BongoBill9999
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Posts posted by BongoBill9999
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Honkers and Shankers (HSBC). Probably not the cheapest but you will get good service all over asia, and indeed elsewhere.
Bill
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I keep a note of the week's closing internal TT rate for the sterling - baht rate. In early November, the rate was 71.19. Today according to the Bangkok Bank site
http://www.bangkokbank.com/Bangkok+Bank/Pe...tes/default.htm
it is 62.82 - a fall of a bit under 12% in just over 3 months. Since the start of the year, sterling has fallen by about 6% against the baht.
My figures for October suggest an average of close to 69 to the £.
Alan
I did state that I was using the offshore figures (from OANDA) and just under 4% is what you get for the past three months. But what do they know - that is the outside world without the fudging of the Bank of Thailand. I am aware that the BOT brought in the two tier rate in attempt to thwart the speculators. Of course there is often a wide difference between the offshore and onshore rate, as we all know and it has been converging, hence the figures you show. Would be nice to know what the BOT is up to.
Bill
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uk pound is now 61.9 to the thai baht that means lost about 15 pounds on 100 pounds since last trip in october i think it will keep on dropping and will be down to 50 baht to the pound before the end of this summer any bms got any thoughts on this
You are suggesting that the £ has depreciated some 15% against the Baht since October. This is not the case. The AVERAGE value of £1 in October (using the offshore rate) was 65.06 and the AVERAGE value this month thus far is 62.59, a drop of just under 4%. The onshore rate will differ somewhat but not that much. Anyone can find large variations between dates, but ignore the peaks and troughs to get a clearer picture (unless you are a currency speculator, in which case the they are important
).The value of sterling is affected by many factors but prominent are interest rates in the UK compared with the US and the EU, and the trade deficit (which caused the big decline in Dec/Jan. Yesterday the voting results of the Bank of England MPC indicated that further cuts were likely, so the pound fell vs the USD. I know that the Baht is not linked to the USD but, certainly, it is profoundly affected by it.
I have no more idea about the future than the man in the moon but say, if the £ dropped another 10% against the USD bringing it to about $1.75 (and this is widely forecast in some circles) then that would equate to a drop to about 55 Baht to the £. That said, it could be argued that the Baht is now overvalued and the Bank of Thailand appears to do wierd and wonderful things with the onshore (which they can heavily influence vs the offshore rate (which the market decides). So who knows, the Baht may crash significantly. It has happened before!!!!
Just personal views on my part as I keep a close eye on things prior to relocating to LOS (when my freaking house sells!!!)
Remember, one economist interviewed and you get a view. Two economists interviewed and you get a discussion. Three or more economists interviewed and you get an arguement!
Bill
ps I am not an economist. No flaming! Errors and omissions accepted!
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In the UK there has been talk of raising the normal retirement age to 68, to make life fair between the sex's. Women of my wifes age will now retire at 65 instead of 60, to be on par with men.
It's already in law, Stan. This from the UK Gov Pension Website
"The state pension age for both men and women is to increase from 65 to 68 between 2024 and 2046, with each change phased in over two consecutive years in each decade. The first increase, from 65 to 66, will be phased in between April 2024 and April 2026; the second, from 66 to 67, will be phased in between April 2034 and April 2036; and the third, from 67 to 68, between April 2044 and April 2046."
I will be aged 99 when the changeover completes (pushing up daisies morelike). Don't think it will affect you either!
Bill
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Hello Gentlemen,
Does anyone know which airplanes are used on the flights listed below - or have links to good sites for looking it up:
Swiss LX1273
Swiss LX0182
SAS SK0972
Thanks in advance
LX1273 A320
LX182 A340-300
SK972 A340-300
www.flightstats.com will give you the info.
Think I hit return the same time as Evil
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KLM had an engine failure flying out of J'Burg this week..had to return and land on one engine..........Maybe we are due a big one soon......
It was a 747 so it had 3 spare engines. If it were BA it would have carried on (as one did from LA to London a while back)
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Has anyone stayed in this recently, its at the bottom of soi 2, I stayed there many years ago with KUONI holidays and was thinking of giving it a try. Found its web site but is way out of date. Thanks
Also stayed there many years ago (v big rooms) but as stated it has been refurbed a while back. I looked into it again a couple of years ago after the refurb and found that it catered mainly to a Russian clientele. Da
Bill
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Hi all,
Linguaphone have got a January sale on. Thai complete course is now £100+7.90 p&p. Down from £279.
http://www.linguaphone.co.uk/janmailoffer/
BB
Looks like a very good deal. Thanks for the heads up
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Bongo Billy I know that some will find this question weird ,but ,Is your mum blind as I have always been under the impression that only Blind people got the TV license free?.
