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I think you are defining Pattaya as the area bounded by Naklua, Sukhumvit, South Pattaya and the Beach. I don't personally know any expats living in that 'zone'. I live about 10 KM north of Pattaya in a house on an estate and just up the road from an empty beach. My lifestyle does not involve alcohol at all. I play a lot of sport (squash and football), eat food mainly locally or at home and lead a very healthy life. Most of the people I play football with live on the 'Dark Side' and whereas there are bars there with female company available, it is not 'in your face' like in Walking Street and those other areas that are really for the 2 week millionaire tourists. I won't expand on this though, as I expect this thread will be closed down soon!

As several posters have correctly stated, referencing several sources, we certainly are entitled to free NHS services - all of them - as soon as we return to the UK and say we are there to live permanently.

That is the important point, the fact we have returned permanently. How we prove this exactly I am not sure.

However, if we do this and then return to Thailand and try to do it again a year or 2 later, I wonder how we will be viewed then. How often can we return 'permanently' is something I have pondered for some time.

I suspect I will use a Thai hospital or even an Indian hospital for more minor ailments/operations (I went to India recently for some elective surgery on my hip) and return to the UK for more major problems that would require a lot of expertise and longer term care both as an in patient and an out patient. I suppose certain cancers would come into this category.

I have just recently registered to vote in the UK elections. When I left the UK 10 years ago I stopped voting as I felt that as I had left the UK, I should leave the voting to those still living their lives there. However, I am fed up not having a say in the dreadful decisions that seem to be thrust our way by the UK government, that this year I will vote for sure.

I was a Tory (I know booooo!!!), but they like all the mainstream parties seem to be keen to give 12 billion quid a year in foreign aid to all kinds of dodgy governments and despots around the world, but won't fund the health needs of people who have paid into the system (for over 30 years in my case). I therefore will vote UKIP this time as they are the only ones who seem to be against all this money being spent on foreign aid whilst we expats are expected to pay for NHS treatment in our own country.

I bought my wife 2 tourist books in Thailand, written in Thai, about where to visit in the UK and where to visit in London. She spent a lot of time reading them before we left Thailand and then I let her decide where she wanted to visit. Her favourite memories seemed to involve food - in particular eating fish and chips on Bournemouth beach and sharing the chips with the seagulls. Her least favourite memories were the London Eye, which she thought would go faster - well it does look like a ferris wheel and she was not happy with all the walking I made her do!

We were there for a year though, whilst I sold everything then came to retire in LOS. In 10 days it will take her some time simply to adjust to the different time zone and adjust to the new surroundings in general, so you really don't want to try to do too much, or it will become a chore.

I reckon she should try:-

- English pub and food there and the beer - especially a pint of Guinness

- Trip to the beach and try fish and chips

- Trip around London on London bus and then the tube visiting the places she chose to visit - especially the shops in Oxford Street !. Careful if you take a boat trip on the Thames - it made my wife a bit sick.

- Trip around the other places she chose outside London

I wouldn't take her to the RIchmond Temple or anything 'Thai', nor to a Thai restaurant - she can do that over here!

Have fun

I agree with Langsuan Man and KittenKong. I have a house/land in the company name, as it is the only way I can 'own' the land. It is a hassle having the company as I have to have the accounts prepared each year for 15000 baht. It is also 'illegal' so will probably come to a 'head' one day!!!

The company setup for a condo is obviously 'illegal' as well. It is circumventing the ownership percentage of the condo building with respect to foreign ownership. Why anyone would want the extra hassle and cost (ie of preparing the annual company accounts) by buying a condo in Pattaya via the company setup, when Pattaya is awash with condos you could own legally in your own name, is beyond me.

So leave this condo alone and maybe pay a little bit more for a condo in your own name.

96tehtarp, I am no expert on Thai politics, in fact I have made an effort to not get involved since I retired out here 10 years ago.

