The Ambassador: H.E. Mark Gooding, Ambassador of the United Kingdom to Thailand

[Grusa]

22 hours ago, CharlieH said:

Not my place as merely a volunteer here.

Have you suggested to your bosses that they ask them?

[mikebell]

16 hours ago, Liverpool Lou said:

How do you "pay tax on your state pension" when it is paid gross?   Do you mean that you have a UK tax liability in general because your income is over a certain level?   That is not "paying tax on your pension", that's "paying tax"!

All tax payers have a tax threshold: income beyond this decides how much tax one pays.  I have another pension (index-linked anywhere in the world) which when added to my frozen state pension increases my tax liability. 

[mikebell]

21 hours ago, mfd101 said:

And what would you like him to do about it?

Raise the issue with Gov UK.  Assist us tax-paying frozen pensioned ex-pats perhaps by re-introducing the income letter. It can easily be done by using tax records to verify income.

[The Hammer2021]

On 10/20/2021 at 8:11 PM, jak2002003 said:

Yes.... honestly what is the point of all of it?

 

What do they actually do that is helpful?  

 

 

zero

[RafPinto]

Would be something for me.

 

How to become an Ambassador?

[RafPinto]

5 hours ago, jacko45k said:

Over a massage parlour on Suk24....

From unhappy to happy, just change floor.

[RafPinto]

On 10/21/2021 at 11:09 AM, CharlieH said:

Not my place as merely a volunteer here.

how much, krub.

[soalbundy]

On 10/20/2021 at 7:46 PM, clivebaxter said:

As some embassies provided vaccines for their citizens I could not agree they are all the same

Yes, the French, Swiss and German embassies look after their people, you can still get the embassy letter and a Passport at the German embassy, even a lost Passport is no problem, I witnessed a young woman get an emergency passport at the German embassy because she was travelling on to Australia in a few days time and had lost her passport, all she had was her German driving license, they just connected to her home town and got all the info needed with a picture sent and she had her passport within 3 days.

[Liverpool Lou]

6 hours ago, mikebell said:

22 hours ago, Liverpool Lou said:

How do you "pay tax on your state pension" when it is paid gross?   Do you mean that you have a UK tax liability in general because your income is over a certain level?   That is not "paying tax on your pension", that's "paying tax"!

All tax payers have a tax threshold: income beyond this decides how much tax one pays.  I have another pension (index-linked anywhere in the world) which when added to my frozen state pension increases my tax liability. 

"All tax payers have a tax threshold"

Yes, I know that everyone has a tax threshold.   My point was that your state pension, in particular, is not taxed.   You are taxed on all your assessable income.

[Liverpool Lou]

22 hours ago, MRToMRT said:

23 hours ago, Liverpool Lou said:

Someone else who assumes that everything in Wiki is true or accurate!

Errr I asked a question (see the question mark). So why the diss?

What "diss" [sic]?   What is a "diss", anyway? 

 

I simply made an observation that you seemed to be someone else who relied on information from Wiki, why else would you have checked with Wiki?   You asked your question after going to Wiki!

[Dogmatix]

11 hours ago, jacko45k said:

Over a massage parlour on Suk24....

Gay or hetero?

[MRToMRT]

27 minutes ago, Liverpool Lou said:

What "diss" [sic]?   What is a "diss", anyway? 

 

 

A noise made by a pillock 

[mikebell]

16 hours ago, Liverpool Lou said:

You are taxed on all your assessable income.

Ergo - my State pension is taxed; it may even put me in a higher tax bracket.

[billd766]

On 10/21/2021 at 10:46 AM, Grusa said:

Have you suggested it to them?

Have YOU suggested it to your embassy?

 

It is up/down to each individual embassy to decide to follow the UK embassy or not. If you as an individual want to see it on aseannow, then phone, email or visit your embassy and suggest it. The more people that do it the better chance there will be of it happening.

[Grusa]

1 minute ago, billd766 said:

Have YOU suggested it to your embassy?

