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

[Neeranam]

1 minute ago, stouricks said:

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

Your maths is good but not your reading ability -  he says he gets 59 quid a week.

[VBF]

3 hours ago, Dice Man said:

In my opinion a criminal act by DWP ...but then you are dealing with utter skumbags

Slightly  but related:

I and most other people have had our State Pension delayed - in my case "only" by 1 year but the younger you are, the older you must be to finally get the State Pension.

This after promising for over 40 years that the SP would start on my 65th birthday, one day they announce that it'll start on my 66th birthday!

 

If a Private Pension firm tried this we'd sue them for, Fraud, acting under False Pretences or whatever.

The government can get away with it.....of course! ????

[VBF]

1 hour ago, Raphus said:

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? 

Hopefully! You never know.....the thick-skinned morons might just get the message....said the eternal optimist!

 

[stouricks]

2 minutes ago, Neeranam said:

Your maths is good but not your reading ability -  he says he gets 59 quid a week.

Sorry, my reading is fine, but I misunderstood what Gandtee was saying. So he gets £60 a week State Pension but does not get the 2.5% increase which would be £1.50 a week.

Even less reason to stress over.

[Neeranam]

5 minutes ago, stouricks said:

Sorry, my reading is fine, but I misunderstood what Gandtee was saying. So he gets £60 a week State Pension but does not get the 2.5% increase which would be £1.50 a week.

Even less reason to stress over.

Not much but if you have retired here for 30 years, it will be a big difference. When I am 97, I will get the same amount as when I was 67. Lucky I live in a country that is much cheaper than the UK.

[stouricks]

2 minutes ago, Neeranam said:

Not much but if you have retired here for 30 years, it will be a big difference. When I am 97, I will get the same amount as when I was 67. Lucky I live in a country that is much cheaper than the UK.

Not if you enjoy decent cheese, red wine, Lidl & Aldi. 

[transam]

3 hours ago, Dice Man said:

In my experience in dealing with British Embassies and consuls they are utterly useless and should be closed down now,The money saved can be of more use in helping to reinstate the frozen state UK pensions that we suffer just because we do not "live: min the UK as determined by The Thugs at DWP...

The BE helped me out very nicely regarding my dead friend, I was happy they were there.

As for pensions, DWP follows the instructions/law set down by parliament. Thugs, don't think so, just following their "orders", same as immigration here...????

[chilly07]

Yes like many others I am unable to find this so called reciprocal agreement on pension updating. Brexit negotiations with 27 individual EU countries on pensions may flush it out. They will all demand reciprocity. 

And with all other embassies other than UK USA and Aus still issuing income letters their excuse doesn't hold water. Does data protection only apply in 3 countries. Absolutely not. The UK aquired it's data protection laws from the EU which still applies to EU nation's who still provide income letters. 

[Neeranam]

7 minutes ago, stouricks said:

Not if you enjoy decent cheese, red wine, Lidl & Aldi. 

I think the fact that I can eat good Thai food in a restaurant 3 times a day for a total of  10 quid makes up for the little extra I pay for imported cheese.

[baansgr]

1 hour 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.

Compounded over 20-30 years?

[stouricks]

4 minutes ago, baansgr said:

Compounded over 20-30 years?

No way. Who know how many Bht 135's I , or you, or anyone has left to go. Stop worrying and cut out those two big bottles of Singha on a Friday night.

[Gandtee]

42 minutes ago, Gandtee said:

Week!

59.93 sterling a week!

[Neeranam]

1 minute ago, Gandtee said:

59.93 sterling a week!

I just looked at my forecast - 150 a week, but have to wait 13 years. 

[Gandtee]

41 minutes ago, Neeranam said:

Your maths is good but not your reading ability -  he says he gets 59 quid a week.

Thank you. I thought it was me who was nearing senility.

[Boomer6969]

4 hours ago, SomchaiCNX said:

Please don't start about other European embassies, we had good teams in the past but most of the time they are useless ????  So yes British people in THailand I feel your pain. Embassies nowadays are just an extension of the incompetent politicians of your home country.

 

Not true, the French civil service are mostly an obnoxious unproductive bunch, but il ALL the embassies or consulates, especially in Bangkok, I have felt a warm welcome and been service with the greatest efficiency. The Australian consulate isn't too bad either, but the Australian civil service is generally much better than the French.

[Jonathan Fairfield]

Some off topic comments and replies have been removed. 

[soi3eddie]

The British Consular Team were recently browsing this topic so they will have seen the comments and concerns (and criticism). Hopefully they won't take things too personally but will seek to take on board the issues faced by many of the members here and possibly even assist. 

[joebrown]

At least the embassy staff turned up for the QA session, but that's about the only positive  I could see from the original questions sent in to TVF.

