canda

Would like to check, if my registration actually went thru. What was that Hotline Number again to check this? In my case it's AIS.

Anyone ? Thanks.

If you can make calls the chances are that your registration was successful.

Not necessarily as the deadline for everyone was extended to the end of this month.

Both my phone & my partners received an SMS this morning suggesting that unless we register our AIS phones they will become unusable from the 1st of October.

We are now wondering how many of the supposed "74 million other phone users", WHO, LIKE OURSELVES have ALREADY Registered their phones & are now receiving these reminder messages.

We registered both services at the AIS shop in Tesco Lotus Samkong approximately 5 months ago, handing over our phones & passports, the procedure taking all of a couple of minutes,(although we received nothing to say we where then registered ?????)

WE will be making a further, less friendly visit to the said shop in a day or two, to actually inquire as to what occurred, interestingly, during our regular monthly top ups no mention has been made of our phones 'NOT BEING REGISTERED thus far !

CANDA.

I think you'll find that it was a broadcast message sent to every pay-mobile on the network as a reminder. It wasn't a selective address list.

Thanks HHTel,

As we were outdoors at the time, it was rather hard to hear the one - off message, shame they couldn't differentiate messaging between those that have done the right thing & those that haven't.

We do a bit of overseas travel from our home here, thankfully we weren't traveling at the time or we would have we would have had something to worry about.

CANDA

Both my phone & my partners received an SMS this morning suggesting that unless we register our AIS phones they will become unusable from the 1st of October.

We are now wondering how many of the supposed "74 million other phone users", WHO, LIKE OURSELVES have ALREADY Registered their phones & are now receiving these reminder messages.

We registered both services at the AIS shop in Tesco Lotus Samkong approximately 5 months ago, handing over our phones & passports, the procedure taking all of a couple of minutes,(although we received nothing to say we where then registered ?????)

WE will be making a further, less friendly visit to the said shop in a day or two, to actually inquire as to what occurred, interestingly, during our regular monthly top ups no mention has been made of our phones 'NOT BEING REGISTERED thus far !

CANDA.

Hi cooked,

Not sure of your location but there is a company here in Phuket that have a couple of offices, they have anti - slip treatments & for a small area, may be able to ship to you.

Web address is www.tile-asia.com or email [email protected]

Hope this is some help.

CANDA

The Headline 'A bumpy lane ahead' really says it all, perhaps the government who is requesting the 60 billion baht allocation for the bike lanes might first consider the sad condition of many of the minor roads on Phuket.

I have owned a property on the Banya / Baandon Road, Srisoonthorn Sub District for several years now, originally a dirt road, it was in a far better condition before the powers that be, the Rural Roads Dept. threw some bitumen down and now years later this road is almost impossible to transverse.

Letters to the editor of the local papers & complaints have gone unheeded, even though roads have been rebuilt or resurfaced nearby.

Presumably this road will need to have a few casualties like the recent injuries & consequent death of a young child to actually wake someone's conscience into actually doing something.

Like many things here, it seems that the "cart is put before the horse" but it certainly makes good press !

CANDA

The Australian government is in for the money. I had to laugh when they executed the 2 Australians in Indonesia and the firm message that PM send to Indonesia.

After the bodies was shipped back to Australia business is normal but the only factor was that the Indonesians said Australia can stick their aid in their ass.

Don't know really what to say about Australia but they don't fit in any region.

I agree with your first 2 sentences except that I never laughed during that sad period. What sickened me was the Indonesian ambassador offering his condolences to the families the very next day after killing those 2 guys.

As for where we fit, well we allow the world to fit in here. See the following http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-04-24/study-reveals-refugees-boosting-nhill-economy/6417620 . Melbourne is the second largest Greek city in the world but even so we have more Italians than Greeks. Oz is a highly successful multicultural country where it really works.

Most people love and accept all the countless nationalities that go there to live. It is mostly the press beating up stories [half of it owned by right wing Rupert Murdoch] and a right wing Liberal [only in name] government which is stirring up hatred against Muslims to try to stay in power.

