StevieAus

On 4/20/2022 at 4:59 PM, bert bloggs said:

Yes two years ago she made me stack everything " in identical piles" this year because we not used any money except that taken out on the day she made us get a new bank letter crazy ,but thanks for that about from the waist up ,by the way we have always had 2 on the a4 page.

I often wonder what is wrong with these people who enforce such unreasonable requirements, they must live very sad lives, or perhaps envious that your wife has snared a farang.

Fortunately I have never had any issues with my retirement extension.

I have visited the Thai passport office on a couple of occasions for my wife and daughter and you couldn’t find a more helpful and friendly department, it’s like a breath of fresh air.

18 hours ago, chilly07 said:

Again the UK treats it's 'citizens' appallingly when compared to european cousins. I am only allowed to transfer approx 12pc of my wife's personal allowance and she doesn't get any of my state pension when I die coupled with restricted access to the NHS despite me paying full tax on all my pensions

If you think that the UK treats  its citizens appallingly look at Australia where the aged pension is means tested.

I paid personal and company tax during my working life and get zero.

Many of my friends are in the same position.

If you are living overseas you have to return to Australia to apply and have to remain for two years or the pension is cancelled.

11 hours ago, jack71 said:

Only an old fool would do this. Especially if he has assets there...

Yes I agree but this person did other foolish things which means now he only owns a motorbike in his name !!

2 hours ago, swm59nj said:

It depends on how the person feels about themselves.  
If you are comfortable around children, have a good life, and good income.  Yes consider having children. 
if you don’t like children, marriage, family life.  And have the attitude that the majority of family life and marriages fail.  Then don’t have children.  

An excellent response which I believe sums up the situation perfectly.

I fall in the category of your second paragraph and couldn’t be happier. 
I would imagine that if could be an unhappy marriage if one party wanted children and the other didn’t.

14 hours ago, OneMoreFarang said:

I have no kids and I don't want any kids. Here are some reasons.

 

If I would have kids then I would try to do my best for my kids. That includes good parental care, good school, a house with a garden, etc.

 

Kids, especially in Thailand, are very expensive. Spending 1 million THB per year or even more for one child in a good school is not unusual.

I think kids should grow up in a house with a garden, maybe in a quiet street, something like that. Up country that is easy, in Bangkok that is very expensive.

I don't think it is a good idea to let the grand parents look after the children all the time. But it seems that is what happens in Thailand a lot. Is that great for the kids? I have my doubts.

I am sure if I would have a pretty girl as my child I would worry a lot. I know some fathers who bring their girls everywhere with a car because they don't want that the girls are alone on the streets.

I know lots of fathers with kids and an ex. They still pay for them but often the kids don't want to see the father and/or don't like the father.

 

If someone really likes kids and is ready to spend lots of time with the kids and is able to afford them and has a loving wife then please go ahead. If not then don't.

And don't have children with the idea in the back of your head that they will take care of you when you are old. They won't! Or ar least you can't rely on the fact that they want to take care of you.

Try sending your child to a good non government school in Australia or the UK then your eyes would water.

An Australian friend registered his Thai marriage in Australia resulting in his government pension being reduced to receiving half the married rate which is less than the single rate.’

I hate to spoil your argument but in the UK as in Australia, US etc the men surveyed may be citizens of those countries but genetically from elsewhere.

15 hours ago, Polar Bear said:

I can only speak of Manchester, and it's an absolute mess. They've hardly got any staff on passport control, and then I waited over 90 mins for bags to come out. The e-gates at passport control have been hit and miss, with either all or most of them out of service a lot of the time. Cynically, I wonder if the PC delays are deliberate, to reduce the wait and crowding in baggage claim. If it hadn't taken an hour to get through PC, I'd have been waiting even longer in baggage claim, but maybe they have their own problems too.

 

Flying out was even worse. Qatar are opening their check in desk 4 hours before the flight now, and there were still people who missed the flight, probably because they couldn't get through security in time because the queues were ridiculous.

In Manchester, it's mainly down to the airport managing company (MAG) laying off staff during the pandemic to save money and then not rehiring them until the last possible minute, without leaving time to get people security cleared and trained up.

 

I have flown through Manchester many times over the years pre Covid and it always seems chaotic.

There always seem to be long queues at the Immigration and few staff manning the desks.

