superal

You forgot to mention the 10/12 year kids on motorbikes leaving school with a younger passenger and of course both without helmets . Parents , teachers and the police all turn a blind eye . They should be prosecuted for lack of responsibility etc

Thanks but I do not understand about the Virtual Pin Sentry . I can log in to my account using 1/ my surname 2/ my long 12 digit number 3/ the last 4 digits on my card , 4/Lastly the 8 digit code from the card reader which I cannot do . I have tried to down load the telephone banking but it either requires a card reader or your presence at a Barclays ATM in the UK , I am in Thailand . The mobile phone app requires bio metrics and either a photo of your passport or driving licence which I submitted 4 times but each time they said it was not clear enough .

Even the best swimmers cannot swim against a rip tide . Also I have never swam in the sea in Thailand because too many things can go wrong plus , is it now the dangerous box jelly fish season ?

Hi All , My Barclays card reader / pin sentry has stopped working and despite replacing the batteries with 3 different lots of batteries it does not work . My bank card still works at the ATM , so I assume the reader is faulty . I need a card reader to manage my bank accounts and to send money from the UK to here in Thailand . Does anyone have a spare card reader that they could send to me . I will cover postage costs plus a complimentary fee for the help . I am told that all UK card readers are compatible so it does not have to be a Barclays reader .

Not saying that the following happened in this case but it has been known for Thai beach vendors to remove red warning flags because of loss of trade as bathers cannot swim.

That is terrible and in my eyes is a legalized crime . How the UK gov; keep winning the frozen pension rules appeal, is beyond me . The ancient UK state pension rules need updating/reform to meet today's needs . The rules were written in 1908 , so way out of context . Indeed non domicile persons should be given a bonus as they no longer burden the N.H.S. etc .

The op was showing the general lack of customers at the meat department was because of the high prices which has been endorsed by other readers . Now do you understand ? Talk about being pedantic

Thanks . I just checked my statement that said N.I.C.s were the main fund provision for the UK state pension but income taxes will be used soon as there were not enough people working to support the fund . I was correct , however I failed to notice that the article I quoted from was published in October 2014 . So your up to date info applies . Thanks for the correction .

Blaming the gov; for the backlog of unannounced illegal entrants ? you having a laugh . You say " stuck in a hotel " where they are fed , clothed and bedded like they have never had before and then they complain about the poor internet , WT?. They will have known about the slow processing , yet still are arriving in their hundreds , daily , having paid thousands to people smugglers . most are without skills and will rely on handouts / benefits , will not integrate , rarely speak English and are well versed to living a life of crime . The official immigration test to aspiring legal immigrants is to have an historical knowledge of the UK along with a reasonable skill of the English language in order to become employable and self supporting but these so called asylum seekers are bypassing the rules . The UK is already suffering from a housing shortage but local councils have to find accommodation for them and they leapfrog the queues . If I was a young UK national I would be emigrating and that is now happening with many professional skills leaving and causing a brain drain . It is true that there are many UK jobs available but they are not just laboring / unskilled jobs . Suella Braverman has got my backing .

They are seeking illegal entry to the UK . Why ? because the UK is a soft touch and the social security benefits that are much better than other European countries are the main reason they cross the channel rather than settle in France or Italy etc . Its about time the UK gov; considered their own nationals first and paid a decent pension . No wonder there is anger when a UK tax payer all of his life is treated so poorly and illegal entrants are given all they need for free .

The facts is , there is no pension pot but there is a pension fund which is diminishing year on year and whilst now it is the National Insurance Contributions that pay out the pensions , the fund will be unable to do so alone by next year and then the income tax revenue will have to be dipped into . The state O.A.P. is financed by those who are currently employed . There is a calculation that the under 35s will not see a state UK pension because it may be scrapped . The under 45s will face a tax hike and a delayed retirement age . Indeed the UK state pension is frugal when compared with many other countries e.g. Switzerland which has a top pay out of 2450 Swiss Francs a month or 2190 UK pounds a month for a single person or 3675 Swiss francs (3287 pounds ) per married couple . It would appear that the UK pension scheme is poorly crafted and needs to be overhauled . The only sensible way is to set up a reliable private pension that has no restrictions such as getting frozen because you opt to spend your retirement in warmer climates . The frozen pension saga will never be amended because of the costs involved , no matter which party is in power .