Julie Bishop, the foreign minister who is doing a deal with Thailand is a part of that government. As an Aussie I am embarrassed and ashamed of of that.

But don't give up on us. Most Aussies are laid back, easy going people who accept others from all over the world. After all, 25% of us were born in another country and most of the rest of us have foreign parents or grandparents from somewhere else. I am in fact a "First Fleeter".

The only true Australians are the aboriginal people and I acknowledge that although I am white, I was born and raised on the land of the Dja Dja Wurrung people

Hi Trentham,

I agree with your overall assessment re the Australian governments welcoming of countless nationalities, I'm also a 'First Fleeter' but what really irks me is the Liberals total disregard for so many Australians who are currently, (or not far in the distant future) not qualifying for the aged pension due to residing in 'non reciprocal countries' for 2 years prior or 2 years after applying for the said pension.

Both myself & my partner have lived most of our lives as working Australians, paying a large percentage of our yearly income & all the other taxes & fees associated in what we thought was the 'Lucky Country' to make a living & then deciding Thailand was a good place to retire to.

Meanwhile, the above multinationals flood into Australia & after a qualifying period may then qualify for various pensions, the Aged Pension being one of them.... But being a born & bred Aussie (who doesn't live there) one is treated like a 2nd class citizen.... That Really sucks !!!!!!!!!!!!!

CANDA.

Sorry Torrents54, Not sure that zebra was used in Australia, I think you will find that ZULU was used phonetically for Z.

Having spent 15+ years with the RAN Signalling division on a daily basis, as Ifar as I know it was used in the other defence forces also, not sure about civil aviation though.

Cheers, CANDA

I read on other forums that people from Australia have problem get there pension if outside Australia more then 6 month per year, have you look into that ?

Remember to account for XX.XXX - XXX.XXX baht per year for a Health / Accident insurance.

Getting the Australian Aged Pension was an issue in the past, but from Sept 2014 changes came into effect. Yes, full pension is paid if living abroad permanently, and if was a resident of Australia and of taxpayer age for 30+ years, will be paid the full aged pension. For 25, and 20 years the pension will reduce by about 20 or 25% .

I won't however reach 67.5yrs to be eligible for another 11yrs so anything can change between now and then. I'll be using my superannuation funds, paid as a monthly amount, rather than lump sum, to see me through to Government Pension age. I don't want to touch my Superannuation until 60yrs otherwise it's taxed at 15% . And I have saved funds to last me till then hopefully.

I've read debate on whether to self insure, or pay for a Private Insurance policy, which has exclusions for pre- existing conditions, namely my rheumatoid arthritis. And with the choice of policies and limits and the expensive cost to insure, I think I'd take the punt to cover myself.

Hi Owenm,

I'm an expat of 8 years happily living in Phuket, my partner & myself are both on retirement extentions & have no problems with the 90 day reporting etc,.

A couple of points I'd like to add in regards to the Australian Age Pension & Health Insurance here in Thailand...as we are both at the age that claiming the pension will soon be a possibility (5yrs & 8 yrs) we have been looking into the difficulties in doing just that, we have checked into the changes that were brought in in Sept'14. but the major issue with us is the fact that unless you are qualified as a "Resident" at the time you are lodging (therefore living full time in Australia for 2 years prior)or are residing in one of several recriprocating countries, you will not be granted a pension nor portability in regard to said pension, or, if you are recently returned to Australia & lodge the pension application & are granted the pension you must remain in Australia for a period of 2 years without a break or your pension will be cancelled until such time as you return to finish the 2 year period.

The above information you mention is mostly correct,though the reference to quote "yes, full pension is paid if living abroad permenantly" we fear is not true & unless we missed the changes we will live in hope of a policy change in the future... If you could verify the quote we would be most appreciative... as it's the stumbling block a great many of us are worried about.

In regard to Accident & Medical insurance, a recent issue that I had might encourage you to reconsider, again we both have full cover insurance, which we set up soon after we arrived in Thailand, we both had pre exixting issues & we stated that, we had no problem with setting up the policies, nor were there any additional costs incurred. Recently I had a health scare & it was necessary for me to have an overnight in one of the better hospitals here in Phuket, exploratory surgery was involved & though it wasn't invasive I was quoted over 400,000 baht for the costs, after the medical insurance was sorted out it ended up costing me just over 10,000 baht excess.

