simon43

Update: My thanks to AN for adding a photo of Rick Brown to this news article 🙂

My maths is pretty basic, but receiving a total of 200 million baht from monthly payments of 159,000 baht maximum would take more than 104 years....

No, I don't mean 'snobby English'. My family were middle class, living in a semi-detached house in working-class Leicester. I was brought up to speak 'clear English'. However, (and this is something that I mentioned in another thread), I also switched to a local, Leicester accent when chatting with school friends. switching between RP and local accent according to the circumstances. When I speak with adult colleagues who have local accents from eg - Birmingham, Manchester etc, and I ask them to switch off their local accent, they look at me as if I have come from Mars! It seems they have no ability to switch off their local accent, and I find that positively weird! If I encounter a taxi driver in Phuket who speaks with a Southern Thai accent, (which I find difficult to understand), I simply ask them to speak Bangkok Thai and they do so. Are people not taught to switch off their accents? As a teacher, I am appalled when I hear an English teacher speaking with a 'thick' local accent. It's not fair for the students and it shows a failing by the employer to ascertain whether or not the potential employee can speak English clearly. This kind of problem would be avoided if the teacher had learnt to switch off their accent when teaching students. By the way, I am still trying to understand this 'waheh' for water 🙂. Do you mean using a glottal stop in the middle and pronouncing the word as 'wor-er'?

That is an appalling file photo! The news report is about a man having a relationship with his adopted son. If you're going to use AI for these news stories, at least use a 'real' person to vet the accompanying photos. Not happy with AN....

They were studying this project when I lived in Phuket 10 or more years ago....

Yes, and no doubt this use of AI will increase, causing more resentment amongst forum members... Here's a suggestion. Why not invite 'citizen journalists' who can submit news reports WITH a relevant photo for publication on this forum, with credit given to the forum member for their story, but no payment. It could even be operated as a competition, with the forum member who has the most published news articles receiving some sort of prize (JOTY = Journalist of the Year). I am happy to get the ball rolling with some news stories right on my doorstep this morning (no photos this time but I'll grab my camera for exciting news reports tomorrow). - Boy falls off bicycle - Old woman waters flowers - Police officer does nothing 🙂

Not a chance! Brought to you by AI news department...... 🙂

I must get my reading glasses checked - I thought you wrote 'cattle bells'!

Well, a photo of Uncle Wichai selling/playing his musical instruments at the beach would be nice. I expect this is an AI article created from 'afar' 🙂

I was brought up by my academic parents to speak RP - Received Pronunciation English, or perhaps some may call it 'Oxford English'. Nowadays, you could never get a job in broadcasting if you speak RP, it must be Mancunian, Scouse etc etc. Happily for me, my accent has proven very popular with my students. Just added some more young Chinese students who want to learn to speak 'proper English' !

Completely off-topic, (and RIP to the policeman); when I took my motorcycle test in the UK about 100 years ago, it was policy for the test examiner to hide behind a tree and then jump out in front of you to check your reflexes and emergency breaking. Dangerous at the best of times, but I took my test in winter and on an icy road. When the examiner jumped out from behind the tree, my heart was in my mouth (and no doubt him likewise), as a tried to stop without falling off on the icy road. Happily I passed the test and was able to visit the examiner in hospital as he recovered from having an 18 inch front wheel removed from his jacksie..... 🙂

Unfortunately I can't do that. The years that I missed were about 20 years ago, and the NI office/gov website tells me that it is too late to top up for those years. But 29 years is not bad and quite adequate for a modest retirement 🙂

I left the UK about 20 years ago, but I was sensible enough to continue paying my NI via voluntary contributions. I was/am self-employed, so pay Class 2 NI which is about 3.50 quid a week.... When I reach retirement age (66) next year I will have paid in for 29 years (I missed a few!). But that will give me about $1,000 USD a month in pension which is quite enough to live in Luang Prabang (Laos), where I have currently settled. Brexit removed the right for British citizens to reside in EU countries without proof of income, and now most of those countries require that you have an income of at least $2,000 USD per month. I did research moving to other countries that do have the UK pension increase, and I lived in those countries for a few months just after Covid. One country is Mauritius -hot, safe, beautiful, but requires a monthly income of $1,500 USD. The other country that I stayed in was Turkey, which seems the perfect choice if you are retired and living on a UK pension. There are no income requirements to get your one-year (renewable) residency visa - I was issued with mine after 3 weeks of living in the country and I had to show no proof of income or any other documents in order to get the visa. The cost of living is low and I stayed in the coastal resort of Fethiye, renting a small house just outside the town for about $250 per month. Although I'm very happy in Laos, there is the question of what happens if I live a long time! A frozen UK pension will have a reducing value every year. If I retire to Turkey, then my pension will increase and medical facilities in Turkey are quite adequate 🙂

Yes, mea culpa, I meant a social security agreement!

