4MyEgo

What this tells me is those with mortgages who have had over a dozen rate increase in the past 18 months are going nowhere. Those with money will travel and those with no mortgages living at home with mum and dad will travel. Can't see a change until interest rates come down down down.

I got mine lasered off almost 2 decades ago, one on each arms (visible), had them since I was 14. In 2007 when in Phuket, decided to get 2 on my chest, no regrets. Would I add more now in my 60's, if I was up for it, but not up for it at the moment, who knows what tomorrow brings. Age to me has got nothing to do with nothing, it's about ones choice, so let's not discriminate or judge what people want to do with their bodies.

GeorgeGeorge, KhunHieneken, Simple1, and a couple of others that don't come to mind. All aside, anything about Australia, aged pension, Thailand general, and the Pub forum.

But not before injecting beeswax into his member, videoing it and posting it on social media, and while at it, all the perpetrators as well, that should even the score.

I think you'll be safe in Pattaya, it's a family tourist destination, just avoid McDonalds in the early hours of the morning.

Can't disagree with you on that. You hit the nail on the head, degrees in my opinion mean absolutely sweet FA, I hold two, and I can tell you, 90% of people that I worked with, had no F idea, it amazes me that because someone holds a degree, all of a sudden people think that person is smart, smart perhaps in putting the time in to complete the degree/s, but personalities and their outlook on reality is someone skewed. You are 100% correct that the Australian way of life/culture has gone to the dogs, I once remember when you could speak your mind, these days, you'll get arrested, suffice to say, not understanding the lingo here and not seeing any other race here, as mentioned, apart from expats that I see here and there, suites me down to the ground, it reminds me of Australia in the 70's/80's/90's, laid back.

Firstly, I am not taking offence of any kind on behalf of my wife, just sick and tired of this "bargirls" this, "bargirls" that, it starts to sound like a broken record player is you follow all the comments here on "bargirls", ok, I can see how I read it the wrong way and chill pills don't work on me, I'm like a bull, wave the rad flag and it's straight to it, maybe a Vigra will help. That or I read it, as you say, 'arse about' which got my nickers in a knot. That makes better sense now. Ah yes, we've all been there done that and have put it all behind us, because life is just perfect here for me with my "bargirl" wife, AKA village sl-t as I refer to her every now and again (playfully of course). Didn't mean to go at yah so hard, as I mentioned, it just urks me that "bargirls" get a bad rant here, I have met hundreds and put a few in the sack, can't fault any of them, in my opinion, they are just girls, can't say women, because mentally, they really haven't developed, not criticising them, just my observations from conversations with them over the many years. As I also said, not defending my "bargirl" wife in any way, she had a job, she had a need, it paid her bills, she didn't rip anyone off, she met a farang and has had a life now for the past 17 years that she would not otherwise could have ever imagined, I don't put "bargirls" down, because of their profession, be it short time, long time or whatever, those that do, have a gripe with them and they own it until they let it go, takes two to Tango, only one to be stupid enough to part with his life savings to a female, regardless of profession.

Who cares. So they will deport all those who incite hatred because of their religious beliefs will they, give me a break and wake up to reality. Of course I have sufficient funds for health care here, however if it is going to run into millions of baht, if and when the day comes, then of course I will return to the nanny state to get treatment, which is my legal right, I know how to play the system, not the system me. I am free in Thailand, whether you like it or not, now get back to work and pay your mortgage.

I wouldn't worry about either until we hear that they have been passed both into legislation (law). Now from my workings, if you are deemed a non resident for tax purposes, and they tax your pension, once you register for SAPTO, you can reduce your tax payable by about about $120 per week off the tax payable on your pension, suffice to say if you are all good as a single and get your pension made portable, then you will end up with about 45,500 baht per month after tax and SAPTO, end of story. https://www.ato.gov.au/Calculators-and-tools/Beneficiary-tax-offset-and-seniors-and-pensioner-tax-offset-calculator/ Now to go back for 45 days to retain your residency for $120 a week, you have to work out the cost of remaining there for 45 days, flight tickets, taxi's hotels, food etc, in other words hardly worth it, so being a non resident for tax purposes won't be that bad, albeit there is someone a particular person on here scaremongering people, he doesn't do the math or offer alternatives if they ever came to fruition, like SAPTO which reduces your tax liability and you don't have to be a resident to qualify. Now if Thailand does bring in this remittance regulation, i.e. if it's passed, then they can't tax you if you have already paid tax on your pension now can they as there is a tax treaty with Australia. I believe the word is SLAMDUNK

