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Forgive me if these are stupid questions, but is there any advantage from buying a sim from AIS (or Airalo) over getting one on arrival (in my case in the UK)? When I've previously got one from such as Carphone Warehouse you get a local phone number. With the AIS sim what number can people call you on? What will calls to you cost them? I use a Dtac prepay here in Thailand, I see that they have a 'Go Travel' package 15GB for 30 days for 1176Baht, which would be all I need.

If your daughter is travelling from Thailand on a Thai passport only, she would be denied boarding without a visa. If she also has a passport for the country of her destination, that will satisfy the airline. When you book the flight, the small print says that it is your responsibility to have the correct visas. If you don't, they turn you away at checkin

Dual nationals applying to renew their UK passport must supply copies of both passports and the name in both passports must be the same. The instructions on the HMPO advice sheet say that the name in the foreign passport must be changed, but it's quite easy to change your UK name to your foreign name by deedpoll, which is what my wife did, as it would have been much more of a workup to change her Thai i/d, bank accounts and everything else in Thailand than the little she has remaining in the UK.

There seems to be a vast difference between the speed of dealing with online and paper applications. Maybe that's because online applications can be dealt with remotely, whilst the paper ones are piling up in empty offices? Unfortunately we in Thailand don't have the option of applying online.

150,000 UK State Pensioners in Thailand? Surely not. Probably more than that number spread around the world. If you are implying that apathy must be the reason why 100,000 signatures can not be achieved, it is just acceptance of a hopeless situation, and it's naive to think that a debate in Parliament would make any difference. In fact there was a debate a few years ago led by Sir Roger Gale, who chairs an All-Parliamentary Group on expat matters. I took a special interest because in the debate he read out most of an email I had sent him. There was cross-Party support, I can't remember all who spoke but one was Ian Blackford of the SNP. However, it was very thinly attended and the Government Minister just batted away our case with the same old arguments that they always use - and that was it, just a debate, no vote or anything. I'm afraid I lost the link to that debate and my email a long time ago. These petitions are a Blair con-job, and don't oblige the Government to do anything. Come election-time, writing to your MP or his/her rival candidates and making clear that you will only vote for someone who promises to do something about our grievance might concentrate minds a bit. Edit:- I've found the debate in Hansard:- State Pensions: UK Expatriates - Hansard - UK Parliament

The nav maps on my D Max were already out of date when I bought the vehicle over 12 years ago. I once tried updating the SD card on the Kenwood website, but it didn't want to know. I'm not really bothered now, Google Maps on the phone works for me.

You're getting it back soon. The fifteen years limitation to overseas voting was repealed at the end of April, so one hopes the local arrangements are in place before the next election. Having said that, our votes are spread across potentially 650 constituencies, so collectively we have no real influence. Also bear in mind that the only practical means of voting is by proxy, so you have to get your ducks in a row and register well before an election, finding someone to cast your vote for you. Having been away less than 13 years, I've never lost my vote, but the system does work.

Where are you going? A few days ago I got seats for July returning August on Thai Airways to London via Booking.com. Flexi economy tickets for two cost just short of 90k baht - far more than I've ever paid before, but as we've not been for 3 years I can just about afford it, and this time I too prefer the direct flight. Edit, sorry, just re-read the topic title.

I think the reason we keep banging on about it is the manifest unfairness of anachronistic arrangements which pay increases to some expats but not others. It's not because we choose to live abroad that we're not entitled, but because we choose to live in Thailand. It's perfectly reasonable to keep arguing the case for a change to those arrangements. Having said that, constantly submitting these naff petitions and expecting a different result from the last time echoes Einstein's definition of insanity.

Apart from the original statement when you first qualify for your pension, the only mail you get from the DWP is the "Proof of Life" certificate every two years or so. If you don't receive and return that, either because of poor mail delivery in your area of Thailand or because you've created a fictitious address in the Philippines, they will stop payment.

It is. I bet if you'd printed an extra copy of the page carrying your most recent extension stamp and labelled it "Proof of residence", it would have been accepted.

Police Order re O-A extensions is here:- Health insurance - Police Order 548/2562 Criteria - en.pdf - Google Drive There has been no "grandfathering" since the O-A visa was created.

Ditto here in Banchang, Rayong. Since the start of Covid (or so it seems) the service has collapsed. The first item I received since last summer was in February, a thank you letter for grandkids' Christmas presents - the envelope had been chewed by mice! By the way, OP or any UK non-residents, if you want to release savings from the ludicrous rates paid by UK banks, it is possible to open accounts paying a bit more in the Channel Islands or, I believe, the Isle of Man.

