Retiredandhappyhere
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Posts posted by Retiredandhappyhere
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1 hour ago, Krataiboy said:
Gerard Batten got it right when he described the marathon Brexit talks as an "elaborate charade", aimed at ensuring Britain remains tied to the EU.
This is becoming increasingly obvious as Remain poacher-turned-Leave-gamekeeper Theresa May and her EU cohorts take the faux "negotiations" down to the wire and the mass media dutifully hypes the fear of "crashing out".
Only at the last possible moment, when enough Parliamentary sphincters have started twitching, will the people's elected representatives be allowed their say.
The Brexit leader who burnished her Brexit credentials by declaring "No deal is better than a bad deal" will shamelessly ask them to vote for the same lousy deal - possibly tweaked with a few face-saving clauses - they overwhelmingly rejected last month.It will be a defining moment in the history of our democracy.
Anyone going to bet me they won't bite her hand off?
The EU will give way on the back-stop, but the change will be announced in a way in which they save face, since they, along with the UK, want to avoid a "no-deal" scenario at all costs. The EU profess to be on Eire's side, (as a continuing EU member)
and want the so-called back-stop to secure no return to controls at the border with N.I., but fail to realise that now that the British Parliament have rejected the back-stop, failure to agree an alternative will inevitably result in the dreaded "no-deal".
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14 hours ago, Chomper Higgot said:
Time for the PM and her cabinet to place this in the hands of Parliament.
She and every member of her cabinet have failed, while the Brexit zealots on her back benches have sat and done nothing, knowing they want her to take the blame for a Brexit that cannot be delivered.
It can and WILL be delivered, despite your enthusiasm for the EU. Sorry to disappoint you.
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1 hour ago, Baerboxer said:Would you like to explain to us all how Farage, a largely forgotten dope, with a new version of the now largely forgotten UKIP, will take seats from sitting MP's who are supporters of Remain?
Think about all those areas, places where the majority wanted to remain. Do you think they will suddenly change their mind and support Brexit and one of the proven liars who did a runner when the shit hit the fan?
The chancer Farage is looking for an income stream now his EU gravy train is gonna dry up.
And yet he was the main architect of ending his own lucrative income stream, which you now accuse him of trying to replace?
Many of the people who voted "leave" might well vote for Farage, including many who previously voted Labour, as a result of Corbyn's selfish and ambiguous antics over Brexit. As a result, Farage could command quite a following, taking support from both parties, thereby possibly upsetting the current virtual two-party system and leaving the General Election result uncertain.
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5 hours ago, Puchaiyank said:
I'm surprised she has not resigned before with all the pressure from the EU and British cabinet ministers lack of willingness to compromise. Enough already!
With a very difficult job to do, with a lot of opposition from her own party, most of whom have offered nothing but non-constructive criticism, she has stuck with it and proved to be easily the best of a poor bunch. I believe she will get an acceptable deal from the EU, of course at the eleventh hour. The country will thank her but she should not expect any thanks from the non-loyal members of her own party. Even so, I would not be at all surprised to see her lead the Tories into the next election and win, with Corbyn totally discredited over his stance on Brexit and his untimely and utterly selfish calls for a General Election.
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7 hours ago, KiChakayan said:
Seems that the Germans and northern west Europeans are the only ones who remain governable. I'd love to see the emergence of a European Federation, that could include the Swiss too.
Italy, Spain, Greece are gone; France is on it way; Britain getting more eccentric every day; US turns into a zoo; Australia looks more and more like a banana republic...
If your claim of Britain's eccentricity is based on it voting for Brexit, you ought to be prepared for more eccentric countries over the next ten years, as the EU slowly falls apart and eventually reverts to just a trading organisation, as it was originally and sensibly intended to be.
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On 2/8/2019 at 9:15 AM, Michaelaway said:
OK, THANK YOU, GOT IT:
(Siam Legal) Qualifications:
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Applicant must be 50 years of age or over
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Must meet any of the financial requirements:
1. Security deposit of THB 800,000 in a Thai bank account for 2 months prior to the visa application
I understood it to mean 800,000 2 months before the Visa application and 3 months after, but assumed it still meant 3 months prior to extension and 3 months after, with a minimum of 400,000 being maintained throughout.
