GmailJen

That's not all ! Ones should look at the footpaths on the recently widened main Sukhumvit road from Pattaya to Sattahip !! I watched them laying the paving over just loose fill and soil ! Sure they got it done fast but look at it now ! First sign of rain washed way the underfill and now with crooked uneven paving plus the weeds - the whole lot needs doing again ! What a waste of money ! Are there no building inspectors or are they all recipients of brown envelopes ? Hate to think what the road will be like a few years down the line !

Why should it matter where you live ? If you have paid into the system one should expect to be fairly and equally treated as all others in the "system". Let's face it - it's discriminatory ! It's not just the Pension system - my French neighbour gets his medical bills paid by the state ?? So France can pay it's expatriates medical bills but the UK can not ! Successive governments can't blame the expatriate pensioner for the state of the governments coffers , the pension system or the NHS - it's the failure of governments to manage the system sustainably .

Thoroughly agree. As a professional Mariner with a 45 yacht in Lisbon and a trailer sailer here , am totally uninterested in any of the "Marinas" here as they are only interested in mega rich and superyachts , not the everyday yachtsman . Prices in these Marinas are out of this world - one reason for my trailer sailor which can be kept at home where I do all my maintenance myself !! Very little here to visit that is " off the beaten track"

It pays to do your "due diligence" property checks in Thailand !

Come mid September it will be the 3 month time expiry when the proposed new Same Sex Marriage legislation is due to be posted in the Royal Gazette as being implemented into law . There has not been anything promulgated regarded the status of this ??? Can anyone / body advise what is the current situation and expected date of implementation ? ( Granted the political issues may have impeded such )

I was ship's Captain before retiring to Thailand . Trained at HMS Conway and started at sea with Thos & Jas Harrison of Liverpool - then one of leading/progressive companies bringing huge overseas benefits to UK - Copper bars from Rhodesia via Beira, Demerara sugar, spices, rum from West Indies , cotton ,tabacco and Caterplllar machinery from US. At that time it was a joy to enjoy long port stays in places like Trinidad, Venezuela , Jamaica and all the Carribean Islands Then worked as 3rd Mate for subsidiary of PO shipping UK goods to Mediterranean and bringing back fruit from Israel and Potatoes etc from Cyprus . I was in Famagusta when Turkey invaded Cyprus and also in Ashdod during Yom Kippur war ! Then managed to obtained a job as what was initially supposed to be 2nd Mate with a Canadian Tanker Company but on arrival suddenly promoted to Chief Officer at 23 !! I had to learn the tanker trade very quickly ! From transporting heavy oil around the east coast of Canada ( Paper Mills etc) I was then transferred to Chief mate on a Canadian flag Ice breaker class tanker 35,000 tons) trading up the East Coast in winter including the Saint Lawrence up to Quebec and New Foundland., I had a lovely house overlooking the Saint Jon River with its own wharf . From -40 C I went to over +40C to work in the United Arab Emirates as Pilot/ SBM mooring Master / Marine Surveyor and then as Petrochemical Quantification and Qualification surveyor . This job entailed travelling offshore even during the iran/Iraq war to places like Bandar Abbas !! Also worked in Dubai Drydocks supervising the tank cleaning of large tankers entering the Drydocks and the storage and reprocessing / shipping out the tank cleaning oil residues. Finally , worked as Master for major Abu Dhabi Shipping Company trading both in the Arabian Gulf and worldwide . As well as holding Master Mariner Class 1 have also been engaged in Yacht Surveys and deliveries ( Holder of RYA Ocean Yachtmaster ) and trained with Royal Navy up to rank Sub Lt .

Nothing wrong with buying a repossessed property as long as you do your homework. Properties get repossessed by the lender when the owner can't make the repayments . Most lenders ( banks ) simply want their money back or as much as possible without hassle and although some banks have their own repossessed listings , some give them to Asset companies to sell . The Asset companies will try to sell the property but if it drags on then it may go to auction. We bought a house from the Asset company that had been empty for 6 years !! so the last owner was long gone . We made sure we did a thorough inspection , obtained a letter to state that no outstanding liens / loans and also insisted on a copy of the building permit and checked the Chanote . The water and electric meters had all been removed so there was some work to do before the house was habitable but all in all we got a good deal ! " Cash is King " !!!

So much processed meat and foods in supermarkets ! All full of sodium . I have a job to find real butchers made fresh sausage . When I looked for brown noodles I checked one packets and - not joking - it said over 40% sodium ! Sadly, supermarkets are being stocked piled high with products dumped from China as they are cheap , bulk buys with little import resistance . Luckily , in the countryside we have our own local fresh markets so don't depend on City Supermarkets . SODIUM - a killer !!