doctormann

1 minute ago, topt said:

Last night central Pattaya just before 8pm there was a very heavy downpour for 30-45 minutes and some continued drizzling later.

Was a very heavy "nothing".........

Nothing on the Dark Side, where I am at least.  I have noticed that rainfall here can be very localized though.  Forecast for today, on my weather app, is sunny - but it's pretty cloudy out there so maybe we'll get some rain later.

In Pattaya we have been bracing ourselves for weeks but, apart from the occasional brief shower, nothing has happened!

16 minutes ago, scubascuba3 said:

Do nothing they will close them eventually 

Tempting but I don't want to p*ss them off.  I still have an International Account and I don't want to compromise that one.

I would be interested to hear from any Barclays customer, living in Thailand, who has actually managed to close their Barclays current account, as required because they are not UK resident.  If you managed to do this, how did you do it?

I, among others, received notice from Barclays that my current and savings accounts were to be closed.  I was told that I must clear the accounts of any funds, direct debits, regular credits, etc.  I was also given instructions on how to then close the accounts.  Well, I cleared the accounts but have, so far, failed to close them.

There are, allegedly, three ways to close the accounts. (1) From the Barclays online website; (2) From the Barclays phone app; (3) By telephone call.

In my experience, Option 3 is best avoided unless you like listening to 'tune of the month' while your phone credit evaporates, only to be eventually connected to a call centre where the operatives know nothing about the issue.  Options 1 and 2 do not work - there is no obvious way to close an account from either of these.

So, I sent them a secure message, using the facility on the website, explaining the problem.  To be fair, the person that I communicated with was very helpful, although may have been a bot, judging from some of the responses.

The first response was the provision of a phone number that I should call - i.e. Option 3.  I asked if there was a way to close the accounts online, thus avoiding the phone call option.  I was assured that this could be done.  There followed a lot of two-way dialogue that seemed logical - confirmation of details etc.  This ended with 'Are you sure that you want to do this?' then 'Are you really sure?' then 'OK, please give me a few minutes to service your request'.  Wow, I thought, I have succeeded - but no, I then get 'Sorry, I do not have the authority to close your accounts, please call this number and someone there will be able to help you'.

So, back to Option 3, it seems!  Honestly, why can't they get their act together!  I am tempted to do nothing - the accounts will get closed anyway, I'm sure.  Might get blacklisted though!

4 minutes ago, isaanistical said:

............. Ugley, Hampton...............

UK has many strange place names.  A quick Google turns up quite a long list.  We even have a Scratchy Bottom - somewhere in Dorset.

45 minutes ago, WorriedNoodle said:

You forgot Six Mile Bottom!

1 hour ago, WorriedNoodle said:

For Glasgow, should be a deep fried Mars Bar.  Yum yum!

On 8/16/2023 at 6:38 AM, doctormann said:

The newsletter banner is now salmon-colored but the 'dismiss' option is back!

Rather, was back, as it seems to have disappeared again!

1 minute ago, VocalNeal said:

OK but humour me. TOT is the telephone authority which mans a landline phone line rather than an internet connections. It could be AIS or 3BB or...

 

Easiest was to find out is to cut it. If you feel really strongly about it. If you can't reach is to cut it then ignore it and have another beer.???? life is too short etc.

 

ToT (now National Telecomm) also do fibre internet - at least they do where I live.

On 8/9/2023 at 6:01 PM, scottiejohn said:

I agree!

Yet another annoying and unwanted irritation which even my adblockers cant stop!

The newsletter banner is now salmon-colored but the 'dismiss' option is back!

I see that we can no longer dismiss the orange 'sign up to the newsletter' banner (on the desktop - don't know if this is the case with the app.)  Just another irritation.  I don't want the newsletter so stop nagging me about it!

6 hours ago, roo860 said:

He means thick as a brick

Or two short planks.

20 minutes ago, Lucky Bones said:

Errrrr.

Because I am driving and the phone isn't built for my fat fingers.

My trip is in black and white on paper, not some google map spinning out of control (Warning Will Robinson!) telling me "Do This & Don't Do That".

And, <deleted>..."good old maps" (hard copy) are hard to find

Love driving and exploring.. Cheers????????

