Any problems encountered by those NOT living in Thailand ?

Spitfire · Post by **Spitfire** » Wed Apr 16, 2008 2:37 pm

Most of 'The West' harps on about being the beakon of freedom etc, blah, blah, blah and strangley enough, I think and feel I am more free to do what I want in a country like Thailand. Maybe there are few lessons Europe still has to learn about this subject. In the UK, I'm convinced there are people sat at desks just dreaming up new things that we can't do. Comments welcome.

Post by **Big Boy** » Wed Apr 16, 2008 3:01 pm

spitfire wrote:

In the UK, I'm convinced there are people sat at desks just dreaming up new things that we can't do. Comments welcome.

I agree with most of that statement. However, I would take it one step further ie there are Frenchmen (sorry Francois) sat in the European Parliament working out new ways to wind the Brits up by making new regulations that the rest of Europe will ignore.

Spitfire · Post by **Spitfire** » Wed Apr 16, 2008 4:31 pm

Can't argue with that 'Big Boy'. I'll be staying here.

Post by **Big Boy** » Wed Apr 16, 2008 4:42 pm

Wish I was staying there as well. Unfortunately, my early retirement isn't going to be as early as I had previously hoped - roll on 31 Mar 10

Spitfire · Post by **Spitfire** » Wed Apr 16, 2008 4:49 pm

Your chance will come soon enough, and luckily for you, you are experienced about this place before you get here, great advantage that is not enjoyed by all. Better to come ready and informed. Life will be less stressful.

Post by **kendo** » Wed Apr 16, 2008 7:18 pm

Not so long back my wife recived a letter from the National insurance saying that she owed £360 from 2005.So i phoned them up and told them that my wife came to britain on the 5th of December 2005 and did not work until march 2006 so how do we owe this money the reply i got, was you have to pay this to get that years contrubution in for her pension,so i said "so you want her to pay into the system before she even had her visa to come to the U.K" yes or you will loose that years contrubution do you want to pay sir,i replied in a strong voice "no i don't think so, do you wear a mask in your profession because that is day light robbery" apart from the obvous weather, i dont want to live here for many reasons, but the thing that really gets me is that to get my wife a marrage visa to come here was hard work, they want to know everything, and it is very expensive.In order for her to stay here more than 2 years she had to do the life in the U.K test, wot is very difficult and put us under a lot of presure just because she is a non E.U resident being married is not enough for our government.But if you come from an E.U country you can come here no problem, clame everything and get the works,it makes me feel sick i cant wait to one day divorce the U.K many people are going down that route .Where we live our city has a massive east europian population 1 in 10 a lot of my friends are builders and struggling to get work because they will work for half the money it is becoming a real problem.I used to love this country now, i think it is changing so much and not for the better i just wonder how much worse can things get here.

Post by **margaretcarnes** » Fri Apr 18, 2008 5:50 am

Thanks Lomu, yes I'll try to explain the Habitual Residence Test (HRT) It was introduced in the late 90s. The aim is to 'weed out' potential state benefit claimants who have in fact been resident abroad for some time. The general guide for this time abroad is 5 or 6 years.
The principal applied is that the individual concerned has lived continuously abroad, with the original intention of continuing to do so. Running a business and/or having a spouse/property abroad are indicators. The situation left behind in the UK is also taken into acount, ie was property sold up, bank accounts closed etc. Are UK tax and NI contributions still being paid. Has there been regular contact with family/friends in the UK whilst away.
This has come up on an earlier topic, and I think people tend to confuse it with returning to the UK for medical treatment. Can I emphasise again that getting medical help on return to the UK is NOT a problem, and not dependant at all on satisfying the HRT.
If anyone thinks they may be faced with having to return they are welcome to PM me for advice.
On the Polish issue - which does seem to cause a lot of concern. Yes - they can and do claim child benefit to send back home. Rightly or wrongly its a reciprocal EU agreement. But I've actually house-shared with some very highly qualified and hardworking Polish folks who are over here to use their skills, and not to do the menial jobs at all.
BTW our strawberry farmers are now saying that theres a shortage of migrant workers to do the picking this year, as they are taking better jobs. We are facing a major crisis here!

