Mario666

15 minutes ago, Jeremia Juxtaposed said:

We have gone off subject now but I hope this post isn't deleted .. but yeh I ended up getting paid for my work in Myanmar into my Kasikorn account - bloody obvious choice really...If Barclays had been straight with me in the beginning..

Yeh....I don't get it with Barclays.....or many other UK banks.

Why don't they want to keep you as customers just because you move abroad?

Agree about "Off Topic" now.

Maybe you could PM me when you get a result or not with HSBC or another bank?

7 hours ago, Dmaxdan said:

I think buying decent wood that is impervious to termites, woodworm or general Thai weather conditions would quite an expensive option which is probably why you don't see many sheds built this way here. A welded steel frame with steel side panels and roof could be a possibility or just one built the usual way with rendered brick or concrete blocks, perhaps painted to match your house. All of them would probably be a bit to hot to hold a social gathering inside, unless you fit aircon of course.

Surely that would not so much be a "Shed" as a very small "Under-appointed "House"...... which many Thais live in anyway.

Why not just buy a small Crap Thai house near you and use that instead?

7 minutes ago, Jeremia Juxtaposed said:

 

Thanks - I shall try HSBC ...

Good luck and please let me/us know how you get on.

I am sure there are many people in your shoes.

I am also with Barclays and really don't like them for many reasons so having a "Backup Account" with a proper Bank (I have a KTB account here) would be reassuring.

21 minutes ago, Jeremia Juxtaposed said:

I was back in UK  last year and tried moving to the Halifax but the questions started so I quietly withdrew my application...... And with a blink of an eye it was time to fly back.....I shall try again next year..

 

Regarding the TSB - Over the weekend I tried twice but each time there was a problem with my code word .... I am gonna wait until the end of the week before trying again..

Try HSBC.

Also I would seriously move your account ASAP even maybe to another "Global Bank" abroad if you can't get a UK bank to take you on.

You may have seen in an earlier post (#22)  that I was involved in selling software and systems testing products and services mainly to banks for over 30 years.

Any bank that has gone "Live" with a new application platform that has been 'Down" for so many customers for at least 5 days has serious problems as do the "Winkers" who were responsible for testing and "Rolling Out" the applications at launch.

That is why I gave up trying to sell them (Qualified them out) after a few visits. They had a "Cheapo" mentality and I was selling Premium and Quality services and software. I knew they were too tight to buy.

Admittedly this was some years ago when they were still LLoyds TSB, but it seems their "Cheapo" approach to QA of their business systems has remained.

There are some HUGE QA, competence and integrity problems in ths Dis- "Organistion".

If they FICK- UP this bad how do you rate the security of your personal data with them, let alone your money?

I also heard however, that under Barclays "Rules" you should close your account(s) when no longer resident in the UK.

Please feel free once again to correct me if this is wrong.

I am a Barclays cusomer, but SHHHHH!

Just now, OJAS said:

Easier said than done, unfortunately, if he is a UK non-resident.

I heard somewhere that with HSBC you can live outside the UK and still get a new account?????

Please correct me someone if this is not the case.

1 hour ago, Golden Triangle said:

The problem I find with these main highways throughout Thailand is the lack of convenient rest places, okay fine, I know that there are service stations all over the place but on a lot of the major routes they are few and far between, what is needed are regular places to pull over and have a rest if needed, they don't need to have toilets etc just layby's whereby drivers, particularly truck drivers, can pull in and have a kip.

 

Having traveled extensively by road in Thailand I have been on some lovely routes with fantastic views and photo ops but nowhere to stop, and it's not as though they don't have the space, look at the motorway from Swampy to Pattaya, there are plenty of areas, marked as emergency parking ?? every few kilometers these should be built into every new motorway and maybe add laybys in the middle of nowhere on the other more rural routes.

 

Take a look at the European model, plenty of rest and picnic areas provided for travelers, tourists & professional drivers.

"There are plenty of areas, marked as emergency parking ?? every few kilometers these should be built into every new motorway and maybe add laybys in the middle of nowhere on the other more rural routes."

When I first read that I thought it said "add ladyboys in the middle of nowhere on the other more rural routes."........No doubt that could lead to even more trouble.

16 minutes ago, Lacessit said:

Every time I leave Thailand for 6-monthly medical checks in Australia, I can't wait to get back here.

I go back to the UK usually only once a year for a few weeks to see Family, friends and sort out a bit of business.

I always make sure I go back in the Summer, i.e, June/July to avoid the miserable freezing weather and 8 hour daylight days.

I love going back, seeing the family, getting proper Bacon and other UK addictives (including Cider at £2 a pint in a pub or only about £5 for a 3 Litre bottle at "Bargain Booze" and decent wine with 100% grape juice for under £5 a bottle) which you simply can't get in LOS.

However, Cider and wine are just about the only things that are cheaper.....Oh yeah and all cheese.

So after a only a very short while I am counting the days to my return.

