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I totally sympathise with the point you are making, which is less about the payment of speeding fines than the useless organisation that the Thai Post office seems to have become since Covid. We rarely get postal deliveries now. Although many Brit state pensioners have been receiving demands for 'Proof of Life' certificates (sent out in early January), I haven't had one. I went up to the Post Office a week ago, and they pretended to look for any mail for our address, said there was none. I phoned up the Dept. of Work and Pensions on Monday, they said a demand had been sent, so I retrieved a copy of the form that I had on file and sent it off, duly witnessed. This last Friday I checked our letterbox and there was an envelope, not from the DWP, but from Civil Service Pensions with their demand for a 'Declaration of Entitlement' - dated 13th December, envelope franked 20th December. Return of the declaration was required within 6 weeks, or "payment may be effected" (their spelling). Payment has not been stopped, but I guess it wouldn't be too long before they did. I can't help wondering if delivery of that envelope was prompted by my visit last week. What's happened to the DWP letter (and some Christmas cards) is anyone's guess.

If you've only had the passbook for one month but did not update the previous book for a long time some of the entries will be consolidated, i.e. missed out. If you need a passbook to show all your transactions, for example to show immigration for your annual extension, you need to update it regularly, once every month or 6 weeks.

To be honest, I didn't think to ask, assuming that they wouldn't accept a phone call because it could be from anybody. I have a copy of the form on file, so I just filled it in and on Tuesday took it up to the local pharmacist for witnessing.

I guess that's the difference. I just pre-loaded 10 quid a couple of years back, which lasts quite a long time.

Phoned HMRC last week to challenge my tax coding (they assumed a 10% increase in my pension which I won't be getting) - 35 minutes to get through. Phoned DWP yesterday to ask if they sent a Life certificate (they have, but it's not arrived) - got through in 5 minutes. Only about 40 pence for the HMRC call on Skype, less than 5p for DWP. Skype doesn't connect 0800 numbers. The DWP number I got through on is 00441912187777.

Certainly happened to us. We had a 3kw system installed, and I couldn't understand after the first few months why our bills didn't go down at all. I got the installers back, and it was only then that they noticed that we were on a digital meter, which was fitted a few years before when a lightning strike toasted the original meter. There was a big pow-wow with PEA, lots of people milling around in the road, and eventually they changed back to a wheelie meter, paid for by the installer who admitted that they hadn't checked this when they did the original installation. In the meantime before the change back I noticed that on very sunny days the meter reading seemed to increase.

A slight variation on the topic - I've just had an email from HMRC notifying my tax code for the coming year starting April. The assessment assumes a 10% increase in my State Pension, which is actually "frozen". I've had this problem before, they seem incapable of sifting out us "frozen pensioners" from those who are lucky enough to get annual increases. So I'll have to phone them this afternoon. I am on the Government Gateway system, and submit an annual return because I have rental income. I was just chatting with a pal whose income is simple PAYE. He says he's never ever had a coding notice from HMRC. If they are assuming his State Pension increases every year, how would he know about it?

Unless your parents have included you on their return, you are probably not still on the electoral roll. It is quite easy to register as an overseas voter in your former constituency, and the "15 years limit" has recently been abolished, so you can stay on for life, subject to re-registering every year, which is quite easy, I do it by email. In practice the only way to vote is to nominate a proxy, which again is quite easy. None of that, however, is of any assistance in opening or retaining a UK bank account, which is the topic. I have been with First Direct for a long time before I moved to Thailand, but a few years ago they stopped me opening any new savings account with them because of non-residence. I will be very sorry if they close my account altogether.

You have my total sympathy. I hate these creatures, and the people who inflict them on the rest of us. You're quite right, deny, deny, deny.

Yes, for at least the last four years.

I will have problems proving my address in Thailand. Scroll down to Table A on the following:- Applying for a passport from outside the UK - Supporting Documents - GROUP 2 (publishing.service.gov.uk) Under "Name and Address and/or Residency evidence" it says - Please provide one of the following: • visa or resident permit (or colour photocopy) - so all you need if you haven't got a document with your name and Thai address on it is an extra colour photcopy of the relevant passport page clearly marked "Residency evidence". They're not actually concerned to know where you live because they're not going to send the passport there. They just need assurance that you are legally living in Thailand.

The OP's best bet would be to try one of the local public hospitals. When I enquired at the Bangkok Rayong Hospital a few months ago I was told they were not offering Covid Vax because there wasn't sufficient demand - "The Thais know they can get it free at public hospitals". In the event I got a free booster at the Banchang Hospital. It might be different in Pattaya of course, with a much bigger expat population, and I don't disagree with your comment. I would willingly have paid, but didn't have to.

Very good question. The only reason I can think of is that provincial Immigration Offices have not the training or the resources to identify any fake passports that are presented to them. If you enter at an airport the passport is scanned and verified, and the IO stamps you in - no need for any other proof. It doesn't seem to have occurred to anybody, however, that the letter that one has to obtain from the Embassy is well within the capability of any forger who could produce a passport. The one you get from the British Embassy is just a proforma, you have to fill in your details yourself. The same could be said about the stamp in a new Australian passport. It's a bit of a farce, reflecting the low capability of most of Thai IOs. In their defence, however, they're offering an at the counter service, and must see an extraordinary range of passports from all over the world.