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Applicant must be 50 years of age or over
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7 hours ago, welovesundaysatspace said:Of course he’s right. No Tom, Dick and Harry would begin the smallest bathroom renovation without thinking it through properly. Every medium-sized company doing a carve-out, Integration or restructuring these days knows how to plan and prepare for it and to hire consultants to help them.
But Brexiteers insist the biggest political and economical change in the UK’s history can be facilitated through closing your eyes and dreaming.
The sad thing is:
1. It will be the public, especially the poorest, who will suffer from this.
2. There is still no sense of regret and change.
The reason why there is still no sense of regret is that there is no sense of regret. The British people voted for "leave" and that is what they expect to happen, despite all the doom and gloom predictions.
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5 hours ago, NCC1701A said:
What would it take for you to jump out a window? does it seem inconceivable to you?
he must of had some real money, depression, health and possibly drinking problems for his wife to leave him.
Panic disorder or anxiety can make dealing with even the most simple things very difficult to do.
I have said many times on TV that I suffer from mild depression. And it is one of the reasons I don't live in Pattaya. And why I don't drink.
It is hard to understand if you don't suffer from depression, but the worst thing you can do is live in a "fake" party town like Pattaya.
Visiting is OK.
I must have missed your previous comments about your own occasional mild depression bouts. I now apologise for my previous light-hearted comments about your "girlie" stories, which I took to mean that you were anything but suffering from even mild depression and in fact were enjoying a really care-free life.
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5 hours ago, OneMoreFarang said:Maybe there could be an exception of the rule. Anybody who has no health insurance must have a million baht cash in a special account which will be available in case he/she needs the money for health issues.
That shouldn't be really a problem because everybody should be prepared. Or who do you think should pay your hospital bill i.e. for a heart operation? Should the Thai tax payers be responsible for that bill? Or should someone setup another fund-me account?
Everybody should be responsible for his/her own bills. If you have money, fine. If you have an insurance, fine. And if you have no money and no insurance then don't be surprised that the Thai taxpayers don't think they are responsible to pay your bills.
So, 1 million in a special account for possible medical bills plus 800,000 in another account for Visa purposes plus, according to Thai Immigration, a further 800,000 a year for living expenses. "That shouldn't be a problem because everybody should be prepared"? Given the usual one month's notice of course.
I am constantly amazed at the condescending attitude of posters on here who clearly have more money than they know what to do with and assume everybody else is in precisely the same boat.
Try explaining the new rules to an 80 year-old guy, with family here but who cannot meet your proposed new requirements and therefore has to return to his home country he has possibly lost touch with and leaving his Thai family behind. These things always seem simple and affordable to many young posters on here, but remember that one day, if lucky, you too will be old.
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31 minutes ago, alation said:
That's a pretty heavy thing to say, maybe now with all the stone throwing he has received he does feel as though and maybe even understands he may have made a mistake, I don't think that there is anyone alive that hasn't don't forget he is still a sick young man. I wish you well mate but be wise and careful with this wonderful kindness people have afforded you.
I think your advice is a loan repayment, a telephone and a pick-up a bit too late. If he is as sick as he claims, he should have used the money for the purpose for what it was donated and possibly save his own life.
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12 minutes ago, poohy said:
Although i dont necessarily wish him dead it must also be remembered he is a mixture of con artist, and both stupid and self centered.
Seems phones mothers debts and pick ups are higher priority than using the money for what it was GIVEN to him for.
Certainly he deserves all the criticism hes getting, hope all his spending does not effect his longevity!
Longevity? As another poster suggested, his purchase of a pick-up will no doubt hasten his demise long before the medical problem would otherwise kick in fatally.
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1 hour ago, DoctorG said:
Hey! If you re generous/stupid enough to donate money to a stranger you really have no reason to moan about how they spend it.
Of course you do, if the money was given for a specific purpose. If you gave a million to a little-known hospital towards a new department and then you learnt that the director had used it to help with the purchase of his new mercedes, you think you would not be entitled to moan?
I have certainly felt annoyed when "lending" (i.e. giving) money to a relative of my ex-Thai wife, supposedly for an operation for their daughter, only to find that she did not need any treatment as she was fine.
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8 hours ago, Rugon said:
He can't complain, he's had a more than average innings. If he doesn't have family/friends here that he can borrow 15k to get a visa through an agent, then he really shouldn't be here as he must have gone delally.
