rangers

I think the days of having your UK pension paid into a UK bank account whilst living in Thailand and receiving the updates are probably numbered, though you could feasibly get away with it if you have a home in the UK, on which you pay the appropriate taxes on, I really think they will stamp down hard in the near future.

I appreciate the argument that people believe it's fair to claim the pension in the UK because of the unfairness of the pensions being frozen but they are two separate issues and I really think that if somebody was ever taken to court then it wouldn't wash, and whilst I am sympathetic to that argument I doubt if the judiciary would be.

I understand that the bank they use to pay the UK pension in Thailand actually buy the Baht in the UK, my Civil Service Pension is paid the same way and it is normally about 1 Baht less than the going tourist rate and 1.5 Baht less than the telex rate, so I do lose out a bit.

I am in the process of having my Civil Service Pension paid into a Nationwide Offshore account in the Isle of Man and will do the same with my retirement pension when it's due in a couple of years, that way it's paid in Stirling and I can transfer it and benefit from the slightly better rate. As pkrv points out the SWIFT fee is £20, it certainly is with Nationwide, so you would make a small profit every month and even more if you could afford to transfer cash less regularly. Those of us with Civil Service Pensions would be a little better of as well. OK, it's not a big saving but every little helps.

I'm not sure what pkrv means about the £1.50 cash point withdrawal, if you transfer monies into your Thai bank then surely you wouldn't be liable for this.

I think pkrv means the 150 Baht ATM charge on foreign cards.

I have often harped on about Halifax Reward account and their £9.50 SWIFT charge (£7.50 at the moment with promo code). You will get £5 reward for each month that you credit £1,000+ into the account so the 'net' cost is £4.50 (or £2.50) for a monthly transfer. The SWIFT transfer can be done online from any location.

No reason why you could not fund a Halifax account by free BACS transfer from Nationwide Int GBP account.

Cardholder

Whats this about a "promo code" and how do i get one? I bank with RBS/Halifax

Suggestion,

Go to any Gulf course and ask where they buy their's.

I see you are a recent member my friend. So maybe you are new here. A bit of advice, keep a low profile, do not ask Thais about things like the legality of their business. This is not Europe. Take care not to be ripped off, well not too often anyway. Those guys have seen a way to make a bit of cash so you have to admire them for it.

What constitutes a Boutique Hotel? Or a Boutique airline for that mattes. Who says it is one.

Collins English dictionary - "Boutique" a small shop, one selling clothes

And, at least in my area, most of these Russians seem to be in the 25 - 35 age group. I have been wondering where these relatively young couples (especially at the younger end of that range) are getting the necessary money. With the distance involved, I don't think that they are coming here just for a weekend. I didn't think that Russia had yet developed the sort of broad middle-class to send this many vacationers abroad, since I am sure they are not all coming here. And, it is only November! Surely most people in Russia would prefer to make their winter escape either in the dark, cold days of Jan., or towards the end of a very long winter in April.

Maybe, the times they are a changing. I walked into a restaurant the other day, and the waiter handed me a Russian menu.

I live near the Ambassador...it's full of them. They are not really from "Russia", but from the other former Soviet bloc countries. Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Ukraine, Belarus, etc. I've chatted with a few...at least the ones who could speak English!

I think they start the charters from November to February but as for numbers, sorry.

I was at the restaurant across the street from the hotel. Unreal to hear our Thai waiter speak Russian!

Started out with & was discovered by John Mayall. Yardbirds was his second gig. Exclusively Blues.

No my friend it was Yardbirds - John Mayall - Cream. Enjoy the gig if you go.

Nobody cares , nothing will change dont even know why they bother reporting it, except of course an opportuniy to rubber neck the remains of someone, bring a camera have a picnic make a day of it "sick"

Your first two words says it all!!

Take away the whores and the punters, and what would you have?

A midden!!

Ah! the word "Midden" one of my fav words, that and stoor and bouffing or bouff for short!

Coming through loud and clear here in downtown Sattahip for the last week or so. Good sounds. Love www.jazzfm.com out of London. Not only jazz but kool soul stuff etc. Sky news on the hour.

"He said the boat was tied to a buoy to stop it from sinking"

Is he for real! Must be some buoy!

A Dan Fan i see.

Indeed! And speaking of turntables, the cd shop on the 3rd flr of Paragon has a vinyl copy of Aja. But I don't have that gear so I'll have to stick with the remastered cd version.

I'm fortunate to have both CD and vinyl (one of 100 Lp's)here.

I often say to the wife "when my dime dancin' is through. I run to you.

