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Expatwannabee
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Posts posted by Expatwannabee
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7 minutes ago, Presto said:
If I read the article correctly, she left the country at an older age than I did. So she must have lived in the UK longer than I lived in NL. That makes it a little mysterious.
The article says she is 87 yrs old and left 24 yrs ago at age 63.( women qualified for their pension at age 60 then. Men at 65). The article does not tell us if she was getting a full state pension or not. Only that it was frozen at £300. If she remained in the UK she might also have claimed a supplementary means tested benefit to help her survive. Also she would have been able to claim help with her rent and council tax. So while it does seem small it could easily be correct. You also have to factor in that the UK state pension is one of the least generous of the main European economies. So losing all her extra help (if any) and getting no increase on her pension for 24 years leads to where she is now. It's not right but it is the case for many.
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16 minutes ago, Presto said:
UK state pension, is that Social Security? Only 300 pounds per month?
Where I come from (NL), it's called AOW. The amount is calculated by the years you resided in NL and paid taxes. So I don't get a 100%, since I moved here when I was 58. So that's reasonable I'd say. But 300 pounds seems like a pittance.
It is a pittance but that was the amount she was receiving when she left the country 24 yrs ago.
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33 minutes ago, BobBKK said:We all know how unfair the system is, but Thailand does not have a treaty with the UK like the Philippines. If she returns to the UK, her pension will be updated to the current level, which begs the question: If she left again in six months, would she keep the new rate here?
I believe if she left the UK again it would revert to the previous frozen level
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Some years ago I wrote to my Labour MP Kate Hoey about this. She was sympathetic ( or at least said she was) and forwarded my letter to the Pensions Minister at that time (can't now remember who). His reply when it came was to quote the extra cost to the Government for doing this and to add that it's always been done this way. I replied to him telling him on that basis that slavery could also be justified on the grounds that it was always done that way. I was a bit annoyed at his pathetic answer so I copied my reply to Kate Hoey and the Primeminister. Next time I wrote to Kate Hoey I got no reply. I'd been blacklisted.
The basic problem is that an adequate properly funded pension scheme was never implemented. The contributions a worker makes over his working life do not accumulate into a fund. Instead those contributions were used to pay the current pensioners. When my turn came to draw my pension it is being paid by those in work today. This allows the Government to cynically claim it is a benefit even though it is contributory and mandatory to pay NI. The next step will be for future pensioners to be told it will be means tested. This means anyone who has a private pension may not receive it or may get a reduced pension. Another scam in this set up is that 35 yrs contributions are enough to claim a full basic pension. Many people like me contributed for 49 yrs but receive nothing extra for those additional 14yrs. As always Governments invariably cheat the workers.
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17 minutes ago, soalbundy said:
incorrect, even pensioners have to be permanent residents now. Emergency treatment ie heart attack would still be treated free of charge but forget about a heart transplant or a pacemaker for free.
Perhaps I worded it badly. I agree that pensioners have to claim that they are now back as permanent residents and prove it by renting somewhere to live and setting up all that entails. The difference is that a non-pensioner has to do all that and still wait 6 months (unless it is an emergency) a pensioner does not have the 6 months wait. Interestingly the spouse of a pensioner got the same deal even if they were under pension age. But as I said before that may have all changed.
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2 hours ago, evadgib said:From the 'bloke-in-a-pub's-guide' to cancer treatment?
I wouldn't go as far as saying that chemo is a con but it is one of those treatments where the cure can be worse than the illness. I know of a few cases where the Doctor has offered it as an option but advised against it because the potential gain did not outweigh the awful period while undergoing it.
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2 hours ago, Odysseus123 said:
Possibly reasonble..
However,in a similar situation I quietly paid up and went home..
Many thanks to my Thai wife and family amd many members of ThaiVisa who supported me as I struggled to get home under my own steam.
Many thanks to my home country (Australia) which has looked after me on my return.
I am a trifle bemused by all this Go Fund Me stuff..
As always things are not straightforward. Anyone under pension age has to return to the UK for 6 mths before they are entitled to routine NHS treatment. Pensioners are entitled straight off. He would be entitled to free emergency treatment (eg heart attack) as are even foreign visitors. Some people stay registered with a GP even when abroad (using a UK address) and this would probably get round the problem. This information is as things were a few years back it could all be different now.
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On 10/13/2018 at 10:16 AM, SheungWan said:
The key point I addressed is that no deductions are made on the State Pension payout.
