simon43

From what I recall (from years ago), a driveway that doesn't have a dropped kerb is not legally a driveway. So anyone can park in front of it. My first house had a small front garden that I never used, so I paid some gypsies to come along and create a tarmacked parking area. They were good enough to remind me to get the local council to drop the kerb, so that no-one could legally park in front of my shiny new driveway, (with the thinnest layer of tarmac possible!!)

Not true! If you have lived mostly abroad and return to the UK, as long as you state that you have returned to the UK to live there permanently, then you will receive NHS treatment free from the word go.

Sadly, there is no 'White Knight" (my emphasis on colour) to save the UK. Personally, I hope for military intervention and jailing (or worse) of political leaders and that idiot king who have destroyed the UK.

Last Songkran I was riding my motorbike down a street in Luang Prabang (Laos), loaded up with shopping. I spotted a fat kid with a large water gun who was waiting alone by the side of the road to hit me full blast. Damn, I didn't want my shopping to get wet. What to do? As I approached him, he levelled his water gun. I showed alarm on my face and looking past him I shouted loudly in Lao "Look out! An elephant!!" (Elephants walking down the road in LP are a common sight). The boy spun around to look behind him for the errant elephant, giving me a vital 2 seconds to safely pass 🙂 This year I'm in Jomtien. I have got some beer/food in and I'll only venture out after dark. I suspect that revellers might be in for a shock if they soak some of the large, unsmiling Russian men with their wives and kids....

When I went back to Myanmar last year, I gave my brother in the UK some brief instructions as to what to do if I got in the way of a stray bullet, (or bus). - Burn me and chuck my ashes in the river - Don't bother searching for $$$ bank accounts, gold jewelry etc 'cos there ain't any I'm currently in Jomtien at my condo (can't get back to Myanmar right now - visas have been suspended). If I died, the first that people would know of it would be the smell, but that might take some time since all the condo building residents seem to be permanently overcome by cannabis smoke....

If you want your face to look younger/more handsome, lie on your back on the floor and take the photo - being in this position minimises the effects of gravity pulling down your face tissue. I tried it and it works - see my photo!

I thought grammar police were banned from this forum. I'm a Science teacher and always like to use as many atoms as possible in my writing 🙂

Who is missing? Completely normal man, degree or post-grad, not propping up the bars every night, not fat, eating good food and doing exercise, non-smoker, no drugs, drink in moderation, no money-leeching GF or BF,doing completely normal activities. In fact, I guess many 'Thailand dolls' fall into this category.

That's maybe because they are not aware that it's a word from French language. Bit like pronouncing 'chef' with a hard 'ch'. It's understandable that not everyone knows some French...

Yawn, the word 'American' is often used to denote those from the USA. You know that, so stop quibbling...

English is the native language spoken in England. Americans do not speak English - they speak American 🙂

That's simple science 🙂 You eat food, your digestive system breaks it down. It's absorbed into your blood and thence to your cells where it is converted (in a chemical change with the oxygen that is in the air that you breath in) into ATP ('energy needed for staying alive, growing, running etc). But if your body doesn't need that ATP (because you are a lazy toe-rag who sits on the sofa all day), then since you can't destroy energy, it is stored as fat on your body. If your digestive system fails to diffuse all of your nutrients/fat/proteins/carbs etc into your blood, then indeed you will poop them out. But that is a medical disorder.

I'm a teacher, and from an academic family. Don't assume that my knowledge of the English language is as 'basic' as yours. Of course I know the origins of the English language! Your quote fails to mention that a vast number of words used in modern-day English stem from French and Latin words, (updated post to credit KannikaP for this point). I made no comment in my OP about written 'American'. I merely commented on the pronunciation of a specific word in US English. It's a bit like their inability to correctly pronounce the letter 'o', as in 'hot'. It's not 'hart', it's hot!

The problem GG is that YOU are not a native speaker of English. In England, (note the name - it is where English is spoken), educated people pronounce the letter T in the word 'often'. I was brought up by my academic parents (language professors) to pronounce the letter T... Those without a decent education will not pronounce the letter T. That's how it is... GG, you are speaking American, not English. American is a bastardised form of the original language..... 🙂

Lol - I've already had my rabies vaccinations, so just an emergency shot if one of those nasty Lopburi monkeys tries to bite me. Mind you, I wasn't trying to have sex with it 🙂

If illness happens I have my medical insurance! (Actually it's $500,000 cover, not $100,000 - I just checked!)

Modern condo 300m from Jomtien Beach = 7,000 THB rent/month (top floor, outside balcony) Traditional wooden house in 1 rai of land in the hills north of Chiang Mai = 4,000 THB/month (for my radio hobby!) Vios car = 8,000 THB rent/ month Medical insurance ($100,000) = 6,000 THB/month That makes 25k THB and still 12k THB left over from my reduced UK pension....

I visited Mae Sot last week. I drove from Pattaya in a rented car. As usual near the Burmese border (same happens near Ranong), I had to stop for various army checkpoints. No-one asked to see my documents - I just said that I was travelling to MS and was waved through. I stayed for about 3 days at a hotel in MS. No unusual document requests. I travelled in my car very close to the border area, opposite Shwe Koko 'scam' base in Myanmar. The entry road to the Thai villages had an enhanced army checkpoint. I was asked where I was going and I simply said that I was sightseeing in my car. No-one asked for any ID documents. I travelled around very close to the river, chatted with some of the Burmese locals, no-one checked or stopped me. I returned by car to MS and then drove up to Chiang Mai. In other words - absolutely nothing out of the ordinary for a border region. To add, I have a 'retirement' visa and speak Thai and Burmese.

30+30+30 leases were NEVER legal!! They were just another 'con' by Thai lawyers on naive foreigners 🙂

Lol, I got that SMS and deleted it - I thought it was some spam...

Well, he's got more fat and muscle on him than my 18 year old Thai niece who died in my arms of TB - she weighed 19 Kg... 😞

You could replace "Trump Administration" with "UK government" and that statement is also true...

[quote] ... Most famous singer from Phichit, Yodrak, died in 2008, went to his funeral, he did not look well ... [/quote] Well, I guess most people don't look well at their own funeral! 🙂

"This Foreign Secretary remains committed to ensuring the most cost-effective way of travel, delivering best value for money for the taxpayer.” Total <deleted>! The main reason why he travels in private jets is because this imbecile lard-bucket is too fat to squeeze into even a business class seat on a scheduled flight. Government ministers should all travel in economy class on scheduled flights - set a bloody example for a change!

Everyone has a different set of moral codes. Some think it's OK to lie and claim to be living in the UK, so that they can get state pension increases. Up to you as they say - your decision. For me, I was taught by my parents to never lie, even if the truth hurts me or others. So there is no way that I would lie and claim to be living in the UK. I do have a registered address in the UK, (registered with the electoral register, GP, bank etc etc), but I am not Ordinarily Resident. I know the rules regarding frozen UK pensions, and have no intention of breaking those rules by lying. If my modest UK pension is too little for my needs in future years, then I'll simply relocate and live in the PI, where my UK state pension is aligned with pension increases applied in the UK. But for now, I don't need to consider such a move.