A Dan Fan i see.

Indeed! And speaking of turntables, the cd shop on the 3rd flr of Paragon has a vinyl copy of Aja. But I don't have that gear so I'll have to stick with the remastered cd version.

A Dan Fan i see.

Indeed! And speaking of turntables, the cd shop on the 3rd flr of Paragon has a vinyl copy of Aja. But I don't have that gear so I'll have to stick with the remastered cd version.

I'm fortunate to have both CD and vinyl (one of 100 Lp's)here.

I often say to the wife "when my dime dancin'is through. I run to you.

Check out the top floor of Fortune Tower, on Rama IX(Phra Ram 9 MRT stop). On the opposite end of the building from the IT mall are a lot of shops with vinyl (mostly second hand I think) and lots of stereo equipment -- new and second hand. I've seen turntables there for sure.

A Dan Fan i see.

It is not safe for now.

Tonight's the night!!!!

As a general observation, Richard Smith nails one troubling aspect of life here - One of the issues I have here in Thailand is that there is no 'concept of consequence'...

This, not necessarily in the OPs case, along with the total disprespect for the rule of or application of ANY law to the personal circumstances of individual Thais when they want to break them, makes the place what it is, usually for the worse.

Some examples - Thais who beat people with iron bars on Beach Road, or stab tourists in the headwith knives, or flatten 70 year olds with one punch, killing them.

These people do not care or are not even aware of the possible consequences of their actions.

Disregard for the rule of law, laws of the road for one, corruption at all levels of bureaucracy and state agencies, pathetic self-justification of any kind of assault as "loss of face" allowing the law to be overridden with sympathy from other Thais.

Even the current protests in Bangkok and the Yellow Shirt airport nonsense show both these traits at work in Thai society.

Rant over.

Quality rant though.

I find it difficult from the other viewpoint - knowing when there is a pause in the conversation when my wife, her Mum, sisters, etc are all talking together. Quite often I leave it, and talk to my wife later, it's simpler that way.

How on earth Thai people can hold conversations when four or more people are talking at the same time is beyond me.

From my own experience, I'd say Thailand has ignorant people and polite people in roughly much the same amounts as other countries I've lived in / visited.

Best remedy I've found when someone pushes in front of me at an ATM, is to smile, as though you're happy for them to push in, then to look really closely when they input their PIN number - the paranoia effect that doing this seems to have, is far more satisfying than trying to teach them manners. I just know that the last thing they think about before they go to sleep is whether I can get their money out, using my ATM card and their PIN number.

Ha Ha Love it!!

What is the difference between a Boutique Hotel and a "normal" hotel or a Boutique airline and a normal one for that matter???

Thank you TV for bringing us the bare facts

Remember to take your own bags though

ONLY TRANSFER $U.S, DOLLARS you will lose money if you wire Baht. It is an on shore off shore thing. I lost several hundred $$$ on a transfer last year I have learned my lesson the hard way. My U.S. banker thought that he was giving good advise to first change to baht. DON"T do it.

Good luck

Can only agree. I transfered Baht from the UK and my bank game me a really crap rate last year. Never make that mistake again.

First buy a very good paint ie Dulux

then using masking tape or something like ,mask all areas which will not need painting but will come into close contact with the cutting in..ie architrave floors and switch sockets,buy a four inch brush for cutting in the corners and areas that cannot be rolled...do the ceiling first and the cutting in then use a roller for all the walls and repeat.

matt paint hides any imperfections better.but a good job is always down to the quality of the paint used.

And white is most definately a colour

if you want to clean the walls use a good sugar soap if they are that bad,but if you buy a good paint it will save you having to do this,you could even use an exterior/interior masonry paint which dulux do! as i said good quality paint good finish and longer lasting.

Good luck and be careful on those ladders!

White is not a colour, nor is black.

White reflects all infrared and black absorbs it all. Other "colour's" reflect some and absorb some and that gives you the different colours. Simple really.

I see the fans are following the game in the good old British tradition.

English.

Our friends north of the border dont have a problem tearing up stadiums, may I present the events at Wembley on the 4th of June 1977 as evidence...

We never tore up the stadium, just the pitch. Souvenir's you know. I was there and it was great.

:D

I have tried this place twice and found it exactly like you did. Will never return

Kate,

One man/woman band's can not get legal here. I will not go into all the criteria required but to get a WP you must have a company set up in Thailand c/w paid up capital and for each expat employed four Thais have to be employed. The expat has to be paid a certain wage (this varies from country to country the expat comes from, UK is near the top of the pile) Just keep your head down so to speak. Good luck