The Fugitive

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?

Good thinking! Logically, once they are satisfied no electricity is being stolen, the next option for them would be to insist that your solar system is closed down until it has been checked over and approved from a safety point of view. You would probably have to stand the cost of that inspection. Very little (if anything) to worry about IMHO.

My Thai niece worked for one of the ISP/Mobile 'phone companies mentioned above. Two years on their call centre was more than enough. Apart from the shifts (one rotation finished at 23.30) she wasn't happy selling products knowing that the customer would never get what was advertised. Whenever I told her about interruptions in my service and slow speeds she simply gave me the number to ring!

My TOT NT Thunder was delivered on Wednesday 08/02/2566 so very early days yet. I am South of Khon Kaen, ground floor shop, one soi away from main thoroughfare. Installed it into iPhone 8 Plus. Speeds; Downstream range from 11.3 to 16.5. Upstream from 0.16 to 1.82. I am unable to obtain a signal at home (ground floor, only 980 metres from shop and also only one soi from main thoroughfare). Hope this helps you and others!

Good point! Hopefully, what they can see is limited to any alternative address field? Mobile 'phone number upon my Shopee account is mine, for delivery I gave them my Mrs's for both addresses.

Great advice!

I'll second that. A lady (presumably at the local delivery depot) 'phoned my Mrs at 09.00 am querying that I have two addresses on my Shopee account so does she go with the default address ( which I had selected for delivery), or are we at the other one now? We were actually at the other one at the time! Delivered by 'Flash' 4hrs 30mins later. I call that brilliant service.

My Mrs won't walk anywhere. Not even literally 'round the corner. Every moto journey (especially with no helmet, T Shirt etc.) involves a risk. Only last week my nephew was 'broadsided' by another moto emerging from a minor road. Fortunately, both riders suffered only minor injuries. This morning he's meeting with the police and the other rider for the third time arguing about who has to pay for what!

Unfortunately, not many people will pay 200 GBP for travel insurance viewing it as 'money down the drain'. It is unusual that someone from the UK would hold a motorcycle licence (they repeatedly mentioned 'moped' in the article although it almost certainly wouldn't have been under 50cc). Very pleased the young lady got sorted. It would have been preferable to select a policy where you don't have to pay 'up front' and then claim reimbursement but, fortunately, with help from her father she could find 20,000 GBP. Some people may have struggled to do so!

Shouldn't laugh because I've been caught out. Some of my switches are the right way up (up for off and down for on).

Thanks for the tip. After recently reading about the COD scams I prefer to pay by credit card.

Most reassuring, thank you. I went COD because they wouldn't accept UK debit or credit cards. My Bangkok Bank Mastercard debit card was rejected too. I gave them Mrs's mobile number for delivery.

Absolutely classic! Love it!

Good info thanks. Awaiting my first ever order from Shopee at the moment.

I too would like PV panels but Mrs has other priorities and I get overruled! How did your PEA office establish that your existing meter was faulty? When we had a water leak the PWA performed a meter accuracy test and found that the meter was overrecording (fast) by 8%. They installed another one free of charge. I calculated that it will take 24 years to recover the cost of the water leak. However, that assumes that the new meter is accurate!

Absolutely correct. We recently had two funerals at our house within a few weeks of each other. All connections were kosher going through our meter. Bills increased considerably, probably mostly due to the casket refrigeration units.

When meter interference is suspected a physical visit is essential. You check that the seals are intact, for holes drilled in the side of the meter to prevent the disk rotating and then there is the legendary 'Liverpool Loop'. I am guessing that when they are satisfied there has been no interference and as they are already at the premises, it would make sense to obtain as many photographs of your PV panels as possible for calculation purposes?

Could it be that the PEA are conducting an investigation into illegal abstraction? They know how many kWh are being billed to consumers and how many are passing through their substations. What they don't know is how many kWh's PV systems are feeding into the grid. Maybe the guys are under instruction to obtain as many photographs as possible for the purpose of counting the number of panels?

Pardon me but I have a question about my 'rent a roof' free installation PV panels in UK. When I'm in Thailand I turn off all services but I'm not permitted to touch the panel isolator switch for obvious reasons. I keep watch on the generation via the installation companies website so know that they are functioning. On the last occasion I was here for six years continuously, my house was unoccupied and locked up all of that time. Is it safe to do this?