Mike Teavee

NB... Whilst looking for a decent site that explained what "Red Ribbon" is, I've learned that it was replaced in May 2019 by "Apostille Document Authentication" https://dumaguete.com/apostille-document-authentication-video/... Which I can only assume works the same way but I have never looked into it. As I'd already typed out the below before looking for a site, I'll leave it in as background for what a "Red Ribbon" was please feel free to ignore ???? ----------------------------------------------------------------- Below is useless information as "Red Ribbon" no longer exists... "Red Ribbon" is a way of getting formal notarization of documents so PI immigration will accept proof that the Filipina was travelling for legitimate reasons & not being trafficked. The time I looked at it, the Ex-GF had a new job offer in SG but even a letter from the company with the offer wouldn't necessarily be enough to guarantee that she'd be able to travel so the "Red Ribbon" process would have been to take this offer to The Department of Foreign Affairs, get it notarized by them which she could then show to immigration on departure guaranteeing that she wouldn't be stopped from travelling. WHAT IS A RED RIBBON? Red Ribbon documents are usually required when one applies for a job abroad, traveling or even transferring to an abroad school for verification and authentication. There are a number of documents the DFA can give authentication or in other terms a red ribbon. The process of getting a DFA has to go through CAV (Certification Verification Authentication). https://dumaguete.com/red-ribbon-document-authentication/ I believe it is also possible to get a "Red Ribbon" for non-work related travel by getting proof of relationship type documents (Photos, evidence of previous travel together etc...) notarized but I only looked at it the one time as normally I was happy to go for a short holiday to Davao, Cebu, Boracay etc... and we would fly back to Singapore from there.

Had a Filipina GF for 8 years in Singapore & every time she went home to visit family when she was between waitressing jobs (IIRC she was only ever allowed a 6 months / max 1 year Employment Pass before having to leave & reapply again) I would have to fly out to bring her back or she risked being denied permission to leave the Philippines. On one occasion they even made me sign an affidavit saying that I would take care of her & ensure that she did not "Become a Burden on the State"... On another occasion they wouldn't accept her explanation that we've travelled to lots of places together or even that I had visited the Philippines before because I had a new passport with no previous stamps, fortunately I was able to give them the details of my previous passport so they could see my previous > 30 visits to Philippines & how all her previous exits from PI matched these. A number of times I've been sat at the gate waiting to board the plane & immigration have come around to pull girls off the flights, this after they've already checked in & paid their departure tax. Edit: You can get go down the route of getting a "Red Ribbon" if you're not able to go to Philippines to travel with your GF, I looked at this once when I was busy with work BUT decided it was just easier to pop over for the weekend to pick her up.

The process of getting a Visa is all about vetting to ensure that the person is eligible to enter the country so provides benefit to the individual (very few people with Visas are denied entry) as well as the state,

I don't think they can evict you without offering alternative accommodation but I would recommend contacting CAB (Citizens Advice Bureau) or Shelter to see what rights you have & what help they can give you... According to the .Gov site https://www.gov.uk/council-housing-association-evictions The eviction process goes... You get written notice that the council or housing association plans to evict you. If you do not leave or cannot come to an agreement, the council or housing association can apply to the court for a possession order. The court decides whether you can be evicted. If you still do not leave, bailiffs can remove you and your belongings. The 2nd/3rd steps sounds like something that should be enough for them to find you alternative housing or at worse take months for them to go through hopefully giving you enough time to get something sorted. Good Luck, there should be even more temporary hospitality jobs around at the moment with the World Cup & Xmas looming which will hopefully be enough get you back on your feet ????

We're on a winner her Trig, play it nice & cool son...

+ the merchants charge (IIRC) 3% for the "Privilege" of having one of their POS terminals.

I don't know exact statistics but in 2021 only 79% of Brits had a private pension (https://www.ons.gov.uk/employmentandlabourmarket/peopleinwork/workplacepensions/bulletins/annualsurveyofhoursandearningspensiontables/2021provisionaland2020finalresults) & this after the Pension Act of 2008 (https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2008/30/contents) that forced most employers to enroll their staff in a private pension so I would guess the number of pensioners who didn't already have a private pension at that time have one that's not paying very much. Pensions cannot generally be accessed until you're 55 and then you'll be taking a much reduced pension.

I did say to him that I would rather talk about football,,, 1966 was a great year for English Football & the year of my birth so technically (at about 4 months old) I've seen England lift the World cup ????

No idea of actual numbers but I get a sense that most guys on here are still registered at a UK address so will get the increase, Of course I’m registered as living in Thailand & will still get the full increase… but that’s only because I’m special (ok so I can’t claim my UK State Pension yet) Must be a real kick in the nuts for the guys who do follow the rules & declare themselves as Non-UK resident but I will have no regrets registering as Non-UK resident when it comes to claiming mine.

Where's the Video (Sorry I couldn't see one in the link in the OP)

Tell that to the Germans... Was in a bar on Naklua Soi 18 & a German guy comes over, says hello, asks where I'm from & when I say UK, he says "Ahh, you hate me because of the War" I'm 56 <deleted>, my father was 1 & mum -4 when the war ended! Anyway, it's good to see it's not us Brits in the news for once ????

