Wozzit

Oh dear. BritManToo makes major errors in his posts and then puts the poster who corrects them on ignore. Must have most posters on ignore therefore. Ah well! Such stupidity. So he's on ignore too! Byeeeeeeee!

3 minutes ago, BritManToo said:

1) The exchange rates are significantly better than they were 30 years back.

2) I'd expect my Thai family to care for me until I died, same as they would with any other family member.

 

If you're short of money, living in a Bangkok apartment and paying 100k/month rent probably isn't a good idea. Up in Chiang Mai, you can easily rent a 3 bedroom house for 10k/month. Retired people need to match there outgoings to their income, which is why I'm here.

Seems you do not read others posts. They lived here 20 years, not 30. The exchange rates then were not greatly different from now.

They were clearly very stupid renting a large city centre apartment. And everyone should be matching outgoings with income. But as I have stated in an earlier post, a year ago they appeared to have no financial problems. Something happened around about August which resulted in their cash disappearing, but we do not know what.

9 hours ago, camo007 said:

I lived in the same building. I know them for over 20 years. Retired in Thailand at least 30+ years ago. One is around 90 years old and one of the nicest people you would ever meet. Its 2 older gentlemen who fell on hard times in retirement. 

 

Scared of Covid at 90 years old staying at home to survive. They did not know what to do and not the internet type (They cant even use a mobile phone). They sold up everything in the UK to retire in Thailand believing that they would be well taken care of and that they would have enough money to live out the retirement. But with medical expenses and living much longer then expected this must have caused a lot of pressure. The cost to retire in Thailand and exchange rates has changed greatly in the last 30 years and we have seen so many depart Thailand as its become quite expensive. 

 

I saw one of them in Silom walking around Soi 4. I called out his name and he looked at me like he was lost. At that age most likely having "an Elderly moment" and so I sat him down to talk to him. He went back to the restaurant he had just come from and sat down again like he forgot his way home. I went to him and asked him if he was ok and he said he needed help to go home so I arranged my staff to return him home. I was quite worried for them as they are truly lovely people but simply need somebody to care for them and help them work out how to manage. They expected a pension and other funds that did not arrive and they felt they were too old to travel back to the UK to try work it out. 

 

I want you all to think what would happen to you if you returned here in Thailand and made it to 90 and could not manage your affairs any longer? 

 

They had nothing bad to say about Thailand and wanted no harm but did not know what to do. The landlord at Esmerelda Apartments tried to assist and that's why they stayed so long but not knowing how the system worked in the UK could not get the pensions sent to Thailand. The landlord of that building is very good and I think the fact they let them stay while trying to sort things out for them was amazing. 

 

They were arrested and placed in detention on the 27th of may and as far as i know they have still not managed to arrange the flight back to the UK due to the current situation. They must be terrified and not only the detention but the thought of going back to the UK not knowing anybody or if they will survive the trip. In addition its been suggested in there current state its not sure if they are fit to fly and if they will need a companion to assist them. 

 

They are not evil people they are just very old and nobody has helped them in this time of need. If they were in the UK they would have had much more support to arrange care and would not be in this horrible position. Imagine being that age and being locked up and taken out of your home and placed in a Thai Detention center not knowing what was going on. 

 

People ask me if I would retire in Thailand and I have mixed feelings as this is not the place to be if your not able to look after yourself. 

 

Thank you for setting much of the record straight.  You clearly knew them well, whereas my information came second hand, but also from someone who knew them. From what I hear they were very quiet and reserved people. They seemed rarely to drink. One though seemed to have gone to Soi 4 regularly but only to meet a small similarly retired crowd for a drink and companionship. If he had been drunk I expect that came in the last few months as many of us might do if we were in total despair of our future. On the other hand, how could they have had money to buy alcohol? How did they eat? How did they survive in a central Bangkok apartment with no electricity and no water for six months or thereabouts?

Your comments, though, have a few slight inaccuracies, according to my friend. Not that it makes much difference, they actually retired here 20 years ago, not 30, after first trying to settle in Singapore which they seemed to know better than Bangkok at the time. As earlier  reported they purchased a large flat in a residential district probably around 1km from the Esmeralda place as the crow flies. That was sold about 5 or 6 years ago.

