lifestyle it is, but it’s not promised to you by some Minister of verbal garbage in the UK, it’s something that you work towards and I think that is a problem for some to understand in a country that believes in equality and entitlements and all must be the same. My posts are not about a country without problems, they’re about what you can make of yourself in just about any country when you’re able to take away the UK government restrictions that hold you back and promise you a minimum wage as a goal in life. 

So, to sum up. Don’t listen to the government and don’t take to much heed of the media propaganda. All countries have problems, but all countries also have opportunities, just that with our pasts, some have more than others. Post conviction life makes a lot of people bitter, they feel safe and secure doing what they’re told, sticking to the known . . . yet for the adventurous types there is hope, as millions who have already done it will tell you. I’m not saying do it, I’m telling you what I did and it’s something that worked.

Oh, I’ve never said that I dislike the UK. I dislike how it’s run, politicians, rules and regulations . . . but never the country itself. The crime(s) I committed don’t need to be gone into, but they resulted in double figure prison sentences and spanned a couple of decades – I believe I was referred to as a ‘career criminal’. There are people here who didn’t even get a prison sentence and are barred from any gainful employment. Real guts, well there’s an anomaly. I can and have trekked through jungles and my working environment now touches -30 in the winter, so no problems there.

Guts – surviving long term prison environments with the worst in the UK and coming out the other side alive and still mentally capable. Having the determination to go the course, not give up, improve and get from Category A prisoner to a teacher. Not many have done that, no one led me, no one told me what to do – I did it. Quite proud of it actually and I come on here to tell people that there’s hope. This isn’t me bragging, I tell people this is what I did and how I did it. Adventures? I prefer to forget mine, they give me nightmares and there was no safety net. Go watch ‘McVicar’ or Jimmy Boyles experiences in the Scottish prisons for a taste of no holds barred adventures.   

I never escaped really. What I did is escape the worst recession in living memory and it’s not over for you lot yet. In the good old days of the early to mid 2000’s a good HGV1 driver was earning 1000 a week before tax but I always knew I was capable of a lot more. It’s called progression, people move onto better things which is what I did. I’m not alone, millions have also done it, with or without a criminal conviction. Many here can’t even get a job down Tesco’s, now perhaps you’d offer them some advice?  

My main problem is with the government telling me I can never be rehabilitated and somewhat shamedly, I’m beginning to see The Foxes take on this. I’m in my late 50’s, I have a bunch of degrees, work skills, life experience and all the rest of it. I’m classed as a social and economic outcast because of what I did a quarter of a century ago? I’m expected to stand meekly in front of someone half my age whilst they tut tut about my being a bad boy and have a HR conference on whether to give me a chance to sweep their floors for six pounds something an hour? My problem is that I was never a follower, which got me into a lot of trouble in my earlier days, but having turned round, that same doggedness, refusal to obey and do what I think is best for me has now got me to the top of the food chain.

I’ve paid my share of UK taxes; I’ve been crime free for decades; I’ve obeyed the law and voted . . . and I have to beg for work and have to ‘prove’ myself for the rest of my life? (There follows a series of expletives)! Having now thought about what all this has got to do with teaching, well it’s better than begging, slipping into drug or alcohol abuse and much better than being unemployed, or what’s the nicey term now – low waged? Nope, I’ve no regrets even if it makes Mr. Cameron “physically ill” and the Daily Mail readers choke on their buttered scones. It’s better staying in the UK and putting up with it? I can assure you it’s not and I don’t care what Reuters, The University of Sydney or the UK government tell me. I’ve made my own bed, I’m lying in it and to tell you the truth, it’s rather comfy these days and comes with a nice view! You be careful with those ducks, they’ll be available down your local food bank if the recession carries on like this for much longer. Time is 1730 and it’s +40 outside. Cheers.      

P.S Do you mean Chiang Mai, not Rai, because that's where the US forces were stationed. Chiang Rai is further up near the Laos border and there are no UK forces there unless perhaps you were special forces (SAS/SBS). Oh please, not that, we've enough 007's and ex- secret agents stories in the bars here to last a lifetime.

Missed whatever was said (and deleted), as your evening is my early hours of the morning. Sometimes we take things back and on second thoughts delete what we’ve said, but I wonder why you need to constantly post and delete Q3? Your choice of course, just wondering.

