Mike Teavee

I don't know where you fly from but every person I know flying from the UK has been asked for an onward flight ticket. You are correct in that it can be fixed with an escalation to a supervisor & you signing a release form but for the sake of $14 I'd rather not have the hassle.

Can always buy a throw away ticket ($14 https://onwardticket.com/), a lot cheaper than a trip to SG though I can think of a lot worse places to spend a weekend ????

Would love to learn what wines you enjoy...

Agree 100% - BUT the post I responded to was about guys who have the money in the bank & use an agent for convenience Vs having the money in the bank & doing the extension yourself. The poster I replied to suggested he has the money in the bank but chooses to do his extension himself, good luck to him, I honestly wish I had the patience to do the same myself, but I don't so I use an agent to do it for me because my time is worth more to me than the cost. Edit; FWIW I gave you a thumbs up on your comment (you can't see who did nowadays) because I 100% agree with your point

How many packs of ciggies? I don't smoke either but others do & the answer is approx. 50, I don't know any smokers who get through less than 1 pack per week. Point being we all place our own value on how we spend our money, I believe I get great value from paying an agent 8,000b to sort out my annual extension for me (I actually give them 12,000b because I need a multi-re-entry permit) some people get better value from a couple of extra (small) beers or pack of ciggies per week. Again, to each his own

I pay an agent 8,000b to do my annual extension for me (I keep the 800k in the bank), so at 4-5 hours that’s 2,000-1,600 ph… 1 time per year which is worth it to me, but maybe not to others To each his own

There are a couple of dedicated Russian tourist booths in Wongamat & the restaurants have more signs in Cyrillic than they do in Thai & English combined, even an outdoor stand with tourist type maps is 100% Cyrillic.

Yes the lump sum is tax free no matter where you live but if you don't take this at the start of a DB Pension then your pension income is set based on the full amount & you're taxed on it as income (i.e. 20% on everything over the normal £12,570 PTA)

Mae Sot has re-opened but when I visited Mae Sai 6 weeks back it was still closed... Thread on Mae Sot re-opening here

I think I had the same IO at NK, I wouldn't say she was nasty, just very diligent in her job but I could tell she was frustrated at the number of Laos people who exited Thailand & then did an immediate U-Turn to try to re-enter... All were told to go away & come back later. She did (Politely) ask me what Province I lived in & when I told her Chonburi she jotted it down on my arrival form (I had put my address but hadn't put the province), stamped everything correctly (am also on a Non-IMM O with a Re-Entry permit) & returned my passport with no attitude. TM6's were never stopped at land borders.

Great for a Defined Contribution / SIPP Pension but Defined Benefits / Final Salary pensions don’t work that way as you either take a tax free lump sum (doesn’t have to be the full 25%) at the start or you cannot take anything tax free at all.

(Toto), I've a feeling we're not in Kansas anymore

Thanks... My goal is to try to minimize the amount of income tax I pay so by taking a 25% lump sump my income will be reduced by approx. 20% pa (based on the Early Retirement quote I got with 3 years to go till I'm 60) E.g. Using made up figures to make the maths easier... - Pension Pot £1,000,000 - Income if take no Lump Sump - £40,000pa - Tax Payable - £5,486 (20% of £40,000-£12570 PTA) - 25% Lump Sum £250,000 - Income PA - £32,000pa - Tax Payable - £3,886 (20% of £32,000-£12570 PTA) - Tax Saving £1,600pa I appreciate it's a lot more complicated than this & any gains made by paying less tax / investing the £250,000 would be offset by a reduced pension income that is getting further away from what I could have had every year (Because future pension increases will be smaller). Honestly have no idea what I'll do when the time comes & things can change a lot in the next couple of years but thanks again for giving me lots of food for thought.

Many Thanks, very interesting article & sums up exactly the thought process I’ve been going through about taking the tax free lump sum from my DB pension. I see there were some very positive changes to private Pensions yesterday but one of the negative ones was the 25% tax free sum is now capped at 25% of the current Life Time Allowance so approx. £268,275 which sounds like a lot of money but could easily be breached (not by me!) as it’s due to remain that way for some years.