As you are about to make the move here, you might want to take some time to look at the various insurance companies, bearing in mind setting up a policy well prior to your 60th birthday (as some companies won't cover you if you decide after you turn 60) though have no issue of continuing insurance to an existing client who is turning 60.

Hope the above is some help.

Best regards,

CANDA

Thanks Canda

One thing I love about TV is that although nobody knows everything on every subject, but collectively everyone who contributes assists other members greatly.

I did some research, and on the topic of eligibility for the Australian Aged Pension if living outside of Australia, in a country that doesn't have a reciprocal agreement, namely Thailand, it would in fact require the recipient to return and reside in Australia for a period of 2 years either prior to or after reaching retirement age, which can vary depending on DOB, but would fall between ages of 65-70yrs currently. As you stated, which if left unchanged by government legislation, can cause a major disruption to one's long term retirement plans in LOS. It would however be a good excuse to return home for 2 years, on a shoestring budget, and realise what one has left behind in LOS.

If one had a postal residential address, back in Australia, and if one applied for the pension in Australia, would Human Services be aware of one's travels? If one left Australia to NZ, would the Australian Customs not think that they were residing there, which is a reciprocal country, and be unaware that another flight is booked from NZ and continued the journey to Thailand long term? The Australian pension could be paid into an Aussie bank account, transferred online to another Aussie bank account with a different bank, and withdrawn or transferred monthly to a Thai bank.

I don't know whether what I've surmised is possible or been attempted before.

And thanks for your advise on health insurance prior to 60yrs, and checking if pre-existing conditions can be covered. I'll now definitely look into this when I make the move next year.

Cheers Owenm,

Glad I could offer you some help, I remember when we took the leap of faith & made the move from Australia how many questions we had. I agree with you the Thaivisa Forum has a lot of helpful advice available.

It's quite interesting trying to research the Australian government's web sites re the Aged Pension, it's almost like certain info isn't mentioned, if you get what I mean.

I like your thoughts re flying via a reciprical country & then onwards to LOS etc... you sound like a man who thinks outside the box. Not sure if you have had a look on Thaivisa Forum into.. Visas for other countries, (subsection) Australian visa etc, Aged Pension, well worth a look on the latest of several hundred pages of questions & answers.

As I mentioned, we have a couple of years to contemplate what our plan of attack is, we still have family & friends In Australia & visit at least once a year, but other than existing bank & non property investments, we have cut ties with Australia overall, financially we are pretty well off, but are determined to do what ever is needed to qualify for what we believe we have well and truelly paid for with taxes etc over the 35+ years we worked, we won't be forced back to Aust. to grovel on benefits for a couple of years prior to the OAP date so if worst case scenerio we plan to do a couple of 1 year stints in Greece, apparently, you can even apply for the Aust. OAP there. We have a couple of properties here, one is permanently rented out & our current home was recently built & is in a resort situation & we can either close it up or add it to the rental pool etc,. long term visas in Greece are similar to Thailand, not working, having a reasonable amount in a bank account etc,. applying via a Greek embassy & Bob's you uncle. Foretunately, we have friends that spend every season in there second home on the island of Paros & we tend to head there for holidays most years, so for us an extended stay my be a way around things...the cost of living there is reasonable & we can have access to good accomadation,again at a reasonable cost... our main issue with that plan is we would prefer to keep our current retirement extention visas here, so it would mean timing renewals before flying out from here & then returning just prior to the next years extention date, so could be interesting... anyway it would show the determination to gain the pension is there !

Anyway, I would be keen to know of your thoughts re the above, again just a plan at this stage, but unless the Australian Government don't start giving rather than taking it might be a necessary, I applaud your advance planning re your big move next year, Thailand is an amazing place to live & like yourself we decided a far better place to retire to. Please feel free keep this post open or P.M me if I can be of any further help.