No idea what their rent actually was at Esmeralda but when they moved there they clearly had a cash pile that had to have been in the region of 10-12 million Baht. One or both also had a pension from the UK. Both then had medical insurance policies taken out in England which covered Thailand. Looking at the Esmeralda website, the apartments are certainly large. Most range from 135 sq.m. to 200 sq.m. On the website, the smaller asking rent is 60K Baht. These certainly seem overlarge for 2 men living on small pensions and a limited cash pile. The landlord did take them to court and they were given a month to leave. I was told they had started planning to leave but the separate accommodations finally didn't work out. But also, how on earth could they have afforded the air fares?

As I stated earlier, their financial meltdown must have hit them very suddenly. I also think it fair to add, as another poster mentioned, they did start borrowing money from friends on the promise that it would be repaid when the pension payment arrived. I doubt if any were repaid. When you are desperate, as they clearly were, you have to find some way to survive.

5 hours ago, My POV said:

I would have shut off the electric and water as soon as they were w months late. I have no pity on anyone cheating out other people.

The water and electricity was cut off some time around November last year. So they were in a sort of living hell for a good six months.

40 minutes ago, JamieM said:

Yeh there's something not right in this story:

 

1. Nationalities withheld (this is highly unusual) usually they jump on the chance to shame western countries.

 

2.  Luxury condo block owner in Sathorn only rents to European / Americans

(something about that statement seems very odd)

 

3. The immigration thing being on a 21 day overstay (unusually short overstay to send the boys after them)

 

4. Elderly tenant gets injured at a time when the block owner just happened to be there to take him to the hospital.

 

Seems fishy to the point of anti western propaganda levels.

As written earlier, they are both British. Also, I have had confirmed that the surnames were Rose and Reid - not Rees.

The condo is in the Sathorn area but not on Sathorn. I believe it could have been more downmarket on Suan Plu or Ngamduplee and unlikely to be luxury. Still, no excuse for not paying rent.

What makes me curious is (1)  they had sold a large condo nearby only a few years ago, and (2) they had managed to obtain one year visas for many years up to and including May 2020,  but somehow they catastophically ran out of cash in just a few months. After all a one year retirement visa renewal for the two of them is 1.6 million K. And Immigration has to see bankbooks 2 months after renewal. So the cash drain must have started around August 2020. How do you run up such huge debts in such a short space of time?

Could they have been hit by the fraudsters who prey on older retirees for big returns on investing their cash?

2 hours ago, JamieM said:

You have a point but it still doesn't explain why the one on the left in the picture appears to be a women and they are described as a couple.

They are both male and the surnames are Rose and Rees.

22 minutes ago, hotchilli said:

By the way they acted from the time they got here to the time they'll get escorted out it seems like Thailand was on a bucket list.... a free year in paradise.

Guess you did not read my earlier post. They have lived in Thailand for at least 16 years. The report about their arrival in March last year is pure b/s.

1 hour ago, Wozzit said:

They did not arrive in Thailand in March last year. They have been living in Thailand on retirement visas at least since 2005.

8 minutes ago, JamieM said:

How many men do you two know called Rose and are described as a couple? 

Where did you pick up the nugget? More b/s. Their names as reported are Rose and Rees. They are described initially as two men. Only later is the word couple used. Equally it could have been 'pair'. As far as I have been informed they were not a 'couple' other than being two pensioners electing to spend their retirement in one large apartment.

I believe that the "elite" 5 year visa is still available for TB 20,000. No runs, no 90 report, just the money every five years.

I'm not sure where this 5 years for THB 20,000 comes from or the THB 500,000 mentioned earlier. According to the Elite site, there is only one type of individual membership and it runs for 20 years. This now costs THB. 2 million plus VAT up front PLUS an annual charge of THB. 20,000 plus VAT.

