Chivas

One of my lads used Saudi through to Bangkok He was impressed throughout obviously knowing that alcohol wasnt served Wouldn't bother me either and would be happy to use them Came back home on Thai yesterday non stop and whilst that has its advantages I do prefer a stop in the Middle East

I was going to do a full trip report on Thai International flight back to London of 00.25 of 26th December (mentioned within this thread) I'm not going to do for the simply reason of defamation laws within Thailand that could affect forum owners etc (unlikely I agree) All I say it was the absolute worst single sector flight of my entire life relating to Thailand Thai is a bankrupt airline and the evidence was utterly overwhelming....never ever again

Comedy Gold fella......Starmer and the rest of the Labour front bench are having to make incredibly difficult decisions in light of 14 years of the Tories looting the treasury and tripling the national debt If there is something you dont grasp about that statement of fact feel free to respond !

Wish we could offload that bogan at Spurs..........

Yes agreed thats fine. What I dont want is state pension being paid directly into a Thai account as quite rightly that gets noticed I will never be an out and out expat but I dont want the DWP to suddenly think I'm living in Thailand outright and freezing the payment rate when I clearly wont be

I would work on the basis of "keeping quiet" as regards any existing accounts but thats just me New debit cards one of my children could easily forward I only actively use Royal Bank of Scotland and Chase but maintain a HSBC and Co Op accounts by churning through £500 a year or so Never close an existing account you never know when you might need it Nor would I have a state pension paid directly into a Thai account. (for a different reason lol)....always into UK account and transfer yourself

Bus is available run every 30 minutes or they certainly used to

This subject really does infuriate me. Foreign Exchange is taught in Junior school in the main and if not in the first 2 years of high school The Baht takes its fix off the USD second by second and is used in absolutely every foreign exchange transaction no matter what our base currency when the customer wants to obtain Thai baht.....So it sits on every double pairing no matter where we come from So (Sterling/Dollar) x (Dollar/Baht) equates to Sterling Baht So (AUD/Dollar) x (Dollar/Baht) equates to AUD/Baht So again (CAD/Dollar) x (Dollar/Baht) equates to the Canadians exchange rate and so on etc etc Firstly what you see is that the (Dollar/Baht) sits on every single tranaction (relating to the Baht in this instance) Secondly the USD sits firmly within the opposite pairing on every single transaction as well As such no matter where you come from what currency you hold you're only interested in two pairings Now the important bit movement in either of those pairings above in brackets affects the bottom line when the numbers are crunched So giving a wild example.......If Dollar/Baht weakened right out to 50 and Sterling/Dollar had a catastrophic time and went to parity the multiplication sum would (50) x (1) so Sterling baht would now be 50 interbank Only the USD (as the worlds reserve currency) has a direct exchange rate with every worldwide currency So Brits (for example) are only concerned with Sterling the Dollar and the Baht when the numbers are crunched Doesnt matter what the Yen's doing or the Ringitt or the Euro etc etc etc as they dont sit within the two pairings when the calculation is made

lol

I would highly imagine they do later on any particular day

I'll see if I can get it on Ebay Yesterday I ordered "The last Executioner" recommended on this forum

Have a read of the book "Damage done" by Australian Warren Fellows If you start to read be prepared to finish it all in one sessiom (Its occasionally rebranded as 5000 days in 2nd hand book shops) https://www.amazon.com/Damage-Done-Twelve-Bangkok-Prison/dp/184018275X

I've funded this 6 month trip (with 2 week break in the middle) transferring monies via Wise when Sterling waa bouncing around 45/46 earlier this year Spending coming up to halfway through trip just under budget (not a budget per se but a suggestion to myself) so 2nd half of trip also likely to be from monies that landed at that much higher rate as well I'm hoping that Sterling strengthens against the USD on one side of the pairings and Baht weakens against the same on the opposite side so I can start funding Winter 2025/26 at similar levels as this year On the bonus side State Pension will kick in in 2026 and as anyone who is self employed will tell you it tends to be a complete bonus as its not part replacing employed status income

Nope. I;ve made many a bad decision but not when it comes to drugs. Pure evil and the problem is (and especially in the UK) whereby we let "end users" off with a caution (not dealers) instead of walloping them in jail for up to 7 years as per statute book Even the dealers invariably get light sentences it seems of a few years at worst If an end user was completely in the know that 1 gram of Cocaine 1 Ecstasy tab etc etc would land you inside for years drug crime would hugely drop Too soft we are

Got it in one ! Afraid I have zero sympathy

No it doesnt show as international with SCB

Ignore the fee its all about what lands in your account Bear in mind Wise use full interbank rate whereas as an example if you used a British bank like HSBC which used to be £4 the monies land in your Thai account at Telegraphic Transfer landing rates much less than interbank plus a landing fee No landing fee with Wise either Wise via app or desktop show you the competitors landing amounts....occasionally Wise are not top but invariably its very small difference

lol banks in Thailand operate 24/7 as regards online payments/transfers as they do in all 1st world countries I have used Wise every single day on a 7 day week plus bank holidays and makes absolutely no difference Since I've beem monitoring it 24 of the last 25 transfers landed in 4-5 seconds or less and the odd one was 2 hours For reference I use simple bank transfer method to Wise...No debit cards no credit cards no monies sitting on Wise account Royal Bank of Scotland to Wise to SCB On the wise app (or desktop) I never even get the chance to click on their icon "I've sent my monies" because SCB pings with monies landing before I even get a chance to

....and there is a prime example Some people cant help themselves

These flights have been absolutely rammed every time wheels up It doesnt surprise me I was lucky enough for many years to be able to obtain ID90 staff discount tickets on BA care of my brother to Bangkok Treated like a king in Economy ....I've never understood the angst against our national carrier Somehow a complete internet myth this last 25 years that BA are crap has somehow turned into an internet fact instead

Into 33rd year of visiting (around 170 trips) only once have customs stopped me coming out of arrival hall I was so astonished I said what me lol It was completely random Put main bag through scanner though needn't have bothered as the guy viewing the screen was clearly asleep I do bring in 2 months of Tramadol supply which is the most GP will issue at one time in the UK....when I need more I just buy OTC

Yesterday I got on the Baht Bus at junction of South Pattaya rd heading towards Jomtien About 200m up the road was massive police presence (and I mean massive at least 20 of them) pulling bikes left right and centre.....4 pick up trucks were loaded with bikes just rammed inside No idea if from noise or untaxed uninsured or what but never seen anything like it

The basics of life in Thailand remain very cheap. My Jomtien Condo at current exchange rates is around £230 a month Electric runs around £30 and water bill just paid was less than £3 If I had an identical set up in my home city (which is on the coast) the apartment would be £900+ a month absolute minimum Electric around £60 and water around £30....then you have council tax etc Inflation seems to hardly exist.....in the 7/11 I always buy one of the branded sun lotions. 32 years ago it was 195 Baht...today its still only 235 baht

They are very good...I approached them via messenger back in March and a British guy (I wont say his name) laid out the procedure for the retirement option clearly and concisely and costs involved Out of interest I approached this Maneerat literally last month over sorting a 30 day extension. It was like pulling teeth getting the pretty basic info that I wanted having never done it before I wont be contacting them again albeit I acknowledge they are popular

Thanks.....I'll find it. I know its between Soi7 and Soi Welcome as thats where I got baht bus between. Wasnt sure if I had imagined it originally going past it ! I actually asked the question in Jomtien FB group but didnt seem to get published for some reason