Best Regards,

CANDA

I read on other forums that people from Australia have problem get there pension if outside Australia more then 6 month per year, have you look into that ?

Remember to account for XX.XXX - XXX.XXX baht per year for a Health / Accident insurance.

Getting the Australian Aged Pension was an issue in the past, but from Sept 2014 changes came into effect. Yes, full pension is paid if living abroad permanently, and if was a resident of Australia and of taxpayer age for 30+ years, will be paid the full aged pension. For 25, and 20 years the pension will reduce by about 20 or 25% .

I won't however reach 67.5yrs to be eligible for another 11yrs so anything can change between now and then. I'll be using my superannuation funds, paid as a monthly amount, rather than lump sum, to see me through to Government Pension age. I don't want to touch my Superannuation until 60yrs otherwise it's taxed at 15% . And I have saved funds to last me till then hopefully.

I've read debate on whether to self insure, or pay for a Private Insurance policy, which has exclusions for pre- existing conditions, namely my rheumatoid arthritis. And with the choice of policies and limits and the expensive cost to insure, I think I'd take the punt to cover myself.

Hi Owenm,

I'm an expat of 8 years happily living in Phuket, my partner & myself are both on retirement extentions & have no problems with the 90 day reporting etc,.

A couple of points I'd like to add in regards to the Australian Age Pension & Health Insurance here in Thailand...as we are both at the age that claiming the pension will soon be a possibility (5yrs & 8 yrs) we have been looking into the difficulties in doing just that, we have checked into the changes that were brought in in Sept'14. but the major issue with us is the fact that unless you are qualified as a "Resident" at the time you are lodging (therefore living full time in Australia for 2 years prior)or are residing in one of several recriprocating countries, you will not be granted a pension nor portability in regard to said pension, or, if you are recently returned to Australia & lodge the pension application & are granted the pension you must remain in Australia for a period of 2 years without a break or your pension will be cancelled until such time as you return to finish the 2 year period.

The above information you mention is mostly correct,though the reference to quote "yes, full pension is paid if living abroad permenantly" we fear is not true & unless we missed the changes we will live in hope of a policy change in the future... If you could verify the quote we would be most appreciative... as it's the stumbling block a great many of us are worried about.

In regard to Accident & Medical insurance, a recent issue that I had might encourage you to reconsider, again we both have full cover insurance, which we set up soon after we arrived in Thailand, we both had pre exixting issues & we stated that, we had no problem with setting up the policies, nor were there any additional costs incurred. Recently I had a health scare & it was necessary for me to have an overnight in one of the better hospitals here in Phuket, exploratory surgery was involved & though it wasn't invasive I was quoted over 400,000 baht for the costs, after the medical insurance was sorted out it ended up costing me just over 10,000 baht excess.

As you are about to make the move here, you might want to take some time to look at the various insurance companies, bearing in mind setting up a policy well prior to your 60th birthday (as some companies won't cover you if you decide after you turn 60) though have no issue of continuing insurance to an existing client who is turning 60.

Hope the above is some help.

Best regards,

CANDA

This is sad, so many Thai's make there livings after 10:00. Bartenders, Bands, Food service, Tuk-Tuk drivers and a lot more. No TV or internet, no groups of 5 or more outside, what are they suppose to do? Soon those people will not be buying things from people that work in the daytime, all we'll be hurt in the end. So Sad!

CANDA

True Vision does not have. CTH has the Australian Network. http://australianetwork.com/

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/654737-cth-nationwide-satellite-and-cable-dealer-list/

khwaibah, I think you'll find it will be available on Truevisions come Tuesday 22nd of April's new programming & renumbering.

It is listed as channel 125 on the new listing, it has been rumoured that the Australian Network was coming to Truevisions for at least the last 6 months, at last it appears that it will be available in just a couple of days.

CANDA

What an absolute slap in the face this waste of money is for the almost 400 Muslim folk & the couple of resorts that exist on Coconut Island.

