jesimps

I am supprised there are so many still comming to Thailand "Rubber neckers"

I think we have to be quite about the fact tourist still go to south and enjoy the beaches. Because if the Red figure this out they will also try to destroy south tourism how small it is.

They just hate Thailand

Unlike the good old yellow shirts who only closed the airport completely thereby stopping all tourist air-arrivals. What blatant double-standards by some of the people on here.

Of course it was the reds. They have threatened this. Red shirt apologists, you should be ashamed.

How do you know soft lad? Practicing mental telepathy again?? You've got more nose than a lorry load of fish wives. Keep it out pal and let the Thais get on with it.

it's amazing that this army can't even surround a hotel and remove some fat middle aged men from a room without incident. If the army can't protect the country against a bunch of farmers with sticks, what the heck would they do if say someone like Cambodia decided this would be a nice country to have? I wonder how many countries out there are looking at Thailand as possible fair game, seeing how helpless they really appear. Maybe the moral of the story is, image is just that, all show and no substance. Time to get it together and prove it has what it takes to protect the women and children, or maybe the women and children should do it instead?

The problem is that the government and the army/police are trying to avoid mass casualties. If the Cambodians (in an extremely hypothetical situation) were to invade I think the Thai army would have no qualms about slaughtering them. On the other hand, you have to wonder how they are unable to arrest even one of the crooks calling themselves "leaders" of the red shirts. Personally, I think Abhisit is making the best of what is an impossible situation, and I'm sure he wishes he had something more effective than the Keystone Kops to rely on.

Unfortunately, this will likely all end with Abhisit resigning and probably moving overseas where he can probably make a good living under far less stressful circumstances. Thailand will have lost one of it's most intelligent, and educated Prime Ministers in decades and will end up with someone of the caliber of a Samak Sundaravej or a Chalerm - just what the country really deserves, so it can remain the underdeveloped, corrupt, laughing stock it seems to want to be. I used to love Thailand and respect its people. The last several years since the election of Thaksin have made me reconsider.

There's the reason, you just said it, "the ELECTION (my capitals) of Thaksin". The reason for all the trouble over the last few years is that Mr Thaksin was elected overwhelmingly by the people in a fair (as you can get in Thailand) election. The PAD encouraged the military to stage a coup causing Mr Thaksin to flee the country. After a couple of years of military rule elections were held and again the PPP were voted into power. The PAD didn't like this and started court proceedings against the PPP. In the meantime, the yellow shirts occupied the airport with no police or military intervention and said they'd remain there until the courts approved the case against the PPP. When this happened the yellow shirts gave up their occupation of the airport.

This is when the country should have called a new general election, but didn't. Instead, they lit the touch paper by handing power to the PAD and installing the unelected Mr Abhasit as prime minister. Is it any wonder that the majority of the Thai people, the voters for the PPP feel compelled to take action? They see the party they voted for displaced by the military and their man forced to flee the country; witness the yellow shirts occupy the airport with no intervention from the military or police; their party forced out of power by the judiciary and the PPP man installed as PM. They can't take it to the courts because the courts are perceived as being pro-PAD, so they assume the only course of action is to take to the streets.

"Put into Administration a few Farangs that know better then the authorities here"...???? Please. Please look at the obscure ordered; crime ridden; rude; and plain ignorant Western World. The selfishness and envy alone is enough to put Westerners behind the eight ball in their own Country.

While I applaud the management of this forum for allowing those that need to vent a great opportunity to do so, I feel that many do not take into consideration that they ( the farangs ) are actually guests only in this wonderful Country; a Country that if you are honest about it is far more advanced in politeness; friendliness than where-ever else you originated from.

Need a whole heap of Road Rage; Holdups; abuse; car theft; etc. etc..?.. then go home and enjoy it.

Want to become a successful and contented Visitor / Guest of this Country, then try desperately to learn the rules of how it is done here; accept them and live by them.

Turning, or trying to turn these beautiful people and their rules into something akin to that of the Western world is in my humble opinion disastrous to all concerned; both them and the Farang.

This Country of Thailand is a place you have chosen to live; you want to live here because of what it is and how it is. Please don't try and introduce backward measures.

What a load of cobblers! Tell you what, you lot all toddle off to Europe and the States and we'll all come here. We aren't in Thailand because it's the land of smiles, the only time they smile is when they're taking our money. We're here because of the warm climate and the cheap sex. There are plenty of cheaper, stable places to go where they aren't all money grabbers; the roads are safe; the political situation is stable; people don't litter the place; the entry price for attractions is the same for foreigners as for locals; the police aren't corrupt etc etc. Get with it pal and bin your rose-coloured specs.