Wow, so "bargirls" deserve those stereo types you are referring to because "bargirls" are bad. Sounds like you got throw off a horse. From my experience with women, I have found ALL Thai women to be good, haven't come a cross a bad "bargirl" yet, do you know why, because I don't judge people, especially because of their profession, by choice or other, they provide a service and I enjoy it, no need to put them all in the one basket (bad) because they spread eagle, after all, most men use their services and then trash them, did I say men, I meant boys. The above said I have been with scores of women, mostly westerners in my life, but the yellow fever hit me badly when I arrived on these shores back in 2006 and have to say that I haven't come across a bad one yet, luck, no, just a guy who knows women, and how to treat them, frankly their pretty playful and if they know you treat them with respect as opposed to judge them for their profession, as mentioned, by choice or other, they will show you a good time and not look at taking you out, so to speak, on the other hand, if you don't know how women work and hang your heart on your sleeve and allow others (women) to handle your finances, or are one who easily listens to them with regards to investing your money into building a house without fully understanding the complexities of Thai law and are prepared to lose it, then you can't cry over spoilt milk, which most do because they invested everything, all because of that emotion (love) which allowed them to be blinded. I build a house here, purchased a new car, everything is in the "bargirl" wife's name, however I only invested as much as I am prepared to lose, and even though I know my "bargirl" wife like the back of my hand, I say that because she hasn't changed one iota in 17 years, if we ever did split, then she deserves to keep the 10% that I invested in her life, suffice to say, she couldn't have earned this much working in the short time most work in their profession, in the hope of meeting a nice farang to take care of them and visa a versa. I know scores of guys married to "bargirls" and they are all happy, sure some have fallen by the roadside, but the same applies to marrying western women, fact of the matter is, most western marriages cost farangs more than what marrying a Thai would cost when the marriage goes south. So the bar girl should behave and should be good to him, ah yes, I guess that does happen, doesn't it, but what about western women ? I suppose you could say that with all women, couldn't you, I mean what is the divorce rate worldwide at the moment, and how many men have been taken to the cleaners because of certain laws regarding marriage and children ? I know a guy who married a western women, they were married for 3 years, she dropped 2 kids and he ended up paying her $750k AUS, plus $2,000 a month in child support, I could go on with others, but you get my drift. Really, no link to support what your saying. I would agree that it's a dog eat dog industry and the fittest of the fittest will survive, suffice to say, that game is called LOVE, not specific to "bargirls" only and don't forget many Thai "bargirls" get burnt with false promises as well as men of non Thai descent. Lol, that could be said for any female. Is that a bit like a shopping list, height, weight, teets etc etc ? Each to their own, when I met my Thai "bargirl" wife, now of 17 very very very happy years, she had a couple of youngens who wouldn't remember their father as she left him when they were so young. The youngens are now adults and it gave me a real pleasure to see them grow as if they were my own. We all have choices, you choose to be either selfless of selfish, and yes taking on your partners kids is a responsibility, but can also be a real reward to see what you did was give them a leg up in life, one purpose in life one could say ? You can chose to be selective and not want any kids, like I said, each to their own, but to me, life without kids has no real purpose, just my opinion. I am not one for trying to educate people who have their mindset, however you could try and get in close with "bargirls" rather than fear them and enjoy the ride, I have.

Yeh, pretty much same areas, Marrickville, sounds like you went to Punchbowl Boys High ? My late brother lived in Greenacre so I know what your on about. Yeh can't knock Thailand, warts and all, you don't see that s-c-u-m here. the way I like it.