In one sense you are right a pensioner with a state pension less than the Tax free allowance will not pay tax. However you are wrong because if the pension were tax free you would not lose any of your tax free allowance and would be able to apply the full allowance against any additional income. It's more about how you explain it than the reality of the situation. If you were to say a pensioner receiving only a state pension effectively gets it tax free you are correct but he has used up some of his tax free allowance.
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On 11/2/2018 at 11:02 AM, Andrew Dwyer said:
My post was supposed to be a mixture of the two phrases:
“ couldn’t fight your way out of a wet paper bag “
and
“ coming out of the closet “
Re: boxing and gay
It was not my intention to say they cannot fight or indeed that they are gay, it was meant as a joke !!
My attempt at satire fell flat, I can see that now, in future I will announce beforehand when I make another attempt at any type of humour !!If it's any comfort I saw what you meant straight away but sadly thought it was more clever than funny. However, I cannot see why people are getting annoyed about it.
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On 10/7/2018 at 2:38 PM, Different said:
Holy crab, governments know better pensioners money should be invested for the benefit of paying them back. If pension fund was misused then government should be held accountable for serious negligence.
It's actually worse than that. It's not that pensioner's money was badly invested. It's not invested at all.What a pensioner pays in while working is used to pay the pensions of those already retired. Then when the worker retires his pension is paid out of money collected from those still working. Typical government scam.
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7 hours ago, Esso49 said:
I'm not surprised the 80 year old was having problems with his ex wife when she found out he was living with a 38 year old Thai man.
If she is his ex-wife then it is no longer any of her business and if life with her had been pleasant he probably would still be alive in France.
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It's pure speculation on my part but I cannot help wondering if the early stages of dementia is just being wheeled out as an excuse to get her off the hook. It may be that, after being clamped and fined 400 Bht, that she was so mad she drove at the guy to give him a scare and it all went badly wrong. Just a thought.
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20 hours ago, mogandave said:
They have dentists in England?A pensioner in the UK still has to pay for NHS dental treatment unless they are claiming means tested benefits, which then qualify them for free treatment. I'm not sure if it is still the case but at one point it was difficult to find an NHS dentist accepting new patients. Most seem to prefer private clients.
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20 hours ago, bigginhill said:What are the reasons a pension gets "frozen" at a certain amount and the basic 160 pounds not given? Is it because of assets exceeding a certain amount?
Who has paid little income tax do they get the basic?
Sorry if these seem basic questions but I've not been in the Uk for 40yrs and not followed this side of things.
There are a number of issues in what you ask. Firstly UK state pensions are frozen (ie not uprated) when a pensioner moves to Thailand. In typical British fashion this is not true for all countries (so is clearly not fair). Any country that has a reciprocal Insurance agreement with the UK (eg Mauritius) means pensioners there do get increases. Secondly the UK state pension is not means tested but it is taxable, (for anyone who has only the UK pension of £8000 then no tax is taken because the tax free allowance is £11,500pa). Thirdly the state pension is based on National Insurance contributions. To get the full basic pension currently requires 35yrs of contributions. Anyone with less gets the pension pro rata. (At one time it needed 44yrs for a full pension, then it dropped to 30 yrs now back up to 35yrs). Next come changes to the pension itself. It was around £5000 pa it was recently increased to £8000 pa but only for new pensioners (existing pensioners stay as they are, again not fair but it's all about keeping costs down). You might ask how a £3000 pa increase saves costs. The answer is that previously anyone in the UK with only £5000 pa could apply for an additional pension that is means tested. The government set a minimum that everyone should have and the second pension gave an increase up to that minimum. In addition it opened the door for other help. (eg help with council tax and housing benefit). By raising the pension to £8000 pa no pensioner with the full pension can claim additional means tested benefits.
The above is long-winded but does not cover everything and may contain some errors or be a bit out of date but it is more or less the case.
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On 8/17/2018 at 9:19 AM, Janner1 said:I write here entirely without prejudice
The pound is in fact a very strong currency however it is being manipulated by the greedy money mongers in London and in particular by the Bank of England who are all remainers and set a course of punishment for the leavers but their actions are in fact punishing everybody except the said bankers and money manipulators, (but then when do they ever lose)
The situation in England is such that unemployment is now down to just 4% and continuing to fall, order books are full for our products not because the pound is low but because if we leave the control of the EU extortionate costs and charges levied by Germany and Brussels will disappear..
It is on record that just 5 minutes after the result of the Brexit poll was announced most of the major economies across the world flooded the British government with requests for business deals.
