4 hours ago, RichardColeman said:

That's not strictly speaking true - or if it is it means little.

 

I go back to the UK every 9 months / year for full NHS checks up, blood works, etc , and get tables for the next 9-12 months. I'm usually only in the UK for 22 hours. Some conditions (according to my pharmacist - the head pharmacist in a certain Shire) are treated by the UK NHS no matter where you live and tablets issued by law.

 

I do keep a UK address though through my tenant.

It is strictly true, but maybe not consistently applied despite the fact that the Charging Regulations place a legal obligation on providers of relevant services to establish whether a person is an overseas visitor to whom charges apply, or whether they are exempt from charges.

Your pharmacist is of course correct that some conditions are exempt from the Charging Regulations for everybody, and are laid out in the instructions.

Owning a property in the UK doesn't automatically allow unconditional and free access to the NHS, think of all the Qatar rulers who would be entitled to free ongoing NHS care should they ever fall on hard times.

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1029984/guidance-on-implementing-the-overseas-visitor-charging-regulations.pdf

12 minutes ago, GinBoy2 said:

Didn't Shaw live to almost 100? 

 

I think Stamford Raffles established what we would now call modern day Singapore in 1819, so Singapore was very much in existence in Shaw's lifetime

Indeed, l should have clarified that I meant an independent Singapore, when they finally cast of the shackles of the UK and Malaya/Malaysia. 
 

I’ve stayed in “his” hotel, but he’d be turning in his grave if he knew it was now owned by a French Company.

4 minutes ago, GammaGlobulin said:

If Shaw had ever travelled to Singapore, and had he ever listened to the English gibberish there, his quote would have been longer, and harsher.

Had Singapore been in existence during Shaws lifetime, he may well have done. 

5 minutes ago, sandyf said:

Your state pension can be higher than the allowance.

Possible I suppose, but that would be over £240 a week, I'm not sure that many get that.

As you'll be aware, but maybe @Mac Mickmanus isn't, the Personal Allowance is reduced by the total of the State Pension, thus ensuring, those with maybe an occupational pension, pay tax on their total pension income.

I know a number of people who actually pay more tax than their State Pension on their total pension income.  

Post in breach of Forum Rules removed.

26) The Bangkok Post and Phuketwan do not allow quotes from their news articles or other material to appear on ASEANNOW.com. Neither do they allow links to their publications. Posts from members containing quotes from or links to Bangkok Post or Phuketwan publications will be deleted from the forum.

As I say the UKVI website is cumbersome and can be very misleading.

VFS play no part in the actual decision making process, which is not carried out here in Thailand, so probably wouldn't offer any advice regarding the status of the application.

I think the advice that the paid for enquiry service will give her no meaningful advice either was sound and she should wait, though it does seem to be taking a while.

You'll need to factor in the Easter break and the fact that the UKVI are diverting resources to deal with Ukranianian applications.

Your wife will need apply for settlement from outside the UK, she could apply from inside the UK if she was given leave to remain in the UK for more than 6 months, which she wouldn't have been when she was granted entry as a visitor. 

As a matter of interest there is no such rule that only allows a holder of a longer term Standard Visit Visa to remain in the UK for six months in any year, but a visitor would be asked searching questions if they attempted to visit too often, the Border Force Officer would need to be satisfied that they were not seeking to use the visa to stay in the UK semi permanently, through "frequent or succesive visits".

The UKVI website is notoriously cumbersome, and can give misleading information.

You're right not to pay the two hundred quid for an online consultation, if you want to pay for local professional advice, search for an OISC Advisor in your area  https://home.oisc.gov.uk/adviser_finder/finder.aspx

3 hours ago, mnomad said:

We uploaded a screenshot of google flights with the name plannediternary.pdf with nothing booked to the broken VFS portal (you get a link after completing and paying the app on gov.uk) but pretty sure it wasn't required and we definitely told not to book flights in advance during the app process.

