Zaphod Priest

All this cynicism. The handout will 100% have the desired effect: increasing the proportion of the next generation of voters who will support Pheu Thai. And the best bit is that Pheu Thai doesn't have to hand out its own money to win votes.

The Nation posted on Facebook:

Usual right wing drivel from the Mail. No attempt to put things in context. "Figures for 2024 show 46 private schools have closed with 77 opening." "More than 75 private schools closed every year in England on average over the last decade, official data has shown, with no apparent increase in the trend since Labour announced it was imposing VAT on fees." https://www.theguardian.com/education/2024/oct/26/no-rise-private-school-closures-england-since-labour-vat-proposal-data

Pretty awful customer service IMHO, verging on contempt.

Sentricon system. Plastic traps containing bait are positioned around the house. Termites feed and take back a substance that renders the queen infertile. Takes a few weeks to work, but in my experience it's then very effective. No spraying. See https://www.mfactors.co.th/

Labour came into power in 2024. The couple concerned came to the UK in March 2020. The Tories are responsible for this situation - not Labour.

Au contraire. I asked the question to help gauge the risk of not having a doctor's letter. In fact, in the interim I have been trying to get a letter from my hospital, though with zero success so far. Administration there seems to have no idea about what I'm asking for. Will be seeing the doctor in person tomorrow.

Yesterday I received a letter by EMS from Krungthai concerning CRS/FATCA telling me to go into a branch. I tried to close my Krungthai accounts many years ago. Was told that it wasn't possible, and I should reduce the balance to zero (which I did) and wait for them to be automatically closed. I guess they haven't been closed yet.

I.e. been doing 90 day reports.

Not really. If the changes of being caught are negligible, I'll take the risk. I really don't want to waste the time, money and inconvenience of getting a doctor's letter if I think I can get away for it. As for being searched on future entries, I have never been to Australia before, and after this trip, I'm unlikely to go again. Not an issue.

You can deposit the cheque into your baht account. It'll take few weeks to be processed, though. Transferring money out of Thailand can be problematic. It's not income; it's return of capital. If you already have a US bank account, it might be better to deposit into that account. That should be doable online. And if not, look into Paypal and its mobile check deposit feature.

Allopurinol for gout and metformin for diabetes.

I'm going to be visiting Australia for 10 days next month. The Border Force website says that I should declare my medications and have a letter from my doctor. Is this really necessary? It's seems rather pointless for a couple of strips of common medicines.

Have you considered sclerotherapy? An injection is made into the blood vessels to block them off, and the varicose vein subsequently disappears. It's minimally invasive and an outpatient treatment. Should cost a lot less.

Surgery for cancer is covered in section 4. What is probably not covered is more advanced treatments such as immunotherapy (which can be extraordinarily expensive).

In short, yes. I've often seen people close to death's door being wheeled into Immigration at Chaengwattana. If you're receiving treatment in a hospital, someone can go to Immigration on your behalf with a medical certificate. Just wondering, but does Chaengwattana have step free access? I know the temporary office at Muang Thong Thani didn't, so it doesn't seem to be a priority in locating Immigration offices.

"Violence by the extremist on the left" Nope. Violence is defined as "behavior involving physical force intended to hurt, damage, or kill someone or something". This is not violence.

I already did.

Another partisan report from the Daily Fail (as it's know to Private Eye readers). Total waste of Internet electrons.

Tosh. Abhisit is fluent in English. He went to Eton and has a degree in Economics from Oxford. Srettha got a degree in Finance from University of Massachusetts Amherst. Yingluck Shinawatra has a master's degree in public administration from Kentucky State University.

Sorry to break it to you, but the UK DTA does *not* cover the state pension. (It only covers government pensions, i.e. those paid to former UK government employees.) Whether Thailand will actually start taxing UK state pensions, that remains to be seen.

My experience last month was a little different. I joined the queue for the document check. I always have the appointment booking on the top of my bunch of papers so it's obvious. Previously I've been taken to the front of the document check queue when the booking has been spotted. Last month I was taken from the document check queue by a young man to a desk next to the officer who was going to be handling my application where he (the young man) personally checked my paperwork. (It was all in order.) I then was asked to sit down in front of the officer. No queue number involved. Plus it was 20 minutes or so before my appointment time. All finished in 15 minutes.

You underestimate the challenge of using public transport. Where I live the only way to get to a BTS/MRT station is by driving. (No local motorcycle groups.) And when I get to the nearest stations, there's nowhere to park. There is a bus stop within walking distance, but the buses are only once an hour, and don't go anywhere useful to me. In short, public transport in large parts of Bangkok is not a practical option.

Badger milk

Possibly not. He may have been held on remand prior to 2024 and given remission for time served.