prakhonchai nick

Nobody is forced to work for any employer.

If the working conditions, pay and other benefits are unsatisfactory to them, they may leave and seek employment elsewhere.

Quite, in my entire working history I have never expected to be provided food at my employers expense, or expected them to pay for me to get to and from my place of employment.

If they asked me to wear a crap uniform and perform some form of company song in front of customers however, that may be grounds for a complaint.

No grounds for complaint Thad if it was a condition of employment at the outset and you accepted.

27 baht per

hour and they never get tips like in other restaurant...

we/you can eat so cheap in this country because restaurants earn big money but pays their employees a very very small salary

They are not forced to work there! When will all you whiners realise that!

27bt an hour is above the minimum wage- and it's easy work.

Let them accept or look elsewhere. There's easy money to be made in Pattaya if they prefer!

Had to "Force" them to eat instant noodles? I call BS!

Let me help you grasp this translation, forced as in all they can afford. Instant noodles are inexpensive. No one held a gun to an employee's head. figurative not literal.

Let me help you grasp this as well.( Without the condescending bull shit) They applied for this job. KFC did not force them to work there. KFC did not hunt them down and say you must work for this amount of money. I have worked in the restaurant biz all over the world for 25 years and every one gets a meal and there are no leftovers. Dont like it get out! Dont apply and then whine about the farang making so much money or the Chinese, holy cow. Its every bodies fault but the staffs. They are being trained in an entry level position and are younger Thais. This is job is designed for uneducated people to get a job and have pocket money. It is not designed to raise a family. Staff wanting a payout from the man, no doubt. Ever wonder why it takes five times the amount of staff here than any where else. Maybe that's why pay is so little because staff is so week. Employee meals are a bonus unless written into the work contract which probably is because the Thai government makes it so. Ever try to fire a bad Thai employee? Even with due cause you have to pay them for 2 months salary. They steal from you and you fire them , You have to pay as they run to the employment office and cry about being fired and "no one told them they weren't supposed to steal"!. The government and my lawyers tell me i still must pay!" Farang never win in emlpoyee termination hearing"! It has happened many, many times. The cost of employee theft is exorbitant as well. There are many out side jobs that they can consider that dont have air con and the such. Pay is less as well.To say they are not happy with their work environment, hand me a tissue

Totally agree.

Nobody is forced to work for any employer.

If the working conditions, pay and other benefits are unsatisfactory to them, they may leave and seek employment elsewhere.

i did know about this its for another adult that depends on you for suport[page 75 in the pension guide] my wife gets more income from property rent than i get pension so i depend on her.

You are a very fortunate man.

I can recommend the CAT package. Works well in the Buriram rural villages. Buy the kit - install yourself then 836bt a month.

I prefer a cold shower while temperatures are over 20 degrees.

I doubt you had cold showers when in Hong Kong recently. I seem to recall you mentioning elsewhere that you were suffering from frozen <deleted>!

I have a good BB conection and pay 300 bht a month for True Platimum,, seems ok to me,,

OK Lickey, I'll bite. 300 baht a month for True Platinum, how do you do that?

Hi IA, will send you PM with all details, Cheers Lickey.

Hi Lickey

Would you care to let me in on this info too

Thanks Nick

Majic and Cardholder have both raised good points.

If Pension is deferred for less than 1 year, when claimed you will receive the then in force pension payment + a 1% increase for every 5 weeks of deferral. However you will have received no pension during the deferral period. The small weekly additional increase will take years to make up for the weeks/months during which you had pension.

If Pension is deferred for 1 year or more. You can either receive a lump sum payment of the weekly pension you would have received with the 1% addition for every 5 weeks of deferral, and then take the pension at the current weekly rate OR you can have an increased pension with no lump sum. The problem with the latter is that it will take a very very long time to break even since you received no pension for at least 1 year.

So basically if you wish to defer, do so for a minimum of 1 year and take the lumps sum and the pension at the then current rate. No loss - around 10% increase on the year (Taxable) + any pension increase payable during the deferral period.

Bereavement Benefits is the collective name for the 3 benefits which may be payable upon death

First is the Bereavement Grant of £2000 (minimum 1 NI contribution required to receive this)

Then comes the Widowed Parents Allowance. This is NOT age related. It is payable if your widow (or widower) is bringing up children. Normally payable up to age 20 if the child is receiving secondary education (not university). This is based on NI contributions and unlike the current state pension where 30 NI contributions are required for full pension, 44 contributions are still required for full benefit. The point about deferring the state pension, is that this benefit would also be higher had you deferred prior to death.

