Watch Out For Greedy Brits!

[prakhonchai nick]

As I mentioned earlier 500bt seems to be the going rate for notarisations from an ordinary accredited Lawyer Of course you can pay more if you go to a fancy lawyer with expensive offices.

2000bt from a bloke at the station?? Like buying something that fell off the back of a lorry but at quadruple the real price!

[bermondburi]

It's the passport fees that annoy me. They keep on going up all the time at an alarming rate. 6600 Baht for the thirty-two page and 8000 Baht for the 48 page. On the British Embassy Bangkok website they say that the fees are the same the world over but whether this includes the UK I don't know. Stick on 1000 Baht for the courier service from Hong Kong as well. It's a lot of money. And since August 8th they now say that you should allow FOUR weeks for delivery rather than the ten days it was previously. When I think that I just did my childrens' Thai passports( 50 pages) for the grand total of 1000 Baht each, where the service was so QUICK AND EFFICIENT ( we were in and out in 45 minutes) and I could pick up the passports two days later I start getting angry. Got no choice though so what can you do.

[StreetCowboy]

It's the passport fees that annoy me. They keep on going up all the time at an alarming rate. 6600 Baht for the thirty-two page and 8000 Baht for the 48 page. On the British Embassy Bangkok website they say that the fees are the same the world over but whether this includes the UK I don't know. Stick on 1000 Baht for the courier service from Hong Kong as well. It's a lot of money. And since August 8th they now say that you should allow FOUR weeks for delivery rather than the ten days it was previously. When I think that I just did my childrens' Thai passports( 50 pages) for the grand total of 1000 Baht each, where the service was so QUICK AND EFFICIENT ( we were in and out in 45 minutes) and I could pick up the passports two days later I start getting angry. Got no choice though so what can you do.

I'm sure I could get a Thai passport cheaper, but I find I get less hassle with a British passport. It's really not worth shopping around. A friend of mine bought an Indonesian passport once, and it brought nothing but trouble.

SC

[rgs2001uk]

I recently was quoted some extortionate price for a bog standard " I certify this is a true likeness of XXXXX" letter.

Wrote the letter up myself and then photocopied the passport onto the letter.

Took the letter to the bank where the manager signed it for free.

There are alternatives.

Edited September 1, 2010 by rgs2001uk

[Englander]

http://news.bbc.co.u...ics/8138285.stm

Recent price rises.

2007: £72

2006: £66

2005: £51

2003: £42

2002: £33

Edited September 1, 2010 by Englander

[prakhonchai nick]

http://news.bbc.co.u...ics/8138285.stm

Recent price rises.

2007: £72

2006: £66

2005: £51

2003: £42

2002: £33

Your post refers to UK passports.

Currently £77.50 in the UK, but for expats living in Thailand the fee is £128 + courier fees as the passport is issued in Hong Kong! And a 4 week wait!

[electau]

When documents have to be used in a foreign country are generally required to be notarised.

Uk would be similiar to Australia. Notarising documents in Australia costs between $60 and $100.

Witnessing a Statutory Declaration can be done by a J.P or a person with the required qualifications. There is no charge for this service.

However, witnessing a document (to be used in Thailand) at the Australian Embassy, (Consular Division) costs $18 to $20. However this charge may be waived if the document is to be used in Australia only.

Notarised documents are generally have an embossed seal attached and are done by an accredited solicitor (lawyer). Notarisation can also be done by the Foreign affairs section of an Embassy.

　

[prakhonchai nick]

When documents have to be used in a foreign country are generally required to be notarised.

Notarised documents are generally have an embossed seal attached and are done by an accredited solicitor (lawyer). Notarisation can also be done by the Foreign affairs section of an Embassy.

　

That is correct, and the normal price I pay on behalf of friends etc is 5/600bt. Not all Lawyers are authorised to Notarise documents -though some may tell you otherwise!

[cardholder]

When documents have to be used in a foreign country are generally required to be notarised.

Notarised documents are generally have an embossed seal attached and are done by an accredited solicitor (lawyer). Notarisation can also be done by the Foreign affairs section of an Embassy.

