jesimps

Good point. My local temple was at the super-loud bass-heavy music yesterday from morning until 9 pm. Place of peace and tranquillity my backside. Only just got over the week or more of noise coming from one of the colleges in Ban Ampher, which is about a kilometre away but was rattling my house walls and windows.

Midnight to 2 am? I'm away in the land of nod by then. You have to be a hardcore forum type to still be on here at that time. I find the best way to use this place is to say what I have to and not read the replies. Life's too short to be getting into pointless arguments on here.

Because the defamation laws in this country are so stringent, people and companies sue at the drop of a hat. The reason being that even if true, the complaint defames the company's name and therefore the complainant is in the wrong. We've seen it in people being sued for putting adverse comments on Trip Adviser etc.

I lived in a condo on Jomtien Beach Road for two years but the bass-heavy "music", which had become worse as time passed, just became too much to bear, so I moved to a house outside of Jomtien. It's noisy here too at times, but not continuous as it was in my condo. I doubt there's a completely noise-free area to live in this country or this part of the world in general, you have to put up with it or move out.

Never used the latex stuff. My folks used to mix flour and water (not self-raising), but that was in the bad old days when everyone was poor and flour was cheap. It pays to size dry walls with a diluted paste and I always soak the paper before hanging. Can you buy pre-pasted paper here?

Two Russians and a South Korean, nothing to do with where it happened. Anyway, it long ago became clear that those of you who knock the city are those who'd love to visit here from their jungle clearing out back of beyond, but their wives won't let them. I'll just carry on enjoying the place that I've been for the past 17 years and wouldn't live anywhere else.

One of the colleges in Ban Amphur has been "blasting" the music every evening for about the last 10 days. I live on the edge of Phoenix Golf Course and the drums and bass have been vibrating my walls and windows during that time. I was into loud music when I was young, but never with the bass at the level these people have it here. I reckon the locals feel like they're not getting their money's worth unless all the amp controls are set to "Max".

Our teachers had carte blanche to do some fairly sadistic things to us if we offended them in the smallest way. That was some 70 ish years ago. That's about the amount of time this country is probably behind mine in terms of development. Now the kids rule the roost in my country and I suppose the same will happen here in the future. I have to say though that this particular case seems to be particularly devilish in its nature and makes me wonder what goes on inside this teacher's head.

I'm always attracted to feminine-looking women. Hair ribbons, floral dresses etc. Hate women dressing like men, always suspect they have lousy legs.

It happens to me in supermarkets etc, but on very rare occasions and only when someone has one or two items and pays cash. What really makes my blood boil is when there's traffic queue on the road and people push in at the last minute. It happens all the time, as soon as traffic starts to back off, there they go down the emergency or blocked off lane.

"If you don't like it, leave!" That's the regular cry of some of the herberts on here, you know, the ones that've been here 5 minutes.

Very rarely watch US dramas because most of the actors mumble and they play the theme music too loud. Impossible to understand the guys with a deep voice. I also don,t watch many British dramas because of the woke nature of them. I always scan the cast before watching. Most of my viewing is confined to documentaries.

All for it, where do I donate and sign the petition? Not only strays, but the noisy bar stewards that bark constantly and keep me awake half the night who have owners, some of whom are farang. There are one or two in my community who are nice friendly quiet dogs, but most, I wouldn't mind in the least, seeing them "eradicated".

I suppose the sights you see on Soi 6, Beach Rd or Walking St Pattaya are also a "cultural difference". Where those girls are sunbathing looks to me like a large grassy public area with a distant temple in the background. It's about time that the religious communities realised that there's nothing offensive about the human body. We were all born naked, even church leaders.

I don't mind the afternoon restriction because I'm napping then. It's the morning one that gets me. We always like to shop early morning to avoid the crowds, but if I need to stock up on my booze, I have to make another trip to the local grog shop after 11am.

Agreed. I've met some very intelligent Thai people diploma-wise, but I've yet to meet one with an ounce of common sense. This includes my beloved wife.

Obviously!

Anyone being taxed in their home country who is then taxed by the Thai Authorities would be "taxed to death" so to speak.

Yes, but people have to have the full picture because the return which is due to be submitted in 2025 will be based on this year's transactions. Until I know the full details, I won't be bringing in any large amounts. The new car will have to be put on the back burner yet again.

That's certainly the case with myself, who man and boy served 11 years in the British Army and don't receive a pension for it, whereas for my 31 years with the Brit Civil Service, I do.

Good news for ex-UK Civil Servants like myself. This from the UKGOV website referring to the 1981 UK/Thailand Double Taxation Convention Article 19: "(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." I assume this means that only state pension is assessable here, however with exemptions, that takes me into the zero tax bracket. I should think so too, being that I'm being milked for over 2000 pounds a year UK Tax, getting nothing in return except for a passport and embassy services (don't snigger).

I receive a pension (taxed at source) for my 31 years working for the civil service, but get no pension for my 11 years army time. Therefore my army service is not classed as government service, pension-wise.

You can get your bank letter the day before, but you must update your book on the day you visit immigration.

"Calm down"? You a Scouser? Sitting here in the aircon sipping my scotch, I couldn't be more relaxed. Just pointing out the possibility of having to run around collecting more useless bits of paper to hump along to immigration.

The show has potentially already started. I read earlier on here that we need to obtain a number from the local tax office (wherever that might be) for which we'll need our passport with up to date visa and an address verification letter, which in the case of Jomtien Immigration, requires two trips to that dreadful place, plus forking out 300 baht or maybe more next time. Goodness know what other bits of paper we'd have to collect if they make our annual visa dependant on having our tax declarations approved. I;m already providing them with a small rain forest each time I renew my marriage visa.