What a sick response. No respect at all for old age and also no respect for the law. It is the disregard for the law by those using agents in the way you describe which has caused all this hassle for many law-abiding ex-pats.
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16 minutes ago, allanos said:
Welcome to the Third World! 650 million, yes, 650 million Indians defecate in the open EVERY DAY. Do NOT expect First World hygiene standards in places like Africa, the sub-Continent or Asia.
Having said the above, I once knew someone operating a mobile fried potato chip van in the United Kingdom. It is a "hand intensive" operation. No toilets nearby, but he had a large bucket on the floor in which to pee in when the need arose. Who knows what he did if the call of nature was stronger, and where he cleaned his hands afterwords. Personal hygiene is a world-wide problem.
The difference is of course that in the UK, if that vendor had been reported by a member of the public, or spotted by a Hygiene Inspector, he would have been closed down immediately. Food establishments in the UK are very closely monitored for hygiene and safety standards, which many people believe to be far too draconian, as in many cases, the customers do not even have that standard at their own homes.
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13 hours ago, Puchaiyank said:
Have gone to many public restrooms and found myself in a bit of a pickle...no paper...no sprayer...and a dirty butt...Now carry paper from home everywhere I go.
These same people leave the toilet and go food shopping where they handle displayed foods with unclean hands. Yikes!
I was asked at a hospital to give a stool sample for analysis. When I went to the hospital toilet, there was no paper, no soap and no way to dry my hands. If that is how hospitals treat their patients, what are the chances that a street food vendor will expect anything different from ordinary toilets. Then lack of hygiene simply becomes a habit. I have seen toilets at some village schools and they were disgusting, so pupils do not learn good hygiene habits even at school.
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1 hour ago, candide said:My experience of life is that when someone talks about a "creative" solution, it's time to start worrying.
You should not worry as a "creative solution" suggested by Merkel, simply means she realises that the "back-stop" in the current agreement has not been and will not be accepted by the UK parliament, which means that, unless it is changed in some way, the result will be a NO DEAL, harmful to the UK AND to the EU.
However, as the EU has constantly said that the deal could not be renegotiated, an alternative solution will be arrived at which will no doubt be recorded in a legal additional agreement, so that it would appear that the original agreement has not been changed. To an ordinary person, that would seem like a re-negotiation of the original agreement, but to a politician, used to playing with words, it means no such thing, thereby satisfying both parties.
I have maintained all along that an acceptable agreement will be reached at the eleventh hour, in accordance with usual EU practice, thereby enabling the UK to leave the EU on 29th March of this year, as originally planned. Merkel's statement, yet of course to be agreed by the other 27 members will nevertheless be persuasive as it is in the interests of all 28 countries involved to avoid a "no deal" situation.
When this is all over and we leave on 29th March with a deal, I believe that Mrs May will at last get some credit for her stubborn refusal to give in to all the various attacks on her, including the half-hearted attempts to oust her completely. Nobody else wanted the job, but in the end, she will have succeeded, despite some, (possibly unavoidable) turmoil along the way.
People like Johnson and Corbyn were quick to criticise but neither offered any concrete proposals of their own. Corbyn, making a poor job of running the Labour Party, merely felt, for some obscure reason, that he could have done a better job. Those people who believed that we should have entered negotiations on the basis of the option of a "no deal" not being on the table have clearly never entered into any serious negotiations in their lives, as they would be giving away their biggest bargaining chip right at the very start.
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18 hours ago, Sheryl said:Where I live electric yes, water no. But my water bill is just a hand written chit. The neighbors cooperate in collecting the everyone's money and 1 person hands it all in at the local tambon office. But iff your water bill is electronically printed and has a bar code, you should be able to pay it at 7-11.
My water bill in Hua HIn is electronically printed but has no bar code. It cannot be paid at 7/11 or Tesco, whereas the electricity bill can be paid at both. To avoid a 34 km round trip just to pay a few baht, we ask the guy delivering the water bills to ring our door bell and then we pay him with a small tip added. He gives us the bill as a receipt. Works well, as long as we are in when he calls.
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3 hours ago, NCC1701A said:
yeah, and I'm having sex with two blondes in a Ferrari tonight.
What, again?
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12 hours ago, Kenchamp said:
For those that don't have any health or accident insurance, having 800k in the bank is not a bad idea.
