GarryP

I'm calling sh!t on that.

I am now retired and get free healthcare from my local government hospital (free for Thais over 60). This is not linked to social security payments, which I stopped paying upon retirement. I do, however, get a social security pension based on what I paid in, and a governemnt pension of 600 Baht per month, which will increase to 700 Baht when I hit 70 years old.

I don't know about the US, but not suprising in the UK now that the leftists are bending over to the muslim block.

From reading a few of the posts, can I claim ignorance of the law to avoid being locked up?

Wonders never cease. I actually agree with you on something. I'm going to buy a lottery ticket tomorrow.

Reform will put on a facade of staying on the right, but if they get in they'll do a Starmer u-turn on most of their promised policies. Farage the delusional, narcisistic gobschite he is, should never be trusted. I'd go with Restore or Advance.

Farage spouting his usual boll0xs. If he does get in, he would immediately come up with an excuse why such policies are not possible. He is such a narcisitic tvvat, with a total misguided sense of self importance. Despite me being a center right, or even "extreme right" in the leftists' playbook, I could not vote for any party with him as the leader. Hope Restore or Advance, or a combination of the two, overtake Reform and get in at the next election, even though I do not agree with everything they say, but I won't hold my breath.

Saw the clouds over your area yesterday and thought it must be raining there. In my area of the province we just had a really heavy shower this morning at about 5:30 and that's it. At least no need to water the garden today.

Speak of the devil. I haven't seen him on this site for many a year, yet lo and behold, I came across him when checking out a UK pension related page on Facebook just yesterday.

Suck an Ya be happy

If I was still living in Bangkok, I'd just stay with my Honda SH150i, but now I live out in the sticks so don't have to struggle with traffic jams and very busy streets. I have looked into both the Zontes and the ADV 350, and, as you say, the equipment on the Zontes is superior, but the nearest service center for me would be about 160 kms away, compared to Honda which is less than a km away. Also, Hondas seem to be very well made and last a really long time, whereas the data on the Zontes in this regard is very limited.

Any recommendations for crash bars?

It is funny that the logo on the side of the green pickup is that of the Public Health & Environment Department.

Nadhim Zahawi is an even bigger concern. Nasty piece of work. Accepting all these "converts", including the Green, can't be positively promoting Reform. But then as long as they promise to lick Farage's a-hole, he'll accept anyone.

I upped the dose to 1000mg, but no real improvement. I will just finish my current supply and then give up.

"Had", until the takeover by those who are antipathetic to Swedish values.

Shopee. After getting a refund to the wallet on Lazada, to which I had no access, I stopped using Lazada. Never had a problem with Shopee, touch wood.

UK originally. My friends who have accounts are all UK citizens.

I use Bitkub.com as do a few of my friends.

Really? Comparing what is happening in Nigeria to Saudi Arabia? Several thousand killed in Nigeria in 2025, but zero in Saudi. Yes, Christians are persecuted in Saudi, but they are not being murdered.

I agree with most of your posts on this subject, but believing in and trusting Farage will come back and bite you in the arse. A narcissistic, shifty, power hungry, back stabbing a-hole, who will only do what benefits himself, not the country. Reform - the conservative party remade. Unfortunately, a polished turd is still a turd. The sad thing is that at the moment there really isn't a good alternative to the Labour/Conservative group. Advance UK is still too far down on the ladder.

I just assume that we will pay our voluntary Class 2 contribution for the 25/26 tax year and then will receive a letter from HMRC about the change and the process for the 26/27 tax year. Only problem for me is that I did not even receive a letter HMRC this year to pay for the 24/25 tax year so had to call them. They said that a letter had been sent so it must have got lost (I live upcountry now), but they told me the amount that needed paying was the same as the previous year so I just transferred that and my record was updated in about a week, which was a very pleasant surprise since the previous year it took about 10 months for the update to be completed. Hope I do nothave to go through the application process again for Class 3, but you never know.

Didn't realize you could run with a walker, but I suppose he can afford one with wheels.

The current welfare benefits in Thailand are Baht 600 per month for being over 60 years old (increases to Baht 700 at 70 years old), and free health care. Those are the welfare beneifts of Thai citizens. So even if foreigners who came to live here long term qualified for such benefits, which the vast majority don't, could they live on that?

Isn't the justification that you would not have access to the othe NI benefits, such as health care, etc.? Not that I am complaining. A few years ago I back paid for 17 years using Class 2 contributions (I thought I would qualify for 6 or 7 at the most). Then I started making annual payments, and 25/26 will be my last at Class 2. Thereafter, 3 full years at Class 3 and about 8 months for my last year. Won't qualify for a full pension but still worth it for me at 184 quid a week (based on the current forecast, which may be subject to a small increase). Wish I'd learned about it a long time ago, but foolishly thought I wouldn't qualify as I left the UK when I was 19. One of the posters on here set me straight (you know who you are😉), for which I'll be eternally grateful.