DaLa

He'd have to save first for the whopping excess baggage charge.

That and I have enough trouble knowing when to stop without having a fully laden bar downstairs muttering 'drink me ...drink me' at 4 AM.

What if you don't believe in the big man? I believe in the two small Thai men that have just treated me for cancer though.

I'm all for the right of free speech. I do not support some of the recent events in the UK where protesters have blocked the roads and supported violent vocal attacks. Thankfully I can live here in los without the angst that is building in the UK. Some of the problems of the UK are being voiced by Tommy Robinson and his supporters and to label him as simply a troublemaker is ignoring those issues.

Would it make more sense to lobby the Thai government to enter into a reciprocal social security agreement with the UK government. An increase in all those 'frozen' pensions would result in £ entering the country and ฿ in the economy. If the Philippines have the facility/legislation then it can't be rocket science for it to be introduced here.

Depends how you define or measure 'reciprocal'. My Thai wife has many male relatives and there is a great deal of respect shown in both directions between us. I'm old enough and known thousands of people in my life and I can tell what a persons opinion of me quite quickly. I visit several bars and restaurants where undoubtedly the owner welcomes my input into his/her bottom line but I wouldn't visit them more than once unless I felt that there was an underlying friendship between us. I can't say that's any different to my male 'friends' in the UK and certainly it's the same level of relationship with bars and restaurants there. In short I would say I do have meaningful relationships here in los with Thai males.

Anyone know if it's possible to buy access to the Thai Air Royal Silk lounge at Suvarnabhumi. I've waded through various web sites where there is a great deal of inf. on the t's & c's of use of the lounge and come up with a blank.

I may have used a completely different phrase personally. I presume Singapore Airline will give all the assistance , monetary and physically as they have a reputation to uphold. I can't give an opinion on the cause of the incident although generally turbulence is a given in air transport so mostly unavoidable and I would be surprised if there was any negligence by the crew.

Correct, dating apps don't work. Try bank apps, they work a dream.

Obviously the family didn't dine at the high table.

Not on £10k's worth of cancer treatment its not.

Wow, that many? Means I have another 249,985 to 'meet', and at 71 looks like I have a busy social life ahead of me.

Actually, it is possible. Try this . 3hours 40 minutes dragging your luggage. Should be fun in this temperature.

It's only just possible to walk to the end of a soi here, never mind BKK. Sorry I can't be more help other than to say it's at least 3-4 KM on the overhead road to the terminal by vehicle. Try dragging the little man down from the corner of google maps and see if it shows a route.

Will I still get my 'pom senior' 50% discount?

Careful with the wording on 'in' and 'out' patient. I've just had all in, 5 months of diagnosis, tests, treatments and follow ups for prostrate cancer. All but 1 night when I had a Biopsy was as an outpatient.

Have to agree with this and just to add, my PSA was 24 and Gleeson 9 when diagnosed. I am being treated by both the Urologist and the Radiotherapist specialists at Siriraj and the latter would not suggest the brachytherapy thus it was 28 shots on the Linac (1.5T 7MV) , which is the only one of its kind in South East Asia. I will never know whether the other options would have been more successful or create less after effects. My experience led to complications with my bowel and bladder that have since ( 2 months after completing treatment) have resolved to nearly 'normal' although the 3-4 bathroom visits a night are still required. Cost wise , all in was £10k and the level of care, equipment and surroundings although a public hospital felt like a private hospital. More importantly my PSA last measured at 0.6 although I haven't had any further scans to advise on the cancer cells, however the radiologist advised the 'shots' were accurate and were having the correct impact. I'm as strong now as I was before treatment, eating well and have put on 3 kilos, possibly due to the hormone treatments; which are fun with hot flashes in this heat. There's more if you want, but that's it in a nut shell, good luck with whatever course you choose.

Here's a thought on the subject seeing as we are picking dates to suit the rhetoric on the effect of 1 event. In December 1971 the £ was trading at $2.43. We joined the EU in January 1972 and from then until the UK left the organisation the £ sterling really did plummet , halved in value to £1.27. What does that say regarding the membership of the EU? Apply the same logic please.

So that would be an 11% 'crash' and a 13% gain since Brexit. Think positively. I do , that's how I run an international export/import business. I work around problems rather than finding them. By the way 37 baht to the £ was great for business and great for my customers in the UK.

Brexit occurred February 1st 2020 when the exchange rate for the Thai baht was 40.7 (apprx). Today it's 46.02 (apprx). That's a 13% increase in the exchange rate. Are some people getting a really poor exchange rate that leaves them 20% worse off? What is true is the rate of inflation in Thailand which I accept has devalued our purchasing power here. I'm struggling to see what effect Brexit had in Thailand.

Whilst I understand that that can certainly be the case, I would say its a bit of a generalisation. I know there are many reasons why people don't and can't create a personal strategy in the form of friends etc. but I would suggest it makes good sense to do so. I was recently diagnosed with cancer and the help from family (Thai) and certainly the numerous hospital staff was tremendous. I certainly wasn't on my own, and that wasn't by luck. Make a plan for the inevitable.

Thanks , I'll try it on my radiation burns from my cancer treatment. The itching has got progressively worse since I finished the course of radiotherapy. The heat here doesn't help,

It's an interesting and serious subject, there's a good deal of truism and reality to the problem funding the OAP. However I presume the OP isn't running for office in the UK or proposing this on behalf of any political party manifesto, bye bye deposit.

Cha Am or if you like spending hours in traffic ..Hua Hin.

Although the extra scrutiny could affect me as a retired and hopefully permanent fixture here, I welcome this. I left the UK partly because of the *hit hole it was deteriorating into; behave in Thailand and you can have a great life.