worrab

On 6/2/2023 at 9:51 AM, dastott said:

I have recently turned 50 and am on first 3 month Non-O based on Reirement. Will be going to HH Immigration soon to apply for my first 12 month extension. Do I need to get this statement from the bank also? Or would passbook do? Thanks for any insight.

For Hua Hin you will need a 12 month statement which has to be requested at least a week before it is required. Then to get around the fact this will not show the last few weeks, you will need a 6 month statement which you can obtain from the bank the day before you go for your renewal. This is what I do with Bangkok Bank. Then you will still need to update your passbook and photocopy all pages. I have found that it is better to have a separate account which holds 810,000THB and this is not touched from year to year. Saves any aggro!! And have never needed to make a withdrawal on the day by this method. The extra money covers any bank charges etc and comes from interest accrued every year. And before any comments are made, luckily I can afford to do this and all the above is in personal experience. 

Glad you had a good experience there as it is one of the best in Thailand. You did the same as me by booking an appointment which is a godsend!! Very quick and efficient and I reckon there are a few other IOs who could learn a lesson or two from the Hua Hin friendly approach!!

Very sorry to read this sad news. My thoughts and condolences go out to all his family.

Many thanks to him for all the help and advice he gave out to everyone, myself included.

R.I.P. Joe

On 5/4/2023 at 2:10 PM, bamboozled said:

May I ask why the overstay was required?

I have just had a gastrocopy and colonoscopy done as part of an investigation which cost around 23000 THB at Thonburi Chumphon Hospital. The reason you would have an overnight stay is to ensurs all you pipework is totally clear via medicine/laxatives before having the procedure. And the colonoscopy was done whilst I was put under, thankfully!! 

In almost every other country any vehicle attending an emergency will slow down when going through red traffic lights to check the road is clear and not assume all other road users will hear/see them approaching.

Also a ruling was put out a couple of years ago that unless an ambulance is on an emergency call then the lights MUST be turned off!!

1 hour ago, jaiyenyen said:

So, if my pension is going to be frozen anyway, there's no big advantage to having it paid into my UK account.

It seems much simpler to just accept the situation and have the pension paid into my SCB account.

That depends on the exchange rates . If it is paid into your UK account then you can hold it there if the rate is lousy and move it when it improves. I have found this better than having a foreign currency account with Bangkok Bank! This is my personal opinion and I totally agree with the way we have been shafted by UK government!! I had been paying for 41 years and to have it frozen because of where I wish to retire to....,..........say no more!

If you have health insurance, I would go private and see a doctor which I did last week with pain in lower right abdomen. He checked me admitted me, then I had an X-Ray, a CT scan and ECG. Next morning after loads of laxitives, to clean me right out, I had a camera down the throat into my upper intestine then asleep, thank heavens. a colonoscopy. So I was checked throughout the gut with just a small ulcer in the stomach and 2 polyps in the lower intestine. Biopsies were taken and I get the results on a check up next week. Cost to insurance was 82000 THB. Hope this info helps. 

8 hours ago, jaiyenyen said:

This is one of the reasons I'm leaning towards having it paid into my Nationwide account.

I'd rather avoid the 'Frozen' pension if possible.

Can I also remind you to check your tax code if you are receiving any other income. DWP are supposed to notify HMRC of the fact you are now getting a State Pension but in my case they failed and have had to back pay some tax!! And it is the job of DWP to do this but hey ho!

I had a colostomy bag after a life saving op in Lana Hospital, Chiang Mai after diverticultis and a septic leak. This was fitted for 9 months to allow my colon to heal naturally. I was on holiday here with my girlfriend, now wife, and had the removal done in UK before moving here permanently.  

7 hours ago, jaiyenyen said:

This is one of the reasons I'm leaning towards having it paid into my Nationwide account.

I'd rather avoid the 'Frozen' pension if possible.

I hate to say this but that will not happen. You will have a frozen pension and you will receive Proof of Life letters regularly which have to be returned after signing. So unless you have a UK address and someone who can forge your signature, you are on a loser.

Just out of interest, how did you apply for your pension? By mail or phone?  

38 minutes ago, The Fugitive said:

Absolutely fantastic (financially)! Sorry that you endured at least one unnecessary operation. Were you ever able to verify whether you actually did have diverticulitis and/or that the second operation was necessary? If your condition could have been treated by medicines only then the third nasty operation would have been avoided. 

 

Was your current account with Lloyds one of the 'package' ones which included various benefits (such as AA/RAC breakdown service and travel insurance) for which you paid a monthly fee?   

I definitely did have diverticulitis and the second operation actually saved my life!! I have pictures from the first operation showing the healthy appendix and showing the affected part of the colon which had to be cut out. In effect it was actually 2 life saving ops due to the condition of the colon and there was no way medicines would have cleared it up.

And yes, it was my current account and debit card that had the benefits but I do not remember paying a monthly fee. Funnily enough I had forgotten this and had also taken out other travel insurance!! Doh!

See the abacus and crystal ball are at work again with numbers plucked from ????????? 

14 hours ago, snoop1130 said:

generating an income of 200 billion baht,

Can someone please enlighten me as to how they arrive at this figure?? Seems to me they must have some special abacus as these figures are always rolled out against the number of arrivals anywhere whether by land, sea or air. 

6 hours ago, ikke1959 said:

Always my question why do people stop at the roadsides instead of petrol stations or other places like shopping malls parkings.... and why is the police not controlling this?? And why don't they take a rest during their trip?? In EU it is promoted to drive not longer than 2 hours and than take at least 15 minutes break..And also if you have to work you can't work from early morning till late evening....

4.5 hours driving then a 45 minute break is the maximum. This can be split into 15 mins and  30 mins segment if required before the max time in that order only. Rule of thumb is no more than 15 hours of work 3 times a week but the max drive time is 9 hours and 10 hours twice a week.

1 minute ago, NoshowJones said:

Emirates is fine apart from when returning to Thailand, when you get to Dubai, you can find you have about a 5K bus run to get to your terminal. The airport is absolutely huge.

Last time I had about a 3 hour layover at Dubai and it took me about 2 hours to get to the terminal for Thailand, and even at that, I got a woman with her family to take me to the terminal with them, I could very easily have missed my connecting flight.

You are right about the size of the airport terminal being huge. It is luck of the draw with gates I reckon. The worst I have had involved having to catch the shuttle train betwen gates even though in the same terminal  and that was going to LHR!! But I can put up with it for the better flights and on board service.  

15 hours ago, London Lowf said:

For eight years I've been "faithful" to Thai but next trip I'm trying Emirates.

You will not regret that. I am now totally Emirates as they knock spots of Thai. I use them for BKK to LHR and time wise, depending how quick you need to be there, it can be done in 14 hours against 11.5 direct. As I fly Business Class, I make the most of the lounges and chauffeur drive!! Wonderful.

What a total waste of money. How about spending this on a proper police force with patrol cars that can go out to catch offenders on the road!! Ahhhhh, I forgot that the RTP driving skills leave a lot to be desired.