Yet when there is an army coup , none of the articles within the constitution mean anything . The election committee are being guided to be pedantic . I have no doubts that who ever is to be the next Thai P.M. will have skeletons in their cupboard .

I have a similar roof but mine is steeper . I tried to get up on the roof to repair a crack in the cement board sheet but I could not safely climb up the roof because I kept sliding down . Also these old cement board sheets are brittle and stepping on the raised screws can cause a crack . I had a small Thai guy climb up but he broke a roof sheet . These old roofs are dangerous to try and walk on , so forget it . You would be better off catching the leaking drips in a bucket within the loft space . Make the loft space accessible and if possible , floor board it and have a couple of lights . The truth is you will have to replace the roof . The insulated metal sheets ( as mentioned by ( brianthainess ) can be cut to length , thus no horizontal joints . They will also make your house cooler .

Leftovers will be OK for fattening birds for the table but not good for layers as they require 15-17% protein on a regular basis to produce daily eggs . Indeed I fed my free range birds with layers pellets and after they would scratch around in the field for insects etc . In the UK chicken feed is expensive but I do not know the cost in Thailand .

You are forgetting that the MF party mandate is based on reform and changing parts of the constitution including lèse-majesté laws . Not just another bunch of fat cats

Allegedly ? I understand because when I lived in the countryside in the UK there was an elderly guy who sold free range eggs from his house . He was selling so much that he could not keep up with the demand . Then early one morning I saw a large box van delivering eggs to his house from a local egg farm where there were no free range chickens . I went to visit him an hour later and what a surprise , he was rubbing the newly bought eggs into chicken poo to give the appearance of non factory eggs .

Yes that is true of food colouring within the housed chickens industry . Free range chickens have the green grass and insects / worms to eat and the green grass makes the yolks a deeper yellow . They also have basic chicken feed without colouring additives ( at least it was what I did ) . If all chickens were free range the price of eggs would be much higher and indeed intensive farming can be cruel but sorry to say a necessity . E.G. ( pun not intended ) many years ago a chicken dinner was normally at Xmas but now because of intensive farming it is eaten regularly .

The majority of the Thai population had high hopes of real democracy when Pita won the vote but now there is huge disappointment and anger . I believe you are correct that Thai citizens will come from far and wide to Bangkok , as never seen before , to demonstrate their opposition to the governments refusal to accept the election result . Not a revolution because the people are as one but an uprising and maybe strikes are seriously on the cards . Maybe the powers in control have underestimated the populous reactions ?

In the UK a free range chicken has to have access to open air runs for at least half its life time which has to be at least 56 days old before slaughter . Within the chicken house no more than 13 birds to the square meter . ( That is tight space ) . Open air runs are often just bare ground because the chicken poo has killed the grass ( ammonia poo ) . So you can see that the "free range egg " is a misleading term . I use to keep upwards of 40 free range chickens and they are more susceptible to diseases caught from wild birds . Indeed the glossy videos on the TV showing happy hens is mostly B/S . Proper free range eggs normally have a yellow to orange colored yolk and taste slightly creamier and will be costlier than penned up chicken eggs . Thailand eggs are often on the older side and when cracked into a frying pan often break or lay flat . Not many stand up yolks here .

So true . Buying into a well know franchise , tied to their products & rules . Paid a down payment and signed a contract for a set amount of years . Stock is replenished by way of the computerized till . You are in effect working for the franchise bosses without them employing you . Their % profit per article will be much higher than the shops . Much better off to go it alone . Friend has a Family Mart shop . Makes 30,000 baht a month profit but works 14 hours a day , 7 days a week . Then pays a bank loan & part time staff .

I guess that happens but a bit scary none the less

It would be interesting to see a map of the dengue high risk areas . Many people think that the evenings are the times when dengue is prevalent but it is day and night and more so in rural districts where waste water or rain accumulations are left to gather . The local Thai government sometimes inspects your home for places that contain water in your garden that the mosquito will lay her eggs . Potential fine .

southern Europe this weekend is forecast into the high 40s . Parts of Greece already upper 40s and summer just starting

Really ? please enlighten me

Because in this Thailand heat an unfrozen dead body would have a strong pungent smell that would raise questions of the source , plus attract many insects .