Finally there is Bereavement Allowance. This is payable only to those over 45, and for only 1 year. Again based on NI contributions which will increase slightly if state pension had been deferred.

IMO You are correct in your last statement above.

They are merely playing the Percentages Game of "Life Expectancy"the very same game that the Life Insurance Companies (who have 150 + years of Death Records) that calculate your "Life Expectancy"

So for the sake of their scheme keeping in Profit,you are expected to die,before you have clawed back the extra Pension deal,let alone,live long enough to make a profit by ones decision to defer ones Pension.

Calculated Risk! in other words more lose than gain,the basis of most financial risk services.

Indeed a calulated risk

If you defer for 1 year plus you will receive a lump sum with interest at 10% plus AND the increased pension declared on 6th April

However if you should die within the first year you/your family will lose out by virtue of bot having received any payments during that year.

Bear in mind however if Bereavement benefits are payable following your death, these will benefit from having deferred, and will be 1% higher for every 5 weeks of deferral.

As long as you defer for at least 1 year take the Lump Sum and NOT a higher pension AND do not die within the first year of deferral, you should win.

i might have got it wrong,first what is adi,i have got 6additionals on my pension calcalation they sent me,but maybe i cant claim it wife has income from property she has in the uk i know i had to fill in about 20pages of questions from the time i left school i think the only question they didnt ask me was what age was i when i had my first sexual encounter.

ADI is Additional Dependants Increase. This WAS payable for the benefit of wives or someone caring for your children.

It was only claimable until 5th April 2010 provided you reached 65 before then. If you deferred claiming your basic pension until after 5th April 2010 you would not be able to claim ADI.The benefit is payable until 5th April 2020 (unless your wife claims her own state pension prior to this or dies), and is worth around £57 frozen pounds a week.

The amount could be less if your wife was working -I'm not sure how they would regard property income. However, since you claimed your state pension only this year, you would not have been entitled to ADI anyway.

If by chance you had any contact with the Pension Dept before 5th April 2010 and you were told you could not claim extra benefit for your wife (as many expats were) then you might have a case against them to have the benefit paid.

i reached 65 in march2010,i defered my pension till march2011,you can either have it in a lump sum or an increase weekly from the date you claim,as others have posted it will take 10years to get back the defered amount,if you are a non tax payer it makes sence to take the lump sum,like i did for tax purpuses year ending 2010-2011,if you go into the next tax year the lump sum will be added to that year.

I hope Meatboy, you were not given incorrect information.

Since you were 65 in March 2010, then if you were married, you could have claimed ADI for your wife. By deferring your pension beyond 5th April 2010, you lost the right to claim ADI

yes i did get adi.

I am more than curious meatboy. I am currently trying to help someone obtain ADI who's application sent before the deadline became lost, and Pension Dept refuse to consider a fresh claim submitted after 6th April 2010, despite specifically asking for one to be submitted.

Since you deferred until March 2011, how were you able to claim ADI, since the last date for claiming was 5th April 2010.

Thanks for the advice 'prakhonchai nick', reading your posts I suspect you have more than a layman's knowledge.

I cannot imagine that their call centre staff are instructed to give out false, or at least misleading, information, but either way it's a pretty sorry state of affairs as people rely on accurate information to plan their future.

Conceivably the call centre staff have inadequate training, and when faced with a caller from overseas probably take the easy option of saying they are not entitled.

I have personally assisted 4 expats here in Thailand to obtain their ADI after they were each initially told they were not entitled because they and their wives were in Thailand. I wonder how many others were not so fortunate.

i reached 65 in march2010,i defered my pension till march2011,you can either have it in a lump sum or an increase weekly from the date you claim,as others have posted it will take 10years to get back the defered amount,if you are a non tax payer it makes sence to take the lump sum,like i did for tax purpuses year ending 2010-2011,if you go into the next tax year the lump sum will be added to that year.

I hope Meatboy, you were not given incorrect information.