Post by **sandman67** » Fri Apr 18, 2008 3:07 pm

Thanks for that Mags....never heard of it before.

I fail on most points already....by the time I would have to go back Id fail on all points....good job Im intending never going back eh?

By the way...remember that article you wrote on pubs being more stinky now the smoke has gone? Last time I was back in the UK we all went to the village pub and....you are right. Place smelt like....well....

Post by **margaretcarnes** » Sat Apr 19, 2008 7:44 am

Hi Sandman - yes its best to stay in LOS if you can! Fancy you remembering the stinky pub article (shows some folks read it!) Some of the stuff does seem a bit bizarre, but as you've experienced now its all true I tell you! And still flippin cold having to stand outside for a quick puff.
One thing I DO appreciate back here is the telly programmes. OK there are a lot of repeats, but I've just been watching a rerun of last years Who tour, and now a prog on the Beatles. I did get to see the Who last year live. Thats another thing (for those who are into the old stuff) we can easily get to see live bands like that if we want to, whereas only the really big 'uns like Elton occassionally play Bangkok.
RRock on

Post by **Takiap** » Sat Apr 19, 2008 8:50 am

Not sure if this has much to do with this thread or not but its just my experience. Having travelled to the UK from South Africa I was offered a job offshore through an English guy who had worked with me on a rig in SA. As an offshore worker in the UK one does not require a work permit so that was no problem for me. I never had to take any tests, etc but at the end of each one year visa I had to show a letter from my employer stating that I was still emloyed. At first this was quite simple and was done simply by taking my passport with said letter to the nearest immigration. This changed afterwards at which point it had to be done either in London or Glasgow and there was a £250.00 fee charged. A quick calculation puts that at about 15,000 baht - certainly a lot more expensive that a visa extention in LOS. During my time there I payed NHS every month and lost nearly 40% of my wages to tax. Great - I had no right to claim anything and I really don't for a minute believe I will ever get any sort of pension even though I paid in for ten years. I took my wife over (Thai) three years before moving over here and she was issued a six month holiday visa. At the end of the six months we applied for an extension and she was given a one year visa. This was how we did things until we left to come live here and for the most part it was easy.

All in all, I will always have fond memories of the UK and during my ten years, I made lots of friends and had some wonderful times. On the downside, I agree with a previous post, I have more freedom here in Thailand that I had in the UK. Having had to spend most of my time in Aberdeen, I hated the weather and I mean hated it. Always overcast and wet. Cost of living was something else and I often wandered how anyone earning less than me could survive as I had to live month to month and we're not big spenders at all.

Just prior to leaving, I was asked by many a friend why I was not first applying for citizenship as I had been there long enough to do so. My answer was simply because I had no intention of ever want to live there and the country has enough people leeching onto it already. I think one knows at heart level wether or not you will remain in a place or not. It is my will to spend the rest of my life in Thailand but if circumstances force me out, there are thousands of other countries, which may not be as nice as LOS but they too will offer new experiences. I can't however see myself ever living in Europe for any length of time as life there is just too controlled, just too prim and proper.

Anyway, thats just two pence worth .................lol.

Post by **margaretcarnes** » Sat Apr 19, 2008 10:15 am

Takiab - I fully agree that life in the UK now feels so 'controlled' in a lot of ways. I tend to just play on 'old age' these days and ignore things like that, but its sad to know that younger people are growing up in a regime of control and especially the constant 'watching' by cameras, Sadly though we need that level of surveillance now because of the levels of crime.
I would rather tolerate the constant cameras - and wave to them now and then - than suffer even more crime on the streets.
As for your payment of tax etc, you should qualify for some UK state pension come the glorious day. But you might need to remind the UK pension folks when it gets nearer the time.

Post by **kendo** » Fri Apr 25, 2008 6:54 pm

This week in the news, was this story about this family man from Cumbria that had been taken to court and prosicuted, he was fined £210 and given criminal record.......for......over filling his dustbin by 4 inches.Has this country gone compleatly mad it does my head in living in this suffocating nanny state i can not wait to live in HH i dont think i can wait until retirement age.