GarryP

On 5/3/2025 at 12:28 AM, CG1 Blue said:

The only way Reform will be beaten is if Labour manage to stop the hundreds of fighting age men from landing on UK beaches every day, and send back the thousands who already arrived.

All Labour have done so far is encourage more to come. As soon as they ripped up the Rawanda plan the migrants started coming in even higher numbers, breaking all records. 

 

Labour (and Tories) have been too soft on the economic migrants, allowing the ECHR to block deportations, even for convicted criminals including rapists. 

 

There is no deterrent, and on the contrary the fake asylum seekers get treated like holidaymakers. It's a massive incentive for economic migrants. 

 

If this continues then I truly believe Reform will win the next election. 

But Farage has been clear that he will not kick out all the illegal immigrants that are already in the UK. He'll just try to stop more coming in. He won't be taking action on the grooming gangs either.  He's just a gobby <deleted> who can't be trusted on anything. Having said that, Labour and Conservative are a disgrace, so what alternative is there? Another party forming? I don't see that working, just taking away votes from Reform which could result in another Conservative government.   

6 hours ago, moochai87 said:

Hey all. I haven't posted here in a while but I just want to provide you all with an update. 

 

I had my MOI interview in Nonthaburi in August last year (2024). I was expecting a similar experience to my other interviews but it was actually pretty rough. The SB officer handling my case told me I wouldn't need to sing the national or royal anthem (as I'm married to a Thai with kids) so stupidly I didn't practice for that - because I was asked to sing. Luckily I know the national anthem anyway but I wasn't able to complete the royal anthem. The official in charge was pretty strict and criticized me for not standing up straight enough when singing and how I should have worn yellow... etc. There was something about me he didn't like. I left that day feeling pretty disappointed.

 

Anyway, I left it a few weeks then I asked the SB officer if there was any update. He informed me that the application was sent to Bangkok MOI for signing, much to my suprise. It's been there for at least 6 months.

 

Just so the rest of the process goes as smoothly as possible, can you let me know what to expect if I get to the oath ceremony. What should I learn for this?

 

Congratulations to all those who have obtained citizenship already!

That is scary if you applied based on marriage, rather than PR. I think most people applying based on marriage understand that they are not required to sing the anthems. Had that happened back during my interview, I would be screwed as I can't sing either and even if I knew the words, my singing would have been a pain to the ears of all who had to listen. On the other hand, it is my understanding that if you are applying based on PR, then whether or not you are married to a Thai, you will be required to sing the anthems.  

Had that been proposed by any other person in the government, I would have thought it a good idea. However, I would not trust Anutin as far as I could throw him and on top of that, there have been a number of instances where he has come across as xenophobic (to put it sort of politely). Not really the person you would want in control of establishing a new PR and citizenship policy.

3 hours ago, henryford1958 said:

The UK is totally bankrupt so i think it's more likely that ALL state pensions will be means tested soon and any one with other income will get NOTHING.

If you are going to be means tested and as a result don't qualify for a pension, then your contributions should be reimbursed. Otherwise, that would amount to theft by the state. I know they would claim that your payments also covered healthcare, but that is a bit disingenuous.  

3 hours ago, BritManToo said:

Dunno about BillD, but I was paying around 10,000 pounds a year in national insurance for much of my working life (if you include both employer/uncapped and employee/capped contributions).

And you need to include the employer contributions, because it's really you paying for both, one in the open, the other hidden.

 

Then you should also take into account the average time a Brit claims their state pension ........ allegedly less than EIGHT years!

 

Lots of dead Brits who never reached pension age, but still paid full/significant contributions.

I have way more Brit friends and rellys who died before age 70 than exceeded age 75.

My mum retired and pegged it. Never got much chance to draw on her teachers pension or the national insurance one.

18 minutes ago, bobnuts said:

So much on this, and understanably so. I myself am likely to come into the situation of a frozen state pension in a couple of years though I do have a workplace final salary pension as well so the basic state pension is an "add on". 