You have to forgive people for the cynicism Q3, we’ve heard a lot of it before. For a lot of people post conviction life is difficult and especially in the UK. The mindset is that this is the law, but I’ve always reiterated that it only applies to the UK. The UK has some of the most restrictive laws in Europe and once away from them, life generally becomes much easier. I for instance would be shocked if I found an application form here which asked for previous convictions. I also buy my insurance here based on current and predictable risks; what happened twenty years ago, or even yesterday has no bearing on it. My employment depends on my ability to do the job, nothing else. My life here is what I make it and not what the government thinks it should be.

Would my life be as successful in the UK in this recession? Absolutely not. I’d manage, I wouldn’t declare, I’d struggle along looking over my shoulder and I’d get by and so my posts reflect that and tell people not to be discouraged by the UK and that life isn’t the same elsewhere. TV licences, fishing permits, disclosure . . . you’ve got to tell everyone else about your past because someone else told you to; it’s completely alien to much of the rest of the world. Economically too, the UK looks like it’s on its last legs?

If you have managed to get on your feet after a conviction in the UK, then good luck to you and I’m glad you’ve made it. I know people here in Asia who have past convictions and they’ve made it too, but I’ve yet to meet anyone who is restricted in what they can do and it’s all down to individual ability. I’ve always thought that the best person gets the job and I’ve no problem with that. If I’m beaten at the finishing line by someone who is more qualified or more able than I am I’ve no problem with that. I do have a problem being forced to go cap in hand to earn a living and told to disclose my past because someone else tells me that it’s for my own and societies good. It’s not and I refuse to do it and hence I am where I am. (Stick that in your LASPO Cameron)!         

Q3

No problem. We all have ideas and ways we’ve done things. Some we agree with, others we don’t, but if someone has jumped a hurdle it’s interesting to know how and the consequences. You can’t write off whole countries as a destination based on stories from the internet. The U.S for example is one big horror story if we listened to the news and I’ve never been there, but I’m sure there are opportunities there and the people, (less the officials), are perfectly nice and the lifestyle is OK. As foreigners, in many countries many of the everyday restrictions don’t apply and as our knowledge and skills are wanted we tend to have a better time of it than the locals – in many places, thankfully. It’s got to be better than banging your head against a wall in the UK?

RP

China is generally 1984 Orwell gone mad and then some. Thankfully, most of it doesn’t apply to the foreigners and all have a ‘leader’ who sorts out the problems. The internet is no problem; yes, Youtube, facebook, twitter are blocked, but not for foreigners who use free VPN’s – it’s their own populations who get blocked. Fortunately there are 1.3 bn people in China and everyone wants to learn English, so not only are there lots of jobs available, the salaries are quite high too.

Chinese schools generally require two years experience, minimum, unless it’s for private places like EF and Wall Street, (places to definitely avoid)! If you haven’t taught for years you know yourself it will show and so my tip was to get some update experience in Thailand and then move on. China also operates on levels of education, degree minimum, then postgrad . . . it reflects in your salary. So no recent experience with a bog standard degree WILL get you a job, but it WILL be poorly paid. The first question you WILL be asked is, where have you worked (teaching) and often, why did you leave? Yes you’re right, for work Thailand is just about played out now and just about everyone I know is moving on. I meet people from the UK, the U.S and all over; the underlying consensus is that a well paid job is now at the top of everyone’s priorities and if you can weather out the economic western disaster elsewhere, why not? China is still a developing country and you can’t wipe out half a decade of political mis-management overnight – socially it’s still a hundred years behind the west, but surging forward and for all it’s faults, (and it does have many), it’s not the East that is stopping you working, but the great enlightened west?  

Richard

It sounds nice in theory, but the people who make these laws in the UK make sure the loopholes are well and truly closed. That means one section of society telling another how they are going to live. 'Trouble' to me would be not being able to work, often for the rest of your life, because someone else will stop you doing so. I’m not Jewish, but if the law said I would have to wear a yellow star I’d refuse to do so as well. I’m all for obeying laws; we all have to pay taxes, behave and there are penalties for not doing so and if we disobey that then we’re (quite rightly) punished – but the punishment has to stop eventually. You can’t say to someone, “you will never work again”, it’s just not right. Perhaps I see things a different way, but you can no more stop me working, as you can telling me I couldn’t go to the pictures, or drive a car . . . I just won’t obey and I do think the government play on this fear of authority and everyone doing what they’re told. It only works if people obey, if you refuse it looses its power over you. To each his own though, but if we’re all agreed that the government is restrictive, I don’t encourage them by playing along with it.