　

That is correct, and the normal price I pay on behalf of friends etc is 5/600bt. Not all Lawyers are authorised to Notarise documents -though some may tell you otherwise!

Or, you can be a street cowboy and get some bloke on a bus to do it for £40 - perfectly legit mate.

[electau]

When documents have to be used in a foreign country are generally required to be notarised.

Notarised documents are generally have an embossed seal attached and are done by an accredited solicitor (lawyer). Notarisation can also be done by the Foreign affairs section of an Embassy.

　

That is correct, and the normal price I pay on behalf of friends etc is 5/600bt. Not all Lawyers are authorised to Notarise documents -though some may tell you otherwise!

Or, you can be a street cowboy and get some bloke on a bus to do it for £40 - perfectly legit mate.

It would not be a legal document.

[electau]

A Statutory Declaration must be witnessed by a J.P or an accredited person who is authorised to witness documents.

The person who is signing the document must provide ID.

The JP asks the person who is to sign two questions, One, does he know the contents of the document and the statement in it are true, and,

Two, does he know the penalties for giving a false statement. (They fall under the Criminal Code).

He must answer yes to both if the signature is to be witnessed.

The JP then signs and enters his name along with the place, and date.

The document is then stamped with the JP number. And other attachments are signed and stamped.

The Statutory Declaration is now a legal document.

The above applies in Australia, most common law countries the procedures would be similiar.

Edited September 2, 2010 by electau

[bermondburi]

It's the passport fees that annoy me. They keep on going up all the time at an alarming rate. 6600 Baht for the thirty-two page and 8000 Baht for the 48 page. On the British Embassy Bangkok website they say that the fees are the same the world over but whether this includes the UK I don't know. Stick on 1000 Baht for the courier service from Hong Kong as well. It's a lot of money. And since August 8th they now say that you should allow FOUR weeks for delivery rather than the ten days it was previously. When I think that I just did my childrens' Thai passports( 50 pages) for the grand total of 1000 Baht each, where the service was so QUICK AND EFFICIENT ( we were in and out in 45 minutes) and I could pick up the passports two days later I start getting angry. Got no choice though so what can you do.

I'm sure I could get a Thai passport cheaper, but I find I get less hassle with a British passport. It's really not worth shopping around. A friend of mine bought an Indonesian passport once, and it brought nothing but trouble.

SC

My children are Thai so that is the passport they have and they are only three and four. They are not really going to get that much hassle at immigration. It's the big difference in price for the same thing that annoys me. On the British Embassy website they tell you that the cost of the passport is partly because of the biometric information contained in the passport which is now needed if UK citizens want to still be able to go to the USA without a visa. So maybe the Thai passports don't have all this and that is why they are cheap. Still pisses me off though.

[bifftastic]

The fees charged at British consulates and embassies contribute to the costs incurred by having representative offices. The British government operates in an open labour market which means that it has to pay salaries that will attract qualified employees. Do you work for free? Do you think someone with a university diploma and that has efficient work skills is going to stay in the foreign service long if he or she can obtain work elsewhere at better terms and conditions? If the UK government charges a fee it is because this is what the UK taxpayers want. In case you didn't realize, the UK provides generous social benefits to its citizens. Someone has to pay for those benefits. Are you paying taxes to the UK government and do those taxes cover even a portion of your access to and use of all the services provided? Considering the fact that UK citizens can access an NHS, social services, public transit, water etc., I don't know what you are griping about. It is unfair to call the people providing the services "greedy". The fees collected by the UK and other governments are not not that lucrative. If you want a free ride or a subsidy to support your lifestyle, just say so.

In my opinion, us UK taxpayers don't want our government offices to charge us high fee's for services, they just do. The benefits (currently being slashed) are paid from tax revenue not the 3,000 baht they charge for stamping a letter.

Yes, we can access the NHS and social services but we pay for them first (tax & NI).

Water, gas and electricity providers are all private companies, many of them aren't UK based, all of them make millions every year.

