The Fugitive

She previously owned and ran her own frog farm so not useless by any means. To be fair she is generous too. Yesterday she filled her 'Mighty X' with groceries and took them to friends who live in four adjacent houses, all of whom are quarantined with Covid.

Most helpful thank you!

I too have a Halifax Clarity Credit Card. I have received renewed cards when living in Paraguay (the post office official was amazed that it hadn't been stolen en-route) and also in Thailand, both sent by ordinary unregistered/unrecorded post. However, renewed Debit Cards get intercepted after printing and sent to my home branch which destroys them after a certain time, hence I never receive them. Customer Services have told me twice that I shouldn't be receiving renewed Clarity Credit Cards either, suggesting that they must have 'slipped the net'.

My Mrs is very involved in the local community both socially and with her business. She has friends at our Community Hospital who are; clerical staff, nurses and domestics. Until very recently they told us that the only deaths with Covid were patients who were already on their way out from other pre-existing conditions. To date, they tell us only one patient has died due to Covid. She was an elderly Chinese lady who had refused vaccinations. If you consider that to be self-inflicted, we have 100% success rate!

As regards UK and death rates, it could be that Thai doctors are patient instead of process and budget driven i.e. less likely to decide that a patient's condition is 'intractable' and discontinue treatment. I know which I prefer.

Absolutely, ages 57/58/60 at death seem to repeat all too often.

That's very interesting thank you very much. You would have thought the Scots would have found much better uses for their whisky! Incidentally, only the other day I saw a pick-up with a metal casket sized/shaped container on the flat bed. Makes you think!

Found this obviously aimed at UK ex-pats; https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/thailand-funeral-directors/list-of-funeral-directors-in-thailand

Not an experience I'd wish to repeat. Our friend was only in his 40's. Both parent's and at least one brother and sister were present. Out of respect I pretended not to notice the smell but they held their noses.

A Thai friend recently died in hospital after the family agreed to 'pull the plug' following a stroke. We visited the family home same day in the afternoon. Our friend's casket was on the floor wrapped in polythene. Shortly after, the refrigeration unit arrived on the back of a pick-up. We gave the guys a hand loading the casket. The polythene wrapper came off as did the lid. The guys checked that he was presentable before loading the casket into the unit. Not exactly undertakers as we know them!

Undertakers are aware of such things and if not already removed they will do so. If especially concerned you could leave specific instructions with your next of kin to ensure this is done.

Well spotted! She has never, ever, AFAIK parked a vehicle in gear. That must be why she never checks it is in neutral before cranking. It is on the odd occasion when someone else (mechanic, car washer etc.) has driven it and returned it leaving it in gear that this happens.

Must make an admission. I attempted to wash our Honda City automatic. The hosepipe wouldn't reach where Mrs had parked it so I attempted to move it just a few yards. I couldn't move the gear selector lever. Eventually I gave up and carried buckets of water instead. Totally baffled me!

One evening my Mrs had drunk far too much. A friend kindly offered to drive us home. He has an automatic pick-up where D is in the fully back position. Our Honda City car has D-S-L with lock up being in the fully back position. Our friend drove us home entirely in first gear. I kept my mouth shut because he was doing us a favour.

I suppose there might be many who don't understand the symbols but would quite correctly be concerned about a continuous red light and would, hopefully, investigate? Good thing you checked your GF's tyres. Until now my Mrs has always fitted second hand tyres. I've always been uneasy about this. Two days ago she bought a set of four new Leao Lion Sport HP3's 185/60 R15 for 7,000 baht including fitting and balancing. Definitely a smoother ride and I feel easier now.

Useful to know thank you. In case of being out of Thailand around your actual renewal date.

Exactly! It was the English words she wanted to know. I tried to learn Spanish but gave up. No chance of me ever learning Thai I'm afraid.

It's the basics that get forgotten. When driving a manual she never wiggles the gear stick from side to side before turning the key. I'm sure she believes that nutting the windscreen is a totally random annoyance!

Absolutely true, on my deceased Mum's remains. She asked what E and F stood for (the English words).

True about automatics. I have learned to keep away from the ends of the car (both ends) whenever the engine is running. My wife has a habit of pressing the accelerator without first checking the position of the gear selector.

My Thai Mrs drives for miles with the handbrake applied. There is a warning light and it works reliably. She says she doesn’t understand symbols. The other day she asked me what E and F stood for? Today I noticed the temperature gauge needle was in the red zone. I repeatedly pointed to it but she was totally oblivious. I said ‘dangerous, go into a garage right now’. Fortunately, we were passing a couple of motor repair places we know and she drove into one. Steam everywhere from a corroded radiator pipe/hose connection. I must say that my wife is excellent at spotting and getting into parking spaces. Something that I’m diabolical about myself. Also, she is superb at remembering (and reversing) routes. I’ve never seen her use a paper map or Sat Nav. Anyone else found vehicle instrumentation to be a ‘blind spot’?

Am I correct in understanding that application for residency is compulsory? What do they require? Would a criminal record in your home or any other Country in which you have lived result in refusal?

Very good service. Thinking like my dentist who rings me up the day before my appointment! Did they also send you an email advising that your extension was approaching expiry date?

Not only in Thailand. I was reading a motoring forum. Someone was asking for the best tyre pressure(s) for his particular vehicle, stating load, type of wheel, terrain, usual number of passengers etc. Some bright spark asked him if he had a literacy problem? All he had to do was read the pressure stated on his sidewalls and inflate to that. Unbelievable!

Thank you very much for your clarification.