Means diddly squat until it becomes legislation, so until it does, shouldn't even worry about it, just like the way I am not worrying about the Thai "proposed" changes to their overseas remittance regulations. Yes they are deemed as an income. The Age Pension forms part of your taxable income. However, if it is your only source of retirement income, you will pay no tax. If you're on the Age Pension, you also receive health benefits and reduced charges on rates, telephones, gas and electricity, car registration and public transport. The difference between the tax threshold of $18,200 for residents, which is not taxable if it's the only source of income Vs the no tax threshold for non residents on the aged pension is a mere $8,450, however this can be offset with SAPTO, and non residents can apply for this $2,230 amount which would reduce the tax payable for a non resident to $6,220 or around $120 per week. If a single pensioner was to receive $26,000 for the year as a non resident, take out his tax of $6,220 after the SAPTO offset, he would end up with $19,780 or 45,494 baht based on 23 baht to the $, which is still feasible to live on in Thailand for a single bloke, Vs trying to live in Oz on $26,000 per year + rental assistance, Energy Allowance etc etc, suffice to say last time I checked a 1960's one bedroom unit within a 15km range of Sydney CBD (south) would cost you about your pension, including electricity, if you could find one. At the end of the day, I personally don't know of any pensions living here that pay tax on their aged pensions, are they supposed to, sure, but who cares, will the ATO deduct it from their pensions in the future, who knows, and who cares, it's irrelevant, that said, I doubt that they would deduct it, it would be more than likely that Services Australia would, but again, what's the point of worrying about something that hasn't happened, worry about it when it does, it's not a matter of being right or wrong or trying to push your point across, seriously, know one cares, it's still a good earner for those retiring in Thailand, remembering that they are allowed to have a certain amount of money to counter any short falls, albeit it they will pay additional taxes via the Deeming Rate, totally different story, but hey 45,494 baht after tax is still ok as I support a family of 4 for around 60,000 baht a month and we live a good life on that amount. I do believe others have been trying to tell you to give it a rest, but you seem fixated and hell bent on wanting it to come to fruition so that you can say, see I told you so, that said, best let it rest, in other words, WE don't care.

Yeh, nah, can't upset someone because of their religious beliefs now can yah. Australia has turned into a multi-cultural soft c-ck society and everyone hates everyone's guts, but tolerate each other, they are all racists in my opinion. I often wonder how those who strongly believe in the great "Australian Dream" are going, i.e. of owing their own home, now mortgaged to the hilt with 13 interest rate rises in the past 17 months, oops, didn't see that one coming. We won't mention the rise in the cost of living, for just the basic stuff. Mate of mine was telling me today that his air conditioner stopped working, he put in a call to the air con people, Tuesday week is the earliest we can have a look at it sir, yeh ok fine, that will be $135 for the call out and $135 for the 1st hour, do you wish to pay with Visa or Mastercard before our serviceman calls out. Poor b-stard can't wait to move here, still got 4 years before he can get the age pension and asked me what was wrong with my air con about 6 months ago as he recalled that I too had a problem back then too, I said, the mouse/rat decided to bite into the wire, local air con guy rocked up, did his thing with the wires, and an hour later, ripped my left arm off at 400 baht Been here 8 years and enjoy only seeing Thai's, and of course the mix of expat farangs from time to time too, none of those other dirty ones that just made living in Australia not worth it in the long run, for those of you who live in NSW, you will know which ones I am talking about, there are about 3 races, they don't assimilate and complain about everything and feel entitled. Australia was fine when they let the Greeks, Italians, Yugo's and the like in back in the 1950's onwards, they worked, kept their gobs shut and then they let all the c-r-a-p-p-y ones in the 1970's and then the 2000's. There are so many rules and regulations that if one passed wind, he would be fined, I loath the way Australia turned out, ah the lucky country has gone to waste in my opinion. Great place for a holiday, but you can keep your million + $'s 100 square metre 3 bedder and the mortgage which will keep you working 6/th's of your life, I'll take Thailand any day and enjoy doing what I enjoy doing without the added stresses of the Nanny State thank you very much. Did I mention, the beers cheap here

Thx, as I mentioned in the reply above to hotandsticky, things must have changed since I last travelled, and I was talking from my experience and sighting of AirAsia's policy regarding documents required to board domestic flights at the time. But good to know now for future travel, which in any case I would have a passport with me, because sometimes it just isn't worth the argument.

Things may have changed from when I last flew domestically, i.e. years ago, however, here is one from Bangkok Airways that I found on Google: Foreign Passenger Passport or another identity document issued by the embassy of citizenship such as an Emergency passport or Emergency travel certificate. Non-Thai Identification Card (Alien Card) or another identity document issued under the Alien Registration Act B.E. 2493. Migrant travel documents and United Nations (UN) laissez-passers. https://www.bangkokair.com/travel-document

2 years is only required if one was a former resident, according to legislation, i.e. came back and applied as you suggest. https://guides.dss.gov.au/social-security-guide/7/1/4 Centrelink can deny them portability, but will need a damn good reason, that said, one can appeal as most do. For those reasons, I intend on returning at age 65 for 2 years, work, full or part time, then after my 2 years is up, I am out of there, they cannot deny me as I was a resident from 65, I didn't return at 67 as a former resident. The above path is the cleanest with no issues as one would have been in the country for 2 years prior to the application, i.e. a resident, not a non resident returning to claim the aged pension. 5 years is a long time, but each to their own.

