OJAS

And you will, of course, be "serenaded" with irritating muzak while being given the pillar-to-post treatment!🤬

This is probably Citibank who presumably levy a commission for their services, which is reflected in their net exchange rates which are therefore less favourable than the corresponding XE rates upon which @Daffy D has based his calculations.

Sounds to me like HMRC are erroneously assuming that you're in receipt of the annual triple-lock increases to which we State Pensioners living in Thailand are not entitled. This has been the subject of a recent thread on the UK Home Country Forum, as follows:

Does the Google Wallet app attempt to dial this number itself, or are you supposed to do this yourself manually? If the latter, my UK bank also has an 0345 number which I can call from Thailand by dialling +44345xxxxxxx on my Thai mobile.

Unlikely in practice unless you had other sources of assessable income which, together with the State Pension, exceeded the current 500k THB annual total of allowances and exemptions.

It is conceivable that the necessary proof might take the form of a tax clearance certificate. If so, applying for and obtaining one would clearly mean yet more bureaucratic hoops needing to be jumped through at annual extension of stay time if this link is to be believed! https://magnacarta.co.th/home/faq-section-2/thailand-tax-clearance-certificate/

I've also come across the following link through which BBC stations can be accessed, at least for the present: https://www.radio-uk.co.uk/ In the case of these various external links/apps, though, I suspect that it will be a case of waiting and seeing what, if anything, happens as regards listening to BBC stations from outside the UK once the BBC Sounds plug has been pulled.

TM30.

Unless a trip abroad has been undertaken in the meantime.

Our posts clearly crossed. Great minds thinking alike, I think!!

But are their links to BBC stations through BBC Sounds, though, as in the case of fmstream.org? Impossible to tell from their website unless there's something I'm missing in the following link, for example: https://tunein.com/search/?query=bbc radio 3

Ah, but the links quoted for individual BBC stations (apart from the World Service) are through BBC Sounds! So they may no longer work in LOS with fmstream.org either after the plug has been pulled by the Beeb (except possibly with a VPN).

In my case it's the Radio 4 Midnight News bulletin which I listen to while munching breakfast.☺️

It might still be possible to access the BBC Sounds app from abroad with a VPN after the Beeb have pulled the plug internationally - although that remains to be seen, of course. I suspect that rights issues might be behind the reasons for the change*. The relevant fees for worldwide coverage are probably considerably higher than for coverage solely restricted to the UK - and, as already said, the Beeb are severely strapped for cash these days (unfortunately there is zero chance of them launching a GoFundMe campaign in order to make up any shortfall!🤑). *Live football commentaries on 5Live, for example, are already geoblocked internationally for this reason.

Nor does anyone, even back in the UK, solely in order to access BBC Sounds!

Depends on the OP's UK bank, of course, but mine (Co-op) has never required me to activate replacement debit and credit cards which they send to my Thai address. Indeed, the 16-digit numbers remain the same, the only things changing are the 3-digit CVC on the back of the card plus, of course, the validity dates. But even if this were also the case for @cliveshep, I would still strongly advise him to initiate a token payment with his replacement card in due course (perhaps in the form of a Wise transfer?) so as to ensure that any potential problems with using it for his passport renewal payment were identified (and, hopefully, resolved) beforehand.

In addition to the ridiculous bureaucratic nonsense we Brits locally are subject to at passport renewal time, presumably. In my experience getting existing IMM stamps transferred from old to new passports is a piece of cake in comparison.

I think that VFS only accept THB payments for UK visa applications. Certainly no mention of this being possible in the case of passport renewals on the HMPO section of their website: https://visa.vfsglobal.com/tha/en/gbr/hmpo

@brewsterbudgen Your son will be able to travel for free on most TfL services with a 5-10 Zip Oyster photocard. And he doesn't even need one of these for free bus travel in London, unless he looks older than 10! https://tfl.gov.uk/fares/free-and-discounted-travel/5-10-zip-oyster-photocard?intcmp=55572 You yourself will only be able to pay for bus fares in London with an Oystercard or contactlessly with a debit or credit card which includes the following symbol:

Says it all about the British passport renewal procedures from Thailand, I think, when it seems possible for expats of most other nationalities to be able to renew their passports from Thailand without the need for any assistance from agents!

What is a 2-step authentication system? And how do we enable it?

OP - did you not have to obtain an affirmation of freedom to marry document signed and stamped by the Australian Embassy prior to your marriage in 2001? If so, it might be worth your while checking whether they still have this document - although I accept that this could well prove a long shot after so long.

In other words, alienate a significant part of their customer base in exactly the same way as SCB and KTB have done. 😟

The big mystery as far as I am concerned is why the IPC use a Wolverhampton mailing address when their offices are located in Newcastle-upon-Tyne! In particular, once the fresh life certificates which we're all dutifully having witnessed at the present time have been received at Wolverhampton, do they then need to be physically transported onwards to Newcastle-upon-Tyne before the IPC can process them?