The policy of freezing pensions has nothing to do with racism or discrimination. It's available to UK pensioners in those countries which have signed a double tax agreement with the UK, such as the Philippines. For whatever reason, Thailand (and Laos and ...) have not signed such an agreement, probably never even requested such an agreement with the UK. Therefore, if you want to moan at someone, moan at the Thai government for failing to request a double tax agreement with the UK!

Huh? I'm not heterosexual! Whatever my sexual preferences are, there is no reason to shout these details out to everyone. The only relevant person is my partner (if I have one) or a potential partner. So zero points for you to assume that I'm announcing all over SM that I'm straight.....

Well, it's a base (alkaline) actually. But indeed it could be nasty. Think of blocked loo pipe cleaner >> similar kind of chemical.

Why you don't drop your teeth at the dentist today and pick them up later in the week? 🙂

As others have said, your sex life should be your private life. No-one announces to the world that they are straight. I don't announce to my family and friends that I like rubber gimp suits and dressing up as a French maid whilst being slapped with a smelly kipper.... and then wait for their questions about when I discovered that I liked this fetish etc etc, blah, blah blah! Maybe I'm old school, but sex of any kind is for the bedroom, not something to announce and plaster all over social media.

You seemed to have missed out my opinion about corrupt, elected representatives. It is a waste of time voting when no mainstream political party has the gonads to do what is needed to restore order and to start giving power and preference back to the indigenous population and legal, integrated migrant communities.

Personally, it is of little surprise to me that there is a growing number of right-wing English people who are outspoken in their views about the state of the country, immigration, deprivation etc. If you are a middle-of-the-road patriot, then your view is ignored by the government, by the London Lord Mayor, by elected MPs (who IMHO are nothing more than a bunch of corrupt b*st***s who line their own pockets, regardless of whart party they belong to). I hold the same view for almost ALL elected representatives right across the world. There are very, very few honest elected representatives. I foretell that if the views and wishes of patriotic English people continues to be ignored by whatever government is in power, then widespread civil unrest will occur, possibly leading to the overthrow of the government by a combination of honest, patriotic citizens with the support of the armed forces.

I am of the opinion that this old lady is in fact dead, and has been for some time. This is clearly a scam to obtain 5,000 baht each year... 🙂

Not quite a scooter, but a story about downgrading from a big bike to a small bike: 25 years in when I lived in the UK, I rode a beautiful Honda GL1000. It was a very heavy machine (obviously!), but it took me to and from work every day and al around the Swiss Alps 2-up with lots of luggage. Nowadays, and living in north Laos, I do not want a large cc bike. At 65 years old, I'm not as strong as I was all those years ago in the UK. Furthermore, the roads in Laos are rough! You need an off-road bike and a light bike that you can pick up when you fall off, (as you will many times on the mountain roads which have potholes inside potholes!). When working in Burma around 2017, I had a genuine Honda XR150 which was an excellent bike to get me over the hills in Shan State, (the yellow helmet photo is just above Inle Lake). Then I used to ride a KLX in Laos around 2019, but sold that a few years ago when I left Laos just after Covid. Now I have a Honda XR150 again (this time a Chinese clone, but very comfortable and reliable). Scooters are fine for me if I stay in town, but useless on the 'red roads' and tracks when you leave the town.

[quote] ... In related news, Buriram celebrated BLACKPINK Lisa’s 27th birthday with a feast of meatball consumption and the unveiling of themed pants. ... [/quote] The mind boggles!!

Another personal example of corruption in the Land Office. Many years ago my ex #2 wanted to borrow some money with the land plot as security. She borrowed privately but a charge was placed on the chanote by the lender and therefore this charge and the loan contract were registered at the Land Office in Phuket. I went along to the office with her. The loan contract stipulated that the loan had to be repaid in full after 12 months, or the land was forfeit. We both checked the loan contract and then the lender went into an office with the Land Office official, emerging 10 minutes later with the contract to sign. I spotted that the period '12 months' now read '2 months'!! Rather than accusing them of attempted fraud, I politely suggested that their printer had a problem.... They forced a smile and reprinted the contract with the correct term. Anyway, it actually made no difference, because dopey ex failed to make the payment after 12 months and the land was forfeited! 🙂