Eneukman

Good luck to whoever is sorting out his estate. Having spent 25 years administering estates, this sounds like a total nightmare in the making. Was a Will found? Was he legally married to his wife in Thailand. Alan

Sorry to hear the bad news. I would just add one point to the above and that is to ensure that your UK executor knows who holds the Thai Will and vice versa. When you apply for Probate to the estate in England (Confirmation in Scotland) you will need either the Thai grant of Probate OR the ORIGINAL Thai Will. A certified translation of anything in Thai will be required by the Courts. Other documentation will be required, but that is for another topic. I hope his wife here can find the appropriate documentation. Alan

These things don't help either. Alan

It's almost 6 years since I joined this board. At that time, Pete owned the FLB and this was the main board people posted on. There were other boards around, but these have completely lost the way. New boards opened up and for whatever reason, they immediately became very popular and many people who would otherwise be posting here have decided to concentrate their time on one of the other boards. I post mainly on Secrets now, but still check this board most days if I can. I am also on a number of the other boards but simply do not have the energy to check them all on a regular basis. A

The state retirement pension in the UK counts as taxable income. It's only becomes an issue if you have extra income to take you over the nil band rate. People over 65, receive a higher personal allowance than younger people, but this is restricted if your income is over a certain level. At present, when I reach 65, my income will be high enough to mean that I will simply get the same personal allowance as people younger than 65. Alan

Seen this before Alan

Thanks Bill, After my post, I checked out a couple of sites on the internet and it does seem that from October last year the entitlement was reduced to 30 years. I will phone them in the next few days to confirm the position and stop payments after the March one. The one benefit I can see in continuing payments is that my widow (if I ever marry) will receive a higher widow's pension. Alan

For much of last year, you were only allowed one item of hand luggage if travelling via an airport in the UK. These have been eased at certain airports - Heathrow, Manchester and Glasgow were the ones specifically mentioned on BBC World. Restrictions still seem to apply at Gatwick. BAA's Glasgow web-site http://www.glasgowairport.com/portal/page/...00357e120a____/ They do recommend that you check each airlines' procedures as some, such as the cunts at easyJet are maintaining the one item of hand baggage rule. Good news for me as I will be travelling via Glasgow later this year

BongoBill, has the reduced requirement to pay National Insurance contributions been introduced officially yet? As far as I was aware, this was still under consideration and the minimum to ensure that your received the full state pension was still 35 years. My contributuions for the year 2005/2006 are inadequate to count (hardlysurprising as I only worked for 1 week of that year. ). I was given the opportunity to make up the shortfall, but as I am almost on the point of achieivng 35 years worth of contributioins, I have declined to do so. I have been making voluntary contributions but as

If you don't already have a web-site, I would get one set up as soon as possible so would be customers can see an example of your work. Alan

If I was a judge and anyone failed to turn up in court without good reason, I would issue a warrant for their immiedaite arrest for contempt of court and send them to prison for 7 days - policeman or not. Alan

I read the poll wrong as well! Alan

Earlier today. I sold the shares I needed to pay for my proposed purchase. I decided to sell my lowest yielding investment, which I bought in 2 lots in April and May last year. Despite the recent falls in the market, I still made a nice profit of just under £7,000. Just a pity that the other purchases I made last year haven't done so well!!!!! The funds will be credited to my account on Monday. I will then instruct the transfer of the funds to my Isle of Man account and in about 2 weeks, I will be able to transfer the funds to my Bangkok Bank account in 60 days time specifiying "

Payment would still hurt me, but it wouldn't put me into a financial bind. If he fails to pay his tax bills, he should at least get a home of a sort for a year or two. He should probably declare himself bankrupt. I hate to think how much tax a friend's cousin must owe by now. Most of his jobs have been at the fishing, where the crew are regarded as self-employed and paid in cash. Of course, I would be very surprised if he's ever completed a tax return in his life so if the Revenue ever catch up with him, he will be facing a length stay courtesy of Her Majesty. He will also be totally