Richard,

I certainly wouldn’t encourage people to do anything, but I would present reasons for doing so and discuss the ethics or consequences of either of those actions.

I also don’t think it’s an extreme to say that if you declare you’re not likely to be in any kind of decent employment. Hence people complaining that they keep getting rejected? I’m afraid resourcefulness doesn’t really come into, being CRB/DBS checked has much more of an effect. I’m also sure that racism in its day was unfair, as was homophobia . . . I didn’t blindly follow any of that either, just because it was the law. People make laws and laws are changed – I follow my own ethical standards, others are free to follow theirs.

“If I was going for a job in a supermarket stacking shelves, I think I would be justified in lying and it's very unlikely anyone would bother about it, even if the lie was discovered.” An about turn? Yes, your employer probably would be bothered and you’d probably be sacked. I don’t change Richard, I stick to my own standards and disobey that which harms me – I don’t cherry pick. I obey the speed limit, but I disobey a law which tells me I won’t be able to work because of my past, ever, or that my car insurance premium is treble because I stole a packet of crisps six years ago.

I did regularly lie on insurance forms. I did that because it’s unjust, profit seeking and even the government have now slightly changed that in the recent LASPO. It’s just that I was not declaring before it became law. Fabricating references/CV? I believe the figure in the UK is something like 50% in a recent employers survey? I did actually say not to make up false University degrees and there are places that do them in Bangkok which I specifically said to avoid.

No one, unless they’re doing it for criminal reasons gets a conviction for not disclosing. They are often simply sacked. No employer to date has been fined as far as I know for running illegal checks. Each to his own Richard, struggle through, disclose, declare, play the game – I’m happy where I am, hope you’re happy with no problems also.

I’ll agree with you when you imply that lieing to obtain employment for fraud or personal gain is dishonest and there is a law against it. Yet to have to lie to simply be able to work and earn a living can’t be right either and for many it really is that simple. Of course it is never necessary to lie, but the consequences are long term, even a life term, of unemployment.

There is no spin on my part. Obey LASPO, disclose, obey the law to the letter and . . . you’ll probably end up long term unemployed like many on the forum. Of course, you can always continue trying, get letters of reference from a probation officer; but you know, in the middle of the worst recession (some might say ever), mass cheap labour and a collapsing economy, people don’t need added burdens. There are people here who can’t even get a voluntary job sweeping the streets because of a past record and that is simply not on.

Now if you want to obey to the strict letter of the law, then that’s what you must do. I do start from the position of “this is what I want to do” and not, “Am I allowed to do this’? (As an aside, if I disclosed, I wouldn’t even get near a job). Included in that is can I do the job? Do I have the qualifications? If the only reason that I can’t get the job is because of my past, then that is a social restriction masquerading as the law. I refuse to obey laws that oppress me, (sounds sort of 1960’s that doesn’t it), but I don’t give a toss about laws to be honest and emigrated to get away from them. I went straight to improve myself, social conscience and stuff, shame . . . but if the end result is a lifetime of unemployment at the bottom of the economic and social ladder, what was the point?

I do see your point about being honest, but there’s a point where honesty turns into stupidity. I gave up hoping and banging my head against a brick wall and did something about it. Others are able to choose for themselves. My morals are pretty good now as is my social standing and I contribute to the society that I live in. Now that to me and everyone else does more good than my holding my head up down the Job center in the UK.  

The bottom line Richard is you do it your way and I'll do it mine and everyone else can take their pick. The difference is that I will never (fingers crossed), be on here telling the world how hard life is and complaining. I found my niche in life, it's what I wanted and if I had to tell some porkies along the way to do it I won't lose any sleep over it.        

Ader

Not heard anything about these new certificates coming into force, but I wouldn’t be surprised for places like the U.S, Europe and Australia/Canada – the politically correct places. I was asked for one a couple of times and found my own (legal) way around it, but it’s not a thing you come across often. I think what people often focus on are themselves without talking into account that you’re one of millions and to be honest, governments rely more on the somewhat dozy types who insist on telling every Tom, Dick and Harry about themselves and then complain because everyone knows. Appearance is everything and you will usually be taken at face value. After a while, you will come to accept what you are and it’s then that the present takes over from the past and it all sort of slides into history.   