Public transit, as you call it, is also a private enterprise, described in 'government-speak' as a 'Private Public Partnership' we in London, pay TFL (Transport for London) through our council tax and when we buy expensive tickets (up to almost £15 for a daily travelcard plus thousands per year for those unfortunate enough to commute from the suburbs) and they pour all our money into layer upon layer of private sub-contractors all scraping off their cut and we end up paying through the nose (twice) for under-funded, poorly run, badly maintained and over-stretched public transport whilst the plc's that bid for the contracts get fat on our hard-earned.

So it doesn't surprise me that UKGOV plc is doing the same abroad. They have never served us, we have always funded them. Never by choice, they give us no other options. They rip us off at every opportunity and tell us it's for our own good.

It is now reaching the point where the pain of the privatisation drive lead by the Thatcher regime is being well and truly felt by all. The saddest thing is that it has become such an ingrained part of our economy it will be hard, if not impossible, to change.

Everyone just works to pay the ever-increasing bills.

It seems that expats are only reminded of these circumstances when they need a letter stamped by some snotty nosed graduate from a polytechnic upgraded to university status for £60. Bastards. (not the expats, the government!)

Reason for edit; not wanting to call expats bastards

Edited September 2, 2010 by bifftastic

[Dave the Dude]

It is only their civil service pensions that are increased annually in line with inflation. Most UK Company Pensions increase annually regardless of where the former employee lives. But State Pensions are frozen for everyone living in Thailand and certain other countries, even Civil Servants.

Nick

I thought I read a case about a teacher winning the right to have her State Pension unfrozen because it was agreed she was helping the community in the same way as a Civil Serpent?

Although the goalposts may have changed now, I thought Civil Sevants has dispensation for the expat frozen pension?

The phrase 'Jobs for the Boys' springs to mind!

[StreetCowboy]

The fees charged at British consulates and embassies contribute to the costs incurred by having representative offices. The British government operates in an open labour market which means that it has to pay salaries that will attract qualified employees. Do you work for free? Do you think someone with a university diploma and that has efficient work skills is going to stay in the foreign service long if he or she can obtain work elsewhere at better terms and conditions? If the UK government charges a fee it is because this is what the UK taxpayers want. In case you didn't realize, the UK provides generous social benefits to its citizens. Someone has to pay for those benefits. Are you paying taxes to the UK government and do those taxes cover even a portion of your access to and use of all the services provided? Considering the fact that UK citizens can access an NHS, social services, public transit, water etc., I don't know what you are griping about. It is unfair to call the people providing the services "greedy". The fees collected by the UK and other governments are not not that lucrative. If you want a free ride or a subsidy to support your lifestyle, just say so.

In my opinion, us UK taxpayers don't want our government offices to charge us high fee's for services, they just do. The benefits (currently being slashed) are paid from tax revenue not the 3,000 baht they charge for stamping a letter.

Yes, we can access the NHS and social services but we pay for them first (tax & NI).

Water, gas and electricity providers are all private companies, many of them aren't UK based, all of them make millions every year.

Public transit, as you call it, is also a private enterprise, described in 'government-speak' as a 'Private Public Partnership' we in London, pay TFL (Transport for London) through our council tax and when we buy expensive tickets (up to almost £15 for a daily travelcard plus thousands per year for those unfortunate enough to commute from the suburbs) and they pour all our money into layer upon layer of private sub-contractors all scraping off their cut and we end up paying through the nose (twice) for under-funded, poorly run, badly maintained and over-stretched public transport whilst the plc's that bid for the contracts get fat on our hard-earned.

So it doesn't surprise me that UKGOV plc is doing the same abroad. They have never served us, we have always funded them. Never by choice, they give us no other options. They rip us off at every opportunity and tell us it's for our own good.

It is now reaching the point where the pain of the privatisation drive lead by the Thatcher regime is being well and truly felt by all. The saddest thing is that it has become such an ingrained part of our economy it will be hard, if not impossible, to change.

Everyone just works to pay the ever-increasing bills.

It seems that expats are only reminded of these circumstances when they need a letter stamped by some snotty nosed graduate from a polytechnic upgraded to university status for £60. Bastards. (not the expats, the government!)

