Drumbuie

If I'd died at 60, I'd have missed the absolute joy of grandchildren. Now I want to live as long as I'm able (in both senses of the word) in order to see how they turn out.

Get a maid. Cheaper than a gadget in the long run and more environmentally friendly 🙂

Floors get dirty during the *day* - every day. Clean it when it needs it and if you're cooking and eating in a place it gets dirty surprisingly fast. Plus people shed small amounts of hair and skin cells as they move around, dust falls out of the air 24/7 and if you have a pet....😱

Live and study in Ayutthaya, take the train into Bangkok for entertainment at weekends.

They weren't condemning our European neighbours, they were satirising the peculiarly English arrogance that Farage later amplified (for his own benefit). Judging by the responses to this thread, it is still thriving. If you were still in the UK and a load of economic migrants ( for that is what many farangs are) fetched up in your home town and started strutting around like they owned it, complaining about the way you did everything, getting drunk and sh*gging your female relatives whenever they could...how would you feel about them? As Burns wrote, "Oh would some god the giftie gie us, to see ourselves as others see us"

There is a growing ( ha!) problem of obesity in Asia. Even ten years ago it was rare to see an Asian who was more than plump. Now there are a noticeable number who are definitely clinically obese. And all airlines are doing this because there are so many people who weigh much more than the average ( 70kg). Having sat next to people who were so fat they took up half my seat as well as their own on both legs of the last long haul flight I took, it can't happen too soon. They should have to pay extra for wider seats.

All waiting staff in every country in the world gossip about customers, good and bad. The bad customers are the ones who are demanding, rude and don't tip. Let me assure you that there are ways of wreaking quiet revenge on bad customers. Good customers get the best service in places they eat regularly. Waiters and waitresses are people earning a living doing a pretty boring job. Treat them likrfellow humans and they'll treat you like one too. A smile costs nothing, for a start.

I don't know whether you've offended anyone here but you've definitely advanced the cause of Irish reunification a notch or two.

Vlad, I should think. In the black vault next to the Boris Johnson dossier..

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2021/5/18/mapping-israeli-occupation-gaza-palestine "Do as you would be done by" works both ways.

Most folk tales and most religions say so. Let's put it another way ; if you lived your life being unkind to people, what would you expect to happen? Would you feel good about yourself? Would you expect other people to help you when things fall apart?

It was a terrible deal, done in a hurry for electoral reasons, not economic ones, and very poorly negotiated by the British side who acted like a baby in a high chair, banging their spoon and screaming "I want....!!!" . A tactic which may be ok at Eton ( though I somehow doubt it) or in the Bullingdon Club ( more like it) , but out in the real world beyond the M25 (let alone the Channel) that is not how international negotiation works. The other useless tactic they favoured was " ignore it and it'll go away", particularly regarding the Good Friday Agreement. Now, in the years since Brexit, immigration has increased and the Tories are now considering special visas to attract more people from South Asia. And the NHS, far from getting the "savings" from leaving the EU is seriously understaffed ( many staff were EU citizens) and nearly bankrupt. Not quite what was written on the side of that bus, is it?

Nothing compensates for the loss of a child. Nothing. But in a way, he's lost his child too. I wish I thought that in her place I could summon up the greatness of soul ( magnanimity) that woman has shown.

I've just transferred visa extension stamps at CW; they gave me a form to fill in at reception but I'm not absolutely sure it was the same form as that. T The officer in section L asked for an up to date bank statement covering the previous three months -which is not on that list of documents. However the officer didn't ask for the TM30, which is on that list. As ever, it is what it is with immigration; best to take everything with you just in case.

You need to get the stamps transferred beforehand if you want to file the 90 day report online. I did mine last week at CW and submitted the 90 day report online the same evening. As Dr Jack says, updated bank account information is important - that was what they paid the most detailed attention to during the process of moving the stamps to the new passport.

Oh, dear. The "stuff" that is taken out is nutrients. What's left is just calories - and a fast track to diabetes.