Qualifications for membership are not onerous -

6.1 Being sui juris under Thai law at the age of or over twenty (20) years old;

6.2 Being allowed to stay in Thailand in accordance with the immigration laws or any related law of Thailand;

6.3 Holding a foreign passport;

6.4 Not having been adjudicated bankrupt;

6.5 Not having been declared as a person of unsound mind, incompetence, or quasi-incompetence; and

6.6 Not having been sentenced by a judgment to imprisonment in any countries except for an offence committed through negligence

http://www.thailandelite.com/job.php

The pundits can talk all they want about revenue per km flown, balance sheets and all the other accounting details. That means nothing to the paying customer whose need is to get from A to B as safely, comfortably and economically as possible. That is as true for most first and business class passengers as for those in economy.

As others have noted, the front end of the aircraft is the bit that produces the profits. TG’s product is now not just inferior to that offered by many other full-service carriers – it is close to being vastly inferior and it is more expensive. Years of neglect have taken their toll. I have recently flown business class on 747s which is more like other carriers’ economy class, apart from a bit more space and an extra course at meal time. Even the A340s diverted from the JFK and LAX routes that are now flying to Europe only have narrow angled-flat seating, when many other Asian carriers as well as the cheaper Middle-Eastern airlines have fully flat beds and far superior service. As for US flights, Korean, Asiana and others are streets ahead of TG.

Who wants to fly to Hong Kong on aging aircraft when Emirates has its daily A380 service with flat beds, excellent meals and wines, huge vdo screens and the most extensive entertainment system I have ever come across in the air? I returned from Taipei some months ago on an ageing TG Airbus with the original business class seating (minimal recline) and only one of the cabin staff who smiled. The rest looked and acted tired. So they had had a four-sector day and been working long hours! That is still no excuse for not smiling! As for the meal, I sent it all back – overcooked and quite revolting. To be fair, most of my TG flights have not been that bad. But until they invest much more on improving the in-flight product in their business cabins, I reckon TG will spiral into an even greater decline.

A general airport blackout is not the same as radar systems going down. In such cases, the backup radar power system and a general airport emergency system should then kick in.

Re the BKK radar malfunction, the questions seem to be relatively simple.

1. When the radar blacked out at BKK, why did a back-up system not kick-in almost immediately?

2. Why did it take 58 minutes (according to the Bangkok Post) to identify the problem and restore power?

3. What regular drills and procedures are in place to train staff re what to do in the event of a sudden black-out? From reports, it would seem little or no such training is given.

4. Why is the radar at BKK linked to the radar at Don Mueang? Considering Don Mueang is an official alternate airport in the event of problems at BKK (a United flight from Tokyo was diverted there just a week ago), a wholly separate power system is clearly absolutely vital.

5. Why was the auxiliary power supply at Tung Mahamak unmanned?

Once these questions are answered, which Board members and officials will either resign or be fired?

And whilst we are at it, perhaps the AOT can tell us why it is necessary to close runways for 2 consecutive periods of 8 entire weeks for resurfacing? Is there any other 2-runway international airport in the world which requires actual closure of runways to wide-body jets for resurfacing for more than a few days - if that? Clearly much more than resurfacing is going on. Will someone enlighten us and tell us what is actually wrong with the runways?

WIth the Immigration staff having 2 days out of 5 off, it's not surprising they had to work pretty hard for the rest of this week - 40% harder, I assume, if the workload was similar to other weeks. I, too, dislike all the paperwork required for visa extensions and the dreaded 90-day reporting (when will they permit this by computer, I wonder?). In choosing to go on Tuesday, maybe bkkguy1970 might have been served more quickly with an earlier arrival. When I first arrived in Thailand, a friend always advised me not to go to Immigration on a Monday, a Friday or the days before or after a public holiday. Usually I am there 8:30 on a Tuesday or Thursday and am out in well under an hour. It means an early start with the new offices on the outskirts of Bangkok, but it's worth it.

Since the darkened windows make it impossible for anyone to see inside most of the cars on the road, how do they plan to enforce this law? They tried before, and failed - for precisely this reason,

Most people forget that HSBC stood for "Hong Kong and Shanghai Banking Company" (or Corporation) and was based in Hong Kong until HK was handed back to China many years ago, when HSBC shortened their name and relocated to The City (London banking area), where they already had a large banking presence due to the money markets.

