Chelseafan

Yes, I already said that :)

Yes sorry, I missed that point.

Well I don't always have an onward or return ticket (though mostly I do) and I don't need a visa to visit Thailand :)

Is it ? No airline has ever asked me how long I'm going to be in Thailand that I can recall I hand over my passport, asked about whether there are any bombs in my bags and given a ticket.

Just curious, if you have a British passport, why would check-in at Heathrow ask you ? They already know that there is 30 day visa exemption for Thailand.

Not always.

Perhaps he emptied his pockets when going through security ?

You don't need a visa as you are under the visa exemption scheme, i.e. you'll get 30 days on arrival but I think you knew that anyhow :) I think you'll be fine unless you have a history of overstay. if that's the case then they may ask you more questions but with the onward ticket within the scope of 30+30 days it would be a churlish IO to refuse you entry. Don't volunteer information unless they ask!! Maybe I have been lucky but In 25 years of going to Thailand on over 60 trips, I have never been asked for a return ticket or proof of funds.

I don't dispute that waiting times have increased, my point was regarding the quality of the newspaper! As I said before, the NHS cannot continue in it's present form, it's not efficient and is unnecessarily overused and overburdened. There has to be a change of funding somewhere down the road but it would be a brave politician/party who would advocate for any such change. Anyhow, we've gone off point from the OP

Quoting the daily mail is like quoting Fox news! Yes there are backlogs. There have always been backlogs, there will always be backlogs. Covid didn't help. The point is that healthcare is free. Sometimes you have to wait. On a personal level, I've used the NHS for operations and never had to wait more than 2-3 weeks but having said that, its time to revamp the NHS so that it's priority is for critical care only.

Don't worry, that's already in process 🙂

Quite right. Time to colonise them again and give these countries some structure 🙂

Thq aquaduct, sanitation 🙂

Sure, if we're going down this road, lets ensure the Italians also pay back every country they pillaged and enslaved under the banner of the Roman empire. Perhaps we should also get Mongolia to compensate the families of the 40million who were killed. Should the Russians also apologise for how many they killed (and do kill). We have a great history, some good and some we're not proud of but I'm fed up with the "Brit-bashing" all the time. Most countries around the world have chequered histories including those in the European and African continents.

Balderdash....next those pesky Thai Doctors willl be telling me that smoking is bad for my health...

My moneys on 10th Jan 2024.

Bugger, you beat me to it 🙂

"You’re basically killing each other to see who’s got the better imaginary friend" - Blaise Pascal

And the same Qatar that is alledgedly funding terrorism militants (Sorry BBC) including those in the ME.

I'm sure there weren't 500 killed but after Hamas went into the hospital, there probably is now. 😞

So finally, the Stig has been revealed.

Even if the bike and car jumped a red. the Benz driver was ignorant of oncoming traffic and doesn't look like he checked his nearside mirror.

Google is your friend. Tobacco duty receipts held up well relative to the large pandemic-related fall in GDP in 2020-21, standing at £9.8 billion and reaching £10.2 and £10.0 billion in 2021-22 and 2022-23, respectively. About 1.25% of total revenue collected.

£10 a pack in the UK ? Try nearly £15. As a self-loathing smoker, they should tax the hell out of it!! That's the easiest way to get us to quit !! The downside is that over time there will be less smokers which equates to less tax and people liveing longer so more pensions are paid out. I suppose they'll go for the motorist even MORE now to make up the deficit.

Precisely. I have nothing against the tax if it is indeed used wisely and not siphoned off but at least add it to the cost of the airline ticket in the same way as the depature tax...