Bob

A workplace final salary pension sounds great. I would be laughing if I got that. Alas, my only pension until I hit 67 is my Thai Social Security pension of Baht 5,250/ month and my old git 600 Baht benefit. In other words, I am living off savings.   

16 minutes ago, Nick Carter icp said:

 

  I have friends in the UK on wating lists for treatment and their appointment is in over a years time .

   Some wait years for an operation 

I think location plays a big role. My dad only waited two weeks for his cataract surgery. 

1 minute ago, Trip Hop said:

 

Don't make the mistake of back paying for any more than 35 years in total though as that is the amount for maximum state pension.

I can't anyway. I've been here since 1982, with only a 6 month break back in the UK in 84 . I've 23 years on record (18 of which were back paid) and can only pay for the next 5 years, which will bring me to 28 years. Then I will be entitled to 184.20 quid a week according to the latest update. 

2 hours ago, Cameroni said:

 

Article is behind a paywall.

 

Useless.

There are ways to get around the paywall. I use one way on both my PC and smart phone. 

3 minutes ago, Trip Hop said:

 

Minimum qualifying period is 10 years, so if she was paid over the secondary threshold for 12 years and has IDLR, she will be entitled to 12/35 of the full state pension.  She might have to go back for a couple of months to sort it all out though and it would become frozen as soon as she left again.  If you know her NI Number you can check how many qualifying years she has and an estimate of her pension entitlement on the .gov website.  Just Google "check qualifying NI years UK state pension" and it should come up? 

After checking the https://www.gov.uk/check-national-insurance-record website, I learned that I could back pay 6 years. I then contacted HMRC and submitted an application to back pay. However, when I received the approval and detailed letter on amount to be back paid, I was allowed to back pay 17 years. Definitely worth it in my case. Now paying annually and only for a few more years. Definitely worth the investment in my case, as it is a great return on investment frozen or not.  

16 hours ago, ballpoint said:

And all three look like bellends. "You" are excluded.

If I had to choose between Pheu Thai and Bhumjaithai, I'd chose the former despite the fact that I hate PT. Never thought I could hate a party more than PT. But then these parties probably deserve each other as they are both focused on self interest and don't seem to be doing much for the country.

1 hour ago, bubblegum said:

I live in Soi Farang according to the delivery people 😆

My house is Bahn Farang. 

1 hour ago, newbee2022 said:

Ridiculous answer.

There are hardly any "retirees" with a good pension coming to UK ?.

So your example with Thailand is just laughable.

Could you answer at least what you would do with all the migrants in UK if you would be in power?

To rephrase @James105 's answer: Should an illegal immigrant be able to claim free money and housing from Thailand to fund their stay here?  If they arrived illegally should Thailand fund their legal battle to stay?  If they commit a crime should Thailand provide legal aid to defend them and pay again for this to fight their deportation?   If your answer to one or more of those questions is no, then why do you think that western countries like the UK should have to provide these services to those who rock up on its shores illegally?

Obviously, they aren't going to come here though because they won't be given these benefits. That is why they are going to Western countries - the benefits. While I do have sympathy for genuine asylum seekers, the vast majority are economic refugees aka illegal immigrants looking to line their pockets without giving anything in return aka scoungers.   

49 minutes ago, CharlieH said:

Screenshot and upload the image

In that case if anyone clicks the play icon the embedded video would not play. How do you post so that you can click on the play icon and the video in the Twitter post will play?

How do I post X (Twitter) posts in Assean Now? I've tried several times but only the link appears, yet I've noticed that other members are able to post the full X post. Any suggestions appreciated. FYI, I'm using a PC but tips in regard to smartphones would also be appreciated. 

This is an interesting thread on X. https://x.com/MaralSalmassi/status/1904202066945257527

Gives some perspective as to Islam.