However, I suspect you could add 'FInance Minister' to that impressive list of roles held by the dear general. In fact he can have ALL the roles when it suits him.

Although I have only got involved in this issue briefly, I cannot really understand why it is so difficult to come up with a 'formula' to get revenue from people with land and housing. There are plenty of successful models around the world that achieve this quite easily. In the UK we have 'council tax', that is controlled by local councils responsible for local activities like rubbish collection, local planning etc...

Council Tax simply groups properties into bands. So smaller houses are in band 'A' and as the houses get larger and more expensive then higher bands are added. So you have households living in properties in Bands A,B,C,D,E,F,G etc... Then LOCALLY the councils charge a certain amount for each band. So those in band A pay much less council tax than those in the larger and more expensive Band G properties.

The 'council tax' amount is decided locally, by the locally elected council. This money is then used to pay for local services, for example rubbish collection, lighting etc... If you don't like what the council is spending the money on or you think the council tax is too high, then at the next local elections you can vote for someone who will reduce the council tax in each band.

It seems a pretty simple model to me. Even if they don't want local democracy in Thailand and want it run from Bangkok - this model still works.

Am I being naive here ? I have just realised, that those people with the bigger more expensive houses who would pay more council tax, may be the very people the powers in Bangkok don't want to 'penalise' with these taxes.

If that is the case, I don't really see how you can have a tax collection system based on property values at all, as there is no 'formula' that could ever be implemented that would target just certain groups with property BELOW a certain value - so those in band G would pay less than those in band A - it could never happen - or am I missing something?

Anyway, the good news is, it does not look like we will be paying any additional property taxes in the foreseeable future.

Prayut holds back controversial land and buildings tax bill

Langsuan Man - oh OK - thanks. Seems logical.

Thanks again

Thanks for these replies and suggestions.

Torrens54 - I am not sure what GLOBAL is. Googling was no help - there is the Global compendium of weeds, is that what you meant?

xen - I think this is what I was going to try and find a supplier for when I started this thread. Pattaya does not have anywhere that I know of that I can buy this product.

PattayaPhom - I like the idea, but the general advice I have received is to use something porous if possible. To be honest, I don't really know why.

canuckamuck - I have not tried 'Round-up' - where can I get it??? I have tried some other grass killers, but we have a small Pomeranian dog and I have been advised that it could be a problem for the dog, which is why I have decided to remove the stones and small trees/weeds and then cover with 'something', to prevent them growing.

Thanks again for the replies.

Then I am correct, if the money is tied up for only one day, let alone months, then the money is tied up.

Maybe English is not your first language

Jaochoo, thanks for the heads up. Does anyone know if this a one off at Jomtien, or has this happened to other people as well?

I think I agree with Tony M, as I just 'wandered' over to the Visa forum and there is nothing about this quite important bureaucratic change in that forum.

To be honest, if I have to do this then it will be the final straw for me - I will do the extension based on retirement instead - much less hassle - but does tie up 800K Baht.

Langsuan Man - thanks for the good idea. If I were buying the stones now I would do that. The stones were bought 10 years ago sadly and I think they were delivered on a lorry as there were so many of them. They did not lay anything under the stones at the time. I think I will do what arthurwait suggested, as that is a similar material to the bags the stones normally come in and is easy to buy. I think it will be better than the standard plastic which wont let any water through.

Thanks again.

Neversure, thanks for the advice. The rocks have been down for about 10 years and I am fed up with having to cut back the small 'trees' that keep growing - there used to be just a few of these small 'shrubs' growing through, now there are dozens. We are removing the stones now ready to lay the plastic so can easily add the layer you suggest.