I found out recently that as I have an Australian passport I could have used the automatic gates not sure if that speeds up the process.

On the last trip they had introduced a five pounds charge if you being picked up or dropped off in a taxi or private car.

I understand that it is owned and operated by Manchester City Council, maybe that’s the problem.

54 minutes ago, Muhendis said:

The cost was split between the three visits.

First to dig out what was left of the old tooth.

Second to screw in the post.

Third to fit the crown which I elected to be acrylic. If I had gone for ceramic the cost would have been several thousand more (can't remember exactly).

The location of the gov. dentist is opposite the central police station in Buriram. I was recommended to go there because my local gov. hospital dentist did not have the training for this procedure.

That sounds like an implant not a crown as crowns are fitted to the tooth it is not removed.

5 hours ago, Muhendis said:

Ridiculous sums of money and certainly not cheap.

Price for foreigner is about 6k for a crown in gov. dentist.

Considering that the biggest cost is for the crown not the procedure I find the above very hard to belive.

4 hours ago, 4MyEgo said:

Kings Cross once a red light district many moons ago, is now a trendy upmarket area, besides they have strict noise pollution rules in Sydney.

 

I suppose at the end of the day it's the luck of the draw, I chose the country life away from neighbours, only music, if any that I can hear is from a distance when there is a festival of sorts and it is not enough to bother me.

 

As for answering the topics question, the environment in Thailand is much harsher than the 4 seasons I was used to, that said, with a well insulated and comfortable home, it beats the hell out of working 5/7ths if not 6/7ths of your life and in an office environment for most who would also be stressed out from the work, not happy having to travel in the traffic and have very little time for themselves.

 

Retirement in the old country for most is not sustainable, just a couple of examples, rents shy high, your pension would just about cover your rent if you didn't own a property outright, then it would be to the local grocery store for tonight's dinner, canned dog food.

 

The cost of living is crazy, a kilo of chicken breast will set you back 250 baht vs 88 baht here and you can keep adding on from there.

 

The cost of living here is way cheaper than back home if you go easy on the imports where they stick it to you.

 

I mean what's a drivers licence cost here for 5 years, 300 odd baht, home country you would be lucky to see any change from 4,750 baht.

 

Living here, you have to take the good with the bad, it's not perfect, but perfect is what you make of every situation.

 

I'm good, just have to turn off when it's bad and wait for the good to come up again, that said, it's mostly good and relaxing living the life here in Thailand.

 

Whatever you do, don't talk health insurance costs because that is in the bad, but part of life ????

 

I read only recently that Sydney is supposed to be the second least affordable city in the world for accommodation.

Agree with the rest of the comments, I’m staying here.

6 minutes ago, placeholder said:

Well, there are regulations in both countries. Providers aren't free to charge whatever they wish.

To bring this to a timely end I responded to a post where the poster made a comment about private companies supplying electricity here and increasing prices.

I pointed out that private companies don’t supply the electricity here not about the cost. 
Time to move on

5 hours ago, Bandersnatch said:

Reasons I own an electric car:

- I don't pay for fuel as I use solar after my house batteries are full

- I don't have to worry about fuel price rises or fuel shortages

- I drive a top of the range luxury SUV the size of a Honda CRV but cheaper than the bottom of the range CRV

- Relaxing and silent to drive 

- Great performance with instant torque and a 0-60 in 6.9 seconds

Your choice I am not interested which is my choice.

5 hours ago, placeholder said:

What's more, in most countries where electricity is supplied by private companies, the rates are subject to regulation. They're not free to charge whatever they wish.

Not sure which countries you are referring to costs in Australia continue to rise and friends in UK say very expensive.

6 minutes ago, StevieAus said:

Unlike the case in many western countries the provision of electricity hasn’t been privatized in Thailand so there are no power companies.

That aside considering how long the majority of people keep their cars here I cannot see a huge rush to EV’s and I certainly will not be one.

 

12 hours ago, Longwood50 said:

Yes for now.  However when the power companies have to build more power plants and improve the grid to meet the demand do you really think that electric rates are going to remain as low as they are now?  Particularly when the power companies know they have you by the throat with you requiring their service to now charge your car as well as power your home.  

 

Unlike the case in many western countries the provision of electricity hasn’t been privatized in Thailand so there are no power companies.