The biggest problem facing Britain is that we have a remainer pretending to be a leaver stalling on Brexit in order to force us into another vote because no deal will have been done, and until such times as someone grow a pair of balls and tells this horrible bunch of thieves and thugs in Germany and Brussels exactly where to go Carneys carnage will continue to exact punishment on us all.
I could be wrong (certainly would not be a first) but the EU do not appear to be negotiating in good faith. There a 2 possible Brexit outcomes (ignoring the 3rd possibility of Brexit cancelled) 1) No agreement and crash out to WTO rules and 2) A negotiated Brexit with little changing to the status quo other than officially we are not a member. Everyone seems to agree that crashing out will be bad for the EU but worse for the UK. However, the EUs preferred negotiated Brexit would still leave things almost as bad for the UK but be a significant improvement for the EU. For that reason I prefer the Hard Brexit.
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7 hours ago, Rc2702 said:
Can't believe the food pricing is the same. Yeah maybe you can get some chicken and mushroom pasties on a buy 2 packs for £3 job but last week I nearly ordered a small fish and chips and the price was £10.45. I cancelled it and opted for a save loyalty and chips for £5.50. Pricing on food is a joke and quality costs a lot compared to Thailand.
Would that save loyalty be a saveloy by any chance. (Sorry could not resist. I know its predictive txt or auto correct but always amuses me even though I get caught out too.)
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8 hours ago, theoldgit said:
Whilst your bus pass has to be obtained from your local authority it is valid for all off peak local bus travel within England.
You can’t use it on National Express or inter city routes.
If you live in London your Freedom Pass also allows off peak travel on the Underground.As a holder of a London freedom pass it gives 24/7 access to buses and tube (not just off peak). It can also be used on the local overground rail (eg Waterloo to Vauxhall) but only after 09:30 so that is kind of off peak. In addition you also get local busses free throughout England. Confusingly but usefully, although National Express is out, I have used mine on the local service from Hull to York.
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3 hours ago, soalbundy said:
NHS is dependant on where you live not on your contributions, if you live in Thailand you are paying for nothing.
It's complicated. If you live in Thailand and are receiving a UK state pension, then while you are in Thailand you are not eligible for NHS care. However on returning to the UK you are once again immediately eligible for care. If you are under pension age then on returning to the UK you must wait for 6 months before you can get treatment. Even this is not the full story since anyone in the UK, whether resident or visiting can receive emergency treatment from the NHS.
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Whilst I'm not prepared to speculate regarding the how and why of the situation, it does not say much for the monks equanimity and enlightenment if he gets into bad tempered exchanges / quarrels with a youth.
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11 hours ago, simoh1490 said:
That's not what the medical fraternity says:
I am not and never have been a body builder but I am interested in using supplements to try and optimise health and well being. So I was interested in following the link to see what it said. With regard to heart failure it didn't so much sit on the fence as drop down on both sides. On the one hand it said a creatine deficiency could cause heart failure and then later said that creatine at higher doses might cause heart disease. Interesting but not that helpful.
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2 hours ago, Orac said:
Yes - theft at night carries a heavier penalty.
Sent from my iPad using Thailand Forum - Thaivisa mobile appNot 100% sure but I think there is a similar thing in English Law. Breaking into someone's house during daylight is breaking and entering after dark it is burglary with heavier penalties.
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7 hours ago, isaanbanhou said:
same as kentucky or yorkshire or manitoba or new south wales my friend.
"why do Thai men like to molest young girls?" you don t think that is Thai bashing?
Yorkshire ????
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Could it be that, as a foreign citizen to whom they have granted political asylum, they cannot force him to leave. However, now that he is just another Ecuadorian citizen this now changes and he can be evicted, Just a thought.
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I've seen this system used in exhibitions in the UK where for "Health & Safety" reasons a maximum number of people at any one time was set. The guy at the entrance has exactly the number of tokens as the maximum. When his tokens are gone people are refused entry until tokens come back from the exit indicating people have left. To work well the tokens from the exit need to be frequently passed back to the entrance. In the case of a car park this would avoid having people driving round looking for a car parking spot when they are all in use. Having said that 2 or 3 hundred Baht for lost tokens sounds a better reason. Lol
Thailand mulls allowing foreigners to buy 75% of condo units
in Thailand News Headlines
Posted
I am only guessing but to me the only way this would be workable would be....All 75% of foreigners may vote but, if all 75% vote the same, the vote is capped 49%. This leaves the vote of the Thai owned condos (25%) being actually worth 51%. This way the 75% foreigners cannot automatically out vote the Thai quota. I'm probably wrong but I don't see how else it would work.