simon43

Well if they did that, the streets would be deserted... :)

As I'm always telling my primary grade science students 'We all need fibre to give us healthy poop!'

Well, SOME of the corn will break down to glucose (which we need as food energy), but also some of it will break down into protein molecules, fibre, and fat, and a healthy body needs all of those.....

It's a 2-bedroom, unfurnished bungalow on a (mostly) social housing estate. It's OK for me for the moment, but I only really need a 1 bed or large studio property. When my credit rating has improved (1 year), if I'm still in the UK and haven't fled back to south-east Asia, then I'lll probably downsize and save perhaps 100 quid on the rent each month...

Thanks! But please note that I have not forgotten Burma :) I hope to travel to Inle Lake region for 28 days during the long school holiday to teach/practice spoken English to local teachers - since many (most?) local teachers never have the opportunity to improve their spoken English accent from a native speaker :)

I wasn't forced back by the pension nonsense (I had planned to move to the PI where UK pensions are index-linked). Rather, considering my age and health, I made the realistic decision to return to the UK. There were cheaper houses to rent, but without a credit rating, none of the estate agents would consider me....

Not for me, but thanks for the advice :)

^^ Absolutely correct. My medical needs/medicine is actually a minor issue - I can manage my lung health very well now (having got advice from the relevant FaceBook group). Yes, my UK residency/pension rights etc will not be affected by regular visits to Myanmar to do volunteer teaching.

Actually, I plan to post maybe a 'sticky' topic to advise UK pensioners what to do if they return to live in the UK, what benefits they are entitled to, what obstacles they might have in settling down again in ol Blighty..

lol, I do have my police ID card somewhere... I told the pensions department that I had returned home and they noted that and told me that my UK state pension would increase by about 40 quid/month from April, so all good. As far as returning to Laos, Thailand and Myanmar is concerned: Laos is off the cards now, since I'm tired of being arrested for no reason by the corrupt police! Thailand is fine for visits, but I'm not depositing 800,000 THB for a 'retirement' visa. Besides, I returned back to the UK for 2 main reasons - my frozen UK pension and possible health issues in later years. (I have to be realistic about these things). As BritManToo says, I should get someone to check in on me/live with me, to avoid stinking up the place should I die alone.... Myanmar makes me sometimes cry - yes literally. I have no intention of abandoning my educational charity efforts in the country. I have calculated the cost for me to travel to Myanmar (Inle Lake) and teach English (for free) for a month during the school holidays - teaching/practicing especially spoken English with students and local teachers. The overall cost is not too bad, about $1,500 total. I can continue to improve and support my mobile apps from the UK, and also get my vocabulary posters etc printed locally in Taunggyi and distributed in my physical absence. The Myanmar government usually lets me into the country, unless they have a 'spat' with the UK government (like when the generals' UK bank accounts were frozen lol).

Yes, correct. But 23 years ago, before I moved to Thailsnd, I lived just outside Minehead by the steam railway station. So for me it's not new, and close to amenities that I like (walking/cycling/horse-riding on Exmoor etc). The house I rented has 2 bedrooms, so I'm willing to share the rent. Applicants need to be female, young and south-east Asian heritage... :)

the balcony saved him from?? - the hordes of vulture ladyboys below.... :)

I managed to find a private landlord who was happy to rent to me without any credit agency check. It's a house in Minehead, 750 quid/month (which to me is a rop-off but apparently normal cost now!). but all OK

I thought that was obvious!

This is because years ago the PI government signed an agreement with the UK government, primarily to protect the pension rights of the many Filipinos who are working in the health sector. This is a 2-way agreement, and so British pensioners who live in the PI also have an index-linked pension. Several other countries (eg Turkey, Mauritus) also signed similar agreements, but those countries who did this are few and far between. UK pensioners living in EU and several other non-EU European countries also have index-linked pensions. By the way, (and I researched this a few years ago), the Thai government did put in a formal request to the UK several decades ago to index-link pensions, similar to the PI. Their request wasn't even acknowledged by the UK government. A couple of months ago, whilst living in Laos, I was well down the road to relocate to the PI on their SRRV Expanded Courtesy visa, which provides a lifelong visa for scientists (amonst others), at a low cost. But after some 'interesting interactions' with the Lao police on Christmas Day, I changed my mind about staying in Asia, and I moved back to the UK 2 weeks ago, after 23 years living/working in Myanmar, Laos and Thailand (all where the UK pension is frozen). Now back in the UK, my pension is no longer frozen, (although with the recent cold weather here, other important parts of my body ARE frozen!)

Sorry, but you're p*ssing in the wind on this one. No UK government will ever 'unlock' the frozen pensions... (This from someone who 2 weeks ago returned to live in the UK after 23 years in Asia, with one driving factor in my decision being the frozen pensions).

[quote] ... not being one of those eating rabbit's food just in case they put on a few pounds..........🙄 [/quote] But it's not just about being a healthy weight. More serious is clogging up of your arteries due to eating this trash food. The chance of having a heart attack or even cardiac arrest is much increased if you eat trash food, thanks to the fat clogging up your arteries, also leading to higher blood pressure as your poor old heart has to work harder to push your blood through those narrowed arteries.

Sorry, blame ChatGPT for that error - it never attended Home Economics lessons.....

I read in The Times today that those who lose weight by means of fat injections then gain weight 4 times faster than typical weight gains when they stop the injections. I'm in the UK now, and many warned me that the food prices would cripple me. Not so if you eat fresh food, such as fruit, salads, fish fillets (not battered). The price is no higher than the prices in Bangkok. But venture down the many shopping aisles marked "ultra-processed krap - ideal for lard buckets", and prices sore way above the Bangkok prices. I watched locals piling total trash food into their shopping trolleys, without a thought for what chemicals etc are actually in the junk that they are buying.

Unfortunately, "Hippocratic Oath" didn't translate well with Google Translate, so Thai doctors have only sworn not to harm hippos.......

I rise to challenges, but being arrested is not one of them... :)

That's it. Don't hold back. Let it all out. You'll feel better for it :)

My worst experience of 2025? Being arrested by 5 Lao police officers on Xmas Day and then (after UK Embassy intervention), being deported out of the country on New Year's Eve for an unknown offence... Apart from that the year was OK :)

What a journey for him to remember! (er.. or maybe not...!)

Or French...:)