billd766

At the same time Thailand will be wasting billions of litres of irreplaceable water. 

snip from the OP

 "the initiative highlights Thailand’s rich culture and New Year traditions, reinforcing its position as a top travel destination during the festive season".

Songkran in its current manner actually bears little or no commonality  with the real culture and tradition of the original Songkran.

It is simply a way of making money.

5 hours ago, thaibeachlovers said:

How many of the US wars around the world since 1948 has that country provided troops for? Korea, nope, Vietnam, nope, Iraq- nope, Afghanistan- nope. Not much of a friend then.

Try researching before you post.

Europe is NOT just one country, but 50 different countries including Russia.

Here is a link for you.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Europe

Europe covers approx. 10,186,000 square kilometres (3,933,000 sq mi), or 2% of Earth's surface (6.8% of Earth's land area), making it the second-smallest continent (using the seven-continent model). Politically, Europe is divided into about fifty sovereign states, of which Russia is the largest and most populous, spanning 39% of the continent and comprising 15% of its population. Europe had a total population of about 745 million (about 10% of the world population) in 2021; the third-largest after Asia and Africa.

She reminds me of an old BBC radio show broadcast from 1946 to 1960 called

"Take it from here"

That is what she is doing. Take it from Here and put it there, then take it from there and put it somewhere else.

It is not new or extra money, just reshuffled money.

54 minutes ago, ikke1959 said:

Move Farward was the winner of the elections, but as they were a threat for the current leaders and army they were made impossible to make a coalition. You forgot that Pita was unable to be PM? All kind of tricks were used to prevent that he would be PM  and nd the managed to ban him . PHeu Thai was the first party that saw their chance and formed a formed a government with their friends to keep the power, so not an elected Government  in fact but a Government that was formed to keep the people in power who already were there. Everybody wrote enough about it.. The same parties in another Government. But with the return of Thaksin it seems that there would be changes,,, but untill now they are only working to get Yingluck back and nothing is achieved yet, as we all know  that it is the same as in the last decade. This is not the US nor a democracy.. 

How would you know whether or not I forgot Pita? Was he standing for election? If you have read and understood the constitution, you would know that the PP were given the option of forming the government.

That they could not and the reason behind it are nothing to do with the legality or not of the current government. As they could not form a workable government, the party with the next highest elected was given the option, in line with the constitution and the law. If that party could not form a government, then the next party in line would have been given the option. I am not sure how many times that can happen before a new election would have to be called.

Strangely enough I had noticed that Thailand is not the USA.

However I was responding to another poster @spidermike007 who may not be aware of the rules.

4 hours ago, spidermike007 said:

First of all this is not a democratically elected government and Thailand is not a democracy. Secondarily this Administration has done absolutely nothing for the people and all they're doing is representing the interests of the army, the autocrats, and the billionaires. The young pm has always been completely out of her element, and her level of ineffectiveness is only match by the Goomba overseas. 

Actually it is a legally elected government.

PPP which had more elected MPs, was given the first choice of electing a majority coalition government. Unfortunately together with their partners they still could not form a majority government. After a period of time (30 days I think) the option to form a coalition government went to the party with the next highest number of elected MPs, (as laid down in the current and previous constitutions). In this case it was the PTP who could, and did form a majority coalition government.

In Thailand, and in many other countries it is not necessarily the first past the post party which forms the government, nor is it, as in the USA that the electoral college decides who is the winner.

3 hours ago, Tug said:

Do not trust trump I repeat do not trust trump .he and putin are birds of a feather they will do whatever suits them and will promise the moon then break their word.

TBH I don't trust either of them as far as I can throw the Royal Albert hall left handed. However that is just my opinion, and I am sure that other posters will agree or disagree with me.

18 minutes ago, OJAS said:

 

Whilst this is, indeed, the case provided that the amounts involved do not total more than the UK personal allowance (currently £12,570) as already said, it would appear that her widow's pensions might, however, be deemed assessable income for Thailand taxation purposes, because of Article 19(2) of the UK/Thailand Double Taxation Agreement, which states:

 

(2) (a) Any pension paid by the Contracting State or a political subdivision or a local

authority thereof to any individual in respect of services of a governmental nature

rendered to that State or subdivision or local authority thereof shall be taxable

only in that State.

(b) However, such pension shall be taxable only in the other contracting State if

the recipient is a national of and a resident of that State.

 

But, given your subsequent statement that the amounts involved won't exceed the current UK personal allowance, she might not, in practice, have to pay any tax in Thailand either because of the various allowances and exemptions currently in force.

 

That all said, things could, of course, change at both UK and Thailand ends between now and when your wife claims her widow's pensions!

 

 

However as a Thai national (she will be 60 in October) she will also be entitled to the standard 150,000 baht exempted income, and probably the age allowance of 190,000 baht.