Reason for edit; not wanting to call expats bastards

Just refuse to pay. You're not obliged to travel, or go through a divorce, or fight a case in court, or whatever else you need a notarised document for, or a passport. It'll not be the UK government that locks you up for not having a passport - they don't require that you have one. You have that choice. Its the same wth excise duty. If you resent it, stop smoking, or drinking, or drive a more economical car.

If you want documents notarised, shop around if the money is that important to you. As I say, quite by chance and without any research I was able to find a bloke on Nana Station paid area concourse who was able to notarise the documents I needed, I was able to get my money out of the hands of the delegated laundry-police who were holding it (the money) at the time, and never realy felt the need to work myself into a tizzy of resentment and abuse, even within my own mind. Really, you should try to relax and enjoy what you have in life, rather than criticising the adequacy of qualification of hypothetical people you have never even met except in your own imagination.

You had the choice of government. You were entitled to vote, even though you don't pay their taxes. And still you complain. No wonder everyone hates the English... and the funny thing is that you may well be from one of the socalled Celtic nations - we're at least as bad for whinging as the English; ha ha, the benefits of prejudice and stereotyping - but that's for another topic...

SC

[electau]

Thai passports only appear to be low cost compared to the UK passports.

You have to factor in labour costs per hour and the difference between the two countries costings. It is relative.

[theoldgit]

Although the goalposts may have changed now, I thought Civil Sevants has dispensation for the expat frozen pension?

The phrase 'Jobs for the Boys' springs to mind!

Unfortunately not, as has already been pointed out, only their Civil Service pensions are index linked anywhere in the world, I suspect this is the case with most, if not all, occupational pensions, their State Pensions are frozen like everybody else's.

[PattayaParent]

Thai passports only appear to be low cost compared to the UK passports.

You have to factor in labour costs per hour and the difference between the two countries costings. It is relative.

So why does a single employee at the Brit Embassy have to be accommodated in a 3 bedroom flat on Sukhumvit at a cost of 150,000 Baht?

That's nothing to do with relative costing of the 2 countries.

[PattayaParent]

A Statutory Declaration must be witnessed by a J.P or an accredited person who is authorised to witness documents.

The person who is signing the document must provide ID.

The JP asks the person who is to sign two questions, One, does he know the contents of the document and the statement in it are true, and,

Two, does he know the penalties for giving a false statement. (They fall under the Criminal Code).

He must answer yes to both if the signature is to be witnessed.

The JP then signs and enters his name along with the place, and date.

The document is then stamped with the JP number. And other attachments are signed and stamped.

The Statutory Declaration is now a legal document.

The above applies in Australia, most common law countries the procedures would be similiar.

I just had the JP do it (in UK). Why do you need the middle man?

[PattayaParent]

<snip>

However, it is not UK citizens that pay those inflated fees. Rather it is foreigners. Maybe some of you already know if you have brought family to the UK and I'm surprised no one has pointed out the "double pricing".

The most recent example is the fee policy implemented in January 2010; Dependent relatives living outside the UK who make an application to settle in the UK had application fees increase from £585 to £1,680. Family members who who visit the UK and subsequently apply to settle had fees double, to £1,680. The move was in response to concerns raised by taxpayer groups and general commentators about the cost on social and health services of foreign nationals' parents and grandparents who cannot look after themselves.

<snip>

First off, I would bet that every Brit who has applied for a visa for their spouse to go to UK has paid for that visa themselves, not their spouse.

Secondly, my wife does not have parents or grandparents, so will I get reduced fees for a settlement application?

[Laughing Gravy]

Also Thais are getting ripped off. I know of a few people who have applied for student visas at 11,000 Baht a go and been told they have not got the right paperwork. This has happend 2 and 3 times to people. So they can't tell them in one go what was wrong but only one thing at a time.

It seems a 'nice little earner' for the Embassy. A bit like the speed cameras in the UK for the police force.

The British embassy worldwide are well known for not giving a dam_n about its citizens. Basically your on your own.

