Video Interview with the British Embassy Consular Team in Thailand - August 2020

[Neeranam]

1 hour ago, Dogmatix said:

I have never understood the justification of freezing pensions because there is no reciprocal agreement. The government has received exactly the same contributions from the pensioners and should pay the same to all. My brother lives in the US and gets his UK pension index linked because there is reciprocal agreement but the US government doesn’t contribute to it. It costs the UK government the same as it would if he were living anywhere else.

 

Thailand doesn’t have a comparable state pension. So there will obviously never be a reciprocal agreement. What a criminal excuse for cheating retirees out of their fully paid up pensions. Utterly disgusting!

Are you blaming the Thai government? You should be happy that the government here make it so easy for pensioners to live here, compared with say the US or UK. 

In quite happy as I qualify for the UK pension despite only working for 4 years in the UK. They paid 7 years for me when I was a student at school and uni. 

They let me pay back 10 years of NI contributions recently, class 2, £1500 total.

 

[CorpusChristie]

1 hour ago, colinneil said:

You think i am being unfair !!! Clearly you have never been in a situation requiring help, or you would not say i was being unfair.

Me just out of a month long coma, immigration telling my wife, they will come to the hospital to deport me.

My wife at her wits end not knowing what to do, or who to turn to.

A friend suggested to call the British embassy see if they could help/ advice.Only thing them useless sods said.... Not our problem.

So you think i am being unfair, you aint got a clue what you are talking about.

The British Embassy cannot help if you break Thai laws .

What do you expect the British Embassy to do ?

You got threatened with deportation because you visa wasnt in order , what did you expect the British Embassy to do ?

  

[DPKANKAN]

1 hour ago, PaDavid said:

Have you considered how much time it would take to actually VERIFY every farang’s income? You’d need a full time team working on it. 

Not if everyone gets their documents notarized and authenticated themselves first. It is then a mere rubber stamp job!!!! They just look for excuses to do sweet f.a. ????????????????

[CorpusChristie]

3 minutes ago, colinneil said:

Once again you are posting a comment, when clearly you have absolutely no idea what you are talking about, but that is nothing unusual for you.

Stands to reason, if immigration were going to deport you, they must have had legitimate reasons to do so ...............or was they going to deport when you had a valid visa for no reason at all ?

[Hotrats]

I want to say thank you to the interviewer representing ThaiVisa for asking my question about extending the 6 month UK visas which my family have been unable to use due to covid and are now going to expire before we can travel. I was pleased that he asked the question, but not at all pleased with the response. Rather than simply saying "that's not our responsibility, go look on the Gov.UK website", she could have offered to contact the UK visa and Immigration Dept. in London on our behalf and come back with their response. 

I have in fact already done what she suggested, looked at the Gov.UK website and contacted the UK visa and Immigration Dept. by email. That was 4 months ago, and am still waiting for an answer to my request.

[Kalasin Jo]

1 hour ago, Dogmatix said:

I have never understood the justification of freezing pensions because there is no reciprocal agreement. The government has received exactly the same contributions from the pensioners and should pay the same to all. My brother lives in the US and gets his UK pension index linked because there is reciprocal agreement but the US government doesn’t contribute to it. It costs the UK government the same as it would if he were living anywhere else.

 

Thailand doesn’t have a comparable state pension. So there will obviously never be a reciprocal agreement. What a criminal excuse for cheating retirees out of their fully paid up pensions. Utterly disgusting!

Yes it is. Have you looked at endfrozenpensions.org ? A campaign group to change this.

 

Unfortunately the government of the day  a few years back was taken to international court over this and won. Their arguments were complex of course but the one that seemed to cut the most ice was that pension uprating is based on inflation and cost of living in the UK and not anywhere else which might be very different, so to do this would mean verifying these matters annually for each country with UK state pensioners living there. A mammoth task.  But that doesn't sit well with those countries that do have a reciprocal agreement does it?

 

The argument about having "paid in" gets short shrift from UK government too. For some years they have said these were not, are not, contributions to your future pension, that you are buying or bought nothing. No, in effect it is a tax on working people to pay for those already receiving state pension.  They also now call the state pension a benefit, not a right. Contractual or social.

 

See what they have done there? State pension receivers are on benefits paid for by those younger and workng, which potentially pits those young and in work against the oldies on pension should pensions become a serious political issue in the UK. Which may well happen with Covid consequences not to mention brex<deleted>. I believe the Chancellor of the Exchequer has already indicated there will be no uprating next year for anyone. Need to save money!