I went to this link https://www.gov.uk/guidance/claim-personal-allowances-and-tax-refunds-if-you-live-abroad

which is the link to HMRC form R43 and followed it along as far as I could and it seems as though my wife should be entitled to the UK tax free allowance, plus it looks as though she will not have to pay any income tax on my pensions at all.

2 hours ago, Pumpuynarak said:

 

If her widows pension income exceeds the personal allowance currently £12570 pa she will pay income tax, that is what HMRC have told me. They also told me she will have to claim the personal allowance each year at the end of each year by completing form K43 and then receive a lump sum refund.

Thank you. I did not know that.

The pensions combined will not exceed the  current tax free allowance (unless that changes or is cancelled).

9 hours ago, Smokin Joe said:

 

700 million Americans?

Mathematics from the MAGA school of accounting.

4 hours ago, Bannoi said:

Trump & Vance are looking more like Laurel & Hardy every day.

But nowhere near as funny.

4 hours ago, LiamB80 said:

Zelensky wants his unaccounted for slush fund to continue. He can wage his war whatever way he wants going forward but without the help of America. He’s ungrateful for our help to begin with. Trump is doing exactly what i voted for him to do. 

And you have the proof that President Zelenskyy has an unaccounted slush fund?

Well if you do have the proof, then post it and prove it. Otherwise it is just another unsubstantiated allegation from an anonymous keyboard user and totally meaningless.

7 hours ago, LiamB80 said:

The days of writing a blank check are over. Hundreds of billions of US taxpayers money with no accountability and losing on the battlefield as well.

Thank you Starmer and Europe for taking this endless money pit off our hands. Trump is right, Zelensky doesn’t want peace. 

I believe that Zelenskyy does want peace. Just NOT on Trump or Russia's terms whicj involves the complete surrender of the Ukraine.

That is interesting to know.

When I die my state pension dies with me but my wife is entitled to 50% of my military pension and 50% of my company pension.

However she has never lived in the UK, nor has she worked there and she does not have a National Insurance number.

I/We have been assuming that she will receive the full 50% of each and pay no UK oncome tax.

Could I be incorrect in my thinking?

13 hours ago, blaze master said:

Ford is a clown. 

He is so much of a clown that he has been re-elected for a third time.

What have you achieved so far in your life?

1 hour ago, Thingamabob said:

At least there is currently talk about peace rather than, up to now, talk about an endless supply of weapons to keep the war going.

But peace between whom, brokered by whom and on what terms.

If both sides that are at war are NOT included in the peace talks, how can there be any peace talks, or peace for that matter?

Talk is cheap, peace always comes with a price tag to one side or the other.

On 3/1/2025 at 5:20 AM, flyingtlger said:

Yes, part of the problem is the size and structural designs but I believe most of the problem are caused by the operators. The buses should be fitted with governors or regulators so they can't exceed a certain speed.

There are double decker buses all over the world but you don't hear of horrific accidents such as in Thailand.......

Try typing "how many double decker bus crashes in the world" into a search engine and see how many results you get.

It is called searching internet news for results. There are dozens of them.

On 2/28/2025 at 1:42 PM, Purdey said:

A Pitbull enters your land, go indoors or be prepared to use a machete.

A cat enters your land, feed it.

We have a cat like that.

It liked it so much that the scrawny kitten adopted us and is now a sociable cat, but only on its own terms. It loves me in the morning because I feed it, after which I am ignored until it is hungry again. It likes my wife and other people, is ignored by my neighbours dogs, and detests their 2 cats who are always trying to steal its food, unless I am on guard duty.

On 2/28/2025 at 12:15 PM, Sydebolle said:

Maybe it is time to add "bulldog" and "pitbull" onto the list of animals which you do NOT KEEP DOMESTICATED.

I hope the owner is taken to the cleaners for all medical and cosmetic surgery treatment of this poor girl. 

Nobody keeps lions, leopards or panthers domesticated either ........ 

Actually there are some really stupid people in Thailand who do keep a lion as a pet. I don't think that I would sant to take one of them for walkies though.

On 2/28/2025 at 5:44 AM, thesetat said:

 

This amazes me. These 2 elders arguing over who is responsible when the child is half dead in the hospital. The neighbor Jjt is not responsible for the owners dogs actions. Not locking the gate as well as securing the dog to its cage should have been the owners priority. Now they play the blame game and from the OP seem to show no remorse for the girl other than a cursory sorry given. When will Thais learn how to train and keep a dog and be responsible?

It is not only the Thai people, but many are irresponsible people in many other countries as well. Mostly in the UK the dogs are euthanised very quickly. However as can be seen in he OP, euthanising dogs (even pit bulls and their variants) is not an easy task.

IMHO pit bulls and their all variants serve no useful purpose and were bred solely to fight and kill and again IMHO every single one should be humanely destroyed worldwide. They are not pets, but killing machines. Ignore the owners that protest and say that their animal would never do that, simply because they have no idea if the dog will turn and attempt to kill, and if it does, it will be far too late and virtually impossible to stop it.