Post breaking forum rules removed @Geoff914 rule 17.News articles are collected from recognised sources and may be consolidated or rewritten with AI assistance. Respectful discussion of the article content is welcome. Disrespectful comments about the articles, the use of AI, or the news team (e.g. “clickbait,” “slow news day,” mocking grammar, or AI taunts) are not permitted. Posts breaching this rule will be removed, and posting suspension or account closure may result

20 hours ago, KhunHeineken said:

Then, you are simply not aware.

Wake up.

God are you incapable of reading and comprehending what a scam baiter is/does?? It is not the scammer but someone who scams the scammer. Do you have google? Type in scam baiter and educate yourself a bit and maybe you will wake up and become aware of your ignorance.

On 9/9/2026 at 11:49 PM, rattlesnake said:

We can only speculate, but 57 would be too young a retirement age indeed. One possible scenario is he was an English teacher for nine years (or he lived frugally on savings during that time), then he got an incomplete pension of £500. Maybe a house was sold before he left the UK and he initially had a couple of hundred grand or so in the bank.

In any case, it's a sad story.

My brother retired at 58, engineer at ex UK steelworks. Offered, took it, this was 28 yrs ago and he’s still fit as a fiddle.

On 9/9/2026 at 10:49 PM, rattlesnake said:

We can only speculate, but 57 would be too young a retirement age indeed. One possible scenario is he was an English teacher for nine years (or he lived frugally on savings during that time), then he got an incomplete pension of £500. Maybe a house was sold before he left the UK and he initially had a couple of hundred grand or so in the bank.

In any case, it's a sad story.

It is only 35 years to qualify for a full state pension now so if he is only on £500 per month then he has a lot of years missing. I wonder what he was doing? Any way if he thought Thailand was bad how is he going to survive in the UK on £125 per week? People on minimum wage struggle and they are on £500 per week.

On 9/9/2026 at 2:10 PM, Caldera said:

It's pretty sad, and shameful for a once proud country like the UK, that a charity needs to step in because the embassy can't be arsed to lift a finger to offer meaningful assistance.

They should help him get back home, but refuse him a new passport once there, at least until he has paid up for his repatriation. He doesn't seem to be the smartest guy I've ever seen.

It has been decades that the British Embassy has refused to offer financial assistance for anybody in trouble. They will arrange to get cash sent by family members or friends but that is all. I assume he has no family to fall back on. It didn't say so in the article but I rather got the impression that the newspaper that covered the story paid for the repatriation. I think the article said it was the Daily Mail. A one way ticket is only going to be a few hundred pounds.

On 9/9/2026 at 10:49 PM, rattlesnake said:

We can only speculate, but 57 would be too young a retirement age indeed. One possible scenario is he was an English teacher for nine years (or he lived frugally on savings during that time), then he got an incomplete pension of £500. Maybe a house was sold before he left the UK and he initially had a couple of hundred grand or so in the bank.

In any case, it's a sad story.

This couple claim with careful spending you can save a million pounds and retire in your 30s https://www.ibtimes.co.uk/donegans-financial-freedom-frugality-1806104 Well if they had a combined take home pay of £60000 per year and saved "every" pound that they earned then it would take 17 years to save £1 million. So I would say the claim is impossible

On 9/10/2026 at 1:50 PM, pomchop said:

God are you incapable of reading and comprehending what a scam baiter is/does?? It is not the scammer but someone who scams the scammer. Do you have google? Type in scam baiter and educate yourself a bit and maybe you will wake up and become aware of your ignorance.

I am well aware of the reverse scam.

All this guy can do is scam the benefits system now, but that's not really a scam, it's an entitlement. 😂 😂

He seemed to have had a fairly decent job so why is his pension so low

So sad what people will do just to feel better..

"Hill had sometimes suspected the online relationship might be a scam but did not want to accept it because it made him feel cared for."

Anything bad written because of what this individual did, should also be directed to all the people who believe in some form of religion, since these delusions presumably makes them feel so much better. Much the same...

Lots of room for sadness..

1.- -2.2 Billions Christians

2.- 1.5 Billions Muslims

3.- -488 millions in Buddhism

4.- 1 Billion of Hinduism

5.- -28 millions in Sikhism

6.- 13 millions in Judaism

7.- 104 millions in Shinto

8.- -and 4 millions in Jainism

And certainly even more money is wasted for this type of 'feel better' beliefs..

7 hours ago, paulikens said:

He seemed to have had a fairly decent job so why is his pension so low

The £500 mentioned was his state pension and even that is wrong. Somebody with a full quota of contributions should be on over £1000 per month. He doesn't seem to have any private or occupational pension. How on Earth he will survive in the UK on £500 per month is beyond me. A lesson there for younger people to adequately pay into a private pension and if working abroad or self employed make voluntary contributions to the state pension. The original article is sadly lacking in detail.