[dumball]

Just a couple of small comments , the UK passport is reported as number one for entry to countries world wide , devide the cost of your passport by ten , that is how much it costs for one year of passport usage , mine cost me $20.00 per YEAR , what does it cost you per year for visas to stay in Thailand who could give a shi-t about you the same as you claim the UK embassy does .

I would like to add , my visa here in Cambodia costs me $26.00 per month , with border runs in Thailand my visa cost me $70.00 , minimum .

What was your complaint again , I am somewhat deaf today and did not quite get it .

[PattayaParent]

^my passport never lasts me 10 years, it's always full before then, as I guess yours will be too with all the border runs.

[dumball]

'PattayaParent' timestamp='1283420645' post='3856840']

^my passport never lasts me 10 years, it's always full before then, as I guess yours will be too with all the border runs.

Mine has been that way in the past also , but now I have no need to do border runs , a simple walk to my friendly travel agent and am supplied with a one year visa , will not fill half of the pages in the ten years my passport lasts other than with exteranious travel . There is talk of an I.D. card being issued for long time expats , how does that shake your candy floss if it comes into effect ? .

[Pdaz]

I travel frequently for work.. I have two UK passports, necessary to apply for visas and be able to travel simultaneously.. The 'large' 46 page passport lasts me about 2 years... Full page stick in visas and multiple stamps soon put paid to it. Now the price has gone up to over 150.00 pounds per passport.. Worse you have to send it to HK.. &lt;deleted&gt; has happened.. Not too many years ago it took 3 working days in Singapore to get a passport.. The they 'upgraded' the consular section and passports took 5 days... Now here it will take 10 days.. so much for progress.. I still don't understand why we need to pay such an extortionate sum for a passport.. Surely it is paid for in taxes and nothing more than a small administration charge is needed.. It's just a blatant rip-off !

[StreetCowboy]

I travel frequently for work.. I have two UK passports, necessary to apply for visas and be able to travel simultaneously.. The 'large' 46 page passport lasts me about 2 years... Full page stick in visas and multiple stamps soon put paid to it. Now the price has gone up to over 150.00 pounds per passport.. Worse you have to send it to HK.. &lt;deleted&gt; has happened.. Not too many years ago it took 3 working days in Singapore to get a passport.. The they 'upgraded' the consular section and passports took 5 days... Now here it will take 10 days.. so much for progress.. I still don't understand why we need to pay such an extortionate sum for a passport.. Surely it is paid for in taxes and nothing more than a small administration charge is needed.. It's just a blatant rip-off !

I think 150 pounds is a trivial additional cost to the overall cost of travel to approximately 20 or 30 foreign trips - maybe more, since they are not all full page visas, and you don't always need a new visa. The ten days' turnaround is inconvenient, though. but since you say one can get two passports, that is no problem.

Maybe you could consider the cost of the passport as a business expense? I really don't see how you can call it a rip-off. As I said earlier, a friend of mine tried an alternative brand, and found it far from satisfactory.

I've just understood the title of the thread, though, and I think that it would have been much more clear if the OP had captioned the thread "Watch Out For Greedy, Stingy, Miserable Whinging Brits!"

SC

[electau]

Thai passports only appear to be low cost compared to the UK passports.

You have to factor in labour costs per hour and the difference between the two countries costings. It is relative.

So why does a single employee at the Brit Embassy have to be accommodated in a 3 bedroom flat on Sukhumvit at a cost of 150,000 Baht?

That's nothing to do with relative costing of the 2 countries.

The cost of producing the passport, processing the information and the labour rates ( civil/public servant salaries)

Yes one would agree just to have a document witnessed at your own Embassy/Consulate no charge should be levied. Formal notarisation, yes a charge is levied.

[MAJIC]

Out of every Benefit comes the checkbill.

i.e. My wifes UK Visa = £870.

Benefit to her = Free NHS care.

More than a fair deal to my way of thinking and nothing to do with "Greedy Brits" as the Stupid Topic Title suggests! where does the OP think the money comes from? for her health care, Thailand?