I don't know if it's relevant, but when I went for my extension this week, I was sent off to a side office to get my old TM30 slip photocopied. I hadn't done a copy myself, I don't remember it ever having been required before. The clerk took two copies and retained one, also copying my passport photo page and my expiring extension stamp. It seemed to me that she was creating an extra file, and I wondered if it was to pass to the enforcement section so that they could run their own checks on overstayers. Rather bureaucratic, as the first thing they would have to do would be to check for a renewed extension stamp, which I was given at the main desk shortly afterwards.

Check your extension stamp as well. Just did my annual extension today, and noticed that the stamp didn't include today's issue date. I don't know whether that would really matter, but I handed it back and pointed out the omission. The girlie giggled, said "sorry" and quickly did the necessary.

From my experience (admittedly about 15 years ago) it might be better to use a local lawyer. I wanted to set up a usufruct on our house in Banchang, Rayong, and went to a pukka lawyer in Pattaya on the US Embassy recommended list. When we went to our local office to register it, accompanied by a young lady from the lawyer's office, the official refused point blank to register it on some grounds, I don't know whether they were spurious or not. The young lady just looked clueless, and we just had to leave. The lawyer said that it was a properly drawn and signed agreement and should still be enforceable, though I doubt that. The point is that at the time I didn't know whether the official was angling for a bribe, and I didn't dare ask. If I had used a local lawyer who knew the people in that office the outcome might have been different. That I have an expensive and useless document doesn't bother me any more. I can't imagine the circumstances where the missis or her family would want to chuck me out, and if they did I could easily fend for myself.

Has anyone eaten at the Kantary in Banchang? Just had a flyer in the letterbox (well, it's nice to get anything in the letterbox these days) - Special Valentine's Day set menu dinner at their rooftop restaurant. Several courses, not including booze except for "Sparkling Wine". I guess a commanding view of the Banchang Hospital, and romantic background noise from the traffic on Sukhumvit. At 1200Baht per head plus (in the small print) 10% service charge plus VAT I'm not especially tempted.

I saw a story in today's Daily Mail that over 90% of renewals are now being done within 3 weeks, although HMPO are sticking to their 10 weeks advisory.

I'm not sure how they would do that on the paper photos that we have to submit. I played around with the brightness of the photo I took with a digital camera before I printed it.

If you have a printer it's not difficult to download a free app and print your own - but that doesn't invalidate Ojas' point that HMPO is way behind the times when, for example Thai Immigration can capture your image digitally, and as do Thai passport offices. In fact, Brits in the UK and many countries in the world can apply online and submit a digital photo. Why Thailand and a few other countries are excluded from this facility is a mystery to me.

Yup, I was diagnosed as pre-diabetic a few months ago and have been working hard at diet and exercise since. The easiest thing of all was to give up rice.

Are you reporting online or in person? I don't know if it makes a difference, but it might. I returned from UK on a re-entry permit in August to my permanent address in Rayong, and then in September made a trip to Isaan. As with your experience, most hotels didn't bother to register me, or just accepted my Thai driving licence for i/d. However, one hotel in Khorat insisted on copying my passport, which I guess they submitted to Khorat Immigration. At the end of October I submitted an online 90-day report, which was accepted as pending but never processed, and I ended up reporting in person to the Rayong office. My next 90-day was due yesterday, so I submitted online last Monday and it was approved last Thursday. The only reason I can think of for the previous non-acceptance is that Rayong didn't approve it because they thought I might have gone to live in Khorat (although the online report showed my Rayong address). I never had a problem reporting online before that.

I think that's putting it politely. I don't know exactly how easy it would be to retrieve such data from an airline, and I doubt it would be quick. Anyone who presents themselves at a UK passport control holding a visa should remember that they have the presumptive right of entry, can only be refused if deception was employed to obtain the visa or there has been a change of circumstances since its issue, the onus of proof is on the IO and the passenger has the right of appeal before removal. In the case of an accusation of "overstaying" on a 10-year visa, I suppose that would be deemed to be a change of circumstances. However, actually proving it might not be quick or easy, and the passenger would probably have to be granted temporary admission before a decision was made. Managers at an immigration control (normally CIOs) do not encourage loading the office with casework which has little chance of success.

I love that "so far". Somebody, somewhere, has probably already done it.

I honestly don't know, I think you'd have to ask HMRC to get the definitive answer. My pension is paid into my UK bank, so the gross amount is what I am assessed on, regardless of any bank charges or variations on the exchange rate that I pay when I transfer money here. If you can persuade them that those charges should be rebated against your tax liability, good luck to you. As regards DWP informing HMRC of what they pay you, it doesn't happen, because every year I have to remind HMRC that my state pension is not going to increase - their assessment assumes that it will.