youreavinalaff

You are worrying. That's why you posted.

If that's true, they are soon going to have to fend for themselves. Stop the funding now, earn your $60k a year for two years. Then you'll have money and won't need to worry. Simple. Failing that, I'm sure done AN members would help with funding. Post details of your charity here. Could be good for them.

State pension qualification is based on NI paid. Savings don't cone into it.

You've been talking about that level of salary for years. How come you don't have any money saved? Working as much as you say you did, you'd not have much time to spend. You should have been saving at least $2500 a month.

I believe it's same age as state pension. 65 for women 67 for men. I don't know for sure. I'm in my fifties so haven't looked into it yet.

It's just as well there are those who immigrated to UK, or whose ancestors did, at Heathrow. Otherwise, the place would be closed due to lack of staff.

I agree. I could quite easily have pointed out our home in Thailand is a 1.5km walk to the nearest public transport, despite only being 10kms from town. Nothing after 5pm. In UK, buses go past our home, £2 per journey. Buses run until midnight.

Habing spent 21 uninterrupted years in Thailand, we now split our time between UK and Thailand. That way, we get the best of both worlds. Happy days.

Once again, I'm not attempting to compare UK with Thailand with regards to rent or property prices. Go back and read what I wrote. However, in many parts of SW UK a grand will get you a very nice place.

Actually, you've confirmed what I said. It's not a laugh. You've agreed, in the most part, with the exception of something that happened over 25 years ago and a small area of Thailand where you think differently to most others.

Incorrect on all counts. Our bills are nowhere near £1000. The water issue in Brixham was isolated and only one road a affected for 9 days. Free water provided for drinking too. With regards to your first sentence,,please revisit my first comment. Thanks.

Why would you wish to rent a caravan when there are many better, permanent properties cheaper? Of course Thailand is cheaper. However, I was answering a comment comparing areas of UK.

Tap water safe to drink, sewerage, good water pressure, water available 24/7. As a few examples.

So, in reality, what you are saying is "where you are now is better than some parts of Leicester"? You've not read the neysayers comments on MSN and Social media about smart meters, obviously. Its certainly noy "they all" Water bills include many services not offered in Thailand. There are some lovely parts of UK. SW and West country is great with some areas very good value too.

Extreme generalisations. Many parts of UK are very nice. Weathers is good for a lot of Spring, Summer and Autumn. Have some great, but chilly, days in winter too. A view from my window.

Maybe not Spurs fans. 😅😅

I agree. Sadly, in some places, Khmer is dying out. Not so much through not being taught, most pick it up by the immersion method, but because some parents chose not to speak it to the next generations. Our daughter is 23. She can speak and understand Khmer as it's still widely spoken in our village and my wife and her family predominately speak Khmer to each other . However, unlike my wife and in-laws, our daughter rarely speaks it with her friends or family members of a similar age. In our area there is a mix of Khmer and Isaan Laos speaking villages. The fights are down to heritage. Not so much now but 20 years ago there'd be issues that weren't fuelled by alcohol or drugs. Some put it down to the fact Khmer speakers can understand Isaan Lao but it's not the case the other way round. Paranoia would set in amongst the Isaan Laos speakers when they hear a conversation they don't understand.

Indeed. Hell bai and kleat bai, being examples. You also make a valid and often missed point about Khmer. It's as much a dialect understood by very few in Thailand as it is in Cambodia.

That's about right. Decreasing in numbers as you go back generations. My wife's grandparents were good Thai speakers. They would have been born circa 1930. Their parents were not Thai speakers. No school, no interaction with officialfom, no TV, no radio. No ID cards.

They don't speak fluently in either? As a general rule, those brought up in an Isaan Lao speaking village will speak Thai and Isaan Laos well. They won't understand Khmer. Those in areas where the dialect varies from village to village, such as some areas of Buriram, Surin and Sissaket, may have a few words of Khmer they maybe picked up from friends at school, but not much. Those brought up in a Khmer village will also understand Isaan Laos because, despite what Norsurin says, it's closeness to Thai. Go into central and northern Isaan, you'll not hear any Khmer. Some in those areas aren't even aware of it's existence. One must also think about the respect for heritage. Some don't want to speak the dialect of others through loyalty to their own heritage. Go to one of the many concerts held by Newin in Buriram. I've never been to one that doesn't involve fighting between Khmer and Isaan Laos lads. I would hazard a guess, your ex and girlfriend were brought up in a Khmer speaking environment but a village where useage by the younger generations is declining. Hence, you say they know a little of both Khmer and Isaan Laos Let's not forget Gui and Thai Korat. Two other Isaan dialects to throw into the mix.

My point being, there is no reason Isaan Lao or Khmer speakers would want to use Thai script to write their dialects. They are spoken languages. If they want to communicate in writing they'll use central Thai as, contrary to some expats opinion, most Isaan folk do speak, read and write Thai.

Quite true, if they ever wanted to write Isaan Laos or Khmer. However, you wrote, and I quote, "can you not write in Thai or Lao or Khmer??". Hence, my reply.

You are confusing Central Cambodian language with Northern Khmer. Central Cambodian is taught in schools and has script. Northern Khmer is a dialect and spoken only.

Isaan Laos and Khmer, two that he's attempting to transliteration, don't have script.

Now you are making mistakes too. I'd quit if I were you.