Richard

Well, I think we agree that life goes on, but what I’m saying is that it doesn’t move far enough in the right direction for me so I give it a gentle push? When I go to bed at night I sleep easily and so does everyone else who I’ve come into contact with that day. That’s my reform.

You might not be able to lose 30Ibs and marry an Argentinian super model, but I will and have become a professional, have a middle class lifestyle and I am not restricted by the ROA in what I can do and am capable of. That’s the difference between us Richard – if I think I’m capable of doing something I’ll go for it and try. You on the other hand will wait for someone to tell you if you are allowed to.

Now, if you don’t need to go to the lengths of emigrating to realize a dream, you stay and wait for it to get better. I set both the goals and standards for my own life, not others. I don’t commit fraud and wouldn’t encourage it but you seem to think I do, I just don’t declare which is not fraud for gain, but a lie to achieve. Just as you’ve said you’d lie for a supermarket job, but not for something bigger.

To say to someone, “Oh well, just make the best of it” or, “Just keep trying” is about as useless as it gets, don’t you think? What advice would you give Richard? “Well, we’ve just got to, you know, persevere, you know, just accept things?” You accept them Richard; I’m not a first time offender and my eyes are blue, not green. I can assure I am reformed, not maybe in the sense you would like me to be, but I can also assure you I haven’t re-offended for decades, hurt anyone by my actions and contribute to society.

That’s what the forum is for Richard, not a collection of individuals who sit quietly, gather dust and stagnate and quiver at the thought of actually doing something. So far I’ve achieved everything I set out to do and I did that not by doing what I’m told. My moral philosophy has worked for me, has yours worked for you?

Off on a tangent. Because of where I am, I’m now thinking of going into a p/t export business. I’ve just sold a product in Thailand for 500% profit and need to set up a webpage and hopefully double that. In HTML? I’ve no idea, what’s that? Yet there are a lot of people here far more knowledgeable than me about these things – if it’s allowed. I simply talk about things I’ve done and that have worked for me. We all need ideas Richard and we use them as a menu; we pick and choose our way through life. I gather from your original thread you’re somewhat new to our ranks – welcome aboard and tell me the same thing you’re telling me now in a decade.

“All checks comply with the law and are carried out with the full knowledge and authorisation of all applicants.”  And if you don’t agree you don’t get the job and if something comes back they suddenly decide you’re not unsuitable after all and the offer is withdrawn – not because of what was discovered, surely not, and you’ll never prove that was the reason.

Who was it on this forum ages ago who tried for – I think it was KFC, but one of those types of places anyway and attempted to fill out their application form online. As soon as you answer ‘yes’ to the question it knocks you back to the beginning of the page! We all thought it was hilarious at the time, but it was a macabre forced sort of humour. Who in their right minds wants to put themselves through the Morrison’s meat grinder, or the thousands like them?!

The point is Richard. most of what people say on here are things based on personal experience, not what we think of or stuff we got off the internet. Your arguments make sense theoretically, but not in practice and thats where you fall apart. You still haven't been sentenced yet and you're giving everybody your views on post conviction life and what it's like for people? You got this 'knowledge' from where? You think Richard - we know!   

Richard, take another deep breath. I have lived through forty years of the ROA, please believe me, I don’t exaggerate and they’re not myths. It’s no point starting a new thread; the same people will answer it and tell you you’re talking nonsense. Well no, to be fair I shouldn’t say that as I’m not sure what you’re saying, but it is coming across as a nonsense rambling.

We and I’m talking of the people who are replying to you here don’t do conspiracy mate, we live it, it’s true and we know because we’re on the receiving end and you’re not. Information people can get from the UNLOCK helpline; the forum is experienced based and populated by people who have experience, or alternatively are looking for those who have it. You have neither Richard and it’s this that makes your posts a jumble of incoherent personal ramblings.

No offence Richard, but the CJS is a mass of individuals like yourself who read from the same text book. You have the answers because that what it says should happen. Life isn’t like that – ‘it shouldn’t happen like that, therefore it doesn’t’. You base your ideas of exaggeration and myths on what? Certainly not experience Richard and it’s why people are tearing your arguments to bits.