Why is it that interviewers 'pussy foot' these embassy staff? it was the same when the Right Honorable Ambassador was interviewed a few months ago.

Why be afraid to seize upon an answer and say "why is it that other embassies still issue income letters, or why did the Thai Immigration choose you and not them to verify income"?

I've had direct dealings with the embassy consular staff which left me believing they care very little about UK citizens resident in Thailand.

This QA session hasn't changed my opinion one bit!

[sandyf]

2 hours ago, stouricks said:

Sorry, my reading is fine, but I misunderstood what Gandtee was saying. So he gets £60 a week State Pension but does not get the 2.5% increase which would be £1.50 a week.

Even less reason to stress over.

Yes it is your understanding that is flawed. The annual increment is cumulative and after 8 years my pension is over £30/week less than it should be.

[colinneil]

4 hours ago, CorpusChristie said:

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 ?

  

You clearly have difficulty reading, read my post# 5, it says just out of a month long coma.

Instead of accusing me of not having my visa in order, you should read, know the facts first before making crazy comments.

My retirement extension expired  7 days into my coma, please as you seem should a wise guy, tell me how i would have been able to renew it?

[Millcx]

6 hours ago, jayboy said:

They are not particularly well paid.They are mid to junior level bureaucrats doing their best.You are never going to find the most dynamic people doing this kind of job.Overall however I think you and others are being unfair and my impression is they are acquitting themselves quite well. But the fact remains Foreign Office or Home Office high flyers don't do this kind of consular work.Perhaps they should in countries like Thailand but I doubt that will ever happen.

 

Where I would partially agree with you is that for this kind of discussion it's not really good enough to say this or that subject is not within our remit (even if that is true). It would be best to say this or that is not our job but our understanding is such and such.As the contact point between the Embassy and the British expat community they know what are the common concerns and should prepare themselves even if these matters are not strictly their responsibility.To be fair the team being interviewed made some effort to do this.

 

 

While I accept these guys arnt rolling in riches there still has to be an understanding of the feelings of U.K. Citizens that would worry about issues

Referrals to websites doesn’t cut the mustard

I had to leave Thailand and return to U.K. recently (48hrs to go on self isolation) but now find myself as a displaced U.K. citizen with no network

I was lucky that a friend new someone who took me in for 5 weeks but after that it’s on the streets for me ... Why?

Because there is no information that helps me understand the system of Housing or how much budget your entitled too for finding rented accomodation

Universal Credit is a fair process but when it comes to accommodation it’s a nightmare

There should be a simple download to help expats returning to U.K. who have nothing

Its gonna be interesting and a serious worry for me over these next few weeks as I find myself on the streets due to Covid

Before I left Thailand I emailed the Brit Embassy with a couple of simple questions and all I got was referral to website that told me nothing

Interesting being another Veteran having to sleep in a shop front because nobody told them where to get proper advice (With no long drawn out <deleted> to follow

[sandyf]

4 hours ago, Bangkok Observer said:

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? 

There is no mystery. Reciprocal Agreements are not about pensions, they are about social security and pensions are part of that, but an agreement can be in place without pensions being involved.

The UK has an agreement with Canada but at the time it was drawn up the Canadian state pension could not be exported so pensions were not included. Since then the Canadian government has changed the law but the UK has never agreed to the agreement being amended so expats in Canada do not get the increases.

I think it was about 30 years ago government policy changed and it was stated that there would be no more Social Security Reciprocal Agreements. It will be interesting to see what happens with the EU. The current agreement must come to an end and if they introduce a new one it will fly in the face of government policy.

The legislation that prevents overseas pensions being index linked is embedded in the Social Security Act which comes before parliament every year. The problem is that the government controls business in the house and they only allow time for the changes they propose to be debated, what attempts there has been to bring the matter before the house have never seen the light of day.

Unfortunately, unless there is some procedural change in the house the matter will never be debated far less go to a vote. 

[Stoker58]

5 hours ago, Skallywag said:

This forum can give you better assistance than any Embassy ever will  ???? 

That’s certainly true!

[sandyf]

1 hour ago, joebrown said:

I've had direct dealings with the embassy consular staff which left me believing they care very little about UK citizens resident in Thailand.

When I had problems with getting a new passport in 2014 I got in touch with the embassy. They pulled strings in the UK and saved the day.

You cannot please all of the people all of the time, and it only really counts when we need it.

[mlmcleod]

6 hours ago, Dogmatix said:

It’s a surprisingly small team with only only two accredited British diplomats. The Americans have loads of accredited US diplomats in their consular section.

 

And yet, the American team cannot find the time or resources to do something as simple as link Social Security to passports so they can easily verify income.

 

The American diplomatic corps is useless and their primary effort is to kiss the bums of the current rulers while offering little if any help to their citizens.  I doubt that there will be any meetings with US embassy staff in the future.

