UKresonant

14 hours ago, emptypockets said:

How do 50 year olds receive a state pension in the UK. I'm confused. I thought it was 65 or so.

UK Minimum pension age upto April 5th 2010 was 50 (with some exceptions), then it became 55. So, many Government pensions, had protected rights that allowed them to continue to be drawn at 50 albeit with proportionally reduction in monthly rate, though the normal pension age was 60 (similar to many Thai .GOV pensions).

The state pension was 65, then was 66 and 67, on the catch phrase "we are all living longer", this is based on national insurance contribution record ( approx 12% of a salary between £8k and £40k as a generalisation, 2%ish over that). The living longer stats, have been noted as having stopped increasing, if not reversing slightly, (but the politicians like the phrase).

Then you have the private DB & DC (401style?)pensions (perhaps company originated), mostly now changed to 55 plus availability.

So I'm guessing the 50 thing is perhaps related to the pre-2010 origins...? As it quotes pension, rather than state pension...

7 hours ago, superal said:

I also was able to visit the UK if need be . I was not aware of this m/e removal and have only this week secured my non "o" m/e by post from the London Thai embassy , so quite lucky .

Very lucky timing indeed, I've only got ME capability Still Feb next year, then it's a mess, can't go any short trips anywhere e.g. HKG or Japan if we got an opportunity, with the ME you had the capability just to go, within the yearly book ends.

The whole thing just gives me a headache, let's watch and see if anyone actually gets it to work this week! May be a good feature for the BBC travel show....

59 minutes ago, pontious said:

When you look at the rules for taking your wife / girlfriend to UK they are more onerous.

You do need an income of approx 678kbaht after tax I suppose, and the process is a pain, ( and you might have to know who was the English Captain in 1966, and other useless and cringe type irrelevant questions) but once done it's done, probably over 5 years. So I think in a financial sense it depends how many years you compare it over, try comparing over 10 years.....or 15 years...

4 hours ago, emptypockets said:

Why is the OA of no use?

Because my father only comes to Thailand less than or equal to 180 days a year, the health insurance that is now linked to the OA requires you to stay in Thailand more than 180days or it is totally worthless, at age 86 he would be paying a very heavy premium (guess perhaps 120kbaht), for relatively no coverage, and in his position zero cover. The 180days thing seems to be how a lot of Thai insurance is structured ( not just for this purpose). But his Gold standard Travel insurance which totals 53kbaht/year, provides substantial cover, repatriation, legal cover etc

I sympathise with the name change thing, that's why the daughter is still using her maiden name!

Is there any scope to reduce the wire transfer to 25k/month and do a early transfer on say the 23dec of 25k? (just say it was because of Xmas) would that not give you 12 x 75k?

Good luck....

Pretty sad not having the non O-ME available my father will be affected, he comes for 3 x 60day trips per year to Thailand, the ME was ideal. We used to get a double entry tourist visa and only discovered the non O ME based on pension, when they changed the system a number of years ago, Suppose it will be applying for a single entry TV three times a year now. METV and OA are of no use...

They do say that the UK consulates will be operating normally, so a single entry from Glasgow, could be an option, in person, perhaps ( will have to check their website).

For me, after planning the way ahead totally based on availability of the non-O ME from London, it's a massive inconvenience to say the very least.

1 hour ago, sumrit said:

With the income based method I think practically all of us (at least from the UK) rely on multiple income sources to reach the income required for our extensions, whether they be extensions based on marriage or retirement. Very few of us will receive a pension (income) of more than 40/65k baht pm from a single source

I've got one element of my pension income that exceeded the 40k comfortably when I decided to finish with my employment in 2018 (UK) now with exchange rate decline, the indexation has not kept up, and it will be 39999/ Baht a month soon (and I could not show I had 12 baht in my savings account ????). Anyway my income is split into various sources by advice and design.

Never consider directly crediting a pension here, is now adopted as policy ???? 

32 minutes ago, ubonjoe said:

Others have tried and it was not accepted. The rules do not state that but it appears to be a policy. 