Nope, she isn't blind. Everyone in the UK over the age of 75 (including millionaires) gets a free TV license!
Good ol socialism (I don't think). Blind people just get a discount which just shows how stupd the whole freakin system is. Mine expires at the end of Feb, just hope my house is sold by then and I will be a country that doesn't use this pathetic system.
Bill
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By Dontcha
It looks like you guys in the UK and the USA are getting avery raw deal from your governments at the end of your working lives
In general I would agree that the state pension in the UK is crap. However, what has not been mentioned are all the other benefits that people get. Just as an example I know of a friend who gets the following:-
A single persons state pension with credit (£113 pw)
Approx £64 a week for help (attendance allowance)
A very nice 2 bed flat (apartment) rent free, maintenance free,
A new fitted kitchen and new central heating recently fitted, free
An extra £300 a year for heating
Free TV licence (for what that is worth)
Free NHS, prescriptions etc
Recently fitted stairlift in her flat - free
Free local bus travel (from everywhere from April next)
She pays no income or council (property taxes).
She reckons she has never had it so good. Her husband now deceased was a deep sea fisherman and not well paid. I know all this is true - she is my mother.
Bill
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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 I may have the full 35 years contributions by the end of this tax year, I may cancel them. One point to consider is that if you marry a Thai girl, she will be entitled to a widow's pension but that the amount she will get will be dependent on how many years contributions you have paid So, continuing the voluntary contributions will give her a higher pension.One point I would be very wary of is trying to hide where you are actually living. I spent 25 years administering estates of people who had died and had a few cases where the Department of Social Security as it was then reclaimed money it had paid out to people who had claimed benefits to which they were not entitled. The last time this arose, they failed to substantiate the amount that had been overpaid within the required time scales so I distributed that money to the beneficiaries of the estate.
Alan
Alan
I am as certain as I can be about the reduced requirement - I have looked hard and fast over the past couple of days to see if there is a change over period but have found nothing. You can get NP46 the Guide to State pensions here. http://pensionsgroup.org/pdf/np46/np46apr05.pdf
It is updated to cover the pensions act of 2007 and page 2 states quite clearly that only 30 qualifying years are required for those claiming the pension after April 2010. If you have the 30 years I would see no point in paying voluntary contributions unless it gives you some other advantage of which I am unaware.
I take your point about residence. God forbid that I should ever break the spirit of the law. However, HMG makes it difficult to be a non resident (because they want the tax) but for someone who just has the basic pension and has never received benefits and just chooses to go on very long holidays I don't really see a problem, and if one does turn up after the person has croaked, who gives a flying f*ck.
Bill
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Just a few additional points:-
The single persons state pension in UK is indeed £87 pw which isn't much, but this is topped up to about £113 pw with pension credits if that person has no other income. It is raised each year in line with increases in the retail price index. From about 2012 it will be increased in line with incomes, rather than inflation. Also, if you get your state pension after 2010 you will only need 30 years National Insurance contributions which is good for me as I retired early and get my state pension in 2012.
Sinbin is right that the pension "withers on the vine" if a person moves abroad, except to EU and certain other countries (PI being one of them) but not LOS, otherwise it is topped up annually with a cost of living increase. Interestingly, I have an Armed Forces Pension and that increases annually no matter where I live. Joined up thinking by the Brit Government!!!!!
Of course, all you need is a UK address while abroad and ones state pension will increase! The UK government keeps no track of where you go out of the country so how would they know? Currently they don't even know WHEN you leave the country, and when that is introduced they won't know your (ultimate) destination. Also with a UK address you have no drama with using the NHS in the future.
It may be advantageous to declare that one is living abroad in order to avoid paying UK taxes on say offshore interest on bank deposits, but that has to be balanced with pension increases and will vary with the individual.
Bill
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If you are from the UK it is a no-brainer.
Get yourself a Nationwide FlexAccount.
No fees and a consistently good rate which can be found here
http://corporate.visa.com/pd/consumer_serv...HB&rate=0.0
If you are worried about using ATMs, use one inside a bank during the day and just take enough cash out in the evening.
Personally, I have not had any problems with any ATMs in Thailand.
Spot on FTC and a very handy URL which I wasn't aware of. Thanks
Bill
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Booked MAN - BKK 21 August few days ago with WestEast Travel for £450. Opodo was quoting £456.
Bill
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Bill,
Nah, it was on another thread a couple of weeks back.