HSBC transferred its corporate base to London in 1993 to meet the UK's regulatory requirements following its takeover of the Midland Bank. It was not a result of the handing back of Hong Kong to China. But the Hong Kong and Shanghai Banking Corporation remained as a corporate entity based in Hong Kong. Rumor has it that HSBC would like to transfer back to Hong Kong. In 2009 the Chief Executive was relocated from London to Hong Kong.

Plus it is not Qantas but QANTAS.

Does Qantas know that? These are direct quotes from its own website -

"Imagine travelling in your own private Qantas 747 to explore the great icons of Asia and Africa"

"Qantas are now the only airline to fly directly from Australia to a United States port beyond the West Coast"

"Qantas Classic Award flights to various domestic destinations"

"+Indicates Qantas Frequent Flyer points apply"

If similar logic is applied in this case then I would assume this may aid the poor girl's defence or at least lighten her sentence.

LIke many here, I was appalled to read about this accident and probably over-reacted when I first read about it, influenced no doubt by the loss of life and the terrible way these poor people died. I believe the law here states that drivers and front seat passengers must wear seat belts. But there is no requirement for others in a vehicle to do so. How many taxis have you been in with belts in the back, but no buckles? That seems to be the norm here.

On the matter of seat belts, however, we should note - if it has not already been brought up - that the underage girl faces another charge. She was not wearing a seat belt! Since she is a minor and cannot face the full force of the law, I hope her parents, who clearly knew that she drove illegally (and, according to her mother, was a fast driver), have to serve jail time.

"Today I submitted the testimony of the alleged victim to the public prosecutor, who is responsible for delivering it to the court,"

This surely has to be a complete joke. Wasn't the original allegation made in early July? If there was a gram of truth in the above statement, how does it take the BIB almost 6 months to get a statement from the alleged victim? It beggars belief!

I do not claim to know the gory details of the case in question....previous postings about this pianist stated he had "been outed" before but he is very well "connected" and had bought his way out of trouble....no smoke without a fire....this stinks....

Better to get a handle on the facts of the case first, then, before making up fanciful scenarios. The previous postings were pure rumour and speculation arising from just one Moscow newspaper which is Russia's equivalent of the National Enquirer. No other media outlet originated any such story!

Of course, the full facts will never come out. But there is enough in the public record to show that the original charges and the high-and-mighty statements from public officials were a whole bundle of lies. These lies were quickly found out and dropped. The police even said they found images of child pornography on this man's computer. They later admitted they had never even searched the computer!

As for buying his way out of trouble, as you state, when a rich man is accused of molesting a 14-year old boy, we all know certain parties can be quickly paid off before the case is even heard of. When such a man pleads innocence, when he goes through a world-wide media lynching in which he is falsely accused of half a dozen horrific crimes, when he spends a vast amount of money to return to Thailand six times to comply with the court rules, when he loses probably hundreds of thousands of dollars in lost income from cancelled concerts, when the case is officially dropped in late September and yet there seems to have been some kind of official media gag on the news as it does not leak out till the beginning of December (to give officials time to concoct their face-saving stories, perhaps?) - yes, indeed there is no smoke without fire. The smoke is the corruption in the system. And yet some people are still so simple-minded they suggest that he bought his way out of trouble? In this case, that is just plain ridiculous!

And when the same 14-year old accuser is known to have worked for a Thai internet cafe owner who not only admitted to having sex with the 14 year old more than 20 times, but has now been arrested twice for running a pedophile ring and an internet child pornography site (the very accusations first levelled at Pletnev) - I agree, the whole episode stinks, bit not for the reasons you quote.

We could -but can,t go back to D/M. This Taksin flagship to my mind near had only 1 purpose in mind, Look what I,ve dreamed up----Ha. planned to get vast corruption excuse, from most of the contracts. As you said. Look at the whole dirty messed up job. A reader remarked He has never had a problem at S/Bkk. He must have a white stick !!!!. Yes there are more bad airports around, But are they NEW ones ???...This airport built for back pocket money, hardley ever had the passenger in mind, The treks off-and onto planes-immigration- arrivals point--yes look at this area again-passengers cannot meet people waiting, as they dont know which point they are going to be standing at, arrivals 2-8. ???? they made 1 point now there are more what a mix up--and every month its different--people are running around the area to locate friends and family. A joke this supermarket greenhouse.