""If they want to clear us out of [Rajprasong intersection] too then we'll bring the whole country to ruin - end of story," said a woman, anger in her eyes.

"I don't know who [the men in black] are but I thank them for without them, many red shirts would have been killed," she said."

Seems that she has no doubts whatsoever.

If she doesn't know who they are, how does she know they didn't kill red shirts? At least muslims promise their martyrs 72 virgins, what to the red shirts expect to get to die for a rich old fool.

Either way, she seems to be contradicting Nattawut and saying that the 'men in black' we're active and armed combatants.

well spotted Neurath, its clear that the women thinks that the men in black were working for the red shirts and that is the likely concensus of most ground level reds

she is just way off base as to what they were actually doing for the reds

it will come as shock to her when they actually catch one, make an amnesty deal with him and find he was there to kill red shirts rather than save them and that the red leaders, Seh Daeng and Thaksin were the paymasters

its only a matter of time before the truth will be out and the red menace will self destruct.

They won't self-destruct, they're over half the population and they have grit because they're the common people. As for the black shirts, maybe they're another version of the blue shirts who caused a lot of the problems in Pattaya during ASEAN.

I'd imagine they'd freeze your account if the government told them to ie if you owed tax for a long time. In that instance though, I'd have thought they'd have sent you several warnings first.

They block your account as a matter of practice and there's nothing you can do about it except to ring them; they'll normally lift the block straight away.

When describing a naughty child my mother used to say "He/she is very willful" and that's the word I'd use to describe Thai drivers. I used to think they were just stupid, but they aren't, they know they are are driving incorrectly (going the wrong way against traffic etc) but do it anyway. Perhaps it's laziness, but seeing it's the motorbike or car that does the work, I can't see why.

My wife, who is Thai, has recently passed her test. She took the car out for the first time recently and had a prang. One drive, one accident. Last Friday she and her brother left for Sisaket (brother driving), I had a phone call a little later, they'd had a collision with a motorbike, no one hurt thankfully but front of car dented and they'd had to pay the motorcyclist 1000 baht. Wouldn't mind but it was 4am, hardly any traffic on the road. They're returning tomorrow, let's hope they (and my car) arrive in one piece.

I've lived and driven in lots of places around the world and in the bad driving league, Thailand has to be Premiership, top four standard.

These thugs simply seem to believe they are above the law, acts like this make the perpetrators nothing more than terrorists.

Exactly like the yellow shirts when they occupied the airport. The only difference being that the yellow shirts did it with the collusion of the law. Judicery = Yellowshirts

Even a blind man can see what's needed here, and has always been the case. The government elected by the people has to be allowed to serve out it's term without military or any other intervention. Any other scenario and the voters are bound to take to the street, especially when supporters of the opposing party have been treated with kid-gloves in the past. I'm farang, but I'd get very pear shaped if the government in the UK was ousted by the army and another, unelected, party was put in in it's place.

Dissolve parliament and have a new election. After all, like our Mr Brown, Mr A is unelected.

Just like to say that if they use force to disperse the redshirts, their supporters are obviously going to say "Why didn't you do it to the other lot when they occupied the airport?" Thats when the police and the army should have showed their mettle.

whistle blower? markets manipulated? YAWWNNNNN... manipulation happens in all markets, has happened and will happen all the time. welcome to reality and expensive bakeries

....so you're suggesting that because it "happens-all the time" that it shouldn't be made available to those who aren't as informed and intelligent as you try to appear ? Rape, murder, suicide, etc., also happen all the time, are those topics also "YAWWNNNNN" boring to you as well. should we only take notice of your posts as being relevant, like the statement you made some time ago, "Gold is going nowhere and it never will"....I think gold was about $600 an ounce when you made that statement.

He is the most intelligent and best informed person in the universe, and he won't hesitate to tell you. He's also convinced that everyone else is stupid. Pillock!

Well blow me! It's April 1st innit!!! Suckered!!!!!

News like this makes me wonder why the majority of farang on this site appear to be anti-Thaksin. Things seem to be much worse for farang since Mr A came to power. Maybe the Geordies got up his nose and he's getting his own back.

Follow up to my last post. I really think you mods could do more to make this a better site. Can't you ban these awkward so'n so's? I wonder how many there are, like me, who no longer ask for information on here, because regardless of the subject matter, you just seem to end up with a load of stupid comments. This could be a really helpful site, but because of certain clowns (who always seem to be hovering) it's next to useless.

You are lucky if you can get an ATM card to work, just tried my newish nationwide card and get the old operation cancelled message, so I am stuffed. Worked last time in the same machine. Had this many times last year and seems nobody can come up with an explanation. Tried a few Banks to transfer over the counter but none will do it-go and use ATM! what a fvking country!

