VPN's

[Nemises]

9 minutes ago, KhunHeineken said:

it would not be difficult for NZ Lotto to question you over your use of a VPN, and should they dig a little further, they may find you are out of the country when placing the bet, not to mention, gambling is illegal in Thailand, so, should you win something big, maybe they will not pay out. 

Absolutely correct - as I have found out firsthand already.
Don’t expect to be paid out for any major prize if playing NZ (& various other countries) lottos from outside their country as you are in breach of their rules. 

 

[KhunHeineken]

46 minutes ago, Nemises said:

Absolutely correct - as I have found out firsthand already.
Don’t expect to be paid out for any major prize if playing NZ (& various other countries) lottos from outside their country as you are in breach of their rules. 

 

Even if you can somehow collect a decent prize, in Australia, you lose your pension. 

 

https://www.news.com.au/finance/money/wealth/so-much-for-being-lucky-lotto-winner-loses-access-to-pension-after-winning-60000/news-story/c9420aa637b92be4ed66cea149d33893#:~:text=A widower who won %2460%2C000,dollars in a Lotto draw.

[The Fugitive]

12 hours ago, KhunHeineken said:

Even if you can somehow collect a decent prize, in Australia, you lose your pension. 

 

https://www.news.com.au/finance/money/wealth/so-much-for-being-lucky-lotto-winner-loses-access-to-pension-after-winning-60000/news-story/c9420aa637b92be4ed66cea149d33893#:~:text=A widower who won %2460%2C000,dollars in a Lotto draw.

Wow! Not being Australian this is shocking to me. In U.K. Government (State) Pension is NOT means tested because you have either paid National Insurance Contributions whilst working or received Pension credits when unemployed/job seeking or receiving welfare payments for being disabled and unable to work. Occupational pensions you pay for out of your salary (or non-contributory where your employer pays into a fund). The poor guy lost his entitlement to free GP consultations (free to all in UK with over 6 months residence) and prescription medicine (free for over 60's in England and Scotland and free for all in Wales).     

[Furioso]

I moved here to Thailand just before the 2022 World Cup. All I had was my weak Chromebook connected to a 50 inch TV. I found out I could set my Surfshark VPN to Australia and watch the World Cup for free. 

 

However, my Surfshark expired a few months ago and I haven't really missed it much. They tried to access my credit card 6 months before exp. but I had already canx that one. If I ever need a VPN again I'll sign up via PayPal. 

[The Fugitive]

26 minutes ago, Furioso said:

They tried to access my credit card 6 months before exp.

Sounds most odd. Never had any issues with SurfShark during my two year subscription.   

[KhunHeineken]

11 hours ago, The Fugitive said:

Wow! Not being Australian this is shocking to me. In U.K. Government (State) Pension is NOT means tested because you have either paid National Insurance Contributions whilst working or received Pension credits when unemployed/job seeking or receiving welfare payments for being disabled and unable to work. Occupational pensions you pay for out of your salary (or non-contributory where your employer pays into a fund). The poor guy lost his entitlement to free GP consultations (free to all in UK with over 6 months residence) and prescription medicine (free for over 60's in England and Scotland and free for all in Wales).     

Yes, not very nice of the Australian government. 

 

The benefits system and superannuation system in Australia is different to that in the UK. 

[KhunHeineken]

11 hours ago, Furioso said:

I moved here to Thailand just before the 2022 World Cup. All I had was my weak Chromebook connected to a 50 inch TV. I found out I could set my Surfshark VPN to Australia and watch the World Cup for free. 

 

However, my Surfshark expired a few months ago and I haven't really missed it much. They tried to access my credit card 6 months before exp. but I had already canx that one. If I ever need a VPN again I'll sign up via PayPal. 

You'll be needing one in the future, for numerous reasons, some leisure, some business, nothing surer.   

[xylophone]

As I still have a couple of months subscription on my Nord VPN, I tried it last night when wanting to view something on BBC iPlayer, but the BBC picked it up I was using a VPN, so no go........I switched back to Smart DNS Proxy and all was well, and I did manage to watch Bonnie and Clyde (again) after not seeing it for decades – very enjoyable.

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

2 hours ago, xylophone said:

As I still have a couple of months subscription on my Nord VPN, I tried it last night when wanting to view something on BBC iPlayer, but the BBC picked it up I was using a VPN, so no go........I switched back to Smart DNS Proxy and all was well, and I did manage to watch Bonnie and Clyde (again) after not seeing it for decades – very enjoyable.

 

From a U.S. perspective, I've found Nord to be one of the better VPN providers in terms of successfully unlocking various geo-restricted streaming content.

 

And even if one server for a given city/locale doesn't work, they typically have multiple other servers available with different IPs to try for the same city/locale, which typically means you can find something that works.

 

One really nice feature they also have are browser extensions for both Firefox and Chrome that allow the user to easily turn on, turn off, or switch VPN connections just for browser content -- which comes in very handy.

 

My favorite, most useful VPN providers for U.S. connections right now are Private VPN for speedy, non-streaming general use, and either Nord or Windscribe VPN for streaming uses. From Thailand, the various West Coast connections to the U.S. typically are the fastest and best.

 

 

Edited January 6 by TallGuyJohninBKK