 

Yes it is bizarre that you get your pension uprated in the US or the Philippines, EU countries too ( but that's ending except for those already legally resident there before 01/01/ 2021 ), but not in Canada, Thailand. Australia, NZ and so many more.

 

EU countries one can better understand as it's EU law that member states all do this for their own pensioner nationals living in another member state as part of EU freedom of movement rights. Pensioner healthcare provided by the state health system of the EU country ( compulsory for all residents I think but not entirely free in all EU countries, only about 70% in France for example, as with the UK  NHS) the pensioner lives in is reimbursed by their own country too.

Edited August 12, 2020 by Kalasin Jo
Date correction

[fraggleRock]

2x I’ve needed help from the British Embassy and both times they have helped me...

 

1. Passport damaged during a flight to Singapore... jailed and deported and jailed in IDC Bangkok, it took time but got an emergency passport home.

 

2. Got seriously ill and I was in ICU for a week in Bangkok, British Embassy went out there way to check on my health and safety, and offered help if I was stuck in hospital after my visa expired, superb support.

 

I have no issue and take great pleasure in thanking the team at, as it was .. Wireless Rd... additionally I would go there every year to get my poppy and make my donation to my fallen brothers and sisters... 

[robert888d]

They seemed a pleasant enough trio ,but seem to do very little at all for the British Community  here. If you need a new passport it is a Thai agency that deals with it,likewise if you need a UK Visa for Thai partner etc.I  would have liked each one to have said what exactly they did in the previous week to help British nationals...very little I would imagine.

[CorpusChristie]

1 hour ago, soi3eddie said:

At first it seemed good they they are willing to stick their heads up and be seen. Now it just appears to be some kind of PR stunt.

Hiding behind "data ptotection" as usual and it's a pathetic excuse. If I give them my explicit permission to access data held about me from my pension provider, bank or any other body/organisation in order to verify it, how difficult is that? How about these clowns actually start saying to expats "we hear your difficulties and we will look into resolving the situation and being of service to our citizens"? No. They can't be a@sed!

They dodged or deliberately misunderstood the question about lobbying Thai authorities regarding those stuck outside Thailand with visas/extension nearing expiry. "We won't be lobbying Thai governemnt" Tosh!

 

Understandable : You simply giving explicit permission  for them to access your data , that doesnt over rule the data protection act .

  Do you think that the British Embassy can over ride the data protection rules just by saying "I'm from the British Embassy and John in Thailand said we can access the data "?

  No, they cannot do that .

  Do you expect the British Embassy to contact the Thai Government and try to influence their internal laws !!!!!

[CorpusChristie]

10 minutes ago, robert888d said:

They seemed a pleasant enough trio ,but seem to do very little at all for the British Community  here. If you need a new passport it is a Thai agency that deals with it,likewise if you need a UK Visa for Thai partner etc.I  would have liked each one to have said what exactly they did in the previous week to help British nationals...very little I would imagine.

What would you like them to be doing for the British Community in Thailand ?

[potless]

2 hours ago, Dogmatix said:

Thailand doesn’t have a comparable state pension. So there will obviously never be a reciprocal agreement. What a criminal excuse for cheating retirees out of their fully paid up pensions. Utterly disgusting!

The UK government can pay whatever they like to whoever they choose wherever they may be. The UK government chooses not to uprate all pensions citing cost. Some 400 million a year was the last figure I saw. I suggest that the money could be deducted from the Foreign Aid budget, which as far as I know, has no need for a "reciprocal agreement". UK gov doesnt like it when people fly the coop. 

[Bangkok Observer]

Bangkok Observer. Well done, the British Embassy team. I thought they answered the questions very competently, given they weren't shown them in advance.  The team know their stuff. Some of the comments here are nasty and unwarranted. Calling them 'useless' is simply unacceptable, besides being inaccurate. The issue of fixed pensions in Thailand remains a mystery - what kind of reciprocal arrangement does the UK government have with the Philippines, for example, where the payments are index linked? 

[soi3eddie]

25 minutes ago, Hotrats said:

I want to say thank you to the interviewer representing ThaiVisa for asking my question about extending the 6 month UK visas which my family have been unable to use due to covid and are now going to expire before we can travel. I was pleased that he asked the question, but not at all pleased with the response. Rather than simply saying "that's not our responsibility, go look on the Gov.UK website", she could have offered to contact the UK visa and Immigration Dept. in London on our behalf and come back with their response. 

I have in fact already done what she suggested, looked at the Gov.UK website and contacted the UK visa and Immigration Dept. by email. That was 4 months ago, and am still waiting for an answer to my request.

