CygnusX1

Gold star for Melbourne, I’ll resist the temptation to make the obvious joke.

Took me 95 minutes to get through immigration arriving at Sydney airport, with its 100% electronic system, a couple of months back. Hope Thailand’s not going to introduce anything like that.

I’m guessing English is not the OP’s native language. Other clues in his use of words, eg ‘there are very little folk’ and ‘not to me’ instead of not for me. If that is the case, good news that there already are some Russian babes, even before high season really starts, as I’m heading there next week.

Outcast for being unmarried, or for having a place in Thailand? I find it hard to imagine having a kid, bit like trying to imagine being a bullfighter or a ballet dancer, it’s so far out. Men on a good income can afford to be married and also have an interesting life with heaps of travel, but if I’d been married, on my very modest income, I’d have had to spend every spare cent of it on a 3 bedroom house in an ugly Australian suburb, and would have missed out on all the fantastic experiences I’ve enjoyed in my travels throughout the world.

When I was employed, I’d have at least one big overseas trip every year, taking leave on half pay to extend the holiday. Given that I was the lowest paid employee in the office, there was speculation as to how I could fund such a lifestyle, but the reason of course was that I was the only one who was unmarried. Now retired, I split my time between my maximum 179 days in Thailand and Australia, but can still afford 3 months in Europe each year. In purchasing a property in Thailand, I’ve made the second most expensive mistake you can make in that country, but have so far managed to avoid making the most expensive mistake.

Yep, seems to do the job just fine. I used to think front loading machines were just a European thing for tiny apartments, but apparently they’re now ubiquitous.

Amazing that the humble washing machine now comes with a motherboard, just like my gaming PC. My Philips automatic washer at my place in Australia is still going strong after 42 years, never serviced, never needed repairs.

I’ve just bet $500 with Australia’s TAB on a Harris win, odds of 2.4 were too good to pass up. Would be almost worth losing $500 to enjoy seeing the woke leftists having conniptions after a Trump victory though. However, talk of Trump withdrawing support for Ukraine and threatening a tariff war would be enough to make me an extremely reluctant supporter of Harris, though I think both candidates are frightful.

Quick web search shows cheapest 6 inch subway (plain ham) is $8 in Australia. From memory, couple of weeks ago I was paying around 110 baht or $4.90 at Jomtien subway (today's ex rate 22.3), but cheaper if you get the sub of the day. Nearest I'll get to real Thai food. Of course, as others have already pointed out, Thailand is hugely cheaper for the things that really count, such as housing and services. I paid $270 in Oz for an electrician to change a light switch, 2 minute job (he gave me a $30 discount as I'm retired). Paid 120 baht, or $5.40, for a lady in Pattaya to fix the soles of my sandals, over an hour's work, and my apologies to some here, I tipped her 80 baht.

A practice known as "dogging" according to my nephew. However, I don't think even he would have imagined in his wildest dreams anyone doing it to an ambulance, in any country.

I don’t think Thailand’s leading the way to a cashless society. I still have to sign my name at some supermarkets when paying by credit card, and Bangkok’s still full of ATM machines, including some fancy looking new ones. Australia’s far ahead. Thought I’d buy an ice cream at the little kiosk staffed by a couple of kids at Coogee beach, and was happy I had some cash in small notes, as they surely wouldn’t take plastic. To my astonishment, they would only take plastic, which I fortunately had, as I wasn’t swimming, just on a long walk. But when I do swim at a beach anywhere in the world, I never have plastic or my phone with me, as having those stolen while I was in the water would be a catastrophe, but losing $10 or $20 in cash is trivial.

So the $345 is for 3 months. Cheaper than I thought it would be. Delicate question, you’re not aged in your twenties or thirties?

That’s bad news for me, was hoping to have 6 months free insurance until I turned 70 (when the medical part of the free travel insurance stops). It always did seem to be too good to be true. ANZ hasn’t sent me anything yet, and their website still states 6 months.

4 MyEgo - Thanks once again for your help. Great to know that the 2 year rule shouldn’t apply to me. I’m back in Australia next week, so if I have any issues I will consider contacting Centrelink Tasmania - somewhat bizarre they apparently are the only helpful branch in Australia! I’m well aware of the deeming rules that apply to financial assets. I also think that my Thai condo wouldn’t be classed as a financial asset since it’s property I don’t derive income from, and so would only be included in the assets test. I’ll lose most of any pension I do succeed in getting through the income test rather than the assets test, so any over valuation by Centrelink of the Thai condo based on the assumption it would have appreciated in value at the same rate as Sydney property wouldn’t matter.

Thanks so much for that, you’ve set my mind at rest, and convinced me to undergo the no doubt lengthy and complicated process of applying for the OAP. As a bonus, I don’t spend all of my 8 months overseas in Thailand, but spend nearly 3 months in Europe each year (just shy of the annoying 90 day limit of the Schengen zone). I realise I have to be in Australia when applying. As for the question of whether someone in my rather comfortable financial position should get the OAP, that’s another topic for discussion!