bradiston

I was sold a replacement SIM by a major Thai telecom company in one of their major mall outlets. It was pre registered to somebody else.

No need to come to Thailand for this experience. A drunk Irishman pulled the same trick on me in Shepherd's Bush, West London about 30 years ago. He got away with a fiver in my back pocket. He disappeared shouting insults that I couldn't quite make out... Maybe "Yer fookin English cont" or some such.

Agree about Ian. A mine of useful up to date info and a very nice guy, and master kayakker. Been on KC for at least 20 years. The "iamkohchang" originated due to a typing error for "iankohchang".

There was a very slow very early morning bus from Ekkamai to Trad back in the day. Slow because it followed the old route. I caught it once. 7 hours I think. A red bus. The dreadful cherdchai buses used to take forever also. They were a law to themselves and followed no timetable.

There certainly used to be. Via BKK. They had their own ticket booth at Ekkamai.

Isn't it CGT when you sell a property? Then you can make deductions for purchase price and costs, and other outgoings. In the UK, no CGT if it's your sole residence. Talk to a lawyer, as you'll probably need one in any case. In the Philippines they call it CGT but it's a sales tax, and you pay the tax on the sale price, pure and simple. Thoroughly misleading.

35 Group run a good midi (a lot bigger than mini) bus service from Pattaya to KC. Used them many times to get to Koh Mak and back. They pick you up from your hotel in Pattaya and drop you at your hotel on KC. They're on 3rd Rd, near the junction of 3rd and Tai. You can book over the phone. Decent English spoken. 350 THB last time I went. No need to schlep up to Ekkamai, and there's only 2 "999" buses a day I think from there to KC. They'll be extremely busy I'd say this time of year, and Russians use their service a lot. Also, getting on and off KC will probably take all day.

And the beauty of it is, eventually you won't wake up at all. Problem solved! Or, swap thinking for drinking. Same result.

Quite agree. In the UK it's a pull driving with a brake light not working. Not sure about here though. They only ever mention helmets and licences.

It happened to me mid flight once. I took a beta blocker (bisoprolol) and pretty much nodded off for the rest of the flight.

I'm happy at 40 on my scooter. The roads are a nightmare. Drain covers, cracks, grilles, cut ins, u turns... Be careful and slow down if possible at all times.

I'm not sure what the problems were that he encountered later on. Maybe renewing a driving licence, a visa, a 90 day, something like that. None of the above applies to Thais though, except the driving licence renewal and that's every 5 years. I'd laugh if they were handed 5 years or so of unpaid fines at that point!

Speed cameras. With alpr software. Automatic licence plate recognition. A mate's been had twice outside Pattaya on the main highway. If you don't pay it has potentially very annoying consequences.

In my case it was a while before they brought in that ruling. Only prohibited under certain circumstances now I believe. Less than 30 day let's I think.

Yes, I made the "mistake" of letting on I was living out here. They were on to me in a flash. In the end no harm done as I found a legitimate and painless way of unfreezing it.

Or alternatively a net, like for wild animals.

The DWP will pay a UK pension into a Wise account, no problem. So does Royal Mail.

They didn't have a problem when I rang them explaining I had left the UK on a permanent basis but needed online access to my NW account. All good. I used my daughter's London address for mail, which also was not a problem.

It's odd, cos until my unfortunate experiences with Canadian guests, I had 'em down as pretty a ok.

When I used to let my house on Airbnb, the only real scammers were Canadians. They would say it doesn't mention this or that in the advertising, my wife's in tears, the kids are scared, anything to get a refund. Which, on one occasion, I was fool enough to give. Then the lousy review once they'd packed their bags and left. Some people are just professional scumbags.

Sounds like just another conspiracy theory.

These are eye drops. Fascino doesn't have them. Any suggestions where else I might look?

DWP pays into Wise, no problem. They know I'm not UK tax resident.

Do you think stick on prints would be a winner on FB? Asking for a dodgy mate.

I was questioning the "security" guards. His stupidity isn't in question. Their response is.