Located within a couple of minutes of Phuket & close to the CBD. but bereft of mains power in this day & age, the government had already allocated the funding for underwater power cabling previously, but somehow this has dissapeared. In the meantime, the resorts have to generate their own power at an exorbitant cost & the villagers borrow a small amount. The only 'winners' here are the suppliers of the fuel for the generators.

Using just part of this 250 million baht to 'power up' Coconut Island would certainly make day to day life much more "livable" for the people that actually need it, rather than building another mosque somewhere in the backblocks of Thalang.

When was the last time any of the greater population of Phuket did without power even for a day ? there is usually an uproar if there is an extended power outage, try living without a reliable power supply day in & day out !

CANDA.

I like to give Thais the benefit of the doubt and say they're not thieves...they're opportunistic.

And like everywhere, there are thieves.

Thanks Pinot,

I agree, like everywhere there are good & bad, it happens the world over.

Bye the way, I didn't suggest the assistant in question was actually Thai !

Regards,

CANDA

having not been there myself and having never met the OP or the sales person i would say it is just as likely the money was lost as stolen.

only the sale person knows, and even then only if he actually took it.

but really who cares, the the op has taken one isolated incident and generously turned it into another us against them cautionary tale.

you can never be too careful here, the place is heaving with "them".

Thanks GirlDrinkDrunk,

'Who cares"...well, you mightn't, but I certainly do, I agree it was an isolated incident it & hopefully won't happen to me again, I explained what occured & suggested to be carefull when handling money, be it here or anywhere in the world for that matter!

I was careless placing the money there, but did so as I was about to go through the check out, otherwise it would have been in my wallet... I certainly didn't suggest "an us against them scenario", I have lived here quite a while, am well integrated & have never had a problem before.

You are welcome to voice your opinion, but please don't cast me as one of the 'whinging farang' that so many suggest when they don't have anything worthwhile to say.

Regards,

CANDA

Cliff Notes, by Shot

Went shopping

Bought something

Put 2000B in my front shirt pocket

Walked to car with salesman

Salesman saved my life, and may have picked 2000B from my front shirt pocket

　

Hi Shot,

Yeah, went shopping but didn't end up buying anything,

go figure,

3,000 baht folded in the bottom of a tailored well fitting shirt, not at all easy to fall out

no life saved, I was stationary at that point about a metre & 1/2 from the actual car that was slowly reversing out in front of us & behind another vehicle as I said previously his reaction seemed like an over reaction, but of course how would I know, I was only the person involved.

Regards,

CANDA

its already gone up a grand.

Inflation?

If you had read my post before jumping in you would have realised I mentioned a couple of thousand baht, which can be greater than 2...you actually suggested it was 2,000 bt

Canda you have absolutely no right to suggest or even hint that anyone stole your money without proof

of any kind, your assumption is disgraceful. I, and I am sure many posters, have had items, including money

fall from my shirt pocket.

Hi phuketjock,

Well there you go, I was assuming I was residing in a country where free speech was allowed.

I may suggest what occured & given the chain of events that led to my conclusion!

Take it as a warning not only to take care of your own cash handling, but also be aware that just perhaps you may be vulnerable.

3,000 bt folded once and placed in the bottom of a tailored, fitted shirt top pocket doesn't just fly out, nor could it just fall out... perhaps in your case you wear loose fitting garments.

Regards,

CANDA

You lost your dough. Just accept it

Thanks for that IrishIvan,

I have accepted it, but in saying that I need not have bothered posting, I was there & I know the circumstances you don't... accept that !

Regards,

Canda

Cliff Notes, by Shot

Went shopping

Bought something

Put 2000B in my front shirt pocket

Walked to car with salesman

Salesman saved my life, and may have picked 2000B from my front shirt pocket

　

Hi Shot,

Yeah, went shopping but didn't end up buying anything,

go figure,

3,000 baht folded in the bottom of a tailored well fitting shirt, not at all easy to fall out

no life saved, I was stationary at that point about a metre & 1/2 from the actual car that was slowly reversing out in front of us & behind another vehicle as I said previously his reaction seemed like an over reaction, but of course how would I know, I was only the person involved.