Sounds like the same kind of inter-terminal transport as they have in Dubai. What's not to understand?

The tax regime for interest in the UK has changed; it's considerably more complicated and if you already have an occupational pension on top of a state pension, plus some UK savings and/or investments, you will almost certainly find your savings income is liable to tax at 20%. HMRC has quite a broad interpretation of the term "savings interest" too. Keeping just over £18,000 (at current exchange rates) on deposit in Thailand and showing proof of it once a year is very simple; for the sake of saving £700 or so, or less if you're a higher rate taxpayer, after tax, it's not worth faffing around with proof of monthly income, particularly if that income fluctuates ( as mine does).

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/thailand-tax-treaties If you'd like to gen up on the current UK/Thailand double taxation agreement, here it is. I haven't read it yet but suspect it cannot be unilaterally altered.

It's OK, I'm from the Highlands of Scotland where "manana" is considered to be altogether too immediate a concept..

I went to Chaeng Wattana to have my extension and return permit stamps transferred to my new passport. Reception lady gave me a form to fill in and nodded me through to get a ticket for L section. Whiled away the morning till lunch (great market in the central section this week, btw). Mid-afternoon, my number came up for Desk 27 where they said I needed bank statements for the last three months for my 800k savings account. Ordered online from Bangkok Bank, a quick run downstairs and they were printed out at the print shop*. An hour or so later, was called to counter 35 where the young lady in uniform wanted, in addition to the printed bank statements (dated that day) and the copies of the relevant passport pages, a mini-statement from the ATM (in case I'd withdrawn all the money since the bank statement was printed? who knows? ) so I ran back downstairs for that. She photocopied it, made me sign it, and added it to the growing file. A bit more waiting, a bit more paper shuffling, then she started collecting a huge array of stamps and using them on both passports. (Meanwhile the grumpy old guy at the next desk started shouting, "I'm single! I'M SINGLE!!!" . The officer, her supervisor and I caught each others' eyes and tried not to laugh; I'm afraid we were not entirely successful.) One last, short wait till the (I'm assuming) section head officer checked and passed her work and we were done and dusted. Registering for the TM47 (I used Google Chrome) later that evening took no time at all; immediate email acknowledgement, status now showing online as PENDING. * In previous visits for my visa extension due to retirement I've gone to my bank on the way to CW to get them to print out the confirmation that funds were received from overseas, but I didn't think that would be necessary for this activity. Not sure what financial info, if any, they would need for transferring the stamps - I couldn't find a page on the Immigration website that dealt with this, didn't have the time to sift through these forums to find the correct info - I waited. In my dealings with Immigration I've always found them patient and helpful and yesterday was no exception. They have a boring, repetitive job dealing with actual mountains of paperwork, and stressed, confused foreigners of all nationalities day in, day out, and I wouldn't do it for ten times whatever they're paid. [Hope that's enough - but not too much - information]

Don't forget the standing charge: where I used to live, where the wind turbines and hydro schemes that generate electricity to export down to England are, it's the highest in the UK. Currently 64p ( around 28 baht) a day, or 845 baht a month. Plus, of course, VAT.

The UK Banks all had to be bailed out by the government in 2008 as they'd made very, very unwise investments. UK taxpayers paid the price. Interest rates in the UK are high because the Bank of England raised base rate in a misguided attempt to stifle what some have termed "greedflation". Inflation in the UK is eroding the value of your £ by more than the 5.2%+ interest you're getting on your deposit...

That pain is a warning sign that you need to change something now. 1) Buy a pair ( or two) of FitFlops which are not only comfortable but also support your feet and very gradually encourage the bones into a better position. Fitflop make slides and sandals as well as more conventional styles. 2) to ease the pain now, apply one of the yellow balms with ginger and other anti- inflammatory ingredients at night and first thing. That way you may be able to avoid surgery on the bunions. Good luck!

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mrigadayavan_Palace "Restrained and elegant" was what the client wanted.