sandyf

Indeed, in recent years BKK has almost eliminated the sale of everyday brands of Scotch with only the more expensive on the shelf. A few weeks back coming out of Gatwick I got 2 litres of Grouse Smokey Black for £24, nectar of the gods and about £6/litre cheaper than the supermarkets, Duty free can have it's moments.

They are talking about the small duty free shop between baggage reclaim and the arrivals hall, you would be checking out, not checking in. In all the flights I have had into Thailand never bought duty free on arrival, shop is usually empty so not surprised they are being closed.

That is not entirely true. Under the 1975 pension reforms NI credits were introduced and some are receiving the state pension based on credits rather than physical deductions from earnings. I seem to think the credits can also be transferred. For many years the government has been trying to change the rhetoric around the state pension to that of a welfare state benefit. It is some time now since they started to divert NI contributions into other benefits, trying to make out that NI is nothing more than additional taxation and looking to merge it into income tax. The state pension comes under the Social Security Act and the government uses that to suit the agenda.

Not quite sure what you are trying to say there. The state pension is a pension paid by the government and couldn't be seen in the same light as a government pension such as that paid to civil servents. The State Pension is funded directly from taxation, government pensions are funded from the budget of the appropriate government department. If however you are picking up on the fact that the government would prefer to call it a benefit then a different issue. It would really depend on who is trying to say what, but I think it is fairly clear, all my correspondence comes from "The Pension Service". At the end of the day it shouldn't really matter as tax has already been paid and the whole object of a DTA is to avoid tax being paid twice, being only taxable in the contracting state just simplifies things.

None. From Article 19 of the DTA. (a) Any pension paid by the Contracting State or a political subdivision or a local authority thereof to any individual in respect of services of a governmental nature rendered to that State or subdivision or local authority thereof shall be taxable only in that State. (b) However, such pension shall be taxable only in the other contracting State if the recipient is a national of and a resident of that State.

You should refrain from definitive statements, very little is cast in stone. I did a retirement extension in Oct 2018 and when we did it they took my wife's phone number saying a home visit may be required. It was about a fortnight later they rung up and said they would be coming the following day. My wife just said we wouldn't be at home as we were off to Langkawi. They said to let them know when we were back and they came a few days after returning. That was Sri Ratcha and the last retirement extension I did as the UK embassy stopped the letters.

Today, the Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand (EGAT) has installed solar cells on the surface of water of EGAT dams. As a result, apart from generating electricity from solar power during the day, when the sunlight is unavailable, hydropower of the dam can be combined as a hybrid technology for electricity generation. EGAT is the first utility to combine floating solar power with hydropower for electricity generation. https://www.egat.co.th/home/en/the-worlds-largest-hydro-floating-solar-hybrid/

I only use Google pay for online purchases. I haven't followed up on Google Wallet as you need a phone with NFC capability to use contactless. If you have the right kind of phone and you have a Wise card from an appropriate country you should be able to add the card to the Wallet and set the phone up for contactless payments which are becoming fairly common in Thailand. Wise do not issue cards for Thailand but my Wise card is listed here. https://support.google.com/wallet/answer/12059326?hl=th&co=GENIE.CountryCode%3DGB&sjid=3074098620453221720-AP

Exactly, the post referred to the OP.

You are free to believe that equates to the situation the OP tried to portray.

I am fairly sure the "gov.uk" pages used to have a "last update" date on the page. The whole lot have been revamped recently and probably too concerned with presentation to be bothered with updates. They all now carry "report problem with this page" button. Best stick with info from the MFA.

Not a good description, what was meant was the appropriate immigration webpage. On this webpage you need to create an account and sign in. Most references to "apps" mean phone apps which can be android or apple.

They are not going to like them so much if governments have to introduce disposal charges, and/or offers incentives to switch to aviation fuel. Initial popularity was always essential, every experiment needs the guinea pigs.

I used to know a guy that would put some butane in the palm of his hand and set it alight, no problem. Yet there are quite stringent safety measures around LPG in cylinders. It is all about potential energy and danger from rapid release, there is a reason airlines have restrictions on the carriage of power packs. When it comes to standard fuels they do not have "stored" energy as such, energy is realised when other factors are brought into play. Battery technology has advanced at an alarming rate in recent years with energy capacity being significantly higher than the types that evolved over decades. I often wonder how may EV owners were on the soapbox of "untested" vaccines.

The issue is addressed in each airlines Conditions of Carriage, something everyone agrees to when purchasing a ticket. This is from Thai Airways. 13.3 REFUSAL OF ENTRY If you are denied entry into any country, you will be responsible to pay any fine or charge assessed against us by the Government concerned and for the cost of transporting you from that country. The fare collected for carriage to the point of refusal or denied entry will not be refunded by us. https://www.thaiairways.com/en/Terms_condition/contract_of_carriage.page?

So in your opinion there is no possibility of rapid discharge occurring in an electric powered motor vehicle.

So in your opinion it is out of the question that any fuel developed for aviation could not be used by the motor industry.

https://www.facebook.com/reel/1249980332833653

Batteries were nver really a viable option for the aviation industry so they are researching alternative fuels. The motor industry being a much more fragmented sector saw different entities fighting over the fastest possible solution. Trying to store electricity has the potential to be instantaneously disastrous, only time will tell if they all shot off in the wrong direction or not. When the aviation sector has resolved the fuel issue, every chance there will be a change in direction for the motor industry, leaving a disposal problem for taxpayers around the globe.

A great deal of development around here started during covid, many came home from wherever and never went back. It is not all one way and through out history technical progress has always made things smaller. " Interestingly, while large-scale factories are experiencing a higher closure rate, smaller factories are witnessing an increase in new openings." https://criterionasia.com/thailands-industrial-landscape/

Thanks for the info, I don't go to BK very often so doubt it's worth it, unless as been suggested you can't get the reduction without a card. See what happens next time I am there.

Been getting the discount since MRT started and never had a card. The reduced fare wasn't available at the machines so a question of going to the counter, ID never been required. Even the other week no mention of a card.

I think there is some validity in that women have contributed to the decline, but a bit harsh to put it down to laziness. As time has gone by woman took to trying to contribute to the family budget and in doing so lost the time that would have been available to pass on kitchen skills to their offspring. Girls wouldn't have any idea about "taste checking" if they hadn't been taught. When I went to school girls were taught cookery but that was dropped from the syllabus, leaving it all to "mum". The problem was that mum having been at work just wanted to do something as quick as possible. I was an RAF apprentice in the early 60s and on a Sunday used to visit my aunt in London. She would sit by the oven door for 3 hours basting the meat while I went to the pub with my uncle. When we came back, there was the most succulent roast beef on the table that you could come across, just melted in the mouth. Food is just like anything else, results are proportional to skill, technique and effort.

Google has 2 different facilities, Google Pay and Google Wallet. I don't know much about the wallet but believe it can make your phone act like a card like in contactless payments. I use Google Pay and that requires a card, you add the card to your account and when making a transaction Google will confirm the payment without the vendor seeing the card details.

You mean like "Fish and Potato Chips" instead of "Fish and Chips". Nothing to do with terminology, it is a lack of context appreciation that gets some confused. Context has never been a strong point on this forum, sometimes deliberately distorted by some.