If you were in Britain, and had a British wife who did not work, she would get Free NHS care too. Why? BECAUSE SHE IS YOUR WIFE!. Surely, it does not matter where your wife hails from. And anyway it is not FREE! What about all the NI contributions you made over the years? The Income tax? VAT at more than double the Thai rate and about to increase again shortly.

What about all the NI contributions I made? I am in Thailand. If I return to the UK for medical treatment I have to pay! My pension is frozen! No cold weather allowance for me! No Christmas Bonus! No Child tax Credits! But they still take 20% tax off me from my private pension! Part of my contribution is helping to pay for your wife's FREE NHS treatment, and all the enormous benefits handed out to the millions of immigrants who pour into the UK.

I could go on -but I won't

Yes of course I agree with your point,that it was mainly my NI contributions,Tax and VAT, that has given my Thai wife "Free health care" something (me) her husband would not get in Thailand,30 baht cards are not given out to "Farang Husbands" as far as Im aware of?

But my point was:The system in the UK is not a bottomless pit,and money needs to be taken in finances in order to pay them out,to the needy,balancing the books is what it is all about i.e no system of looking after Citizens can be all about paying out,while not taking something in,from some source or other form.

Whilst I again agree with you,that it is grossly unfair that you do not get Pension increases because you are not resident in the UK (See my Posts on Topics concerning this very subject)

However I can't agree with you that you are losing out on the £250 winter fuel allowance,the legislation does not cover extremes of heat (Heatwaves),which has been known in the UK,and is also not available to British Citizens Resident in the UK.

Also, Thailands Tax system can't be compared with the UK,Thailand pays very little to their Citizens in Benefits,and consequently can keep their Taxation system low!

If you return to the UK for Medical Treatment while you are considered permanently resident in Thailand then there is a question mark,as to whether you will need to pay.Again another Topic thoroughly debated in the past year,which I believe from my experience you would not be disappointed with the treatment received by your own Country.

Child/working (you are not working in the UK,and your child does not live there) Tax Credits only get paid to permanent UK residents,the rights and wrongs of that one,are similar to not getting Pension Increases,but in my view different as residency is the main eligibility factor,not the same as the Pension increases,because you have paid nothing into the system for this particular unearned Benefit.

.

And as to the Christmas bonus,a miserable £10,is hardly worth getting upset over,and will just about about buy a small frozen Turkey,some Bonus eh?

Your Private Pension,of which you pay 20% Tax on,presumably because it is generated in the UK by your Pension Provider,and thus incurs UK taxes,but you do get the normal Personal Annual Tax Allowance,exactly the same as the normal UK resident,so absolutely no different treatment there either!

One final point:on the one hand you state

"If you were in Britain, and had a British wife who did not work, she would get Free NHS care too. Why? BECAUSE SHE IS YOUR WIFE!. Surely, it does not matter where your wife hails from. And anyway it is not FREE! What about all the NI contributions you made over the years? The Income tax? VAT at more than double the Thai rate and about to increase again shortly.

And then you go on to state:

"Part of my Contribution is helping to pay for your wifes FREE NHS treatment"

Somewhat contradictory in my view,have I paid for my wifes NHS treatment? or have you helped me and her?

should it be the latter,then someone else will be helping yours,if the need arose!

The very same Taxation system will apply to me in the not too distant future,including both my Private Pension and National 65 year old Pension,for which I worked,paid Taxes and NI contributions for 40 years.So dont feel I dont sympathise with you.

Good luck

MAJIC.

[electau]

The original post was refering to the perceived high costs and charges levied by the British embassy, not to matters that concern UK citizens within the UK.

On would find that charges reflect the real cost of supplying a service and would be comparable to other embassies such as the US, Australia, New Zealand and Canada.

[MAJIC]

Out of every Benefit comes the checkbill.

i.e. My wifes UK Visa = £870.

Benefit to her = Free NHS care.

More than a fair deal to my way of thinking and nothing to do with "Greedy Brits" as the Stupid Topic Title suggests! where does the OP think the money comes from? for her health care, Thailand?

