sandyf

Indeed, but a bit irrelevant, it will always be an issue for as long as it kills. My niece is a doctor and she is saying heat related admissions are higher than they have ever been, of course data recording is better than it has ever been. The son of my wife's aunt died on Thursday from heat stroke, think he was in his 50s. But then back in 2012 we went to the funeral of a foreigner my wife worked with who had died from heat stroke, also in his 50s.

No, you cannot do it "here" if you mean Saudia Arabia as it is not on the E-visa platform. Even if it were there may be language issues, Hong Kong created their website in English. You should be able to do it online using the London website, full instructions can be found here https://thaievisa.go.th/static/English-Manual.pdf

You responded to a post concerning pension credit with the implication I wasn't entitled to pension credit although I had already said it was 3 years before state pension age.

Very easy to take that moral high ground. many people made their retirement plans when Mr Google was still sucking the tit. Information from the UK government on pensions was rarer than a 9 bob note At the end of the day it is immoral for the government to continue the policy, even the APPG recommended it be abolished. No doubt Keir Starmer will have selective memory. https://frozenbritishpensions.org/jeremy-corbyn-gives-labours-backing-pension-unfreezing/

Indeed. I had a quick look and yes I see there is a couple of benefits that are not automatic for WFA. Something else I was not aware of is that it can be paid overseas and those living overseas have to claim, irrespective of anything else.

Bit the same here this afternoon. Fairly confident it will come Sun/Mon, we have a trip planned to Pattaya to see friends from Phitsanulok who made a sudden decision to escape the heat for a couple of days.

Why wouldn't they, Germany recognises the sex trade and has done for centuries. I was stationed in Germany early 70s and bars showing what is now known as adult movies were quite common, and with customers of both sexes. The Eros Center was probably the most famous brothel in the world.

British English is a recognised name for a collective as in Standard British Southern English or embedded in BBC English. However the American vernacular is a historical derivitive from the language of the British settlers. Amazing that someone boasting that they had a flush toilet becomes common vocabulary.

OK I will stand corrected on that. You are obviously aware of a situation where it would be necessary. My understanding was that anyone eligible would already be on something else and quite happy to accept that may not be the case. The word "claiming" that was used however was inappropriate as that implies a continuing requirement. If someone did have to claim it would be once only. You should also bear in mind that the post in question had made a derogatory implication against myself but I take your point.

Hi Bill, glad to see your name come up, not seen it for a while and was beginning to wonder. Yes we had some really torrential rain in March, a good deal more than last year but been fairly dry since. Last year we went to UK 30th April and if I remember right wife's sister said rain came just after we left. Our well ran out a couple of weeks ago and that is the first time for several years. I remember when I first came it used to run out about early March and sometimes bought water. Wife seem to think it will start here on Monday, have to wait and see on that. We are off to UK on 14th, looks like plenty over there.

Only a certain mentality would think the law is always right, only a couple of weeks ago Sunak said the government has an obligation to right the wrongs of the past. By the nature of the issue frozen pensioners have little voice in the UK, maybe if a few trans took up the case the government may take a different view.

What on earth are you talking about, I was in the UK at the time I claimed pension credit, and you ought to be aware that nobody claims winter fuel allowance. If you had bothered to keep up you would have seen that someone tried to say you had to be retirement age to get pension credit but that didn't come about till 2010, before then it was 60. The bizarre thing was when I sold my house I wrote and told them the change in circumstances and I was moving abroad. They acknowledged the fact and said payments would stop in due course, but it took 6 months for that to happen. Tight as a ducks xxxx when needed and throwing it away when it's not.

And how many of the "over three dozen districts across the country's 77 provinces " had weather stations 30 years ago? Whichever year they started recording would have been their "highest ever".

The weather has been deviating from the norm for the last 7 years or so, a heatwave at some point was an almost certainty. The norm for this area was no rain from Nov till around Songkran and then in 2016 there was no rain until about June, then in Jan 2017 we had some rain, unprecedented. Since then the amount of rain between NY and Songkran has steadily increased. The problem with Thailand is the weather can be very localised and Mr Google not as informed as some may think. I have no mains water supply, we collect our own with a well for backup, so rain quite an important factor. We usually plan to go away in May in case dry spell protracted but this year would have been ok, enough water till end of month, well run out about 2 weeks ago.

