Stocky

I was expecting something on making photographic plates, not quack medicine.

Makes you write with a lisp too

Not at Birmingham, I usually find we're the only ones in the queue as we were this trip, even on a flight from Doha - most passengers use the UK Channel e-Gate

Only 21 years but I have similar recollections of 'another nail' or 'the final nail' in the coffin of tourism in Thailand - the coffin's more nails than a hardware shop and still going

Going through Birmingham immigration this April I went through the non-UK Channel with my wife and granddaughter - no issue. Probably half the immigration and customs officers at Birmingham are of mixed heritage, that reflects the city, and they all speak impeccable Brummie - warms the cockles of my heart to hear it.

I moved to SE Asia for work

More like Statler and Waldorf

I'm sorry but I don't recognise that. I drove the M5 from Birmingham to Bristol and over the Severn Bridge into Wales in April this year. No potholes or broken motorway. The M4 to Cardiff was pothole free too, though plenty of annoying variable speed restrictions and cameras to catch the unwary. Driving back through Usk, Monmouth, Ledbury, Malvern, Worcester and Kidderminster the roads were fine with the exception of a road closure near Ledbury that sent us down Tewkesbury and back up to Malvern.

I didn't, the whole 3 weeks, I paid everything contactless with debit or credit card.

Hanging's too good for him! Boil him in oil.

I've also recently returned from a trip to the UK with Qatar air and we had a great time. We went in April and school holidays, wife and granddaughter, granddaughter's first trip to the UK. Flew Qatar airways Bangkok - Doha - Birmingham, my house in the UK isn't far from Birmingham in the Black Country near Stourbridge. Flights were fine though the food on Qatar airways is appalling. We were there for three weeks and spent time around the Midlands, with day trips to Birmingham, Stratford and Warwick, longer trips to South Wales and London. The weather was surprisingly good, a little cool but sunny, and for the most part dry. Yes the UK is expensive, the cost of accommodation in London, Marylebone for 3 nights would have paid for 10 night in Bangkok, but whilst not cheap I noticed the price of groceries had fallen slightly since my visit last year. The train to London was ridiculously cheap £47 return for 2 adults and a child with Chiltern Railways, but that was off peak and booked online in advance. Car hire was very reasonable too, I paid £277 for an 18 day rental with Europcar. The only time I noticed a lot of down and outs, beggars and druggies was in Birmingham when we strayed into High Street looking for M&S which we discovered had moved to the Bull Ring. But around the new Bull Ring, Victoria Square, Centenary Square and the canals at Brindley Place and Gas Street Basin everything was fine if with a bit more graffiti. I had been expecting the worse visiting Birmingham but it turned out OK, even with the bin strike. Though Birmingham has always been cosmopolitan shall we say. Immigration was a topic with the locals in Chepstow, not an especially cosmopolitan town, they have had a influx of immigrants with some old army barracks having been turned into accommodation for refugees.

Yes, I'm happy with my life in Thailand. Glad I got the chance thirty years ago to move to SE Asia, twenty two years in Hat Yai this year, 20 years married next year. Little I would change, family life in Hat Yai is good.

Yet more evidence people are getting dumber as if we really needed anymore.

Money I've moved the last few days have all been instantaneous, but I note the banking partner is Kasikorn Bank once again not Tranglo. Whilst I've not had any problems with transfers via Tranglo they're usually flagged as expected to take 18 minutes and they do take several minutes (not that I'm complaining), whilst Kasikorn is flagged as transfer "in seconds" and it is.

Bangkok is good fun for a long weekend, but I wouldn't want to live there

There are some nice sunsets from my bedroom balcony too, this one taken through the security screen. On a clear day you can see the mountains in the distance.

I'm not entirely sure the grumpy folk on AN are either retirees or living in Thailand

It's Glasgow, what did you expect!

I suspect they don't have a life beyond sneering at people who do

Hang him!

Another moron

Stupidity, people are just getting dumber.

You might want to consider offshoring to Singapore, it's easier to manage and more friendly than the UK, I've used HSBC Premier for over 20 years.

Yep, I go all the way back to Dixon of Dock Green. For those seeking honest coppering without too much of the CSI stuff, can I recommend the New Zealand series "The Brokenwood Mysteries", now in its 11th series, a Kiwi Midsomer Murders