Absolutely this.... As I've said in a previous post, I was able to pay at class 2 rates (< £155 pa) so I took a punt & paid £955 for 7 years but if I had to pay at class 3 (approx. £800) I would have approached things differently. On balance I think I've overpaid (in terms of years) & underpaid (In terms of I should have been paying class 3 for the past 2 or 3 years) but I figure it will more or less even out by the time I'm done ????

Had the GF's cousin staying with us for the past week & as she's heading back tomorrow I gave the GF 2,500b to take the 2 of them out for a nice relaxing 2 hour massage & to give me a bit of peace. Massage finished (Great place, just past Soi 9 on 2nd Road as you leave Central) & the GF decides she's going to surprise me by getting me a Meatball Marinara sandwich (My favourite) from Subway, so goes to Terminal 21 armed with approx. 700b in cash change from the massage & is told "Sorry, we don't accept cash" Her Internet Banking / GWallet is on her other phone (She's more paranoid about keeping it separate than I am) so I ended up with a McDonalds... Gee Thanks Subway!

Normally it is a max of 6 year prior BUT because of the changes to Pensions in 2016 you have until April 5th 2023 to backpay AVCs prior to 2016 (I have it in my head that it's a maximum of 10 years but might be confused with something else), as it was I needed to back pay 7 years from 2010 as until then I was paying NI in the UK albeit working overseas. Funny story I got a full refund from UK Gov for tax paid during 2008/2009 & 2009/2010 tax years as I'd paid tax on my income in Singapore - Not a sausage back for NI payments though

Thanks... That's exactly what the video in the original post was trying to highlight

You can never make future payments (except setting up a direct debit which is how I do mine). Per the 2 replies above, you're normally only allowed to backpay 6 years AVCs BUT because of the changes to Pensions in 2016 you can pay for earlier years (See OP on this thread, this will come to an end on 5th April 2023). Now we're in 2022 going on for 2023 the 6 years becomes more important as If you waited until April 6th 2023 to contact them then you wouldn't be able to backpay for years prior to April 2016 or even the 2016-2017 tax year. Contacting them in June for any one of the previous 6 years is not a problem... Contacting them in June for payments 6+ years ago will be a problem from next year... That's why I suggested guys with multiyear missing contributions contact them before April

True, but the process seems to start from when they receive your contact so if you contact them before April 6th you will be able to make payments as at that date rather than losing a tax year even if it is June before you get a response. Lol, I'm still waiting for them to update my 2017-2018 year payments (apparently I've underpaid & I know it was a 50p error I made that they said they were going to waive as it would cost them more money for me to pay it) but no rush, I'll phone them when I'm next in the UK (May) to get it sorted ???? Edit: For anybody who is interested, I back paid AVCs for the 2010-2017 Tax years but made a 50p miscalculation, hence the query with my 2017-2018 record... All AVCs were at Class 2 & have been paying at Class 2 since then...

If this isn’t a Typo then I’d suggest marrying the GF (assuming you’re not about to hit 50 anytime soon)…

Groucho Marx...

As I understood it he has a schedule that he's used for a long time so after a trip out of the country wants to get back to that. As I said, if it's important (maybe it fits in with annual plans for trips elsewhere in Thailand) then a few hundred thb with an agent will get you back on your schedule.

My Agents have reported early for me twice... Once when getting a re-entry permit & once when doing my extension, on both occasions I was approx. 1/2 way through the 90 days from my previous report. Agree that you will most certainly have a problem doing it online from a previous report online & will probably have a problem doing it in person if you're showing the IO your previous 90 day report but if you really wanted to do it then an agent charges a few hundred thb to do it for you (200b in Pattaya & 375b in Bangkok though both of the above mentioned reports were done for no extra cost over the cost of the re-entry permit/extension). Edit: Sorry I exaggerated on the last report, my previous report was due on 13th September... But my Agent had no problems doing me a new report when they did my extension on the 25th August (19 days before it was due)...

https://matrix.itasoftware.com/search brings back LGW-BKK for £622 with Turkish Airlines...

They had the same problem in China where WeChat Pay & AliPay were becoming the only ways of paying at more & more places so the simple answer was to enable people to use their foreign Debit/Credit cards with the service... https://www.cnbc.com/2019/11/06/alipay-wechat-pay-allow-tourists-in-china-to-use-foreign-cards.html

I think you'd be surprised at how many Thais use QR Code payments, E.g. When the government was running the 50:50 promotions even the stalls selling 10-20b BBQ sticks were accepting it & most Thais were paying that way as it's the only way they can get the discount. I've also read many reports of guys either paying the girl via QR Code to their Bank or being asked to do so. As an aside, I went into the Starbucks at the office block next to Lumpini MRT Station a few weeks back & they will only accept electronic payment.

Not sure of your planned dates or duration but a random search on ITA (https://matrix.itasoftware.com) brings back EVA premium economy flights for £1808 https://matrix.itasoftware.com/flights?search=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 E.g....a 30 day trip leaving on 24th November... Cheapest I could see in Business was a 29 day trip (2nd - 31st December) with Thai Airways at £3172