Way out - I worked in Edinburgh for 25 years and the Edinburgh Fair was the first two weeks in July. The Glesca Fair was the last 2 weeks in July. The Paisley Fair was the 2nd and 3rd weeks in July. Alan

As I've mentioned elsewhere, I am now looking for a condo to buy. My intention is to buy one in my own name and in this respect, I am aware that I will need a tor tor 3 form to certify that the funds for the purchase came from outside Thailand. It will be a bit over 2 months before I will be able to pay for any condo. I do, however, have funds readily available to put down a 10% deposit. Would using funds not covered by a tor tor 3 for a deposit cause any problems should I decide to sell the condo at some point in the future? It have no plans to return to the UK to live so being unab

I went to Fair Properties this afternoon and gave them a list of 7 properties(all in View Talay 2A) that I was interested in. One was no longer on their books - 74 square metres, 4th floor, Pattaya side priced at 3.6 million baht. This didn't surprise me as this is the condo I currently rent and which I know is owned by a director of Northern Thai Realty. It just hadn't been removed from their web-site. Two other properties were removed from the list as they are in a company name and I don't want to get involved with the hassles involved there. That leaves 4 condos some of which I hope

Many people can't get full health insurance. I was diagnosed with high blood pressure a few years back and whilst it is now fully under control, many insurance companies will not cover you for problems likely to be caused by high blood pressure. I did find one company, which will cover me, but for a slightly higher premium so I will investigate them when my next premium is due later this year. I could cover 800,000 baht without too much pain though. Alan

I am well aware of their reputation and I'm really planning on wasting their time by asking a lot of questions as well as maybe looking at any condos here that are genuinely up for sale. I need to give 60 days notice to transfer funds so it will be the end of March before I am going to be able to pay for any condo I will buy. I will conveniently forget to tell them that up front. They have on their books a studio unit in View Talay 2A priced at 2.1 million baht. Now, that IS taking the fucking piss. Alan

The only way to do this is to do your own research. Try the following estate agents' web-sites http://www.realestatethailand.com/ http://www.fairproperties.com/condos_for_rent.htm http://www.thaiproperty.com/ I live in View Talay 2A at present and am looking to buy a condo here within the next few months. Alan

I actually saw a studio condo in View Talay 2 priced at 2.1 million baht the other day. Now THAT is taking the piss! I don't think I've seen a View Talay 2 studio unit at less than 1 million baht. Alan

Divorce and taken to the cleaners by the wife! Alan

My initial reason for renting was that I wasn't certain that I would want to live in Pattaya permanently. I have now decided that I will remai here for some time to come and even if I were to move away, I would still have a place I could retreat to if necessary. From a financial point of view, the income I will lose from selling one shareholding is going to be less than my rent (which is on the low side as it is for a double room here) even after allowing for the annual maintenance charges and having to pay for on-going repairs from time to time. Alan

During the early part of 2008, I plan to buy a condo - probably in View Talay 2A where I currently rent. I've just had a look at Fair Properties' web-site and would you believe I found the condo I am renting listed at 3,600,000 baht? Now, why the bloody hell it should be on Fair Properties' web-site is beyond me as the condo owner is a director of Northern Thai Realty and if he was going to sell it, he would do so through his own company. I also rented the property after seeing it on Northern Thai's web-site! The photographs in the picture are also at least 2 1/2 years old. I know that

I now budget for Business Class when flying back to Scotland. I was over in October and am going back for a week in May. The cost of both tickets was less than £3,300. In May, I am flying with Emirates so will make use of their Chauffeur service to get to my hotel in Edinburgh free of charge. I then go on to Fife and will again use the chauffeur service to get back to the airport. This will cost me about £50, which is about double what I would otherwise have had to pay in total in rail fares. It will also be somewhat more convenient! Alan