If you were in Britain, and had a British wife who did not work, she would get Free NHS care too. Why? BECAUSE SHE IS YOUR WIFE!. Surely, it does not matter where your wife hails from. And anyway it is not FREE! What about all the NI contributions you made over the years? The Income tax? VAT at more than double the Thai rate and about to increase again shortly.

What about all the NI contributions I made? I am in Thailand. If I return to the UK for medical treatment I have to pay! My pension is frozen! No cold weather allowance for me! No Christmas Bonus! No Child tax Credits! But they still take 20% tax off me from my private pension! Part of my contribution is helping to pay for your wife's FREE NHS treatment, and all the enormous benefits handed out to the millions of immigrants who pour into the UK.

I could go on -but I won't

Yes of course I agree with your point,that it was mainly my NI contributions,Tax and VAT, that has given my Thai wife "Free health care" something (I) her husband would not get in Thailand,30 baht cards are not given out to "Farang Husbands" as far as Im aware of?

But my point was: The system in the UK is not a bottomless pit,and money needs to be taken in finances in order to pay them out,to the needy,balancing the books is what it is all about i.e no system of looking after Citizens can be all about paying out,while not taking something in,from some source or another form.

Whilst I again agree with you,that it is grossly unfair that you do not get Pension increases because you are not resident in the UK (See my Posts on Topics concerning this very subject)

However I can't agree with you that you are losing out on the £250 winter fuel allowance,lets face it,you are in no need of extra heating in Thailand,the legislation does not cover extremes of heat either (Heatwaves),which has been known in the UK,and is also not available to British Citizens Resident in the UK either.

Also, Thailands Taxation system can't be compared with the UK,Thailand pays very little to their Citizens in Benefits,and consequently can keep their Taxation system low! and in the case of low earners,Tax on earnings is non existent.

If you return to the UK for Medical Treatment while you are considered permanently resident in Thailand then there is a question mark,as to whether you will need to pay for treatment.Again another Topic thoroughly debated in the past year,which I believe from my experience,and others you would not be disappointed with the treatment received by your own Country,but that would depend on your intentions whether to reside there permanently again,or merely fly in for that nagging Hernia,Hip replacement or whatever,and flit back home to Thailand? and leaving the other NI contributers to share the checkbill.

Child/working Tax Credits, (you are not working in the UK,and if your child does not live there) Tax Credits only get paid to permanent UK residents,the rights and wrongs of that one,are similar to not getting Pension Increases,but in my view different in as much as residency is the main eligibility factor,not the same as the Pension increases,because you have paid nothing into the system for this particular unearned Benefit.

.

And as to the Christmas bonus,a miserable £10,is hardly worth getting upset over,and will just about buy a small frozen Turkey,some Bonus eh? Im sure some poor old OAPs are really looking forward to a whale of a time on their own with the Christmas Festivities looming.

Your Private Pension,of which you pay 20% Tax on,presumably because it is generated in the UK by your Pension Provider,and thus incurs UK taxes,but you do offset this with, the normal Personal Annual Tax Allowance,exactly the same as the permanent UK resident,so absolutely no different treatment there either!

One final point:on the one hand you state..........

"If you were in Britain, and had a British wife who did not work, she would get Free NHS care too. Why? BECAUSE SHE IS YOUR WIFE!. Surely, it does not matter where your wife hails from. And anyway it is not FREE! What about all the NI contributions you made over the years? The Income tax? VAT at more than double the Thai rate and about to increase again shortly.And then you go on to state:

"Part of my Contribution is helping to pay for your wifes FREE NHS treatment"

Somewhat contradictory in my view!

If the latter is correct,then by your calculations,should you take your wife back to the UK? then someone else will be paying part of her contributions to your wifes healthcare

The very same Taxation system does and will apply to me,and will continue to do so, in the not too distant future.Including both my Private Pension and National 65 year old Pension,for which I worked,paid Taxes and NI contributions for 40 years.So dont feel I dont sympathise with you.

Normally I agree with your very sensible Posts.

Good luck

MAJIC.

Edited September 5, 2010 by MAJIC