jrward42

On 10/23/2024 at 12:49 AM, mstevens said:

 

You'll find a new OLED TV will be significantly better than your old plasma - the picture is brilliant on the new OLED TVs and the sound is pretty darn good too, even without a soundbar. FWIW, if you can stretch for a 65 inch, they're even better than the 55 inch. I know it will go against the grain in this thread but I bought a Samsung 65 inch OLED TV 2 years ago and it has not missed a beat. Prior to that i had a Samsung 55 inch 4K TV and that was great too. Gave it away to a friend of the wife to make space for the new one. Obviously, the OP has every reason to be disappointed with his TV conking out after 14 months. My experience with Samsung TVs has been very good so far - and my Mrs has it truend on all the hours that God sends!

I am toying with just giving the plasma away. I'm pretty sure I can stretch to a 65 inch OLED. My old TV has such thick bezels that it takes up the same amount of room as a 55 inch TV and there is room to spare. Plus my PS5 outputs at 4K, which is a waste. Thanks for the info.

On 10/22/2024 at 12:34 PM, BritManToo said:

I had the same (55" Samsung) ....... paid the fix ........ 6 months later broken again.

Now I buy TCL, for 16k5bht you can get a 75" TCL LCD with Google TV and a 3 year manufacturer warrenty.

 

@jrward42 TCL 75" QLED Google TV currently at 23,500bht with 3 year warranty and they're really good.

Interesting, thanks for that. It's amazing how much they have come down in price over the last decade.

I used to work in broadcast TV in London and asked the engineers which was a good TV to get. This was in 2007, and I ended up with a 42-inch plasma by Panasonic. It is now in my Bangkok condo and is still working great.

Unfortunately, it weighs a ton and is only 1080p. I really want to upgrade to an OLED 55" but can't bring myself to chuck out the plasma. Especially as so many seem to report problems after just a couple of years with newer TVs. When it finally dies, I would probably buy another Panasonic or maybe a Sony. Unless others know of a better brand these days? 

The problem is that they were hard to get here until recently and so there aren't going to be all that many second hand consoles around. I bought one in the UK last year and brought it in my hand luggage.

For the games though, once you get one, you can just download them. There are a ton of sales these days - I don't think I've ever paid full price. And I mostly pay AAA games. The PS5 has pretty decent memory, so it isn't an issue.

My wife is Thai and went through the 5 year process to get a UK passport. You can only get citizenship if you live there. Having said which, she loved living in London and even got another Master's degree while there. We might even move back one day or live 6 months in each country. It gives you a lot of flexibility.

The main advantage is if you travel a reasonable amount. We often visit Europe, for example, and it was a pain before. 

I met him once. Weirdly, it was while having a pee. I used to work at MTV in London and Springer was filming some shows at our studios (late 90s / early 2000s). While at a urinal I heard, "Hey how are doing?" And I immediately thought, it was odd because that sounds just like Jerry Springer. And it was.

We chatted while washing hands and then walked to the studios. He was a really smart and nice guy. He then said hi every time we bumped into each other. RIP

I use Glucophage 1000mg and you can find it in a lot of places. Smaller pharmacies seem to stock lower level stuff but you can nearly always order some higher doses if needed.

I buy mine from Boots.

I flew from London on the 8th to Bangkok, landing yesterday. In the UK, there was a piece of paper at check-in mentioning the vaccine checks and the lady asked if we were vaccinated. We were. That was it. Nothing in Bangkok was different at all. Even customs was pretty pleasant. 

I guess they didn't even have time to set up a vaccine certificate desk!

I did the first ever UK lottery in the 90s and won a tenner. Never won a thing after that and gave up after a few months.

I did the Thai lottery and won 2000 baht the first time. Did it a couple more times and nothing. There is clearly a pattern going on, so I stopped. 

I flew to the UK for a visit on the 20th March, just after all restrictions were dropped. Flying back to Thailand on the 2nd May. My timing would be spectacular if they dropped this stuff on the 1st. I got my three jabs in Thailand, so that should be enough paperwork. 

If they want tourists back they need to drop extra requirements and even then it is probably too late. Time to open casinos and properly legalise weed!

I spent 2.5 years in Thailand and was all good. Then I went to the UK for a visit and got covid in the first week. To be fair, we went to a ton of exhibitions in London and then saw Hamilton in a packed theatre. Plus, no one wears masks anywhere. 

My wife got a cold within minutes and tested negative for covid. I then got a slightly sore throat and had a slight brain fuzz. I'm 49 and in good shape. No other symptoms at all and I assumed I was fighting a cold like her. I am journalist and was still able to write. Then my parents tested positive. Both parents are 77 and my mum has a mild lung condition. They both got slight sniffles for two days and were then fine. No other symptoms and as of today are both clear.

Going on timelines, my parents got it after 3 days of us being back from London. If I got it at the theatre, then I was three days too. It took my parents 5 days from testing positive to being clear. 