Another example why you should not try to hard based on todays  mood to conform, as in a few months time they will have a different day dream, and move the goal posts again! 

The London embassy seems to be saying you can apply to the UK consulates as "normal". 

So for us, it wasn't a disaster because we could still apply by post, now they don't do the non-O ME visas we need ???? 

Is it not salary/dividends your transferring in from the previous calendar year? That would be less complicated?

This is great news????, I'll just have to remember to have ink in the printer, for doing the form with the barcode on it...

I think Krungsi are ahead of the pack with the FCD, electronic plastic card for in branch, ATM card for their machines, and nice paper statements through the post every so often. More likely the other banks will reduce the use of passbooks eventually. Also they could print the last 12 months of transactions for me, in a few minutes, when I asked them (in branch last month) ???? All inbound SWIFT transfers coded SWF...

36 minutes ago, Pappap said:

a Non O based on my UK state pension

43 minutes ago, Pappap said:

If I have to go back to the UK

Yes, under the current postal service (or in person I presume), you can get a non-O ME at London, using your DWP state pension letter. It worked for sure in November 2018 anyway! 

But the e-VISA system currently set to go live on the 15th of June, very unclear what will happen under that system....

1 hour ago, OJAS said:

Yep, trips to London from most places in the UK are IMHO a doddle when compared to the trips which those of us in LOS who don't live within spitting distance of Bangkok or Chiang Mai are forced to make at passport renewal time!

Have to do the Bangkok run every 5 years, for the son's passport, and the London run 4 years ago accompanying the Daughter, for her Thai passport. So have it at both ends now!

No airasia/nok flights to London, and no 1kTHB a night hotels either! As well as not knowing what to plan, until "the system" is working.

At least with the Thai passport, London would post it on when ready.

First hurdle will be dads non-O ME in Nov, hopefully clarity soon...

The wife luckily can get someone to pick up when ready, at Trendy, but I know no one in London to do the same ???? 

2 hours ago, burlap said:

 

 

They rejected me because they wanted to see 12 monthly (or 24 bi-weekly) deposits in my checking account.  They also wanted these deposits made on the same date, and for the same amount, in other words, what you would expect to see if you were receiving payments from a government pension program.  I was receiving money from rental property, so the money would arrive on different days (usually on the 3rd - the 7th)  and sometimes the amount would vary, for instance sometimes the tenant would pay for a repair and deduct the payment from the rent.  However, the total for the year was over the required amount.  They said they wouldn't accept this.

Even a gov pension is not the same amount each month, it varies as indexation and tax changes are applied. They are asking for the very improbable situation, no common sense. Perhaps they could explain how you were supposed to know of the bank deposit requirement 6 months before it came out...(or maybe not).

Can you not just ask them for the marriage version, as it says average income of 40kTHB? Based on income.

Obtained a non O-ME from London in February, included £1500/m financial proof, with the application. That bit of the pack came back with the passport. Just the wifes ID and Marraige cert info was kept...

Just passed through, quite a few customs officers (all dressed in their best white uniforms by the looks of it) pulling approx 1 in 8 over for bag scans.

I'll just mention immigration was quick today <15mins certainly, done the fingerprint, left finger scan hesitated on the machine a moment, but was easy. Right hand fingers, left hand fingers, two thumbs (similar as for a Thai passport). Lovely female IO, very pleasant, but she did want to see the boarding pass for the flight I had just come from. There were a couple of other folk not through yet, still checking their pockets, try to find theirs. Onwards to DMK now.....

39 minutes ago, sfokevin said:

Don’t some of these monthly income letters or 12 month bank statements have to come from the main Bangkok office and take a few days to produce and be released back?...

Yes, I read that on many posts, I was at Krungsi mid may, and since I was withdrawing at the ATM from my FCD, I went in and asked them if it was possible to show the last 12 months transaction. Yes, no problem, printed at a desk in under two minutes, so it seems they have the capability to get the info almost instantly. Depends who the need to sign the letter perhaps????

1 hour ago, Delight said:

In the short term -say 18 months after a no deal brexit -it will be tough . Probably 35 Baht.