Regards,

CANDA

The chances of you putting the money in your top pocket, a car backing out at that precise moment in time, the shop assistant being in arms reach at that precise moment, and also a good pick-pocket, does seem like a little too coincidental/opportunistic.

On some occasions, I have placed items in my shirt pocket, I have bent over to pick something up and the item has fallen out.

Is it possible this is what has happened?

I agree with you NamKangMan, but perhaps more opportunistic than coincidental, the fact that he saw me place the money in my top pocket, which was actually 3 x 1,000 baht notes folded once & placed in the bottom of a good fitting cotton shirt (not the type you see a lot of farang wearing) I would have to have stood on my head for the money to have fallen out. The car was not that near either of us, again, that's why I thought it was a bit strange, but anyway I thought I would post what occured, in a way of possibly warning others & also suggesting people be aware of their own cash handling practices.

Regards,

Canda

Hi All,

Thought I might warn others to be wary when shopping here in Phuket. I wasn't going to post about this occurance, but my experience may perhaps ensure this may not happen to any unsuspecting folk.

Thursday last, I was out shopping with my better half at one of the large stores on the island, we were looking for something for our new house, (I won't mention the item or the name of the shop as forum rules & laws would suggest I don't) We were informed that the item we wanted wasn't available, though one of the other stores had it in stock, no problem, we would take a drive to the other store the next day & buy the item.

The next day we went to the other shop & one of the assistants located the item in the stock room whilst we waited near the check out, when she came back the item was in a rather large package, as is usual, a lot of foam & cardboard, not sure whether it would fit in our car I asked if it could be measured & I would then go out & check with the tape measure to check whether the item would actually fit, soon into the opening, checking & measuring, a male assistant offered to assist us, as we were at the check out area I had removed the couple of thousand baht for the item & rather than put it back in my wallet, placed it in my top shirt pocket, (something that I never usually do.)

The male assitant offered to come with me to check the car's interior measurements & at the time I didn't think this was out of the ordinary, heading into the carpark, a car started to back out just in front of us, to which the assistant now on my right flank, literally threw his arm across my chest in a warning of the reversing car, again somewhat odd as I had seen the car clearly & had stopped to let the car manouvre,( though at the time I put it down to him being perhaps extra cautious & thought nothing more,) at the car I measured whilst he stood at the rear & then we headed back into the shopping centre, at this point I went to my pocket to locate the cash to discover it was gone, not noticing, that in the mean time his demeaner had changed somewhat & he was quite briskly walked back into the store, never turning back or even acknowledging myself or the package that seemed so important 5 minutes earlier, heading several aisles into the back of the store.

I then waited for the young lady to be found 15 minutes later, stocktaking, I explained that somehow I had misplaced the money etc, she seemed concerned briefly but the English skills that had been quite good a little earlier had dissapeared, as had my money & the male assistant to boot !

The penny dropped as I ran through what may have had occured, but I didn't take it any further, my word against another, no real proof...Never been scammed in the many years here but will accept it as a lesson learnt, being even more cautious in the future !

Regards,

CANDA

Hi jdogweb,

I have a beautiful resort style pool villa available. I've pm'd you.

Regards,

canda

Hi Emma546,

There's a lady vet that breeds Maine Cool cats just out of Thalang, she's located about 5 minutes from the main intersection, along the left side of the road to Baan Don / Laguna. She is a good vet and was very kind when we had our little dog Jas with her.

Hope this is of some help.

Andrew.

I am trying to find a farang friendly Tyre Dealership in Phuket, recently our Toyota Vios had its 90,000 k service and they suggested we need a new set of tyres. Hoping to locate a dealer that is not a rip off, we want decent tyres but am not sure what an average new set is worth, location wise, we live in the Thalang area so would prefer somewhere around this area or as far as the centre of the island, preferably, not at the bottom end of Phuket.

Could any of the learned forum members steer us in the right direction...Thanks in advance.

Regards,

Canda

It's called Silence Anti- Snoring Spray, by Omega Pharma UK.

Pretty clearly visible on the topic header !

does it have a name?

I as going to ask same question...I guess he has his mind on the spray and forgot to mention the name.