The Fugitive

Absolutely. I also frequently 'weed' the photos I wish to keep and upload them manually to another cloud service. Having done that I then clear the 'camera uploads' folder and the photo gallery folder on my 'phone. The OP mentioned that he has lots of Gigs of files on his 'phone. I suspect the issue is retaining files instead of uploading to cloud then deleting from 'phone.

Personally, I wouldn't stress over it. We buy second hand 'phones from a friend who has a mobile 'phone shop on our local High Street. Transferring data and settings from old to 'new' mobile is part of his service. We've also purchased a few second hand laptops from him even though he isn't a computer shop. Any issues with hardware, software or configuration he sorts out for us. I suspect that your 'phone is now full. All you need to do is a 'factory reset' which will return it to original settings and applications. However, doing so will wipe all your data, photos, videos and documents. It is essential that these be saved to a cloud service BEFORE you perform the factory reset. Alternatively, you can connect your mobile to a computer and copy the contents from 'phone to computer and then back again afterwards. As previously mentioned, if you have a regular and friendly 'phone shop they will be able to help you with this. Better to spend a little cash with them than lose your irreplaceable photographs etc.

According to my Mrs the problem with our Government Community Hospitals is lack of specialised doctors. A/E department is likely to be staffed by GP's. In your case, although they may have been capable of stitching your hand, perhaps they thought Kohn Kaen Provincial Hospital or one of the private hospitals would be better equipped and have specialised surgeons available?

Could that be because travel insurance is primarily intended to cover accidents?

Very useful tips thank you. We have HiKVision at home and in the Mrs's shop. Hard wired at home and WiFi in her shop. At home rats chew the cables in the loft causing both intermittent and complete failures. It didn't take long before one of the cameras at her shop failed. The installer/maintainer guy is very difficult to get hold of. The hard drive recorder is located under the TV in our lounge. Hardly secure. We don't have complete coverage either. Definitely room for improvement!

That's the sad truth. Sorry about your loss. Most annoying. Did the police ask you for any money before they would commence inquiries?

Very true. I would also be concerned about the infrastructure. In Thailand, even amongst the rice paddies, we enjoy water and electricity 'upon demand'. We don't experience 'brown-out's' either. Internet is absolutely excellent too.

I was referring to the pension provider. They owe you and are insisting upon you maintaining a UK bank account otherwise they won't pay out. Poor standard of service.

They are certainly failing to provide what many would regard as a reasonable standard of service. Other pension funds offer conversion of currencies and agree to make transfers to foreign banks.

That HAS to be discrimination. The Trustees need a good reporting! If you no longer have ties with UK what are you supposed to do?

Halifax and Santander. Santander will send renewed/replacement cards to Thailand. Unfortunately, Halifax won't.

A house I owned in South America had 12 foot perimeter walls topped with broken glass. Paid a monthly contract for armed response. Never got burgled but my laptop was stolen. Suspected it was the lady we employed for cleaning/laundry. No cameras installed so could never establish who took it.

I don't know if you've used the 'View your driving licence information' https://www.gov.uk/view-driving-licence There is a facility to 'share' your record (they gave an example of with an employer). However, I'm fairly certain that DLT wouldn't entertain viewing electronic information and would insist upon handling a physical licence. As a way forward you could try taking a Thai person of standing (maybe a schoolteacher or other government worker) with you and ask if they could kindly make an exception? Offer a tip, of course. Alternatively, I know someone who offered DLT 2,000 for her licence (she actually paid 4,000 for both motor car and motor cycle) and both were issued without any tests.

That would have been 1973 then?

Human nature being what it is, even if their choice of travel insurance clearly offered two distinct policies; 1) No moto hiring/riding or 2) Including moto hiring/riding people would take a chance and buy the cheaper one (those who buy any travel insurance at all that is).

Tested my Thunder SIM 'on the road' yesterday (as a passenger of course). During the 60 km journey to Khon Kaen, connections were continuous! Speeds varied, as you'd expect. Reached upper 20's for downstream in places. However, in Central Khon Kaen, at ground floor level, downstream speeds dropped to 3 or 4 Mbps. All in all, satisfactory (for me at least), especially for 999 baht per annum!

I like it! Took me 4 years, however no effort or expense involved. Mrs spoke to Head of Customer Services, by chance, at a mobile blood donor session held in the hall of our Amphur (Town Hall). They already held all necessary details from our recent marriage registration but wouldn't copy them over for Yellow Book application. Head of Customer Services told them to do just that!

Agreed. My stepdaughter now has my iPhone 7 and thinks it's great!

My Mrs buys 5 year old iPhones for my birthdays. Still fully functional. At next birthday my old 'phone goes to my 23 year old university graduate stepdaughter who is extremely grateful. 35,000 baht is too much for a 17 year old. Used iPhone is the way to go IMHO.

Many thanks for your time and effort in reporting. It will help others. Wish I could get £250 out of Santander. Well done! I too had assumed that when I supply a new telephone number the old one would be deleted or, at least, marked ‘historical – do not use’. They rang my VYKE UK virtual number 3 times with no reply (don’t know why I didn’t answer). Then they sent a text to it saying ‘We’ve tried to contact you to discuss your accounts. Please contact us within 28 days or we may need to block your accounts. Please call us on 0800 032 7055’. When I telephoned (after firstly ‘phoning their regular Customer Services number to check the number supplied was genuine) they explained they are simply ensuring their records are up-to-date. The lady told me she held a ‘foreign mobile number’. That is my current and only Thai number I’d given them 6 years ago. I told her that I reside in UK but, as now retired, spend time in Thailand which is why I gave that number. She then updated my occupation status from working to retired! As sammieuk1 advised, expat bank accounts can and do get closed down. However, Santander UK are OK about it at the moment. I don’t believe there is anything we can do should that change. Repeated use of our cards abroad and transfers to Wise give the game away!

I too have a Santander UK bank account. I gave them my Thai True Tourist H pre-pay mobile number and received everything for 5 years without any problem. Last year I subscribed to VYKE and now use a virtual UK mobile number. I have supplied this number to all organisations in UK and it works perfectly for both voice calls and SMS. The advantage for the caller in the UK is that they only pay for a UK mobile call. The advantage to me is that I can receive anywhere in the World via WiFi or mobile data connection and never have to change my mobile number. I would recommend subscribing to VYKE. Costs £12 GBP per ANNUM to rent a UK mobile number. Incoming calls and SMS are free. Outgoing calls to UK cost approx. 1 ppm and SMS 4p each.

Thank you. Most informative.

It could be translation error? e.g. stopped and details taken = detained = arrested?

Thank you very much!

Appreciate your contributions! You mention you are using a pocket router. Would the signal reception be equal to, worse or better than that of an 'average quality' mobile 'phone?