Bredbury Blue

Then I meant the other way round (i.e. website says pay Class 3 but on enquiring i was informed to pay the cheaper Class 2). Thanks for the correction.

Then you should love Ayutthaya. An hour away is the giant Buddha at wat muang in Ang Thong.

I'm in a similar situation the OP. I've lived overseas for some time and paid annual voluntary contributions, and I received a letter saying I'd paid enough to receive full pension, so i stopped paying NIC annually. Then unknown to me they brought in the new state pension, and a year ago a friend tipped me off about the deadline for paying backdated NIC by 05 April 2025. I got myself a HRMC website account which showed under the new pension system I would fall short of full pension but could pay a lot of money to backpay the more expensive (class 2?) NICs to catchup to get full pension. I commenced writing to the Pensions dept in June 2024 and sent the necessary form to enquire how much to pay (as i wasn't convinced by the amounts the website said i had to pay, seemed too much) and after sending 3 letters (twice I sent the form) I finally received a letter late 2024 informing how much to pay for each year for the cheaper NICs (class 3?) as backdated payment to receive full pension. So I was right, the website says I have to pay the expensive class 2 but on checking was told I could pay the cheaper class 3. In January 2025 I made a payment for the cheaper class 3 amount ( from mu Uk bank account to their bank account) for the outstanding years between 2006 and April 2025. There is an explanation online of the banking reference you have to create when making the payment so they know it's from you. February 2025 having heard nothing I called. 30 minutes wait, put through to a lady in Glasgow. She confirmed she could see the amount I paid and the relevant people would be in touch soon. Having heard nothing I filled a form in online in March 2025. Form says 10 days for reply. No reply. End of March did the 'call back form' before 05 April deadline date, required to ensure catch-up payments before 2019 can be paid. No reply yet. My HRMC online account for NIC shows the same as it has for the past year (that I have alot of unpaid years at the expensive class 2), but my Pension page online since 05 April now shows my estimate and forecast pension have increased alot compared to the amount before 05 April, so I'm hopeful I've almost sorted out my pension problem, but i can't be sure. I will probably call them again in a week or 2 to check out the true situation with my NIC, my payment and my pension amount. It's not easy is it!

I agree with you on Si Satchanalai. Been a couple of times over the years. Hire a bicycle outside the park for pennies, ride around visiting the ruins, every time I've been I've been one of the few people visiting (just the way I like it). Really great place. Once stayed at the Sukhothai airport hotel (really nice) which is about half way between Sukhothai and Si Satch and a great place for visiting both places.

If you don't have an interest in old wats / historical ruins then this is not the place for you. We do, and had a great 3 nights here. Stayed at Baan Khung Thara Ayutthaya บ้านคุ้งธารา อยุธยา on the river bank in one of their bungalows, nice place, nice people, quiet, had 3 real good restaurants within 5 minutes walk, and would definitely return. You could also stay longer in Ayutthaya by using it as a base to visit the towns in the hour in a 90 minute radius after seeing the sights in Ayutthaya. Personally, I loved it in Ayutthaya.

My experience is, in your early years here in Thailand you find the term farlang offensive, but after you've been here a while, and particularly if you have Thai spouse, Thai friends and Thai family, you no longer find it offensive and it feels natural to use the word farlang yourself.

And on maybe on your 5th annual renewal you should get more benefits for passing a spoken Thai language test...like do bi-annual renewals and not annual, na

I checked online and it was a huge sum for unpaid years at class 3. I'd been paying class 2 over the years I've been working here, so I wrote to them, not mentioning what it says online, and as i expected with working in Thailand, they wrote back quoting a very reasonable amount at class 2. I would therefore recommend the OP writing (or calling) to get an assessment, as the website assessment seems to assess on the basis of working in the UK, and act quickly as there is a 5 April 2025 cut off date for backpaying some of the earlier years.

So how has your thai progressed in the 6 months. Presumably you are now married (congrats if you are) so how did your speech go? Interested to know as a fellow student of thai.

Enjoying sitting in the garden and using the App to work out the bird sounds I hear so often but don't know which bird is singing it. Pleased to work out one sound I hear frequently is the coppersmith barbet. Must make the most monotonous call of all birds, as described by wiki The call is a loud rather metallic tuk…tuk…tuk (or tunk), reminiscent of a copper sheet being beaten, giving the bird its name. Repeated monotonously for long periods, starting with a subdued tuk and building up to an even volume and tempo, the latter varying from 108 to 121 per minute and can continue with as many as 204 notes.

Downloaded and tried out BirdNET App, used for identifying bird calls. Seems to work fine, and identified plenty of bird calls around my garden. https://birdnet.cornell.edu/

Now wouldn't it have just been easier to state which provinces instead of stating AQ repors (I have no idea what that even means).

Isaan is a huge area, and not one person posting mentions where the burning is going on.

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Still single?

Brilliant response. "Take the word 'Thai' out. It's a woman...No different than any other woman of the world. Culture, language, other people have nothing to do with it."

Simply I had enough of some of idiots on that forum.

Been away from home alot in recent times, hence no putting out food for the birds. Home for a month so recommenced putting scraps out. Within an hour a family of 4 mynahs visited (including 2 juveniles requiring to be fed by parents) and was soon back to having lots of regular bird visitors. 20241007_122436.mp4

Saipem Singapore or Siemens? The article reads Samsung E&A (Thailand) Co. Ltd., Petrofac South East Asia Pte. Ltd., and Saipem Singapore Pte. Ltd, Saipem has withdrawn from the UJV group, leaving behind only the name. Samsung and Petrofac are the only active members remaining.

I just completed this quiz. My Score 80/100 My Time 131 seconds  

If you live east side of Bangkok then have a visit to Metro Forest. Man-made forest by PTT, takes less than an hour to see, but the attraction is the stairs and walkways at treetop level (and above) so you are right in among the birds and get to see more than you normally would. Parking is on the street in front, just tell the yaam you're going in then no bother. Free to enter. Worth a visit. Sukhaphiban 2. https://maps.app.goo.gl/SNzqjfxhJCnf6hAJ6

Down in Klaeng area and visited Rayong Botanic Garden. It's more of wetland or swamp than a botanic garden. Visited back in April, loads of lotus on display. Today more water so that hired boats and kayaks can explore more area but less lotus. Plenty of birds and buffalo in the swamp areas to see. Free to visit. B600 hire boat for an hour. Kayak b100. Worth a visit. Images are from a large display they have of Rayong birds.

Thanks for all the comments/advice. Had a Fortuner for many years and earlier had a Ford pickup, both were decent. This is proving a tough decision to make. Been to the showrooms but not test driven yet. The Ford looks a nicer car, the Toyota will probably be easier to sell later.

About 10 years back, maybe less, drove Bkk - Nakhon Sawang - Mae Sot - Mae Sariang - MHS - Pai - CM - Sukhothai, spending a night or nights in each place. The 1st part of the Mae Sot to Mae Sariang road is very scenic in a river valley. It then turned away from the river and became quiet remote, but was a really enjoyable drive. We always regret arriving Mae Sariang late afternoon and leaving the next morning, as we should have spent 2 nights there.

This topic or similar has probably be posted before, apologies if it has, but... Considering buying either a new pickup 4x2 Double cab automatic, either a Ford Ranger XLS or its equivalent Toyota Revo Prerunner (something like the 2.4 Mid). Which would you recommend and why?