Looks older than 68

What's the matter with some of you? Really. The guy clearly made mistakes almost no one would - that's clear enough. But people pile in on him - does that make you feel bigger or better? He has paid dearly for it. Or you think he is some kind of con artist himself?

Edited Sunday at 10:57 AM2 days by ronnie50

23 minutes ago, ronnie50 said:

What's the matter with some of you? Really. The guy clearly made mistakes almost no one would - that's clear enough. But people pile in on him - does that make you feel bigger or better? He has paid dearly for it. Or you think he is some kind of con artist himself?

You asked if he was some sort of con artist. There is something fishy about this as to why his state pension is less than half of what it should be. Now there are various possible reasons for that. Was working overseas or self employed and failed to make any contributions. Getting back to the UK is just the start of his problems. Now he has to work out how he is going to survive in his home country with significantly higher cost of living than Thailand but surviving on less than half the normal state pension.

1 hour ago, Geoff914 said:

Getting back to the UK is just the start of his problems. Now he has to work out how he is going to survive in his home country with significantly higher cost of living than Thailand but surviving on less than half the normal state pension.

Agree. I mentioned that earlier.

On 9/13/2026 at 2:04 PM, ronnie50 said:

Agree. I mentioned that earlier.

Well they have just announced a 3.9% increase putting the state pension to over £13,000 per year. Except this guy who will only be getting £6234 per year.

Great work (again) by the Bangkok Community Health Foundation, and the usual pathetic support from the Embassy.

On 9/13/2026 at 6:50 PM, Geoff914 said:

You asked if he was some sort of con artist. There is something fishy about this as to why his state pension is less than half of what it should be. Now there are various possible reasons for that. Was working overseas or self employed and failed to make any contributions. Getting back to the UK is just the start of his problems. Now he has to work out how he is going to survive in his home country with significantly higher cost of living than Thailand but surviving on less than half the normal state pension.

Perhaps he was on a frozen UK pension set at the lower rate from when he left the UK?

4 hours ago, Kinnock said:

Great work (again) by the Bangkok Community Health Foundation, and the usual pathetic support from the Embassy.

Yes but it is not the Embassy's job to help citizens. Not that I agree with that. Seems the Embassy's job to have a good time for diplomats.

Post breaking forum rules removed @Geoff914 after warning you still lack the capacity to follow forum rules.

Rule 17.News articles are collected from recognised sources and may be consolidated or rewritten with AI assistance. Respectful discussion of the article content is welcome. Disrespectful comments about the articles, the use of AI, or the news team (e.g. “clickbait,” “slow news day,” mocking grammar, or AI taunts) are not permitted. Posts breaching this rule will be removed, and posting suspension or account closure may result

6 hours ago, Kinnock said:

Perhaps he was on a frozen UK pension set at the lower rate from when he left the UK?

Sorry but that does not make sense. Why would he have been on a frozen pension. He wouldn't have drawn the state pension until 2 years ago when he reached retirement age at 66. He would only have missed one increase anyway. Even if it was frozen at the time that he left the UK, the state pension 11 years ago was about £750 per month. There are three possibilities as I see it. If he was working in the UK from when he left school or college he would have got the qualifying 35 years worth of contributions so should be on a full pension.

1. He was working abroad and did not make voluntary contributions.

2. He was self employed and did not make voluntary contributions.

3. He was working but paid cash in hand so his employer did not make National Insurance contributions.

What ever the reason he is paying the price now unless it is a genuine mistake. I hope if that is the case then somebody sorts it out for him.

10 hours ago, Geoff914 said:

Well they have just announced a 3.9% increase putting the state pension to over £13,000 per year. Except this guy who will only be getting £6234 per year.

My mother (British born) emigrated in 1948 to one of the countries inelligible for annual increases. I think she got something like 90 pounds a month when she reached 60 or 65 (whatever the eligible age was). So that kicked in around 1995 I think and stayed the same until she passed away. Same for her sisters who joined her overseas a few years later. All 3 had served as young women in World War Two. My mother - the youngest - at 16 was a nighttime fire spotter (from German bombs) working from a rooftop. Her eldest was an army nurse. The middle sister was a signals operator translating enemy morse code (and friendly code) into english for confidential memos for the officers (womens air force - WAF - with an enlisted rank). So they did their part, made sacrifices - and were bombed out of their collective home twice. So I always felt the British Government's decades-long refusal to pay them and others who emigrated the same as any other person with State Pension (with inflation) was almost spiteful. Why pay inflation or annual increases to retirees in some countries but not others? I think they were afraid many would leave the country in late 40s and 50s. They pay increases if you retire in EEA (EU) or a list of other countries many wouldn't want to retire in - except for USA (why only USA)? Many countries have been willing to do a reciprocal agreement on annual increases - but UK says no - EVEN THOUGH they might already have a reciprocal agreement to blend state pensions with many of those countries - just not ever raise the British portion.