Passports are given back, you return later with your passport to get the stamp (the return date for the stamp will be provided). Enjoy your time in Chiang Mai.

Your breath smells of cat urine and mouth wash in one.

DoHome have some good PVC gutters and downpipes, white or brown, plus all of the accessories. They will even tell you how many metres apart to put downpipes, 4 metres from memory as the rainfall can be heavy here. We have gutters on one side which is 32 metres and about 5 downpipes, so that's about 6 metres away from each other, there is also side which is 10 metres in length, so one downpipe at each end. I would recommend at least 5 metres, no more for each downpipe. HIGHLY RECOMMEND> We also dug a trench and ran pipes under the ground and 6 pits with those concrete circular things one on top of each other for the build up, e.g. downpipes lead into the pit from the bottom and when 3/4 full, the water then proceeds to the next one and so on and so forth until it hits it's destination, i.e. out into the street. Cost wasn't that expensive, and we got a local rice farmer builder install them for about 30 baht a metre, if memory serves me. Make sure you check them for leaves every month if you have trees around as we do and those leaves do fill them up pretty quickly.

AirAsia require all non Thai's to have a valid passport when travelling on domestic routes within Thailand. I got on a flight at Udon Thani using my pink ID card, however was pulled up at Phuket upon my return flight, the young lady behind the counter as pretty as she were, also had a brain, and showed me the policy on her computer, suffice to say I gave her my passport, she didn't require anything else of me, which was a waste IMO

What a downer

Ah, your opening a can of worms Georgie. Mum died while I was here in Thailand during the Covid restrictions when we weren't allowed to fly and she sadly died alone in hospital. I felt sad when she passed as one would normally do, given the fact that she was in her mid 80's and having a lot of underlying conditions, it made it a little more easier to accept, suffice to say life at the end wasn't so great for her as I remember during Covid she said if she passes, she is ready, and not to worry, she declined to get vaccinated, (her choice), it was around that time where a lot of people in nursing homes were dying, and people saying it had to do with the vaccine. Life was not so great for her, post WW11, her mother died when she was 8, the daughter of 6 kids, moved overseas when she was 21 leaving her family back there never to see them again and staying with an Auntie in her new country. She then married my dad (pen friend), they were not suited for each other at all, 4 kids later, 2 nervous breakdowns, kids in boys homes for months on end at a time, what a sheeet fight surviving that, she was strong, a hard worker and would never say no to her children, grandchildren and great grandchildren, as much as they would fleece her, as for emotions and hugs, next !!! I learned a long time ago to accept that we are all going to die one day, having seen very close friends, and my brother pass way before their age (whatever that is), and my dad in his early 70's, kind of sets you up for reality. As I am retired there was no time off work required for my mum's passing, and I remember when dad passed, I went to work and the boss told me to take time off, with my reply being, keeping busy makes it easier for me, that's the way I work, and he said he understood, but the offer was there to which I said I appreciate it. I suppose when one looks at their age, they can say that life goes by so quick, however I have had such a full life, that I can say that it has gone by at a nice pace for me, and that I appreciate every recollection of past experiences, good and bad, friends current and past, those who spent their time sharing their advice and life stories which also helps in structuring your outlook on life. I am still sucking the life out of life, until my last breath, because it has been a really interesting journey, only getting better as I mature, with very few regrets, the biggest one, not putting to bed the 1st girl I kissed, guess 14 and motocross riding with mates was a stupid age for someone

No other choice really, government doesn't provide support like in other countries, yet Thailand has a lot of rich people and one has to wonder where all the taxes goes ?

I don't think the tourist fully understood that the bargirl he was going back to the hotel with was actually a Ladyboy, as far as I understand, bargirls don't set up farangs for robbery once they have paid the bar fine and 4,200 baht bar fine I find to be incorrect, perhaps 1,200 baht and 3,000 baht for the "girl". I have heard many stories were they go back to the room, mobile rings, oh no, sorry, no can do, my sister have motorbike accident in hospital, must go, or period come, etc etc, the farangs are mostly amicable about letting them go. They also forgo the bar fine that they paid, although I do know a guy who went back and collected his bar fine back, but not from the bar owner, but from the girl he bar fined in advance, e.g. he was with her the previous night, (fell in love) went back to the bar and paid the bar owner for the remaining 13 nights he was going to be there. Owner later that night called the girl to come in as she was a no show, told her to give him his money back, which she did from the ATM, he later found out that she ditched him for a younger bloke.....LOL