But if you use that 800,000 for medical purposes, how do you get your next extension? If your answer is to transfer another 800,000 from your home country, then you could have done that in the first place to pay your medical expenses. The 400,000/800,000 in a Thai bank account is simply money the banks can use but effectively you, the owner, cannot. In addition, of course, according to the Thai Government, ex-pats need another 800,000 per year to live on, slightly more than the average Thai.
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1 hour ago, MadMuhammad said:
Everyone seems to be making out that 800K is all they have to live off and that’s it, nothing more.
If that’s the case I’d be more concerned about the rest of my life than a visa extension.
Clearly, Immigration believe that ex-pats need an income of 800,000 per year to survive in Thailand. In addition to that yearly income, they now also need a minimum of spare cash (400,000) for the whole year and a minimum of spare cash of 800,000 for six months of the year. If the idea is that non-insured ex-pats here would then have cash available for emergencies such as hospital treatment, that simply does not make sense, since they would only have 400,000 available for six months of the year and then that sum would have to be replaced prior to their renewal application and left there for a total of 6 months again.
It seems that it is a plan to increase deposits in Thai bank and that is all.
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On 2/2/2019 at 9:26 AM, NCC1701A said:
asteroid hitting the earth.
communist Chinese and Russian first strike on USA and NATO.
Total and complete worldwide economic collapse.
Global pandemic.
Zombie Apocalypse.
I spend all my money on Soi 6 in Pattaya.
I thought you had been doing your 6th option already.
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On 2/2/2019 at 2:18 PM, wazzadg44 said:
I'm fully aware that I could lose all 500,000 under certain circumstances. Under certain circumstances,not necessarily the same ones, you could lose 800,000. I'm not specifying how or when it would happen,just that it COULD.
So, you are suggesting that the Government's guarantee that foreigners who have cash in Thai banks will be safe currently up to several million bahts (but possibly limited eventually to just one million) is worthless? I think that even a Thai government would think twice about reneging on that particular guarantee.
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15 minutes ago, dcnx said:That’s the thing. Even those who meet today’s requirements might not be able to 5 years from now when it’s raised without warning to 2 million or whatever number they pull from their bum.
The goal post is ever changing and while it might be easy to relocate today, how about when you’re 70 or 80?
I dont think most people are thinking mong term about any of this. The rules will continue to change and not in your favor. It doesn’t make sense to continue betting on something that you can’t win.
I am 77 and currently meet all the requirements, but I do feel uneasy about all the constant changes, which do not always seem to have been thought through carefully by the Authorities. They often announce changes in such a way that confusion reigns for weeks, if not months, before the regulations are either clarified bit by bit, or substantially amended.
Retirement is supposed to be a time in one's life for peace and quiet after around 50 years of working life, but although many things in Thailand are just great compared to our own countries, these constant badly announced changes mainly by Immigration are worrying, particularly to oldies like me, for whom alternative options are fading fast.
It does just seem that Thailand prefers short-stay tourists to long-stay ex-pats who spend money everyday of the year while here and not for a few weeks. In addition to that, they want substantial deposits in Thai bank accounts all year round and reports every 90 days. Why not just say that we have to report a change of address within (say) 48 hours, under penalty of perhaps 10000 bahts for non-compliance. Surely that would achieve the same objective without creating work for Immigration and inconvenience for us?
Do we feel welcome nowadays .....not at all!
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2 hours ago, Aforek said:
You speak of 800000 bahts on a fixed account ?; I have one like this and I wonder if it works for the new requirements ; for me, it would logically work because money is before, after extension and always more than 400000 bahts all year around
It will work as long as you are able to withdraw money at any time, with just loss of interest.
UK's May seeks more time to find Brexit deal, tells lawmakers: Hold your nerve
in World News
Posted
"I have yet to hear from any Brexiter how they will benefit personally; short term or long term. The average Brexiter has no idea. At all. Idiot savants at best. I should clarify that I exclude most, but not all, Brexiters here. Many have strongly held, cogent views. But en masse, My opinion stands.
We need to change our electoral system in many ways. One is to limit those that are allowed to vote not by age or wealth or breeding but by cognitive ability."
And,of course, your arrogance automatically, in your eyes, puts you into the category which is allowed to vote, as opposed to the "idiot savants" group?