FWIW, I've just booked on Qatar's site for biz class return from BKK to MAN next weekend. The fare is 66,000 Baht inclusive of taxes etc. With the 200% miles in biz class plus 50% bonus for gold card holder it amounts to a good deal ...........
I'll give you a wave as we pass in the sky (almost)!!
Bill
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Whoa there!
About six months ago you got the fare quoted with Lastminute; try following the next stages and I think you'll get a price quoted of £481.00 on the 'view details panel'. (Despite it quoting, as you say, £388.00 inc
taxes).
Nope, you are wrong. at 0430BST today at Lastminute flying MAN-BKK departing 20 June returning 18 July the price including tax is £388. You can follow it all the way to the payment box and it is still £388! Remember the price will vary depending on your return date - use my dates and look again.
I paid £428 a couple of weeks ago so it is now £40 cheaper.
Not sure what you refer to "about six months" ago but my previous (recent) flights have been:-
£375.70 paid on 6/7/06 (Airline Network)
£428.89 paid on 14 Jan (Lmin)
£447.32 paid on 17 Apr (Lmin)
Those prices were the bottom line on my debit card. In ten years I have never paid over £500 but that is only because Emirates, Qatar and now Etihad have come to the rescue. The likes of KLM, SAS, Luftwaffe etc are nearly always over the £500 mark these days. BA and Quaintarse are of course just a joke.
Tom, not sure if it was me who said that the days of cheap flights were over, think I was responding to someone else and making the point that of course it is worth being flexible and shopping around. Having used Etihad several times now, often in half empty planes, I do wonder how they make a profit (which I'm sure they don't)!!
Casper - noted mate. What does she look like? (I'm 60)!!
Off to do some packing
Bill
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Flying to BKK from MAN next Wednesday and thought I had a good price at £428. Just checked on Lastminute.com (using the flexi date option) and same flight is available for £388 (depending on when you return, of course.
Not seen flights this cheap for a long time, so if you are flexible...................!!
Also means that the flight must be pretty empty so bodes well for a several seat snooze enroute!!
Bill
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Just booked MAN - BKK for £428 outbound 21 June, also with Lastminute.com. Had some good deals with them recently. The "my dates are flexible" check box on the site provides various options and shows how prices can vary with the day of the week. Shopping around I found they undercut the competition quite considerably.
Bill
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You will always receive back your old passport (with the corner chopped off).
You can download the appropriate form for transfer of visa here:- http://www.pattaya-immigration.org/download.php?lang=EN
For information, Gary, a Brit passport costs £66 (about $130) and that is applying by post - much more if you want it fast. But this is rip-off Britain which is why anyone with sense is bailing out!!
Bill
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Have flow Etihad three times since December last and it seems to me that prices seem to drop if you book within three months of flying. Being retired I can book pretty much as and when and my last trip from MAN returning just 10 days ago was £447 booked (Lastminute.com) about 3 weeks beforehand.
Bill
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I managed to get a QMiles freebie about 12 months ago but it was like getting blood out of a stone. In the end I finished up sending a total of about 20 emails and talking to MAN, London. Eventually got the lot together (emails) and went big time to the Qatar Big Cheese and it worked. Maybe I was just unlucky and Tom had a good day.
Anyway, bon chance!!
Bill
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It doesn't take long to try each variation ????
If the code is 4 digits it means there are 10,000 possible codes
So the cleaner (or whoever) determines that , say 3,5,8,1. (out of the 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,0 possible numbers have been used)...so please tell me how you can have 10,000 variations of those four numbers (read buttons), Einstein!! You need to go back and read the original post - we are not talking here about just guessing four numbers out of ten!!
Bill
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Never realised BG's could spray the keys and get the pin? So how does that work - fingerprints?
Cleaner (or whoever) wipes keypad clean with cloth.
You open safe by pressing numbered keys and leave print on key.
Cleaner (or whoever) puts a little talc on keys which shows which keys have been pressed (but not the order, of course). If the code is just four digits (and many are) it doesn't take too long to try each variation until bingo!
Simple solution - wipe the keys clean with a cloth everytime AFTER you use the safe.
bill
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FBF is quite right. I booked some time ago cattle class to BKK late December. I have just checked the flight coupon and it clearly shows a baggage allowance of 30kg...whereas the Etihad website now shows 20kg. I probably won't need it as I travel light, but as it is on the ticket they would find it difficult to deny me my 30kg if I so wanted.
Bill
Potatoes, Grass seed & newspapers
in Expat Issues
Posted
All the Brit newspapers are here (includes many local ones):- http://www.wrx.zen.co.uk/britnews.htm
Bill
Seems the Express only lets you read the first page and then wants to charge! Cheapskates.