Pack up and piss off then!

Yeah that will really improve Bank services here won't it Mr unoriginal quote

Just how long have you been in this country?

What a miserable turd. Hey Jusme, that's the reason I never ask advice on TV anymore, it's full miserable sods and failed comedians.

By the way, I use Bank of Ayuthaya, yellow machine, no charge and never any problems.

I have twice been told by established companies that I cannot transfer to a qrops because I am already in drawdown in a final salary pension scheme. Surely these companies wouldn't turn away my business if this wasn't the case.

Hi jesimps, it depends on the company and the trustee you are trying to transfer from. What happens is the company that you set the QROPS up with, first has to contact the company holding the pensions and ask them firstly if the pension can be transferred and if it can, obtain the transferable amount and the discharge paperwork. Final salary pensions can be transferred if the company allows it to. So with your case maybe the trustee or company said no

with final salary schemes most companies will allow the transfer just to get the liability off their books. They calculate how much they will transfer and they are usually generous with the amount and add incentives

also there may be benefits included in your final salary scheme that can not be transferred, and this may be the reason they are saying no. if there are benefits attached to the scheme i would recommend keeping it where it was

i could look into why if you wanted me to

Thanks for your advice but I'm not going to pursue this now. The companies I contacted said that a final salary pension in drawdown did not qualify for qrops transfer, they even sent me the relevant quote from the regulations. It looked pretty open and shut to me.

I have twice been told by established companies that I cannot transfer to a qrops because I am already in drawdown in a final salary pension scheme. Surely these companies wouldn't turn away my business if this wasn't the case.

You poor so and so, you walked into that one. Don't you know the clowns on here get orgasmic about mistakes like that. Thai Visa Forums are for failed comedians and not the place to post if you want a sane or helpful reply.

I still can't believe how partisan, to one side or the other, farang are on this site. Whoever is in power, it'll make not the slightest difference to our lot in Thailand. Let the Thais get on with it for goodness sake.

Where can I download form for dependent wife ? Any guidance much appreciated

www.dsdni.gov.uk this is for n.ireland ,but it tells you about england.

do it quickly because after 6 april 2010 you cannot claim ,also if your wife has no nat ins no you have to get one ,it all takes ages. be warned

Her nat ins nr will be issued when the claim is approved, but yes you are right, it takes ages. Mine has been ongoing since last August.By the way, she's never seen her birth certificate so I sent her Thai passport, they seem to be happy with that.

The farang elitists are still mainly pro-democrat I see. Not many neutrals left on here, which is a shame seeing it isn't our country. I hope this doesn't come back to kick us up the bum if the Red Shirts regain power.

I think the posts you see from farang on this website more or less back up the news headline about the class struggle. The ruling democrats are supported by the elite of Thai society, plus most of the farang on here, who are quite well-off by Thai standards, seem to be fanatically anti-Thaksin. Don't forget friends that the majority of Thais voted PPP in two elections so I wouldn't be so quick to voice your criticisms of them on here. Why not just leave it to the Thai people to sort out.

It's seems that the average Red Shirt supporter on this forum has about the same IQ as the average Red Shirt protester.

Birds of a feather stick together.

Unusual to see a neutral farang on here

may as well be a layabout, probably get more take-home pay and certainly a bigger pension.

You mean join the civil service???

I did! Why am I still broke?

nnn

Judges at the European Court of Human Rights were the latest to declare that National Insurance contributions did not have an "exclusive link" to retirement pensions.

"As non-residents, the applicants did not contribute to the UK economy, in particular, they paid no UK tax to offset the cost of any increase in the pension," a statement from the court said.

The court said that it was hard to draw any genuine comparison with the position of pensioners living elsewhere.

Nonsense! I pay UK income tax on both my occupational and my state pension, I'm not given a choice. If this is what they really said, then they haven't got the true facts. I can't even take out a QROPS because I'm in a final salary pension scheme. Typical UK, they keep on bleeding you but don't give you what you're entitled to, or employ delaying tactics so that you'll give up.

This is where they have you over a barrel. All they have to do to counter the "I pay UK income tax on both my occupational and my state pension" angle is say that you DIDNT pay tax on the contributions, so they are only collecting whats rightfully owed.

In other words, they have ALL the angles covered, and are experts at what they do, and all you are left with is to fluff your cheeks out with indignation.

Penkoprod

Yes but what these judges are saying is that if you live outside the UK you didn't pay tax on your contributions but those still living there did. Anyway, as you say it's a waste of time getting indignant, it ain't gonna change things. Just reinforces my opinion that there's no future in being a good citizen, working all your life and paying tax etc., may as well be a layabout, probably get more take-home pay and certainly a bigger pension.