9. Documents you should not use as evidence

Some types of documents are less useful as evidence in visit applications. These include:

• bank statements or letters issued more than 1 year before the date of application
• credit card statements
• driving licence
• educational certificates that are not listed as required for your visa
• evidence of car ownership
• personal photographs
• notarial certificates
• business cards
• hotel bookings
• flight bookings (unless transiting)
• photocopies of bank cards
• certificates relating to leisure activities, for example sports trophies
• travel insurance
• sponsor’s utility bills
• sponsor’s council tax bills

You may be asked to provide additional information by a decision maker.

@SidJamesThanks for pointing out the expired link, and for others for pointing you in the right direction.

I've corrected the link, and will review the whole post as soon as I can.

I’ll move your question to the appropriate forum where someone will, I’m sure, advise.

This forum is for those seeking advice for travelers from Thailand. 

23 minutes ago, kickstart said:

But shorley it will be the same amount of tickets but online ,say if you what 77 as the last 2 numbers 077 as the last 3 numbers ,which most Thais look for, and they are sold out that is it.

Just said to the wife ,they are going to do the lottery  online she said ,I will just buy my tickets from the underground lottery ,I would say a lot of other people will be saying the same thing. 

But even with the underground lottery, the "lucky numbers" sell out when the operator decides they would be at risk if too many of these numbers actually came up. 

You really need to give us a clue as to what you’re asking.

What do your family want to travel to the UK, to settle, study or visit, and how long for?
 

As for the requirements for you traveling to Thailand, I don’t think people could give meaningful advice beyond the next few weeks, and certainly not what the requirements might be in 2023.

Nonsense troll post removed.

4 hours ago, spidermike007 said:

So, one of the most under utilized airports in SE Asia will have some flights again?

There are currently two flights a week to Chiang Mai.

6 hours ago, Onerak said:

Not in the UK but I have rented cars all over Europe using my US DL. They never asked for an IDP. 

I've rented cars in the UK using my Thai Driving Licence for well over a decade.

12 hours ago, AjarnMartin said:

Sorry, but hotandsticky is correct. When visiting the UK, one is able to drive legally with a FULL Thai Driving Licence for up to 6 months.????

No I'm sorry but you're both wrong:

For those moving to the UK

 

https://www.gov.uk/driving-nongb-licence/y/a-visitor-to-great-britain/any-other-country

38 minutes ago, Chomper Higgot said:

Also be aware, if there is a significant age difference (normally anything over 7 years) between you and your wife this will result in a reduction of the pension she is paid.

This isn't set in stone and can vary from different Pension Providers, or even an individuals status within the scheme.

It's certainly something worth checking, this is the response I got from the Civil Service Pension Administrators last year:

An age difference reduction to widows pensions is only applied to member's who are in the Premium/Nuvos/Alpha sections of the pension scheme. The rules of these sections of the scheme state a reduction must be applied if the spouse is over 12 years younger than the member. However as you are in the classic section of the scheme no such ruling applies and a spouse is entitled to the full widows pension regardless of age difference.

The advice to enlist the help of a friend or family member to assist when it's time to claim is really good advice and something we did a few years ago, enlisting a close friend who has recently retired from the Civil Service and my neice who is a current Civil Servant, we keep them supplied with all new comminications and a they both have a letter entitling them to act on my wifes behalf.

I wasn't aware that the issue of a tax number was automatic, it was certainly something I was concerned about, with the current personal allowance that would have cost my wife/widow £2,500 a year, and like the OP I got the same response from my pension provider and HMRC.

On 3/30/2022 at 4:40 PM, Lolothai said:

Is there a way to contact Kasikorn without calling from abroad or the call center. Is there an email? I can't find any way to contact them on my kasikorn online account.

Have you tried using their contact form https://www.kasikornbank.com/th/contact/Pages/contact.aspx

The contact form also suggests contacting them via their email address [email protected]