sambum

Yes, the key word here is "unpredictable". A few years ago, a Pit Bull that use to sleep in the same bed as his "master" suddenly turned in the middle of the night and bit him to death, and if I remember rightly, it was taken to the temple a couple of days later to apologise to the corpse!!! Only in "Now even more Amazing Thailand"!!!

Not again! Pit Bull, or a Pit Bull cross - they are an unpredictable danger to the public and should be banned. "It's never done anything like this before" is too late, I'm afraid - it should be euthanised immediately, as it is now likely to do it again, next time it feels the owner's son is "threatened".

I think that you may find that politicians have short memories - 5 years is an awfully long time in politics. However, with an upcoming election, and it looking like the Tories are going to be ousted, it may well be a very apt time to remind them, and ask again!

Slightly off topic, but those whose pension is frozen probably do not get the "Old Age Winter Fuel Allowance", which is fair enough. But just as a matter of interest, I wonder how many people resident in the UK having an income of say, more than £100,000 a year refuse it as they don't need it?

"We've always done it this way" With that kind of attitude, we would still have square wheels on our chariots!

And you conveniently forget - as has been mentioned a few times already - that pensioners living abroad do not claim free NHS treatment etc etc etc I can't be bothered to list them all, but let's face it - if all the pensioners living abroad suddenly returned to the UK, the cost to the Government would be MANY times more than the cost would be for paying annual increments to their pensions!!! "Quite self-centred and greedy really"? I would suggest that that statement could equally be applied to people like yourself that seem to have an "I'm all right Jack" attitude towards UK pensioners that live abroad on frozen pensions!.

"The core of it" is the unfairness of the whole "frozen pensions" fiasco, which I believe is only applicable to the UK, and no other country penalises their own citizens for living abroad while welcoming immigrants with open arms, and gives billions away in Foreign Aid every year - especially as the matter could be easily resolved. From a House of Commons statement:- " BRIEFING PAPER Number 1457, 8 February 2021 Frozen overseas pensions :- 16. Reciprocal social security agreements are not entered into solely with a view to paying annual uprating increases to UK pensioners living abroad. They are not strictly necessary for that purpose as uprating can be achieved through UK domestic legislation… "

"defamed"?

I assumed that would be the case!

YOU wouldn't know - the crash investigation team might!

How would you know?

Love the headline! I have a mental image of hundreds of people in a "frenzy" in Khao San Road and "laughing their heads off" having partaken of the "laughing gas"!

And the Brit was only "a lead" which led to the Aussie involvement.

What makes you think that "Australians" are "Brits"? The only reference to a Brit is :- "His arrest stems from previous events involving a British man who sparked an investigation in November last year after a mishap with a gun at a Phuket nightclub. The British suspect, who accidentally dropped a firearm in front of the venue,................." The reast of the article (for a change) seems more concerned about Aussies:- "Immigration Bureau officers have detained an Australian man in Pattaya amid allegations of involvement in his home country's crimes and mafia gang connections in Thailand. Parallel incidents include another Australian man's arrest in Phuket in March for overstaying his visa and attempting to dodge a hospital bill following a motorcycle accident. Moreover, another Australian was detained the same month for stealing a motorcycle from a Koh Samui rental shop and travelling with it to Koh Pha Ngan." Are you so anti Brit that anybody with white skin participating in criminal activities in your mind is a Brit?

Another one that TAT has attracted that they'd rather they hadn't! 🙂

Thank you very much for that! I haven't had time to "trawl through" it yet, but I will! One thing that immediately jumped out at me was :- 16. Reciprocal social security agreements are not entered into solely with a view to paying annual uprating increases to UK pensioners living abroad. They are not strictly necessary for that purpose as uprating can be achieved through UK domestic legislation… So this b*****t about "reciprocal agreements" is exactly that! The way I read it is that R.A.'s (Reciprocal Agreements) are not the reason for the annual increments not being paid - that is just an excuse trotted out periodically when the subject is broached again.

From the Gov.UK website today (4 June 2024):- "British passport holders arriving by air or land can enter Thailand without a visa (visa exemption) for the purpose of tourism for a period not exceeding 30 days." From this article:- “From 1 June 2024, British passport holders arriving by air or land can enter Thailand without a visa (visa exemption) for tourism and short-term business engagements for a period not exceeding 60 days. If you intend to stay longer (for work, study, or other reasons), you need to obtain a visa before you travel. Come on, which is it?

"Streets"?

The way the results of the last "democratic" election were swept aside and pushed under the carpet is nothing short of disgusting. It's almost as bad as letting criminals hold posts as politicians, although some might argue that in a country as corrupt as Thailand, that is what is needed - someone who knows the ropes and the dodgy dealings. I am sure that Pita has learnt his lesson about the "dirty tricks" that can be, and have been used in the past, and will use this knowledge to his and the MFP to their advantage.

This has been noted a few times before - hence the "anti farang" sentiments and behaviour from many Thais - especially the younger ones.

Nah - he just borrows them nd forgets to give them back!

Are you saying that you can tell them in advance of your return date to the UK? I would have thought that they would only begin to review your case when you actually returned to the UK? Otherwise, you would have multitudes of people saying that they are going to return on a certain date, but don't actually do so - for one reason or another!!!

Probably working on a few more promises which can be broken! 😡

I am aware that, at the time of the previous general election, the Labour party had included unfreezing of frozen pensions in their manifesto (I think that is correct). I therefore responded to my MP as below : Dear Mr xxxxxx, Thank you for your response. It is, of course, disappointing. At the time of the last (I believe) election the Labour Party promised to unfreeze pensions for those pensioners living overseas in countries that do not receive uprating. I have to ask why that promise has changed ? Why are we no longer deserving of this ? The fact that some pensioners are still receiving the level of pension that they had when they left UK many years ago is, to be fair, disgusting. You say that this "this is a difficult issue". I would have to disagree. It's a very simple issue. Make pension uprating the norm for all pensioners, no matter where they reside. What could be simpler than that ? We have paid our dues in UK, many of us, including me, for more than 40 years, and now we are penalised ? Why ? You say that moving overseas is voluntary decision. That is so, and so is my choice of who to vote for. I'm sure that the implication is clear. Regards, Tony M The MP has not responded