What a laugh.....now my home country is an expensive holiday destination

"- the Chinese "invasion" already discussed in other threads, which is only beginning

- the financial situation of the West...Western currencies going down against the baht, and likely to keep on doing so...and bankrupt or nearly bankrupt pension funds (like it or not, the next and unavoidable financial crisis will translate into severe cuts in pensions, this is actually already happening in parts of the US, and socialist Europe will have no choice but to follow)."

If Western pensions are severely cut most could not afford to live back in the West. Unless there is some economic miracle (55555) in the Thai economy I think it will always be cheaper to live in Thailand than in my home country (UK) at least in my lifetime so regardless of where the funds come from and what the exchange rate is I am staying for the conceivable future.

Apart from that Have your ever experienced the UK Weather

20 minutes ago, HLover said:

Easily bent?

?????????????

1 minute ago, HLover said:

A silver tongued Romeo bringing class and regality to everyone.

Thank you Mr. HLover

7 hours ago, tropo said:

If you paid closer attention you'd notice it's the Pattaya knockers who seem to get "all bent out of shape". We just have fun winding them up.

I love Pattaya Knockers, Phuket Knockers, Bangkok Knockers, etc., I don't care where the girl comes from and and I love bending them out of shape and then letting go and watch them go back to normal.

Now I am confused.....is the OP Rooster69 actually Mr. Cheeseman ?

If he is then he gave himself the Two "Top Billings" on today's forum....Guess if you're the boss that is your priviledge.

Either way I have to question Mr. Rooster/Cheeseman/Whoever?.... if you live in Bangkok why you need to take a Sauna??? Every time I have ever been in a sauna it reminds me of BKK and vice versa!

Dear all,

My girlfriend has decided to take a week off from her hair and beauty business as this season it is exceptionally quiet on Samui .i.e., No farangs = no money for bar girlies to get their hair and their makeup done and they account for about 90% of her business.

Her idea is to go to Hua Hin as she has never been.

She wants me to drive it (something I would never do by choice) as it is a very long way and with the daily mayhem I see on the roads a journey best avoided.

However, I suppose I will bite the bullet, but don't fancy doing the trip in one day. So I have been looking to see if there are any places worth visiting and maybe stopping overnight en route.

I have looked on the map and there seems to be little or no civilisation that I can see.  At the moment she has suggested stopping overnight at a place called Ban Krut (some spell it Ban Grood) and then maybe hugging the coast up to Hua Hin. I had a look on Google and YouTube about Ban Krut and it seems pretty derelict, desolate and remote with potholes everywhere.

Has anyone taken this route and would you recommend or avoid it? There doesn't seem to be any other places of any size after Chumpon.

Also when we you get to Hua Hin is there much to do in the area apart from visiting a few temples, museums, the Railway station and statues (none of which appeals to me)?

The Cicada Night Market looks okay, but that won't take long.

Also had a look at Cha Am and that looks pretty quiet too.

I am trying to get her to change her mind and go to Phang Na or Krabi instead, but so far she is not budging...Please Help!

I would be most grateful for your replies.

M

"Some weeks ago I was first time in Pattaya and walking through Soi 6, there were plenty of girls, but only the girls at the last bar (near the sea) with the fatties inside tried to take me in."

Were the "fatties inside" the girls or customers?.....Probably both! ....No Offence!

55 minutes ago, possum1931 said:

I blame the Chinese, cannot enjoy a decent 'all you can eat" buffet anymore.

Yeah...Them as well....and while we're at it Russians.

19 minutes ago, uffe123 said:

Pattaya was a decent place 15 years ago, now its just a cesspool.

Depends where you go and what your standards are

6 minutes ago, Jonmarleesco said:

Expect several more days of it. And blame the Spaniards. It was the Spanish end that was responsible for the IT so-called upgrade. 

No.... Blame the Germans!

It is their own fault for not testing properly before "Going Live" with the new systems and not having adequate "Disaster Recovery" or "Rollback" Plans.

I was a Software salesman for 30 years plus and involved in selling functional testing, load testing and performance monitoring software and services.

I also sold "Disaster Recovery" services, i.e., if you have a major computer or systems failure you can move to an alternate site that has a duplicate of your "Stable Systems" (before the problem had occurred) at another location or these days often in "The Cloud".

I sold mostly to the Financial Sector and my customers included HSBC, Barclays, Halifax, Royal Bank of Scotland, Co-op Bank, Standard Life, The Post Office, etc., etc.

Lloyds TSB were also a target account for me, but they were too "tight" to spend any decent money on testing or disaster recovery which is ironic as they have an arm that sells insurance LOL!

"F" them I say and if you are a customer move banks ASAP.

3 hours ago, dotpoom said:

I blame Mobile Phones...(for everything).

I blame Germans.....but then  I am a Brit.

5 hours ago, LennyW said:

Cadburys Double Decker's are a lot smaller than they used to be!

Yeh, but that's cos they kept hitting the overhead wires....Keep up!

19 hours ago, Jip99 said:

 

 

IMO WS, Soi 6 and McDonalds are all disgusting.

McDonalds boast that their food tastes the same in every branch "worldwide", i.e., DISGUSTING.....But I don't mind Soi 6