It IS my f0041ng useless embassy!

[billd766]

6 minutes ago, Grusa said:

It IS my f0041ng useless embassy!

The UK is my embassy also.

 

However after visiting the embassies in a few other countries I have come to the conclusion that if I were the owner/businessman of a company of £10 million or more I would get more help and assistance than I do as an ordinary citizen.

 

So when/if they post something I will probably look at the post and forget it 5 minutes time.

[billd766]

On 10/21/2021 at 6:10 PM, Liverpool Lou said:

That's not their only job but, regardless, have you any justification for that false statement?  How have they done nothing for you when asked?

They used to write a letter stating that they had seen my pension providers letters which was a great help at Immigration. The UK, US and I think one other has stopped providing them, however the majority of embassies still provide the letters.

 

I wanted to renew my passport a few years ago. Sorry that has been contracted out and the embassy don't do that any more.

 

Just 2 examples.

 

I remember going to the annual fair there one year. No more, in fact no more garden either.

 

The US embassy donated around 2.5 million doses of Pfizer that were given out in Thailand for free. The UK provided 450,000 doses. Has anybody seen or heard of them since.

 

The UK embassy staff were all vaccinated, but no vaccinations for UK expats. Even the French vaccinated their expats.

 

If you are in trouble in Thailand the embassy will provide you with a list of "approved" lawyers, but little or nothing in the way of support.

[billd766]

There is a South African folk singer who wrote the anthem for the UK embassies.

 

 

[Liverpool Lou]

3 hours ago, billd766 said:

On 10/21/2021 at 6:10 PM, Liverpool Lou said:

That's not their only job but, regardless, have you any justification for that false statement?  How have they done nothing for you when asked?

They used to write a letter stating that they had seen my pension providers letters which was a great help at Immigration. The UK, US and I think one other has stopped providing them, however the majority of embassies still provide the letters.

 

I wanted to renew my passport a few years ago. Sorry that has been contracted out and the embassy don't do that any more.

You said that they do "sweet FA for Uk citizens", which is false.

 

Immigration Bureau caused the problem with income letters, not the British Embassy.  So that is not an example of them doing "nothing for you when asked".

 

Your passport renewal was completed for you, wasn't it?  So that is not an example of them "doing nothing for you" either.  How your PP is renewed  does not matter as long as it is renewed and the way it is done now was not a decision made by the Embassy.

[RafPinto]

On 10/22/2021 at 5:21 PM, Dogmatix said:

Gay or hetero?

Gender neutral or how they call it nowadays.

[billd766]

14 hours ago, Liverpool Lou said:

You said that they do "sweet FA for Uk citizens", which is false.

 

Immigration Bureau caused the problem with income letters, not the British Embassy.  So that is not an example of them doing "nothing for you when asked".

 

Your passport renewal was completed for you, wasn't it?  So that is not an example of them "doing nothing for you" either.  How your PP is renewed  does not matter as long as it is renewed and the way it is done now was not a decision made by the Embassy.

You are correct.

 

It was a decision made by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office in the UK.

 

The UK embassy in any country that has one, is a direct representative of the FCO, and as such gets all the good, and also the bad which they deserve. 

 

Read the inside cover of your passport.

 

Her Britannic Majesty's Requests and requires in the Name of Her Majesty, all those who it may concern to pass freely without let or hindrance, and to afford the bearer such assistance and protection as may be necessary.

 

As I see it the embassy is also bound by the same rules.

 

One rule for all and not one rule for some, and a different rule for others.

 

Yes my passport was renewed. However that was 17 years ago when we were allowed free access to the embassy. 

 

At the next passport renewal I had to renew it myself via Hong Kong as the embassy remarked that it was not their job any more. The next renewal will have to be done through the company in Sukhumvit road and nothing to do with the embassy.

 

As far as I am you can keep beating the drum for the embassy, but IMHO they are a waste of money to the average Brit.