 

Best of luck with the British embassy staff!

[jayboy]

22 minutes ago, Millcx said:

While I accept these guys arnt rolling in riches there still has to be an understanding of the feelings of U.K. Citizens that would worry about issues

Referrals to websites doesn’t cut the mustard

I had to leave Thailand and return to U.K. recently (48hrs to go on self isolation) but now find myself as a displaced U.K. citizen with no network

I was lucky that a friend new someone who took me in for 5 weeks but after that it’s on the streets for me ... Why?

Because there is no information that helps me understand the system of Housing or how much budget your entitled too for finding rented accomodation

Universal Credit is a fair process but when it comes to accommodation it’s a nightmare

There should be a simple download to help expats returning to U.K. who have nothing

Its gonna be interesting and a serious worry for me over these next few weeks as I find myself on the streets due to Covid

Before I left Thailand I emailed the Brit Embassy with a couple of simple questions and all I got was referral to website that told me nothing

Interesting being another Veteran having to sleep in a shop front because nobody told them where to get proper advice (With no long drawn out <deleted> to follow

I hope you are able to resolve your problems in the UK.However whichever way you look at it, it's not the role of consular staff to give advice on securing housing in the UK. I think it would actually be completely unreasonable to expect them to offer an opinion on it.

 

 

[NoComment]

There are very few British people working (seen) from the British Embassy.

A friend of mine died in the "Bangkok Hilton" no help what so ever. His poor Mother (an old age pensioner) was obviously very distraught and only received the absolute minimum information with no empathy

If he had been a relative of an Embassy employee I am sure the situation would have been handled differently.

In my opinion the Embassy should show empathy to everyone and attempt to help as if the person is one of their friends or relatives.

They do not do this. Nothing is ever within their remit.

The USA help their citizens much more than the Brits and I believe the British should use the USA model as their eventual goal

It is not difficult, employ Brits and teach them the job properly using people skills.

This forum will not be exciting; any questions and the answers will be copied and pasted off the internet

It will be a disappointment waste of time and effort from TVF.

[Gandtee]

20 minutes ago, sandyf said:

There is no mystery. Reciprocal Agreements are not about pensions, they are about social security and pensions are part of that, but an agreement can be in place without pensions being involved.

The UK has an agreement with Canada but at the time it was drawn up the Canadian state pension could not be exported so pensions were not included. Since then the Canadian government has changed the law but the UK has never agreed to the agreement being amended so expats in Canada do not get the increases.

I think it was about 30 years ago government policy changed and it was stated that there would be no more Social Security Reciprocal Agreements. It will be interesting to see what happens with the EU. The current agreement must come to an end and if they introduce a new one it will fly in the face of government policy.

The legislation that prevents overseas pensions being index linked is embedded in the Social Security Act which comes before parliament every year. The problem is that the government controls business in the house and they only allow time for the changes they propose to be debated, what attempts there has been to bring the matter before the house have never seen the light of day.

Unfortunately, unless there is some procedural change in the house the matter will never be debated far less go to a vote. 

Way back I wrote Nigel Clegg on the frozen pensions issue. His reply was that he had "raised it with the members and it was not on their agenda." 

[stouricks]

1 hour ago, sandyf said:

Yes it is your understanding that is flawed. The annual increment is cumulative and after 8 years my pension is over £30/week less than it should be.

So you should have gone back to UK, claimed your rightful pension, and not told 'em you came back.

[sandyf]

9 minutes ago, Gandtee said:

Way back I wrote Nigel Clegg on the frozen pensions issue. His reply was that he had "raised it with the members and it was not on their agenda." 

I take it you mean Nick Clegg, at least you got an answer. As a veteran I wrote to Johnny Mercer and he never bothered to respond.

There has been debates but none during the Social Security Act. Many on here decry the SNP but Ian Blackford has been one of the loudest voices on the issue. This is what he said during a debate in 2016.

 

"The present Chancellor of the Exchequer,(George Osborne?), during a debate on the Pensions Bill in the 2003-04 Session, when shadow Chief Secretary to the Treasury, said:

“If the system worked in the way that most people think, it would not matter where a person lived”––[Official Report, Pensions Public Bill Committee, 18 March 2004; c. 256.]

I have not said this before, but on this occasion I agree with the Chancellor: it should not matter where a person lives.

I appeal to the Minister to reflect on those words from his colleague, the present Chancellor. He spoke those words while in opposition, but each and every one of us should be judged by our deeds in government. It is not good enough to say the right thing when in opposition, and then, when in government, claim that it is all about cost. Let us today do the right thing. Let us unite in the House, standing up for all our pensioners, regardless of domicile."

https://hansard.parliament.uk/debates/GetDebateAsText/16051148000001