I also have same issue regarding UK Visa expiry before being able to travel. I contacted the consular team and got an email back stating same (contact UKVI). I replied to the email asking for an email address for UKVI (rather than calling). Still waiting for a reply.

[Sujo]

27 minutes ago, CorpusChristie said:

Stands to reason, if immigration were going to deport you, they must have had legitimate reasons to do so ...............or was they going to deport when you had a valid visa for no reason at all ?

He was in a coma. Then bedridden recovering, cannot walk. 

[soi3eddie]

20 minutes ago, CorpusChristie said:

Understandable : You simply giving explicit permission  for them to access your data , that doesnt over rule the data protection act .

  Do you think that the British Embassy can over ride the data protection rules just by saying "I'm from the British Embassy and John in Thailand said we can access the data "?

  No, they cannot do that .

  Do you expect the British Embassy to contact the Thai Government and try to influence their internal laws !!!!!

Explict permission in form of a signed document. Not just "said we can access data".

 

[CorpusChristie]

3 minutes ago, Sujo said:

He was in a coma. Then bedridden recovering, cannot walk. 

Yes, but the point is that Thai immigration follow their own rules and laws and the UK Embassy do not intervene when it comes to local  laws which are being adhered too  

[brianthainess]

Sorry i missed the part where they actually answered a question.

[Raphus]

I wonder when TV citizens will post some positive things. Everyday, on every story it is doom and gloom from the expat community, or sarcasm and terrible remarks with some serious ripping into every government institution, mainly Thailand. Do you ever think that these Government bodies may also read these pages? 

[trainman34014]

11 minutes ago, CorpusChristie said:

Yes, but the point is that Thai immigration follow their own rules and laws and the UK Embassy do not intervene when it comes to local  laws which are being adhered too  

If you ever get caught in a similar situation you may then see things in a different way !

[CorpusChristie]

2 minutes ago, trainman34014 said:

If you ever get caught in a similar situation you may then see things in a different way !

No, I never think that laws or protocol should be adapted to suit MY personal needs 

[Neeranam]

1 hour ago, colinneil said:

Once again you are posting a comment, when clearly you have absolutely no idea what you are talking about, but that is nothing unusual for you.

I think he posted a question. 

[faraday]

1 hour ago, fraggleRock said:

Passport damaged during a flight to Singapore... jailed and deported and jailed in IDC Bangkok

What on earth did you get up to on the flight...?

 

 

[Neeranam]

Strange how they call us 'customers'.

[aage arnesen]

Reported that it was an UK man in Pattaya, old, alcoholik and almost blind that needed help since his visa was expired long time ago. They should have sent him home. The only answer I got was that I had to be careful sending copy of passport on email. Nothing about the poor guy.

[stouricks]

3 hours ago, Dogmatix said:

I have never understood the justification of freezing pensions because there is no reciprocal agreement. The government has received exactly the same contributions from the pensioners and should pay the same to all. My brother lives in the US and gets his UK pension index linked because there is reciprocal agreement but the US government doesn’t contribute to it. It costs the UK government the same as it would if he were living anywhere else.

 

Thailand doesn’t have a comparable state pension. So there will obviously never be a reciprocal agreement. What a criminal excuse for cheating retirees out of their fully paid up pensions. Utterly disgusting!

Totally agree with you, but a 2.5% increase on 135 a week is 3.375 (Bht 135) =  175 a year. That will not change my lifestyle and isn't worth stressing over.

Edited August 12, 2020 by stouricks

[WorriedNoodle]

Interesting how they answer the question at 6:45 into video on long term stay British people stuck outside Thailand (either on leave or trying to make a buck) using annual Non Immigrant visa extensions about to expire and unable to come back to renew them annually as normal.

 

The consul thinks Dan is talking about those in Thailand on visa extension amnesty for some reason and Dan has a kind of vacant look afterwards?

Edited August 12, 2020 by WorriedNoodle

[Gandtee]

20 minutes ago, stouricks said:

Totally agree with you, but a 2.5% increase on 135 a week is 3.375 (Bht 135) =  175 a year. That will not change my lifestyle and isn't worth stressing over.

But it would change mine at 59.93 quid. ????

[stouricks]

5 minutes ago, Gandtee said:

But it would change mine at 59.93 quid. ????

A week, month or year?

[Gandtee]

1 minute ago, stouricks said:

A week, month or year?

Week!

[stouricks]

Just now, Gandtee said:

Week!

So you are getting £2400 a WEEK State Pension? 2400 x 2.5% = 60 agreed.