Burma Bill

With respect, I am sure "Gaza" has no idea! (Paul Gascoigne "Gaza" - famous/infamous English Soccer player.)

Very much so. Please be careful where you place your deckchair or beach blanket, also check before digging sand castles with your kids - buried turds?

Maybe to you, but not for me. My move from Thailand, after 20 years, to Cambodia was one of the best decisions I made - and just before borders were closed due to Covid. My decision to move to Siem Reap, where I had friends, was to escape Thai bureaucracy and the exorbitant "rip off" financial requirments regarding an annual retirement visa. Such a visa in Cambodia is so easy to obtain, go to an agent, simple paperwork and just the visa fee in cash. Fortunately I had no Thai family ties and was able to swiftly move across before borders closed. After 5 years I am still enjoying my retirement in Siem Reap, a city which has undergone many changes and infra-structure imrovements in recent years. At 81 years of age, it will probably be the "end of the line" for me - unless I am forced by ill health to return to the UK. Just as in Thailand! Out of interest, being a permanent foreign resident in Cambodia (at least 2 years) I qualify for an annual free pass to the Angkor Wat Complex, renewable each year. How many of you Thai ex-pats get a free annual pass for a Thai National Park? None of you I'm sure!

Like the mobile phone shown, mine is also a 3G phone with no photo taking facility - hence no QR Code in a gallery. I shall just show the Immigration Officer my 3G phone and let him/her decide what to do, it is their bureaucratic entry system. Maybe I can collect a few spare TM6 forms from a land crossing into Thailand from here in Cambodia.

Thanks. I also have a NOKIA 3G phone. It will be interesting to see what happens later this year when I fly from Siem Reap to Chiang Mai. Previously no bureaucracy and easy - just arrival and departure stamps in passport. No TM6. Last month I had to complete a Form TM6 at the land border between O'Smach in Cambodia and Surin Province in Thailand.

I just completed this quiz. My Score 30/100 My Time 249 seconds  

That is someone's profit which, quite literally, has not gone up in smoke!

I'm not sure I understand this. I thought all 7-11 stores in Thailand were managed by CP group on a franchise agreement (from the Japanese?) So, is the CP group offering to buy the franchise and join the Japanese Group to fend off the Canadians. For reference (Google) all 7-11 stores in Cambodia are managed by CP: The 7-Eleven business in Cambodia is managed by a subsidiary of CP ALL or CP ALL (Cambodia) Co., Ltd. In the beginning, the company was managed by an experienced management team from Thailand.

What a load of cobblers printed here!

"flogging a dead horse" comes to mind!

Well, he certainly appears to be taking the wee wee!

When I used to drive long journeys around Thailand and stop for a break at a PTT petrol station, I liked 7-11's fresh (not toasted) crab stick and Nori seaweed sandwiches, with a Lipton's lemon tea.

I just completed this quiz. My Score 30/100 My Time 246 seconds  

I just completed this quiz. My Score 20/100 My Time 314 seconds  

Yes indeed, the Water Puppet Show was fantastic and Vietnamese food ideal for me as I detest Chillis.. I preferred Hanoi with its French quarter and city lakes. Ho Chi Minh is similar to Bangkok, a city I hate. Being a railway enthusiast I travelled on the Reunification Express from Ho Chi Minh to Hanoi, sleeping 2 nights on board. By travelling on the night train, you reach Da Nang in daylight and ready to enjoy the wonderful views climbing the Hai Van Pass over the mountains to Hue. Sapa, the old French Colonial Hill Resort is worth a visit, but htese days can be very busy with tourists. Note all the terraced rice paddies. Da Nang I enjoyed for a couple of days visiting the large Lady Buddha at the Linh Ung Pagoda dominating the Son Tra Peninsula to the north of the beach, and the Marble Mountain Complex to the south. Both a worth visiting, especially the temple in a large cave in Marble Mountain. (Photos lady Buddha and temple inside Marble Mountain) https://storage.googleapis.com/inspitrip-blog/global/2019/03/087ef9a2-51190401_785595521819161_8951649120111962203_n.jpg

For reference for UK State Pensioners living abroad with a foreign bank account: When you’ll get paid You can choose to be paid every 4 or 13 weeks. If your State Pension is under £5 per week, you’ll be paid once a year in December. Delays to payments around US federal holidays If you live abroad and your payment is due in the same week as a US federal holiday, it could arrive one day late. This is because a US company processes these payments. https://www.gov.uk/state-pension-if-you-retire-abroad

As others have stated, yes, UK pensions are taxed. In my case, I get three UK pensions, the State OAP (frozen from day one) and two other pensions that are index linked on final salary. When these three pensions are added together and credited to my Cambodian bank account, the amount in excess of my 12,570 GBP personal allowance is subject to UK Income Tax debited at source in the UK. I currently pay around 800 GBP in tax per year on the excess. I do not have to pay tax in Cambodia.

If your State Pension is paid into a UK bank account, should be no problem. If your State Pension is paid into a Thai bank account, then problem.

DWP life certificate. Has to be completed to obtain a UK State Pension I received one here in Cambodia early last month (December 2024). It was dated the "9th September 2024" and requested its return within 16 weeks! I was fortunate to connect with DWP by phone and a very helpful agent gave me an additional 16 weeks extension to return the certificate due to the time it took to reach me (3 months). In my case, DWP did not use registered air mail. My Cambodian bank kindly completed my "witness of signature" certificate for free, having got clearance of any possible legal implications. I returned the certificate by registered air mail with Cambodia Post (3.50$) and it was signed for on receipt at the WV post code 10 days later (I was able to track it on my computer). So, I continue to receive my State Pension, albeit at the same rate when I started 15 years ago (102 GBP per week) Coincidently earlier this month, I also received a Life Certificate from another Local Government Pension Office, but this was delivered, completed and returned on-line.

Not just farmers and others caught burning. Why not include drivers of buses, trucks, cars and SRT diesel locomotives that belch out black smoke around Thailand?

IMO not mosquito bites. Look to me like marks from biting flies, especially sand flies. Try WHITE TIGER BALM (the yellow version can stain clothing)

Could be interesting to see the boozing old fart ex-pats lose their favourite bar stools for a few days.

Have I missed the point? Surely one must leave home and breath in the polluted air to reach a railway station or bus stop?

I just completed this quiz. My Score 30/100 My Time 187 seconds  

No proof but "Tourist Police Volunteers"? No further comment from me.