MartinL

Looks like this thread has run its course ..... but that seems to be what happens when a slanging match kicks off.

Maybe I should give credit to the NHS where it's due since it's not all doom and gloom where it's concerned. My brother lives and works in China but was on holiday in UK on his sailing boat last year. He had an accident while sailing solo off England's south coast - he got his hand caught in the ropes while winding on an electric winch. He's an experienced sailor so I can't guess what happened that day. Anyway, his hand was badly damaged and the meat was stripped from one of his fingers - 'degloved' is it? Also damage to a hip that has since required replacement in China. Repair to hand carried out in Portsmouth immediately, no costs to him and he made a good recovery although the finger will never be quite the same. There's a chance he might read this so I hope I got it all correct, bruv. However bad scheduled treatment and appointments might be, it appears that emergency treatment, based on this one incident, is still readily available.

I have no recent personal experience of the NHS since I haven't used it for my 16 years in Thailand nor for 18 years before that, except for very minor reasons but the service seems to have been far better in those days. I can only base my negative opinion of it on my best mate's attempts to get 'seen to' and the complete absence of any GP attention for my 95 y.o. mum. Your comment seems to mirror their experience of their local GP surgery - both are registered at the same practice. My mum's given-up trying to get appointments with her GP - it seems to be telephone consultations only for her so she just suffers in silence although, apart from her legs, she's in good shape physically and mentally for 95. My mate had a skin cancer removed from his ear late last year about 6 months after diagnosis and, some months later, a recurrence on the same ear. The local recurrence meant he was dealt with as a 'priority case'. He eventually saw the GP practice nurse who couldn't make a decision on it and referred him to the dermatology nurse. The dermatology nurse took some photos but, again, couldn't make a clear decision and referred him to a dermatologist who took a biopsy in May. This sequence of events took 3 1/2 months. He was told to return for the biopsy result and decision on treatment in NOVEMBER, 6 months later and would have been 9 1/2 months since he saw the first nurse. Following complaints, this appointment has been moved forward a few months to (iirc) August. The visits to the 2 nurses seem totally superfluous when the only meaningful action came from the dermatologist. Why waste time with nurses? Dermatologist should have been the first stop. Compare this to my own skin cancer experience in Khon Kaen, April/May this year - wait a few days for dermatologist appointment because that specific doctor's clinic is only held once a week, biopsy at first visit to dermatologist. Biopsy result and referral to surgeon a week later and surgery 9 days after that - 19 days in total. Our family Civil Service health scheme took care of it and obviously differences in payment methods means my experience was faster but even so, such a large disparity between NHS and Thai experience is ridiculous. UK NHS's 'free at the point of use' might be great in theory but it just doesn't seem to work when waiting times are so long for whatever reason. Maybe what is 'free' and who benefits from the 'free' bits needs to be reconsidered. @theoldgit mentioned above a 48 week wait for an 'urgent' referral - that's not 'urgent', that's kicking the can down the road and almost ignoring the illness and consequences caused by delays. As I've heard a number of times "They hope you'll die first".

Why didn't you ask him 6 years ago?

I gave you a 'laugh 55'. You seem to have confused 'principles' and 'principals'. Haven't you said you were a teacher in the past?

Yes. Attacked with guns, knives or machetes for honking another car in traffic ....................... but retaliate against a bullying, sadistic teacher? Perish the thought, mustn't do that!

Wrong side of the yellow line? Left turn? Are you watching a different video? But you're correct on one point that nobody else has mentioned -- no traffic lights.

They had Stallions bikes 15 years ago when I was new here - 200cc I think. The bikes I saw locally seemed to be ridden into the ground and had probably never seen a mechanic yet they must have been the simplest of bikes to maintain - single cylinder, carburettors, simple electrics. These new things will also be ridden to destruction because that's usually the Thai way. Anyway, aren't these new Hondas likely to be Thai built?

That custom maroon paintjob and a few exclusive stickers could easily account for the 30 k฿ price rise. 😉😉

I've just received the P60 for 24/25 for my mate's widow. That year, she had a tax code of 1257L M1 - an emergency tax code. Her income from that pension was far, far below £12,570 yet she was charged £511 tax which is clearly wrong and I hope that'll be refunded automatically with a future pension payment to her. For 25/26, the first payment advice slip shows her code is 1257L - an 'ordinary' tax code which means she should pay no tax this year. Because of prakonchai nick's post, I hadn't been in contact with HMRC re. the tax code and hadn't completed either of the forms R43 and DT-Individual mentioned in another post - I was waiting to receive the P60 and new year's payslip to see 25/26 tax code. This seems to confirm PN's post in that tax code is sorted out by the former employer/pension provider. I hope this is true for all pension providers. Thanks, Nick.

It seems to me that the rider on the main road DID hit the other bike, albeit just a touch of their front wheels. But the police have made their decision so that's that. BTW, the "unlicenced schoolgirl" then compounds her bad riding by leaving her bike stationary in the middle of the road rather than pulling to the side in the clearly marked shoulder of the road. But she at least had the decency not to drive away without checking on her victim.

What the hell is the lorry driver supposed to do when an idiot on a bike drives straight under his back wheels? Surely no blame for the lorry driver.

DWP don't quote an e-mail address. Go to ...... https://www.gov.uk/international-pension-centre Scroll down on that page a little to just underneath the bold 'Online' heading and you'll see 'online enquiry form'. Click and you'll see the form for you to fill in with your question. However, a phone call would be MUCH, MUCH faster - replies to these forms can take weeks sometimes whereas the response to a phone call can be immediate. Don't you have somebody that can make the call for you while you're there in the background to answer questions via your helper? Telephone: +44 191 218 7777 Monday to Friday, 8am to 6pm.

Thanks for that. Can't be expected to know that if no messages are forthcoming. Still a while to wait then.

Now 2 weeks past the supposed 'deadline' and still no message from Bangkok Bank to my mBanking app. nor freezing of the mBanking service. Phone is in my wife's name. I read in one of the threads on this subject here that as long as family name and address match there'll be no problem - it seems JohnnyBD's info above is correct ... so far. Of course, it might change somewhere down the line. Like Connda, I'll just continue until something changes. Getting the SIM changed to my name is no problem at all.