I don't go as far as ginjag, but in principle I agree. For a new Asian airport, it has far too many faults. I've flown in and out of Don Muang since 1979. I have seen it upgraded, expanded, upgraded again, expanded again, waited in its immigration queues and put up with the overworked air-conditioning. You are correct. It's now history as Bangkok's main hub airport. And I agree that the new BKK was partly a huge corruption plot, from the buying up of the land by crooked politicians and their cronies to the awarding of contracts and the transfer of all the old gangs from the old BKK. Blaming Thaksin, though, is a bit late, because the decision to go ahead was actually made in the 1960s which was when the corruption first started.

That too is history. The question really is: how can the AOT and the government - particularly the Immigration Department - get rid of the more obvious corruption elements and start to work on a programme to sort out the most basic problems - reducing immigration queues, installing moving walkways or an underground train at departure level, better signage from arrival on the access road to the departure gates, knocking down walls to significantly increase the arrivals area, etc. I remember HKG when it opened. It was a cold, austere grey building. Admittedly it felt open and airy, but it lacked any kind of warmth, had insufficient F&B outlets, and also toilets that were too small. That all changed after a few years. Now there are coffee shops almost everywhere, trees to break up the grey, larger toilet areas etc. So it can be done - if there's the will. And that surely is the real question!

A few months ago, the AOT announced the engagement of consultants from Seoul's Incheon airport to help bring the airport into the 10 Best in the World. Incheon consistently ranks in the top three in most polls. What I fail to understand is why Thailand had to wait four years after opening a huge international airport without engaging such consultants. Had they done so afew years before opening, a lot of the niggling little problems and some of the more major ones would have been solved. For example, economies arising from cutting the arrivals area by more than 50% and by not permitting taxis into the arrivals section would have been proved to be false economies.

you are wrong on this as not all airlines have an agreement or right to fly between 2 points in one airport or country, as you are well aware that these are known as 'freedoms'within the industry.Thai presently do not have the section capacity like many of the other airlines to move large volumes of passengers especially at this busiest time of the year.

And CX do have that capacity at what for them is an equally busy period? The size of the TG and CX passenger fleets is almost identical - at around 100 aircraft. Even though TG's domestic network means it has a smaller number of wide-bodied aircraft, I respectfully do not think it is anything to do with capacity. I do not know how many aircraft CX had stuck on the ground in London. But I doubt if it was more than 4 (their daily quota), and I assume it was less as only 2 of these flights land in early morning - the other 2 are spaced out through the day. Similarly with TG, I assume not more than 2 aircraft were stuck, but maybe it was only one. Both airlines therefore faced the same difficulties. Operating just one daily flight to London with a flight/turnaround cycle of over 24 hours requires more than one aircraft. These aircraft will then be used on shorter haul sectors before gearing up for another London trip. Losing the use of even one aircraft certainly results in some aircraft allocation difficulties in the rest of the network. But having lost the use of more aircraft, CX was in an even more difficult situation than TG. I am personally not aware of any cancellations made by CX to enable their relief flights to be scheduled. TG, as we know, cancelled at least one round trip to Tokyo.

As far as rights are concerned, of course these 'freedoms' must be negotiated government to government. But to suggest that this 'freedom' to fly into Heathrow means that an airline cannot fly into Manchester in an emergency situation does, frankly, stretch the imagination considerably (I'll bet a large sum that TG has flown into Manchester more than once when Heathrow has been fog-bound). That requires no negotiation of 'freedom' rights. It is not as though they were opening Manchester as a destination. it was a temporary short-term emergency measure for less than a handful of flights. After all, TG has been flying into the UK for longer than CX. So of course it knows how to obtain speedy permissions to land at other UK airports in emergency situations. I suspect the staff did not even think of this, preferring instead to wait till Heathrow reopened to get extra flights in. CX, on the other hand, acted fast in the best interests of its passengers.