Jacko45K, thanks for the comment. I thought that I could just use plastic sheets like that as well, but when I read on the internet about the sheets you need for this sort of thing, it was recommended to use plastic sheets that allow water to pass through. I have to say I was a bit fed up when I read that, as I thought apart from moving the old stones, this was going to be a simple task - I should have know better!

arthurwait, thanks for this idea. Whilst reading up on the internet, it was suggested by several people that using an old carpet was a good base, as it allowed water to pass through and stopped weeds (small trees in my case!), growing back. So I guess this material would be similar in the way it works. I have seen that all over the place, I cannot immediately remember where, but I will have a look for it. My wife has just had a look at this and says she knows where to get it. Do you put down just one layer or several?? Does it last a long time ?.

I am laying some pebbles on mud and am trying to buy a roll of plastic to lay down first so that weeds won't grow through. I thought I could get something like that in just about any garden centre, but not so. Any ideas where I can get this ? I was trying to get the plastic with the 'membrane' that allows water to drain through, but I am now getting 'desperate' and would consider laying anything!

Thanks very much for your help.

I live just outside Pattaya and I switched from 3BB 3Mbit Premium package to True 30 Mbit offering a few months ago. It was great at first, not running at 30Mbit, but achieving about 15-20Mbit/sec on average. However, in the last couple of weeks it seems to be running at around 9Mbit/sec a lot of the time.

I have not complained about it yet as I was hoping it would improve and I would not have to visit the True office!!

I use the link mainly to watch football on 365Sport and that works fine as the True link is very reliable and the slowness of the link only really shows up when I fast forward on recorded matches - then it can be painfully slow.

Just a quick thanks for all your replies and advice. I went down to the North Pattaya market on Sunday morning at 11 am and they had about 40 square metres of turf left. It was 28 baht per sq metre. I bought 12 Sq metres.

There was plenty of parking space at the back of the market and I was actually able to park right next to where the turf was loaded onto the back of my pickup.

When I laid it, only 1 turf had a lump missing, so I was pleased with it.

Thanks again.

Beardog, thanks very much for the feedback.

Thanks Anthony5 for the feedback.

That is where I went some years ago to buy my turf. The trouble is, from where I live which is about 10 km north of Pattaya, I think it is a 60+ KM round trip though and I only want 10 Square Metres - so I was hoping to get it from North Pattaya market instead. I have also read about the chaos on the Sukhumvit due to the new underpass construction so I would much rather stay this side of Pattaya if possible.

If I went to the market at around midday, do you think they would still have some turf left, or would it be better to leave it until next Friday?

I was planning to go tomorrow (sunday) and buy some turf at the market opposite the Bangkok Pattaya Hospital in North Pattaya.

I have just read on another thread, that they only sell grass on Friday and Saturday. The thread was dated 2012, so I was hoping someone could please let me know if this is still the case and possibly save me a wasted journey.

Thanks for you help.

nong38, I read your post with some interest. I wasn't going to reply as this thread is about who we are going to vote for. However, I keep seeing posted that savers like me are having a hard time and we should do 'something else with our money'. You conclude that the 'era for savings has gone'.

This is just wrong.

In February 2012, just before the Funding For Lending (FLS) scheme came along, I was able to get 4.5 per cent on my cash savings in a 5 year savings account with Lloyds TSB.

Rates have come down since mid 2012, due mainly to FLS, but just before Christmas I had some funds mature and invested them in a 3 year savings account with Nationwide at 2.25 percent.

As I have a reasonable pension pot, the income from these savings is more than enough for me to live on.

I don't have to do anything apart from fill in a form now and then to open a new account when one account matures. I don't pay any tax in the UK as I am non-resident.

This is so simple, why would I want to 'not rely on interest to get me through life'?

What is really nice, is that I don't have to deal with HMRC in the UK, nor deal with tenants had I decided to become a BTL landlord.

When you say '... certainly you should not now rely on the interest to help you get through life, that era has gone', it reminds me of the comments made by Gordon Brown that there would be 'No return to Boom and Bust'.

Totally wrong, as these things always have and always will go in cycles.

So it is just a case of 'when' not 'if' savings rates will go up.

In the meantime 2 percent is fine.