Not electronic, and what they are suggesting is not worth the hassle of getting the passport back to the VAC for the visa. Visa processing is just a sideline to VFS, their core business is selling services at rip off prices to uninformed applicants. Done one recently in Bangkok and didn't take very long, appointment was on 12th March and passport came back by EMS on 28th March. Delivery is optional and think it was 280 baht, for us a good bit cheaper and easier than going back to collect it from Bangkok. https://visa.vfsglobal.com/lka/en/gbr/keep-my-passport-while-applying

Questtion for today. Why are pensions fully funded bu NI contributions within the social security act and pensions partially funded by NI outside said act. The frozen pension legislation is embedded in the SSA. In a truly equal society, ALL pensions derived in some way from NI would be frozen for all living ouside the UK, or the other scenario, none are frozen. Under the State Pension rules before 2016, you or your workplace or private pension scheme could choose to ‘contract out’ of the Additional State Pension. The Additional State Pension was also known as State Second Pension or ‘SERPs’. If you were contracted out of the Additional State Pension, some of your National Insurance contributions were either: lower than people who were not contracted out paid into another pension, for example a workplace or private pension https://www.gov.uk/contracted-out#:~:text=The Additional State Pension was,Second Pension or 'SERPs'.&text=If you were contracted out of the Additional State Pension,a workplace or private pension

A Full State pension can only ever be what you are entitled to on reaching retirement age. The frozen pension arrangement means you are deprived of the Full State pension in the following financial year if living in certain jurisdictions.

You should get your facts straight before trying to lecture someone. Pension credit has nothing to do with pensions, it is a benefit under the income support regulations and on the 6th April 2010 the qualifying age was increased from 60 to match the retirement age. I was 62 when I claimed in 2009.

You fail to realise that people fully contracted out will only get a full state pension that equates to the basic component. That does not mean they do not benefit from the other part of their NI in another way.

I wouldn't pay VFS for anything that I didn't have to, been dealing with them for 15 years and had a few problems. With Switzerland you have the choice of VFS or using Swiss Consular services, I would take the latter but whatever is most convenient. I have just done one for Germany and no longer had a choice. Last one I did for Germany was done at the embassy and got decision at the appointment, all very efficient. Now VFS has taken over it is a bureaucratic nightmare and a lot more expensive. If you use VFS you will go to the same office as I did and best bet is to get there by MRT to Samyan. On leaving the MRT keep an eye on the exits, one of them will take you up into the shopping centre. Office is fairly easy to find on 4th floor, I think to the left at the top, if you see Italy it is the other direction. No point getting there too early as they won't let you in until 10 minutes before, it says only the applicant but he let both of us in. Good luck.

The Schengen Agreement and the EU are not quite the same, the UK and Ireland never signed up, nor did Cyprus. Some EEA countries although not in the EU are also in Schengen. Schengen is more about freedom of movement than visas, it abolished internal border controls. If you are not a national from a Schengen country you need a visitor visa to enter, commonly called the Schengen Visa as it is a standardised format for the area. I was stationed in Germany early 70s and had to show my passport at the border control every time we went to Venlo in Holland a few miles away, not any more all border posts have gone.

That is not a fact, you are way off track. The fact is that the average working bloke of today will only receive a post 2016 state pension which may or may not be adjusted due to "Contracting Out". Everyone, and I mean everyone, has received a Full State pension. Full State pensions are adjusted to individual circumstances based on the pre 2016 basic pension or based on the new state pension. Pension credit has absolutely nothing to do with pensions, I was on pension credit before I reached retirement age. The government has a vested interest in keeping pensions low and creating a benefits dependent society. There is nothing new, years ago companies gave workers luncheon vouchers which turned into a form of currency. Won't be long before you see social security food vouchers being traded with pensioners not far behind.

Fairly obvious you are not fully aware of how the state pension evolved. You refer to basic an Full as though they are different versions of the same thing, the reality is there are pre 2016 pensions and post 2016 pensions. You are using the rhetoric the government wants to promote, helps the argument that pensions have risen. What is called the basic state pension is only a component of the pre 2016 pension. My state pension is made up from 5 components, the earliest additional component is Graduated Pensions, something that many will never have heard of. 1975 brought about a revolution in the pension system with the introduction of SERPS, what people receive as a state pension revolves around their working life since 1975. There is little doubt that those that gained the most were those in an occupational pension at the time. They became contracted out with part of their NI contribution going into the occupational pension. Individuals like myself weren't allowed to contract out until 1989 and by the time I became eligible it was too late. The pre 2016 state pension can be one of 3 scenarios, Fully contracted out - the basic state pension with possibly some Graduated pensions, No contracting out - the total of all pension components that existed during your working life, or a mixture of the 2. It is a complicated calculalation based on a split NI arrangement and there was never any government indication on how it was done. Those that contracted out had the same amount of NI taken from their wages but part went to the government and part into therir private pension. Those of us that gave all of it to the government under their legislation are now paying the penalty under different legislation from the same government. The directors of a private pension scheme would have been locked up.

Only a couple of weeks ago the PM was on the box saying they have an obligation to right the wrongs of the past, ommitting to say only when it suits the government. If there had never been any complaints about injustice then there would still be slavery etc etc. The majority are apathetic to injustice, until it affects them.

I agree with most of your post but you are wrong on the tax, I wasn't a particular high wage earner and my state pension is over the tax threshold. Don't forget that those on an occupational pension were having that pension boosted by being contracted out of SERPS. This tends to distort what is seen as the state pension. Many in Thailand will be receiving a pension that was partially funded by NI and is index linked, another factor in the injustice.