I am in and out of Suvarnabhumi on average once each month. To be fair, there have been some improvements since it opened, but not enough. The airport functions pretty well for most passengers. But there are still glaring faults. Others have mentioned the appalling arrivals area. This really is a complete joke. I was told that to save costs, they decided not to have the exterior wall close to the roadway and brought it much further 'in', thereby cutting the size of the arrivals area by a good 50%. It was presumably at the same time as someone came up with the bright idea that no taxis would be allowed near the arrivals area. Instead, every arriving passenger would be bused to a taxi holding area! That idea was finally abandoned only a couple of months prior to opening!

Immigration queues are also often mentioned. At the peak afternoon arrivals time at the west entrance, I once witnessed a near fight as the queues stretched back almost to the duty free area (the one which turned out to be illegal and which has at last been greatly reduced in size). Having taken about 50 minutes to get through, I asked a senior Immigration officer why this continuing problem had not been resolved. Not enough staff, I was told, along with a suggestion that I write to the Head of the Immigration Department about it!

SIgnage remains a problem. When you arrive at most major airports, the airlines and the gates to stop at are clearly signposted on the access road. Suvarnabhumi once had signs with the smallest writing imaginable that it was impossible to read. Unless some have gone up in the last few weeks, you have to slow to a crawl as you arrive at the terminal to find out which door to stop at. Get it wrong and you may have a long, long walk. Once inside and through immigration, too many signs are still boards plonked on the ground rather than hung from above. Get a group of passengers standing in front and you just cannot see them. Good directional, easily-seen signage is vital for all well-functioning airports.

The lack of airbridge departure gates remains a disgrace for a new airport. I recently counted about 40 but there may be more. What other recently completed airport has anything like that number? The reason, of course, is that just 4 years after opening, it is at full capacity. Hong Kong recently opened a new satellite with a dozen or so new airbridges. What evidence is there of BKK starting to do the same? None.

Then there is the lack of moving walkways in the departures area. There is just one that seems to cover less than 50 meters. Naturally this was to ensure that passengers spend a good deal of their time in the shops which line this area. Yet, for those flying TG and accessing via the east-end check-in counters, their aircraft are often parked on the west side gates. It can then be a long, long, long walk as you weave through hoards of other passengers in an area that is relatively narrow at several points.

These and other problems are just a basic nuisance to most occasional passengers. The more you use BKK, however, and the more you see how other airports in the region have largely avoided such problems, the less satisfactory BKK becomes.

Because Thai Airways do not fly out of Manchester..simple as that and haven't for years!Tell me how they can impliment a contingency plan to just bus passengers up to Manchester and announce to Manchester Plc that we demand spots at your airport during this freeze??Not being rude but do you really have any experience with the air or travel industry?Fortunately a few of us have and it aint helping with ill informed sweeping contingency statements such as yours!

Not so simple, sydneyjed! Your information needs a bit of updating. When did CX last fly out of Manchester? Not for many, many years! CX has no staff based in Manchester and no landing rights. But CX had the experience and intelligence to work out what to do. TG did not. WIth your experience of the travel industry, you will know that getting landing rights at Manchester during an emergency situation at Heathrow is not difficult at all. The only real problems are finding time slots that work for both airline and the airport, and getting staff on the ground fast. As I reported earlier, CX actually flew staff over from Hong Kong to help those London-based staff whom they could spare. Did TG do any of that? No.

put things into perspective,Thai Airways have been losing a s.it load of money for years now and this guy has been put in the hot seat for only a short length of time ..Easy to put the boot in when a dog is down..give the guy time before you take the p..s..I fly with many of the so called 'self anointed' top airlines and believe me Thai cabin service is heaps better now!!

Lauding TG's service is fine - as long as their passengers can actually get on their aircraft! To me, an airline is only as good as its contingency plans when problems occur. It's not as though they haven't had time to work something out. Remember the airport closures due to the ash cloud earlier in the year? Remember too that snow snarling up Heathrow is not exactly an unusual occurrence. TG's contingency planning pales in comparison to the other Asian carriers it likes to be compared with. If I fly to London in winter next year, I'll fly through Hong Kong and take CX.