sandyf

Only those that were fully contracted out during their working life would be getting the £141.85, and they would be getting an enhanced private pension from the reallocated NI. As an indication this is how my pension is made up.

That is not true, you obviously do not understand how the additional pension worked. Do you really think they would have changed the system to pay out more. The whole reason for the change was to try and make people fund more of their own pension. When I got my my state pension in 2012 I got £192/wk. I wasn't a particularly high earner and suspect there are many out there getting a state pension in excess of £300/wk. Those that contracted out will probably be getting more than that depending on how well their fund performed. The new system put a cap on the state pension liability.

Basically speaking with the old system the pension was made up of 2 parts, the basic state pension plus an amount of additional pension that was accrued from different schemes over the years such as Graduated pensions, SERPS etc. When the new system was introduced additional pension and contracting out came to an end with the pension being based on a single amount. However, for many years after the change pensions could be a mix of the old and new depending on working history.

Nothing new there, been doing that since the Thai airports reopened. Qatar is the major shareholder in the company that owns BA. The extension of the suspended flights was a foregone conclusion. Heathrow has ordered airlines to cut their schedules, not add to them. Bosses at the west London airport have reportedly told carriers to consider reducing the number of seats - in some cases by as much as 25 per cent - on individual flights to avoid having to cancel them altogether. It comes amid a stalemate between the travel hub and airlines over the decision to cap the number of departing passengers to just 100,000 per day. https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-11018185/Heathrow-tells-airlines-reduce-number-seats-order-meet-airports-passenger-cap.html

There are 2 different rates, one for the old and one for the new. The poster you responded to was comparing the rate to 10 years ago, so obviously talking about the rate for the old system, not the new state pension.

If you use HSBC it is £5.

Yes Bill, if you do not have much contact with the UK it can be difficult to maintain an account. Totally agree on Wise, I use it quite a bit alongside my HSBC account. The debit card is a real bonus when travelling, so easy. When I came back in June had to spend longer in Vienna than anticipated. Had a beer and the message from Wise showed the balance lower than I had realised. Just logged on did a quick transfer and good to go, another couple of beers, something to eat and off to the duty free. Had I tried to use the HSBC, every chance the highly efficient fraud squad would have blocked the transaction and frozen the card.

If you are from the UK you can email to this address [email protected] Put your passport number in the title.

It was £107, I got mine Aug 2012.

At Sri Ratcha, anything to do with your bank has to be stamped, but statements not necessarily on the day. I went the bank TTB thinking I would need to order a 12 month statement but I got it over the counter there and then. I ordered the letter for the day I was going to immigration so there was a 10 day difference between the date on the 12 month statement and the date on the letter.

That depends on the bank Bill. HSBC only recently put the fee up from £4 to £5 but some banks are about £20+. I compared HSBC to Wise over a period and although I have a Wise account I didn't see the point in changing. I only ever do it mid week, make the transfer one day and in Thai bank the next, Wise may well be quicker than that but speed is not much of a concern.

Up to you, at the end of the day "they" hold the stamp.

You have always been able to have your pension paid direct to an overseas bank. There will be costs involved but you don't see them. All you see is an amount into your account and the rate on that is about as good as you can get.

I would agree, I have used HSBC since I changed from DWP and never had a problem. They put the fee up to £5 a couple of months ago.

I take your point but there can be different companies passing through the bus station. The one you saw at the bus station may have been a service that stopped running, filling the calendar is quite common for that. I went to Chonburi one day and bought a ticket for the next bus, twice as much as normal, when I queried the price told different company, Better bus but not worth the difference. I think Roong Ruang is the same one that does the airport bus service and a bit better than the bog standard. Hope you get the flight ok.

Quite common with some bus services, only sell tickets on the day. Chonburi to Ekamai is the same.

Look at what is displayed in the dropdown, if it is a list of provinces, select the appropriate province, if it is a list of cities select a city, etc. Due to the pandemic the software hasn't had a great deal of use so bound to be errors, even Microsoft doesn't get it right first time, software evolves. It should also be borne in mind the questions are there to cover a variety of circumstances and not all need to be answered, you can upload a "not required " or some other covering statement.

If I remember right it asks for province first, then 4 other dropdowns, sub district, district, city and postcode, maybe not in that order. You need to know how the address is structured, which could be a bit of a struggle for those not familiar.

You would have to explain why not.

You would have to explain what documents and information are normally required for an E-visa.

I would ignore that, I did it the other way round. I copied the relevant part of the application form, see attached, and posted it to them. I was lucky they got it just after one payment and I got the next to my UK account. They say they need a months's notice. I would suggest you enter the Thai branch code, I think it helps with the payment. If I remember right it is the first group of 3 on your Thai account. Mine is due on a Friday and I always received it in my Thai account between 08.30 and 09.00 on the day due, a day early if a bank holiday in the UK. Rate is quite good as they buy the currency in bulk, but Wise is also good so maybe not much in it. Good luck. Direct Payment -.pdf

You are quite right, why on earth look for feedback, just set it up, impose the tax and take the flak After all if everybody will accept £80+ why worry about 300 baht on a few foreigners.

And how easy do you think it is for a Thai national to get a simple tourist visa for a holiday in the UK. What goes around comes around, the old days are gone.

It is a couple of years since I last went but we did BTS to Mochit BTS and there was a shuttle bus from there into the airport, a big letter "A" in the windscreen. But you are probably right Bang Sue may be the safer option, plenty of trains from Bang Sue to Don Mueang station, apparently not too far from station into airport. I would suggest getting the MRT from BTS Asok to Bang Sue, easier changeover but check the direction, can go both ways from there but shorter going via Lat Phrao If old enough can get the senior fare on MRT, good luck.

Distorted data. "London’s Heathrow airport has introduced a daily limit on the number of passengers for the first time and told airlines to stop selling tickets over the next two months in an attempt to avert more summer travel disruption." "London Gatwick and Amsterdam Schiphol have already introduced their own caps in response to the staff shortages." https://www.ft.com/content/9e76ca20-406f-46a8-8cec-d7627ea38f91 Emirates has rejected Heathrow Airport's demands for airlines to stop selling summer tickets, calling the move "unreasonable and unacceptable". https://www.bbc.com/news/business-62163254