That aside considering how long the majority of people keep their cars here I cannot see a huge rush to EV’s and I certainly will not be one.

On 4/3/2022 at 9:44 AM, Bandersnatch said:

I agree "the electric grid was never designed with charging cars in mind" It was also never designed with the 21st Century or Climate Change in mind. In Thailand air-conditioning is no longer considered a luxury.

 

Domestic chargers are all AC not fast DC. They are restricted to 7kW in the vast majority of cases. A few EVs now come with on-board 3-phase 11 and 22kW chargers but they require to be connected to a 3-Phase grid connection.  Plugging an 11kW 3-phase charger into a single phase grid connection would give you only 3.6kW if even worked at all. As domestic three-phase is quite rare in Thailand it is unlikely that 3-phase on-board chargers will be sold here as is the case in the UK. 

 

TOU rate electricity will mean that most EV drivers will charge at night when rates are cheap and demand is low. Variable tariffs which are common in most developed countries will come eventually where EVs will intelligently charge when rates are cheap and via V2G sell back to the grid when rates are high helping to stabilise the grid. 

 

“As domestic three-phase is quite rare in Thailand”

Not my understanding and not where I live in the North.

5 hours ago, brianthainess said:

That is to check Emissions nothing to do with the decibel reading.

Not what they told me ((through my wife) at the local testing place.

Told her they wouldn’t pass if noisy.

Just now, StevieAus said:

When cars or motorcycles are more than 5/6 years old you have to have them checked before you can renew the annual tax/ registration.

There is a place next to our local DLT office that carries out the check and from memory issues a document.

For motor cycles they check the exhaust with some sort of machine.

Maybe this is the place to h

Last word missing “go”

When cars or motorcycles are more than 5/6 years old you have to have them checked before you can renew the annual tax/ registration.

There is a place next to our local DLT office that carries out the check and from memory issues a document.

For motor cycles they check the exhaust with some sort of machine.

Maybe this is the place to h

14 hours ago, Mike Teavee said:

Flew Qatar to Manchester & whilst you had to wear a mask when getting on the plane, it was only recommended (not enforced) that you wear one throughout the flight. 

 

As an aside, coming back & Manchester Airport was heaving with people (must have been a 2hr queue to get through security) & I'd guesstimate < 1 in 1,000 were wearing a mask. 

Thanks for that update very useful as that is the airline and route intended, but will be later in the year too cold now for us.

On 4/2/2022 at 9:13 AM, Lemsta69 said:

so why let a little form-filling get in your way if you want to take trip somewhere? TP can be a p.i.t.a. but it's not a deal breaker.

 

my beef is with the cost of the on-arrival RT-PCR test and the chance of being forced into a hospitel at my own expense. I can easily afford both but I begrudge shelling out money if it doesn't bring me any pleasure.

Maybe I’m just becoming cantankerous in my old age, I don’t particularly like the idea of wearing a mask for 15 hours which will be the case if we go to Europe.

I comply and do wear one but find for long periods very uncomfortable.

Just now, StevieAus said:

 

No I am talking about leaving and returning to Thailand where I live.

I have certainly no wish to return or visit Australia as we have everything we want here, particularly when you look at the cost of living in Australia and Sydney where we use to live was recently designated as the second least affordable city in the world for accommodation.

Totally agree about the nanny state..

13 hours ago, Lemsta69 said:

strewth mate, so you'd rather sit in boring old Straya the nanny state when you could be living it up in LOS because of a few forms to fill in? I'd walk over broken glass to get out of there if I had to. 

 

ps. I came over in December when TP was in its infancy. it really wasn't that hard at all.

 

pps. I love Straya but it's nowhere near as much fun as over here.

11 hours ago, Mike Teavee said:

https://partner.fwdgi.co.th/en/fwdgi/corona-virus-inbound-insurance?utm_source=tqmbroker 650THB for a 30 day policy... My mate used this as his HR couldn't get him the certificate he needed for the Thailand Pass, he's on a BOI Smart Visa (good for 3 years) & got a 1 year stamp on entry. 

 

No I live in Thailand I am talking about leaving and returning here

I have no wish to return to or visit Australia particularly when you look at the cost of living and Sydney was recently designated as the second least affordable city in the world for accomodation