Aside from those who obtain citizenship or Permanent Residence we're all "Non-Immigrants" as far as Thailand is concerned, but if you are permanently living here UK authorities and banks, etc will regard you as non-resident and your Visa, Elite or otherwise, is of no interest to them. When I moved here 12 years ago, my bank (First Direct) and credit card (HSBC) were quite happy to maintain my accounts with a Thai address, and I still retain one ISA - BUT I can't open any new bank, cc or ISA accounts. It rather depends on your bank, some are more relaxed about retaining emigrating customers than others. It may depend on how long you've been with them or how much you keep on deposit. I still have a house in the UK, but as it's rented out I can't claim it as my address. If you still have friends or family in yours it might be possible to keep it as your address for banking and other purposes.

Income earned in the UK is subject to UK income tax, and it is deducted under the PAYE system from your pensions in the same way as if you were in a job there, subject to the £12k+ tax-free allowance. Some may choose to move their pensions abroad under so-called QROPS schemes, but this is not open to pensions paid by the Government, including the State Retirement Pension and any Civil Service or Local Government pensions. Edit:- Unless you have other income not deducted under PAYE, e.g. house rental income, you may not be required to submit a tax return as suggested above.

The European Court of Human Rights judgement to which the UK Government continues to cling as justification for its policy is here:- CARSON AND OTHERS v. THE UNITED KINGDOM (coe.int) Paras 41-48 provide most of the background to why we are stuck where we are. According to Para 49, International Law states the slightly worrying principle that they are not obliged to pay us any pension at all. Paras 81 & 82 give the Government's justification for refusing to budge. It's rather annoying that they say "The result would effectively negate the power to enter into bilateral treaties of this kind" when they've said they aren't going to make any more treaties about pension upratings. But the sentence which really enrages me is the very last of the document:- "Finally, while it is true that non-residents do not pay taxes in the United Kingdom, it is equally true that they do not receive the services paid for with those taxes, and, in any case, this could be remedied within the terms of an appropriate uprating formula." - and that is from one of the judges who gave a dissenting judgement in our favour!!! How could they be so ignorant? How could they not know that of all expat groups it is pensioners who are most liable to be caught for income tax? It makes one wonder about the quality of the lawyers representing Ms Carson and others.

But without it, Immigration will turn you away. Having said that, I agree that it's hardly a secure document itself, because, as you say, the applicant has to fill it in himself. If you had a copy, you could produce other copies yourself, the embossing on the bottom corner is pretty feeble. I can't think of any reason why Immigration would require it except as assurance that the new passport has been officially issued. It's just a silly bit of bureaucracy really.

The form linked by Ubonjoe is your application to Immigration. The Embassy letter is their verification that the blank passport you are presenting is the genuine article, and you didn't buy it on the KaoSan Road. Most Thai IOs wouldn't know one from the other.

I don't know about elsewhere in Thailand, but I'm always intrigued to see that on our water bill the GPS coordinates of the meter are shown to 6 decimal places. A long time ago I suggested in a Lazada customer survey that to assist delivery they include a panel where customers can put that data. Unsurprisingly, nothing came of it. I don't bother with their surveys any more.

It's a very civilised concession by Thai Immigration. In former years I used to follow my wife through the Thai Citizens channel, and never got refused there.

If you're over 70.....

What your friend told you is half-understood hogwash. There is an issue with passports of validity more than ten years, because these are not accepted for entry to the European Union. I don't know of any other country where that applies, and it certainly doesn't apply in Thailand. The UK doesn't add on unexpired months to new passports any more.

It depends what pensions you are talking about. What is under discussion is the State Retirement Pension, entitlement to which depends on contributions made through "National Insurance" paid during one's working life. In effect it's a giant Ponzi scheme, because "National Insurance" supposedly covers not only pensions but healthcare and other benefits, but individual contributions come nowhere near to paying for all that - so people in work today are paying for us wrinklies, as we did for our forebears. Pensions paid to retired Government workers or private pension schemes are not part of this topic.

As an infrequent visitor to Pattaya these days I was surprised how busy the roads were yesterday, and that seafood restaurant at the far end of Jomtien beach was packed at lunchtime - we had to stand and wait for a few minutes while a table was cleared. Foreign visitor numbers may be short of what they used to be, but the Thais are out in force.

If you go to the HMPO web page for overseas applicants and enter your country of residence as Philppines, South Africa or Brazil, to name three at random, up comes the preamble for uploading a digital photo - in other words, in any of those countries you can apply online, and presumably you submit your expiring passport and receive the new one by post or carrier, as they do in the UK. The only reason I can think of why we can't do the same is the legal requirement for foreigners in Thailand to have their passports with them at all times. We all know that this is never enforced in any meaningful way, but the jobsworths who control our fate still think it's ok to oblige us to make not one but two visits to VFS, while saying it's ok to hand over your passport to an agent for an indefinite period, which makes a nonsense of the legal requirement. When we apply, our expiring passport is never inspected by HMPO, we have to supply colour photocopies of all the pages, which (in my experience) are not examined by the VFS clerk, only counted to see if it's the right number. Why can't we apply online and upload those copies as well? Then if VFS notifies when the new passport is available, we send the expiring document for defacement and they EMS both documents back, we never need go near your much-loved Trendy.