You are correct... Instead of saying "Syria is a Land Locked country" (Which I said for effect), I should have said that nobody is getting boats to the UK from there (Which I should have said for fact). Apologies.

Have done as much research as I can on this & can find no evidence that if you don't take your 25% tax free lump sum you can take your Defined Benefit (Final Salary) Pension income at 1st 25% tax free so can only think that people are talking about Defined Contributions or Draw Down income type pensions. I'm still got 2 years & 10.5 months away from mine (60) so things can always change but as it stands I'll be taking the 25% lump sum even though I don't need it, just want to lower my UK Tax. As a Bonus it seems the GF will get the same pension (50% - age adjustment or the total amount) whether I take the 25% or not.

You know what I meant... Nobody got in a boat in Tartus & sailed to the UK... .

Sorry I don't read any UK newspapers as I haven't lived in the UK for a very long time so I tend to get my news from BBC (I know, shame on me) Sky News etc... You're absolutely correct Lineker didn't mention Nazis he just said... Which still shows a complete lack of understanding of how refugees work. International conventions say that refugees should seek safe harbour at the closest state (Which is why Greece, Italy & Turkey are having an unfair time of it at the moment) so not one of them has come directly to the UK from a War Torn country, that doesn't mean that we shouldn't welcome them here. (From what I've read) Lineker was responding to the PMs quotes about Channel Crossings & instead of criticizing the UK could have used his influence to put pressure on better arrangements for Immigrants coming from France (Though the obvious question is how did they end up there in the 1st place).

Unforgotten Season 5, shame Nichola Walker is no longer it but so far so good ???????? https://m.imdb.com/title/tt4192812/

How can anybody speak of the plight of illegal immigrants coming from a "Safe" country (France) in the same breath as Nazis & come out of it as the good guy! The asylum seekers in question are not coming here from their "War Torn" country, but are crossing the channel from France so instead of attacking the UK government he should maybe use his influence to help focus on how both governments can work together to help. Seriously you would have to be an idiot to not see that the Government's hard line position has been taken to put pressure on the French to do more from their side. Hey Gary... Syria is a land locked country... They aren't getting in their boats from there

https://www.immigration.go.th/en/?page_id=2537 See Point 6 Documents to be submitted for Change Visa – FOR PROVIDING SUPPORT TO OR BEING A DEPENDANT OF A THAI CITIZEN (SPOUSE VISA) (NON-O) & Point 9 Documents to be submitted for Change Visa – FOR RETIREMENT PURPOSES – 50 YEARS OLD (NON-O)

Lol or a night of nothing if you're a Vegan

Would getting a Non-IMM O Marriage visa from London before you travel not be an option? You can always extend this on the basis of "Retirement" in the future if you have concerns around additional hassles in extending it based on Marriage. Have never tried the eVisa process but a quick look on the website (https://thaievisa.go.th/) suggests that a British Citizen can apply for one online to visit their Thai Spouse... Required Documents 1. Passport or travel document with validity not less than 6 months. 2. Photograph of the applicant, taken within the past six months. 3. Financial evidence (e.g. bank statements, proof of earnings, proof of sponsorship from a third party). 4. Proof of relationship to a family in Thailand.... For the spouse of a Thai national... Marriage certificate A copy of a ID card of a Thai spouse https://thaievisa.go.th/non-immigrant-o

I only mentioned it as a lot of people are unaware of the 125cc limit & think that because they have travel insurance & a big bike license they're covered when most of the time they're not. I'm not suggesting that the "Gold Cover" doesn't cover a bigger bike but if you took a look at the All Clear FAQ... https://www.comparetravelinsurance.com.au/travel-insurance-companies/all-clear It clearly states... What size moped or motorbike am I covered to ride overseas? You are covered if the engine capacity is less than 125cc. You also need to be wearing a crash helmet.

Check the T&Cs very carefully as the majority of Travel Insurance policies don't cover you for riding a motorcycle that's > 125CC and so you would need specialist motorcycle insurance if you planned on riding a big bike or even something like an 155CC Aerox / NMax scooter which seem very popular at the rental places. https://www.gocompare.com/travel-insurance/guide/motorcycle-holiday-insurance/