It was kind of scary at first as you don't know how you'll react. Fortunately for us, we got it really mildly. All of us are triple jabbed. A mate of mine here in the UK got it twice. Once at the very start before any jabs and the original strain - and it was awful. He got it again recently after all the jabs and he didn't know he had it (he got tested for work). 

I hope you're ok but I wouldn't worry too much.

I have the same issue. I did my marriage extension in CW in February and ever since then, the app shows me on overstay. I went to CW and asked and they said there is nothing they can do as the app was outsourced. They also said not to worry as the stamps in my passport were all good and I was ok in their system.

The only annoying thing was that I had been doing 90 day reports online (via a browser) and it was great. Now I have to post it in which is fine but more annoying. I'm hoping in January when I do my next extension, it will reset. 

He might as well make the same predictions for the next few years as well, so he doesn't have to repeat himself.

Have you had two shots yet? w\What documents do you have to prove it? I only ask as I am a Brit thinking of popping back to the mother country too. I get my second AZ jab next month.

I got a piece of paper after the first one, saying when the second one is but it doesn't look very official and I don't know if the UK authorities would be ok with it. I guess it doesn't matter too much as we would still have to quarantine for 10 days (or 5 if you take that option).

22 hours ago, MJCM said:

\

May I ask why you think so it's not my plan?

 

It most certainly wasn't my wife's plan because before she married me she hadn't a clue about Marriage Visa or the "Visa Khon Kae (elderly people Visa)" visa as she names the Retirement Visa ????

I meant, I didn't think your initial intention on this forum was to start a debate about visas. You said you had made up your mind and were asking about what papers were needed.

I'm sure your plan to get an elderly people visa was all yours!

I doubt it was your plan but thanks for starting the interesting debate. I turn 50 next year and was planning on switching to retirement. The main reasons for me were the paperwork. Granted, it isn't that onerous but it is annoying.

The photos are a pain and unlike some places (according to some comments), in Bangkok you can't use the same ones. I once printed out the pictures from the year before by accident and they called me up in the consideration period and told me to bring in new ones.

My wife is still registered at her mum's house, so I have to go and pick up her blue book from her mother each year. They've never asked for the original book but you never know.

The updated Kor For 22 each time requires my going to Onnut and queueing up the day before. 

My wife has quite a high powered job and it can be difficult finding a day when she is free. She has to shuffle meetings around to get a free day.

I have done it 6 or 7 times now and the last few years have been flawless. I agree it isn't difficult but it is still a pain for no real advantage beyond having an extra 400k. I've never had a home visit. I have enough to just leave 800k in the bank and leave it until we eventually leave Thailand. We own our condo and eventually we are hoping to live in Europe/UK/elsewhere for 6 months and 6 months in Thailand each. Then it will just be spending money.

Thanks as always! Most appreciated.

Quick question. Sorry to jump on someone else's thread. I'm 49 and will opt for a retirement extension next year purely because of the paperwork. I am currently on a marriage extension. I have the 800k but it has been in Thailand for a while now and some of that came from within Thailand back when I worked here.

The forms say I need to prove the money came from abroad, is that right? Does this mean I have to transfer it all out to my UK bank and then back in?

Thanks Ubonjoe!

Same. My marriage extension was done in February and 90 day around the same time. The site went down for weeks soon after. I thought I'd lucked out when it came back online 14 days or so before I was due for next 90 day report but it didn't work. I downloaded the app and as Ubonjoe says, it let me know that I was down as on overstay.

I went to CW but was told not to worry, my passport details and extensions and so on were correct. The online stuff was a different department and they couldn't help. Drove the 10 minutes to MTT after that and 90 day report in person was fine and they said the same thing about online stuff.  I am still on overstay according to the app. I reckon it will stay that way until my next extension hopefully resets the system and I can go back to online. MTT isn't all that much fun and it's an hour from my condo.

I know I could do it by mail. Oh well, at least it is just every 90 days. Good luck everyone.

I have all my shares in a self-trade ISA thing with Interactive Investor. I can trade ETFs and buy US shares and so on through it, although it is UK based and most of my stocks are UK-based. It depends on how much of your ISA allowance you've used up but it is all tax free, including dividends.

12 minutes ago, thequietman said:

On returning to Thailand 5 years ago, the imm officer stamped the wrong date in my passport.

 

I never noticed it until my following 90 day report. I got a fine because I didn't get it fixed. 

 

What was stamped in my passport was not correct.

Well yeah, that's pretty much what I am saying. Whatever is stamped in your passport is what they go by. Even if it was a mistake, you had to pay a fine. My passport says I am permitted to stay until February 2022. The immigration computer also says I am ok till Feb 2022. The only database that is wrong it the one that works with the app. They happily looked at their computer yesterday and gave me another 90 days.