BritManToo

I don't think any Thai government official ever expected foreign pensioners living in Thailand to ever file tax returns. This agenda is being pushed by the usual bunch who Iive in fear of everything.

Koreans say exactly the same. Imagine how bad their schools must be!

Yeah, but none of them wanted to come here (can't say I blame them) so they're stuck with 3rd world tourists.

Foreign wives get easy citizenship in Thailand. Only takes being married a year.

It's multi entry. No need to ever visit immigration for extensions, 180 days on every entry.

The Chinese are undercutting the Japanese. Hard to sell stuff at double the price of the Chinese cars.

My house is powered by a 5k5 inverter + 3k solar panels + 5 kwhr of battery. I split my fusebox so cooker, shower heaters and Aircon are powered direct from the grid. That does 80% of my needs, my battery should have been double that. At the moment it's empty by 9am. My monthly pea bill is 50-80 units (around 300bht). It only takes the wife to shower (4.5kw), and the kid to use the other shower (4.5kw) at the same time = 9kw out of a 5k5kw inverter. So I left them on grid.

Me too, I'm thinking DTV, 5 years with almost no paperwork for 10kbht.

Adults should be allowed to harm themselves in any way they choose, Over eating, under exercising, drugs, smoking, alcohol, fast motorcycles ....... up to them.

Just legalise all drugs, Cant get all that excited over a small amount of cocaine (0.5Kg) and cannabis (1.5Kg). It's not as if she stabbed anyone, or broke a policewoman's nose.

Built my own, it's just 16 batteries linked + to - in a long line, then a BMS added. Careful with the socket driver, easy to get a big bang if you brush it against another battery terminal. (Yeah, I did it a couple of times)

Yeah, that's no problem. My inverter has been working perfectly for 2+ years now and survived 1x shorted out and 1x utility power going mad.

Yeah, then you waste the money you spent on the first battery. Really, I know what I'm doing (now), do not buy a small battery and expect to add on (successfully) later. Also make sure you aren't sold second hand batteries, about half the self builds I see are second hand (10yo+) batteries. Running with no battery at all is better than buying the wrong battery. PS. I have a 48v x 100ah battery (10yo+), it actually stores around 2Kwhr, useless for anything. Not connected as it drags down my bigger 48v x 200ah battery (10yo+) that stores around 5Kwhr.

Most installs take the electricity they need from the sources available, mine is set to SBU (solar, battery, utility). So it takes from Solar, then tops up from battery, and as a final resort mains. Get yourself at least a 10Kwhr battery ..... or you'll regret it later. This was my biggest mistake ....... not getting a big enough battery at the start. Adding more batteries later may not work, it didn't for me, and I ended up wasting 20kbht as the batteries didn't work well together.

Not enough battery, expanding later is often problematic. there's 280ah Lifpo4 batteries available at 1,700bht each now. 16 x 1700 = 27kbht, add the BMS at 3kbht and you get a 13.5Kwhr battery for 30kbht.

Solar electricity costs double coal electricity. More solar and less coal/oil will mean huge electricity price increases

In the west the elections get fixed at the ballot box. No need to disband the party later.

As a Marxist radical, I can definitely state, none of the people you mention want women to be property and land to be redistributed. In fact the closest politically to me appears to be the Taliban.

Not worth paying any extra NI if you're already near the maximum of £220/week. Which is probably why they wrote and said you can't pay any more.

Years before the new pension don't get you anything! Only the 8 years 2016-2023 can increase your pension entitlement. But obviously not get you more than the maximum new pension. I've edited the numbers in my previous post to reflect recent increases in the new pension

It's been 8 years since the new pension, each year costs around £1,000, adding £6/week for each year you pay, so for £8,000 you can buy an extra £ 50 pounds a week, or £2,000 pounds a year, getting you 8k back in 4 (ish) years. Or viewing it as an investment, a return of 20% a year. Obviously adding extra years won't get you more than the maximum new pension.

4 months before pension date, I phoned up using Skype (3 calls to 2 departments). Confirmed that only voluntary payments for missing years after 2015 made any difference, confirmed which 3 years maxed out my pension, got the payment code, paid by UK bank transfer, phoned back 10 days later to get a manual pension update. Pension paid on time. It all worked flawlessly!

I always liked the breakfast in Murphy's Irish Pub, and then we used to drink all afternoon at a restaurant on the pier near Murphy's Irish bar. This photo of the (Sea Side) restaurant overlooking a small fishing harbour (just around the corner of the beach from the Hilton). Evenings were spent at BintaBaht for the early happy hours, then a walk to the many small bars in Soi 80.

Computer say NO.

Took me 45 years of full NI contributions to make my full pension. 3 of which I had to purchase at the end, because of 'contracting out' reducing my entitlement.