Indeed, paper maps are like hen's teeth.  Coming here in 2004, from the UK, where we had/have excellent Ordnance Survey maps, it was a bit of a shock to find that local maps of the Pattaya area were next to impossible to find.  Those that did exist seemed to be more a work of fiction, rather than reality.  It was crazy - I forget how many times I got hopelessly lost trying to find Mabprachan Lake, which is really not very far away!

Just now, Liverpool Lou said:

I'm not incorrect, I have been referring all along to UK state pensions.

OK but that doesn't actually help at all.  I am sure that you are aware that the meager UK state pension falls far short of meeting the Thailand Immigration requirements so pensioners here require an additional source of income, which may or not be payments from an occupational pension scheme.  That money has to be paid into some sort of account and that may need to be a 'proper' UK account.

5 minutes ago, Liverpool Lou said:

There never is until that time comes but there has been so much talk about it recently, hence this and many other threads, that there is every indication that being a non-UK resident account holder, your account could be living on borrowed time.   There is a way to find out, of course, and that is to call your bank and tell them that you are a non-UK resident and ask them what that means for your account.

There has certainly been a lot of talk about this over the last three months but, before that, not so much.  I received my closure notice about three months ago - a complete surprise to me as I had seen nothing about this before then.

2 minutes ago, Liverpool Lou said:

Expat, non-UK resident pensioners do not need a UK account to receive their pension.

Sorry but you are incorrect.

It is certainly possible for UK State Pensions to be paid into a foreign bank account but this is not the case with some occupational pension providers, who will only pay into an account with a UK sort code.  There is at least one report, on this forum, where the pension provider refused to pay into a Wise account - even though Wise have a UK sort code - because, as they said, Wise is not actually a bank.  A financial institution it may be but a bank it is not.

28 minutes ago, Liverpool Lou said:

You're right but it's actually retroactively and retrospectively.  Pulling the rug from under those who know full well that their banking could be living on borrowed time but refuse to accept it until it happens...then the whinging starts!

Well, in my case there was no indication that my banking arrangements were 'living on borrowed time'.  I have banked with the blue eagle bank for nigh on 60 years, for the last 19 of which I have been in Thailand.  There was never any indication that the bank was unhappy about this then suddenly, out of the blue, 'We need to close your accounts.'  The reason that was given was that I do not maintain a UK address.  As a UK tax payer whose sole source of income stems from UK pensions I find this rather unfair.

It seems that not all UK banks are acting in this way so is this UK address requirement set in stone by the BoE or is it discretionary and left to the individual banks to decide?  I don't know but, as I said earlier, it does seem like having the rug pulled, or being thrown under the bus.  I think that a far fairer way would be to 'grandfather' those customers who have a blameless financial record and allow them to keep their accounts.  If all this is being done in the name of 'money laundering' perhaps they should concentrate on the real criminals and not victimize pensioners who need UK accounts in order to receive their pension payments.  Easy enough for the banks to keep tabs on the money flow so any anomalous transfers could be easily detected and investigated.

6 minutes ago, Liverpool Lou said:

That is the point, exactly, that was fifteen years ago. Banking regulations have changed since then. 

So many people have blinkered themselves into not seeing that current banking protocol can be applied retrospectively to expat customers who no longer fit the requirement that to have a UK bank account the holder must be UK resident. 

 

I do not wish account closure on anyone but those non-UK residents in that position must not be surprised, nor indignant, when their turn comes around.

More like retroactive actually - in this case called 'pulling the rug from under' with no concern for the consequences!

Anyone here have any experience of Framework laptops? <https://frame.work/>

They do sound very interesting, being highly customizable and upgradeable and fully Linux compatible.  It's time to replace my ageing Lenovo Ideapad so I might just give one a go - if I can get one in Thailand.  I'm not sure that there is any availability here.  Their website indicates that they are starting to expand their shipping destinations but it's not clear if Thailand is on the list yet.

Thanks for any info.

8 minutes ago, chilly07 said:

How did you confirm your 65k pm to your agent?

Bank provided a 12-month record of all foreign deposits, also a letter confirming that the account is mine.  Passbook was updated - the account balance has to match the amount stated in the confirmation letter.

This obviously requires a visit to the bank but NOT to the Immigration office.