MartinL

Strange, although it might be due to the passing of time, but when I renewed my 5-yr. DLs in 2021 in KK province, the Yellow Book/Pink Card were acceptable but they then said the licence would only be valid 'within the local area' and if I wanted one covering the whole of Thailand (which I did, of course!) then a CoR was required. That 'local area' sounded ridiculous then and still does but the renewal criteria with PC seem to have done a 180 so that the card is now preferred.

You could try this place:-

https://www.smckku.com/smc-respiratory-clinic/

Screenshot from Google Earth attached with dropped pin for building entrance location.

If you know Srinagarin Hospital, you'll be familiar with the 2 roundabouts shown. SMC is on the ground floor of the building, on the right as you enter.

Kukri snake. Very sharp teeth but not venomous. Just let it go on its way.

I took these pictures of a scooter in our local park some months ago. As far as I can tell, it's a 1960s Vespa 125 Primavera but I know little of scooters. The condition of the bike suggests it might be that old but the number plate is a very recent one. Good to see it still in use and looking pretty original, if it IS 60 y.o.

.

56 minutes ago, BritManToo said:

So many unhappy people sharing their unhappiness.

My wife is lovely, 16 great years together already.

+1 - but MY wife, same number of years and hope for many more. I don't know yours - honest!

On 5/24/2025 at 6:38 AM, Pumpuynarak said:

 

I would'nt hold your breath waiting for the refund of £511 i believe she will have to complete the R43 at the end of the tax year to achieve the refund or have the DT individual in place.

I think you're correct. 

According to this:-

https://www.moore.co.uk/news-views/august-2024/automatic-paye-refunds-are-no-longer-issued

automatic repayments of overpaid tax ceased after April 2024.

A bit of form-filling required then.                                

On 6/11/2025 at 8:46 PM, Magictoad said:

Bicycle? Motorcycle? Bike?

What type of bike do you mean?

There might be a clue since this topic is in the 'Motorcycles in Thailand' forum.

1 hour ago, MartinL said:

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.

 

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.

7 hours ago, Geoff914 said:

You can't get an appointment at my GP's surgery. You can get a telephone triage then if you are lucky get an appointment. Good luck getting through on the phone to get the triage.

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".

52 minutes ago, NanLaew said:

 

Why have you capitalized the word multinational?

Why didn't you ask him 6 years ago?

9 minutes ago, WDSmart said:

Although the driver of the bike that crashed was driving on the wrong side of the yellow line in the middle of the road, I would say the driver of the bike that hit him was at fault because he was making a left-hand turn from a side street. I didn't see any traffic lights in the video.

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. 

1 hour ago, NoDisplayName said:

What's wrong with buying a Thai brand?

Retail price under 70,000.

Fleet price should be no more than 100,000 each.

 

 

https://www.ridestallions.com/home/en/c-series-centaur-170i-bobber/

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?

On 2/18/2025 at 1:47 PM, MartinL said:

Of course I will. I'm not optimistic that it'll be a quick process, given the long wait for a reply to my letters, but HMRC might spring a surprise!

On 2/18/2025 at 2:04 PM, prakhonchai nick said:

I have assisted several Thai widows of British expats. They all receive the Personal Tax Allowance (currently £12,570), and this is sorted  by the former employer of husband when paying the widow's pension. No need ever to deal direct with HMRC re the allowance

 

However, depending on the date of death of the husband, a tax refund can be claimed (sometimes automatic after a year or so has elapsed)

 

Note that the UK state pension ceases upon death. There are no longer any benefits for widows or children, nor the one off lump sum payment (was £2,000).................unless husband and family happened to be in the UK at time of death

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.

6 minutes ago, Ken444 said:

Police told her (after 3 hours at the station - before going to hospital) That no one was at fault as she did not hit the other bike - even though the other bike rider was an unlicensed schoolgirl and pulled out without looking - they would not track her down.

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.

8 minutes ago, Upnotover said:

 

The message I used to get on the K Bank app was that the deadline to check and comply was 30 April and the possible suspension of services would be by the end of June.  So final deadline not passed yet!

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.

Check this thread from earlier this year:-