OJAS

Assuming that the couple referred to in the OP got married in the UK, they would need to follow a cumbersome legalisation process in order to be able to use their marriage certificate in Thailand for immigration and other official purposes: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/documents-for-british-people-abroad#legalising-uk-documents

Strikes me as little difference from the over-fussy requirements your home country no doubt prescribes for passport photos.

You mean the Costa del Wotsit for us Europeans along with loads of undesirables from our home countries? No thank you very much!🤬

And how many more might be planning to relocate to Thailand clutching passports containing brand new Long-Term Resident visas, I wonder???

You might improve your chances by providing evidence of the fact that you don't spend more than 180 days in Thailand each year in the form of copies of the pages in your passport containing relevant Thai immigration entry and exit stamps.

Specifically for how long were you based in Thailand between 1 Jan and 31 Dec 2024 inclusive? If more than 180 days then you WERE deemed to be a tax resident of Thailand for that year - in which case it is IMHO essential that you then check how your German property rental income is dealt with in the double taxation agreement between Germany and Thailand*. If this is also considered to be assessable income for taxation purposes in Thailand (with tax credits likely being available to avoid double taxation), you may need to file a tax return with your local TRD office, for which a TIN would be needed in any event. * https://www.rd.go.th/fileadmin/download/nation/germany_e_221057.pdf

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