That's no fun at 35, I remember that's what I got the first time when I came to Thailand Dec 1993.....(strange thing that I remember was that disposable nappies for the Daughter were extortionate at that time ????. that requirement came to a conclusion quicker than the Brexit debate at least, both had similar content however)

1 hour ago, Delight said:

Sterling will improve in the medium/long term

I think they just need to put the new system in place, what ever it is, and it will improve a bit, this limbo is killing the pound and business confidence in some sectors. 

8 hours ago, sillyfool said:

my home life is great. marriage is good have been going strong since we left. you are right. i'm frightened about the country i am coming back to. this is why i have changed my tune to invest. but fear never stopped me from getting on the back of some thai guys scooter who i just met. riding out to his countryside house not knowing if my kidney was going to be harvested or not. head first here we go.

I think you are taking a sound approach. The thought of wishing to personally own, invest or build anything just does not enter my thoughts anymore ???? (how that contrasts from a decade ago). I'll leave the investing & building bit to the members of the family, with Thai nationality (who thankfully are plenty capable). I've not even bought a motorcycle????! The London issued ME visa is the best I think, I just do visa runs back to Edinburgh ????.

54 minutes ago, tebee said:

The cost vs benefit for becoming a medical professional in the UK isn’t worth it - requires too much debt on individual, when it’s a job for benefit of society  

Yes, and the medical sector, is still one of the sectors your more likely to recoup the debt, that must have the potential Graduates questioning more intensely the viability of many of the other sectors...

6 hours ago, BritManToo said:

You're wrong, I couldn't have taken my Thai wife into the UK under 'freedom of movement' cos I'm a Brit.

If I had a Spanish passport she would have been welcome into the UK.

I couldn't have taken her into Spain as they require an English marriage certificate, which the UK will no longer supply to people married overseas.

That positive discrimination to EU folk, effectively giving treaty rights to them for that situation and similar, in excess of UK citizens is one of the reasons I think Brexit is required. There were plenty other examples, like Dad working and paying national insurance in UK, child in Europe, but not in UK Gov happy to pay~1000baht/week. Child UK Citizen, (Dad paying the same Tax & NI in the UK), UK Gov would not pay, as staying in Thailand, etc.

But if Europeans were settled in the UK before the vote (and have committed no serious crime) they should not have their lives disrupted (especially kids that have only stayed in the UK), because the politicians have changed the goalposts, I think that is a good policy. 

Most of the negative things about being in the EU, were caused by politicians, especially UK politicians, not by EU nationals staying in the UK. Those politicians continue to try to frustrate the UK detachment from the EU, seems that the latest plan is that they will continue to exhibit there inability to resolve anything, people will, "they hope" vote again "the right way"  out of frustration, to stop those trying to enact the democratic decision already in place  

Lots of good EU folk in the UK, but they should not have superior treaty rights...happy they should have easy access, rather than free access.

Not  a massive fan of Gove, but ok with his approach this time.

I think you only have the choice of the Bangkok Air Blue Ribbon lounge & the Miracle lounge at concourse A domestic departures.

If you go external through immigration (rather than transfer route);-

I think you could go for a workout/swim / shower at the Novotel 800baht (600 baht shower only).  When you get back to the terminal on the shuttle bus, if you want food Franchises on floor 3, Food hall on the ground floor, at the other end away from "A" domestic departures. There is also a 7/11 and a few food places in the basement (access to rail link), if changing cash, you may wish to the Blue KT bank down there, normally +4-5% more there, for your perfect condition bank notes, compared with upstairs ( the green kk bank, is the Airport rate)...

15 minutes ago, Pique Dard said:

so what if the tourist has his own insurance that he paid back home for his journey?

I'll have travel insurance anyway, but would not grudge 100 baht, if it is used for the the common good. 100baht it's about the same price as a small bottle of french sparkling water, airside, at BKK, so perhaps 500baht a year, no problem! (total contrast to maybe 60k baht for an insurance policy, that would be practically useless, discussed on other threads).

Perhaps the authorities could warm to the concept of efficient group arrangements to solve problems, rather than individual, high overhead, low efficiency concepts....