Robin

If it is any consolation, when this happened to me, DWP automatically pay the missed pension with out being asked.. if you post the form, best to phone and check that they have received it . Sad fact is; DP do not want to pay your pension. In their world, you should have died soon after reaching pensionable age.

Another point to note is that if you claim our UK pension from overseas, your pension is frozen at the rate when you claim. No cost of living or other increases, as given to UK residents automatically. This is a far greater injustice than having to fill in an onerous form. Also remember to give DWP your address overseas; every year they send you a letter asking if you are still alive. Unless you reply to this, confirming you are alive, your pension is stopped automatically, with no further notification. (you are presumed dead.) The only way you know this, is when your pension is stopped.. At least if you then show signs of life, your pension resumes with all the missed payments made up. Remember that DWP want you to die , or appear to be dead, as soon as possible. UK pensions are only financially viable if you die soon after reaching pensionable age. I believe that a UK MP has been trying to get overseas residents eligible for the same increases as Uk residents get.

Could someone suggest a supplier of Twin+earth cable. All my attempts at buying such in Thailand have been met with blank looks (Why do you want a third wire?) When I did my house, or re-made what the Thai Elect had done, I brought a cable reel from UK. handy o know where I can get more able now.

Covid is being used by the Government, pushed by the Rich Elite, to get rid of the side of Thailand they do not like:- Bars and Sex tourism. But men will always want to have sex with pretty girl, and some will pay for the chance. Thailand offers many prety girls with not much chance of earning a living by conventional means, so they have to turn to prostitution. Some business men will see a chance to join the two together in the most profitable way. Puritanical governments are not going to stop this. Nor will Covid. The bar scene will be back in some form. Look at the failure of prohibition in the US.

Just how are 1 M. going to get to Pattaya? Or even through Swampy? Unless all quarantine and PCR testing is to be abandoned for the event, many millions more spent of charter flights to U-Tapao airport... Total fantasy; stupid even for TAT

What cost the compulsory PCR Test on arrival, and ASCQ hotel? What cost the insurance, not mentioned by Anutin.? What about the compulsory tracking app? There is plenty of money to be made from these millions of tourists.

I would advise the O/P to keep as many options open as possible. Consider renting out your house in Oz, unless you need the capital from selling. I can only speak from UK experience, but I keep an apartment there, rented out on an annual basis, using a rental agent. Offers somewhere to escape to if Thailand becomes impossible, plus an income and some capital appreciation. Do not burn all your bridges until you are certain about life in Thailand. We have a farng in ou village who sold all his UK property to move to Thailand some years ago. Now his marriage has broken up and he has nowhere to go. His children do not want him as he has no money , and nowhere to go back in his home country. keep as many options open as possible.

Why, in rural areas, does the electric supply always go off during rain storms. Here in Phayao it is normal for the electric supply to go off soon after the rain or thunder starts and remain off for 3-4 hours. it happens so consistently that there must be a known fault with the system, so why is it not fixed. When I lived in Bangkok, it never happened, but here in Phayao it seems to be normal. Why? No hope of ixing the problem, bu I would like to know why.

Most Thai think that Noise = Power; So the nosier thy can make their puny little step-through, the more powerful nd faster it will be.. Also, i think that Thai built silencers are noisier that original equipment, and cheaper. Thai police will ignore any bike with noisy exhaust, unless desperate for some money

There could be a good reason why most floors are tiled; Thais understand how to do this. (well sort of; make sure you use non-slip flooring tiles, not the cheaper shiny wall tiles.)

May not be relevant now, but I applied for CoE on Dec 23, and had a positive reply on 26 Dec. I was surprised at how quick this was. I think that the replies were automated, so make sure you have everything right on your application, or it will be rejected. No human intelligence to help you here. Insurance: I guess just pick the cheapest. I booked my flight through Expedia, which I always use. For CoE I used the airline reservation form, not anything from Expedia. Can't see why Booking .com is excluded, but TIT. Good luck with this application. I found 14 day quarantine harder work than I expected, but worth it to get back to my family.

Wife want to be rid of her farang husband: Suggest that her lover visits while she is out of the way, ( drink in bed,) Lover can kill husband and disappear. ife finds body and call police. She has an alibi, lover nowhere to be seen. Quickly hushed up as husband shot by unknown intruder, brown envelop ensure police do not look very far.. Grieving widow gets house, husband's insurance, and freedom. Another mystery death of farang in rural Thailand, nobody is goin to ask questions about. So easy to organise. Has the Swiss husband got any family who will want to investigate this? Probably not, and wife knew this. It could happen to any one of us reading this forum?

I have been visiting for over 30 yrs and living here for more than 20. I do not think that Thailand will get to real democracy until the Thai public wake up and stop accepting second-rate politicians, nd realize that it is in their power to do something about this. A Free Press and Free speech would be a start, but the ruling Elite know that thy dare not let this happen. As long as there is no leader to lead the masses, then nothing will happen. St Petersburg 1917 would be a good place to start, but Thailand does not have a Marx or Lenin to lead the uprising. Be thankful for what has improved:- We can now make international phone calls at will, read uncensored news on the internet. Taxis have meters that work, and it is possible to walk through customs at the airport without having your luggage searched.