For anyone reading this who is not financially secure then believe me, I have every sympathy and am certainly not trying to 'big up' how great my life is or how lucky I am to have savings etc... I have known what it is like to be skint and it isn't nice at all.

It is simply that I get a bit fed up with so many people telling me I should be doing something else with my money - quite often it is written in such a way as to suggest I am a bit 'simple' when it comes to investing money. Perhaps it is simply that I am not greedy and I feel I have more than enough already.

Eff1n2Ret, it is a pity there isn't online voting, I am trying to think of someone that I could ask to be a proxy. When I first came out here I did not think it right that I vote as I was no longer in the country.

However, as it seems I am to be affected by UK government policy with regards to bank interest savings rates, taxation, impact on exchange rates, the state pension, NHS access etc .., then I really do still need to be involved.

You didn't say who you will be voting for.

As we are brainstorming, I have been considering learning Thai to a higher level and thought about going to University to study Thai.

Would you find that interesting, having the university experience as well.

I speak, read and write Thai quite well, but do not feel I am fluent.

I have no idea what this would cost, nor the type of language course it would offer.

Does anyone have any knowledge of this area, ie university Thai language courses. I am living here on a marriage extension and could get an extension based on retirement if I needed, so this would be a genuine desire to learn Thai to a higher level and not as a way to stay in Thailand on an Ed Visa or whatever.

I am not sure you can vote online. Before Xmas I registered online as an overseas voter with Chelmsford City council where I used to live before I came to live in Thailand 12 years ago.

They sent me a form to fill in to designate if I wanted to appoint a proxy voter (ie someone to vote for me in the UK), or I could vote myself and they would send me the voting form by post 11 days before polling day - I had to return the voting form before polling day.

Anyway, as a test, on February 2nd, I asked the person at CC council to send me the registration form by post, to see if a form could arrive here with enough time to be returned within 11 days.

It is now the 14th and the 'test' form has not even arrived yet!

So, as I suspected, if I want to vote then I will have to appoint a proxy.

When I vote, as I cannot vote 'none of the above', then I will vote UKIP. Mainly as a protest, but I chose them as they seem to have a lot of ideas (I have not seen their actual policies yet) that ring true with me.

I normally would vote Tory, but I am livid at them for several policies, in particular their Funding for Lending Scheme (FLS). This is THEIR policy (not the Bank Of England) and for those of you who are not aware of this little bit of 'trickery', read about it and realise it is the real/ major reason that interest rates on (my) savings are so low!

Happy voting, whoever wins it I hope it is not another coalition!

Ubonjoe. Loppylugs1, thanks for the feedback. The cost and effort seems quite reasonable, a good excuse for a short trip to Bangkok as well.

Thanks again

edit: just read the link posted by Ubonjoe, so I can do it all by post - simple.

I currently have an annual extension based on marriage. When I get my UK state pension, then I will have 3 pensions; 2 company pensions and the UK state pension.

At that time I am thinking of extending each year based on retirement, as it is claimed to be 'easier' to do rather than the extension based on marriage and I won't have to have 400k in the bank. However, it seems I have to go to Bangkok, to the British Embassy there, to get my pensions documents notarized.

Could someone who has done this please confirm/tell me if:-

1. I have to make an appointment at the British Embassy, travel to Bangkok in person and pay 50 pounds per pension document, so total is 150 pounds.

2. Each notarized pension document is usable for just one year, so has to be re-notarized each year.

3. Is it really any 'easier' than the extension based on marriage, after all for the marriage extension I just have to take some photos, visit the local amphur and jump through some hoops, but only in Pattaya, I don't need to travel to Bangkok. I do not have to deposit 400k in the bank though, so not having to do this may be the reason people really like it?

Thanks for your help

I believe they have run out of the antidote that they used to successfully treat the previous returning health care victims in the UK and USA. Yes, let's hope she pulls though with the new treatments they are trying.