Since you were 65 in March 2010, then if you were married, you could have claimed ADI for your wife. By deferring your pension beyond 5th April 2010, you lost the right to claim ADI

Further to the above. whilst there is a large increase in the weekly pension payable by deferring, there is a massive loss from not claiming immediately

My advice is to defer for 5 weeks if that will see you able to receive the April 6th increase then claim and it will take some 4/5 years to recoup the loss. Otherwise defer if you wish for a minimum of 1 year and take the Lump Sum., but far better to have the money immediately and make your own investments.

Over the past 2/3 years the Pension Dept have regularly given out incorrect information to Thailand Expats. Their most glaring lie was to tell those claiming pension prior to 6th April 2010 that they were not eligible to claim extra benefit for their wives (ADI) since they were not in the UK. Since the benefit was worth around 1.5 million baht over 10 years it was a huge loss to those who believed what they were told.

Now they are telling lies again

The pension payable is that which is current when you claim, not that applying when you reach pensionable age.

http://www.pensionsadvisoryservice.org.uk/state-pensions/deferring

Extra Pension

By deferring your State Pension, your income is increased at a rate of 1% for every 5 weeks you put off drawing it. This equates to 10.4% extra for a complete year of deferment.

For example let us suppose that an individual decided to defer their State Pension in 2008 when their total State Pension was £110 a week for a total of 2 years. Also let us suppose that during these 2 years the April increases in State Pension amounts meant that their total State Pension had risen to £120 a week. Then on claiming after 2 years this individual would receive their regular pension of £120 a week plus an Extra State Pension amount of £24.96 per week (i.e. 20.8% of £120). This gives a total state pension, after 2 years of deferment, of £144.96 per week.

It seems to me deferring the Pension is not too generous.

The loss of 5 weeks pension @ £102 = £510

The exchange is for + 1% which equals £102 + 1% = £103.02 a gain of £1.02 per week

It will take 500 weeks x 1.02 to break even on your Pension loss of £510, or (9.61 years) instead of taking it on the day of retirement.

But perhaps I have missed something here?

Of course it would be a good deal if we knew how long we have left on this Planet,which the Government have done there Maths,as the Life Insurance Companies do.

Personally I'm taking my Pension from my 65th Birthday,and not a day later!

If you defer the pension for less than 1 year, you receive a 1% increase for each 5 weeks of deferral, and are then paid the current pension rate when you claim. NOT THAT APPLYING WHEN YOU REACHED PENSION AGE.

The longer you defer during the initial year the longer it will take to recoup what you have lost -if ever!

BUT if you defer for more than 1 year, you can claim a lump sum payment for the deferred period, (taxable!) and currently receive the pension at the current rate when you claim.

It is only worth considering deferrment for a few weeks so as to be able to receive the April 6th pension increase, (ie having a birthday in March) but even a 5 week deferral will likely take 4 years to recoup.

I am told you have a big pond on your property Cardholder. Perhaps you could fill it with some fish.

I think they are past their sell by date. Villagers, if they had any sense, would realise that they need to go to the amphur to deal with any local problems. The puyai baan merely does things on their behalf, for which he is "rewarded"

In my village, apart from spouting over the loudspeakers every morning, he frequently negotiates on behalf of villagers with the motorbike shops when they need a new bike on finance. A nice little earner!

I think they are past their sell by date. Villagers, if they had any sense, would realise that they need to go to the amphur to deal with any local problems. The puyai baan merely does things on their behalf, for which he is "rewarded"

In my village, apart from spouting over the loudspeakers every morning, he frequently negotiates on behalf of villagers with the motorbike shops when they need a new bike on finance. A nice little earner!

Perhaps if the tour guide had been on time instead of 1 hour late, this shooting would not have occurred.

I'm sure we have all been angry on many occasions due to the Thais lack of time-keeping.

Cooking oil has quadrupled in price,

Inflation is a bitch isn't it

Not sure where you buy your cooking oil, but it hasn't quadrupled in price in recent times. Not even doubled! It may be 4 times what it was 50 years ago though!

Pouring water over anyone at any time is common assault, but since it is part of Thai childish culture one has to accept it during the authorised days. However if one is "assaulted" at other times, I consider it fair to take suitable action against the aggressor! This should not be physical violence against the person, but I see no reason why the offending weapon should not be rendered inoperable.

Are the 2 bowling alleys in Korat still open? I believe one was in the Mall.

Anyone fleeing the scene after an accident (regardless of who is to blame)should automatically receive a prison sentence. Knowing that, I imagine most would hang about.