I have been renewing Retirement visa at Phayao for 4-5 years, previously a Chiang Rai, nd never any mention of proof of my residence or wife. I always have my wife with me at IO, so she can answer any questions in Thai. Since I have had a Tambien Ban (yellow Book) I take that with me to Immigration, but never been asked for it. This year I made an appointment with I/O for visa extension nd was given a list of required documents, all to do with proof of bank balance, which bank supplied. If I remember rightly, getting a Tambien Ban required photos of house etc.. One year wife had to describe, in Thai, where our house was. I guess that each I/O makes up the rules as they go, depending on how difficult they want to be

Don' even think of using a 'local contractor/handyman, for any work. Only use experienced labour from your builder. it might seem cheaper to use local labour, but it will cost you in the years to come. I have had to re-do virtually everything in my house done by local 'experts' Thai electricians are the worst. As is anything done in the 'Thai way.'

Confused, and worried. I have had the 'standard' Thai vaccine of Sinovac + Astra Zeneca, but I see that this 'mixed dose is not accepted by UK as sufficient for non-quarantine entry. ( My understanding of UK entry requirements is vaccine of 2 doses of he same. I am on a list at local private hosp. for thsi Moderna Vaccine, whihc I was hoping would allow me back to UK. Now what?

As PM at the time, it would have been reasonable for Taksin to approve a purchase recommended by his transport minister and the board of THAI. If he had not approved it he could have bee accused of interfering with the running of THAI. May airlines fly these aircraft profitably on the same routes that THAI did. The fault is THAI's Trying to blame Taksin is this junta trying to make trouble and shows they are still afraid of Taksin and his cronies. THAI has proved over the years it is quite capable of making a loss without any government interference.

Recently I have had 2 deliveries from DHL. First was new debit card from UK. Delivered correctly but driver left without asking for a signature,. Second was item ordered on line. Sent DHL tracking number by supplier and eventually delivered. Again driver left without asking for o getting a signature. Thsi package had been opened and re-sealed and contents stolen. When I contacted supplier, they were not surprised and claim to be sending a repeat order. Just what are DHL Thailand up to. I cannot believer tha they deliver packages nd do not want the receiver to sign for receipt. How do they think that they have evidence of delivery? I thought that DHL were a respectable company that could be relied on to delive securely, but not it seems in Thailand. No better than Thai Post. Beware!

A list of the places that can issue the Certificate would be very useful. When I had my vacc., I showed my passport , but no mention of this International Cert. I did get my passport number included on my Vaccination Cert.

if you want to keep cat as a pet, you have to allow it to live a normal life. For any cat that includes catching birds, geckos and any other small creature. it is no for food, it is for sport and following his instinct. if you cannot accept this, you should not think of having a cat. male cats will mate with female cats when they are on heat. A short visit to the vets will cure this and normally make the male better tempered. Domesticating a feral cat is a matter of where its parents came from. If it is a domestic ca gone wild, probably deserted by its owners, it has domestication in its genes and will tame easily. A completely feral cat might not be so easy. Depends how far back its ancestors were domestic. Any cat needs the trace elements and vitamins it gets from eating wild prey, so let it live as it want to. You can never totally tame a cat; it will stay with you as long as it wants to and leave when it suits it.

Got my vacc. cert. last Friday. Then noticed that my passport number was not on cert, and that my date of birth was wrong. Went back to hospital where vaccination was done and aske for details to be changed. No problem. Took passport and asked what I wanted on new cert. 10 minutes and back with new certificate with passport number and date of birth correct, nd my name in English. No charge and no fuss. When vaccination was done, such crowds and such chaos that did no check what as on certificate. Easy to put right. With hindsight, I should have checked what was on the paper as I went through the system.

If the mob wont change, they will have to offer a new leader who can inspire the population and convince them that he can lead Thailand out of this crisis. That has been Thailand's problem for years; There is no leader with the ability to take charge of the country, just opportunists who want to feather their own nests.

Yesterday I was given my second jab at the local hospital (Chun.) That is the government approved vaccine. Sinovac + Astra Zeneca. I now have a piece of paper, mainly in Thai, which seems to indicate that I have been vaccinated. But.... Nowhere on the paper is my name in English, nor does it refer to my Passport for identification. There is an "ID Card Number" which bears no relationship to any document I have, neither UK Passport, or Thai Tambien Ban. It also has my date of birth wrong. Actual vaccination was chaos, with multitude of 'helpers' filling in forms for everyone, and no opportunity to check what was being written. Mainly, I suspect, because most of the vaccinees were local farmers who had difficulty in reading or writing. Any suggestions as to how to get this paper converted into some official document that will be accepted by UK immigration to allow back into my own country.

Wife bought one 'to try.' Like most things in Thailand it 'Sort of Works.' if loaded with ice or the frozen block that it comes with, it will cool a bedroom in the evening, and can be used as a fan when sleeping. Nothing like as good as a real Aircon, but probably cheaper to run. marginally better than the ceiling fan we had before. Given the choice, I would not buy one, but like a lot here 'Better than Nothing"

Fit to Fly as requested by Thailand when I got my CoE was load of nonsense, probably copied from a medical somewhere. Include the option to have to fly Business Class nd wheel chair assistance. What I actually had was the words "Fit to Fly" on my negative PCR Covid test don before flying. This appeared to e standard on the 'negative Covid' report I got. Accepted by Airline and authorities on my journey to Thailand.