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I lived on a road in the UK with smart houses, but it led to a notorious over-spill estate, and our property was broken into many times from the road at the front and from the playing fields at the rear. I had surveillance cameras, alarms, and video recording equipment. They still broke into the...

Mongrel dogs are two a penny. I assume that Stargazer's point is that a purebred dog is also capable of inflicting serious injury so we should beware of mongrels and purebreds alike. The injured hand doesn't look like it belongs to an infant or a child. The injury looks more of a canine tooth...

"Toast" cooked using a fork in front of an open fire is the best: Soft inside, and crispy golden outside, then spread with the best butter and devoured while the next slice is being prepared. Yum yum. "Fried bread" at home was always cooked in the frying pan in the fat after the bacon etc., had...

I ate it faster than the shutter could fire!

One of my more enjoyable foods from the UK that I miss here are decent fish and chips. The soft white texture of pangasius, dory, or basa (call it what you like, it's all the same flabby stuff) doesn't make for a decent battered fillet in the way that cod or haddock does, even though I will eat...

I'd noticed the good-looking elephant frontage of the complex on the 2077 before the road widening started, and had always intended calling there but didn't get around to it. When the roadworks started, their access was often closed when I went by, but one day I had time to drop in...

Here it is:

At a Temperance Society meeting, the lecturer showed the audience two empty glasses. Into one he poured cold water. Into the other, he poured whisky. While doing this, he extolled the virtue of being TT. Into the glass of water, he dropped a worm and left it there for several minutes...

Like x 5....

The point I made is that we receive back the income tax deducted from pension contributions, so we are NOT paying for the pensions using tax already deducted from our incomes AND then paying tax on the pension income when that is received.

Those who fund private pensions in the UK have their basic rate of income tax paid into their pension fund, and can also reclaim the difference between it and the 40% higher rate. The income that is paid into their pensions is therefore not taxed. On retirement, (or on achieving retirement age)...

My new bill is just in - and the QR code reader on my phone doesn't recognise the one shown on the bill either. The rear of the bill contains a message warning about scammers!

My wife and I went to Starbeams last week (Monday) and I enjoyed a very good Madras curry. She has a nice Thai dish, and we alos shared a large plate of Nachos with a bowl of hot salsa. All very good. So we decided to go back there with 4 friends last night on the basis of the good Indian...

No need to question his reason for wanting one - his prerogative. As for others' reasons, I asked ChatGPT 3.5 - even though it is at least 2.5 years out of date on most topics. It (or rather who or whatever does the research) said this: "Having a yellow house book" in Thailand refers to...

A Dutch friend now lives in Surin permanently, and wanted a Yellow Book. He had earlier been told to go to the Surin City Hall with his passport and visa, his wife, her blue book and so on. They told him there that he needed to go to Ubon for some kind of "a stamp" at the building that...

Thanks Colin. I've a feeling that delays in receiving funds at Bangkok Bank occur when a £/THB currency exchange is followed immediately by a transfer, while exchanged funds already sitting in a Wise THB account are sent immediately.

Dare I assume that you exchange into baht using Wise immediately before you do the transfer? Or do you transfer Sterling into baht before then, and transfer it on a later date?

Using Wise has proved beneficial to me in that the exchange rate is better (than HSBC) and charges are lower. I no longer see the infernal words "Non-Sterling transaction fee" plus the size of the fee on my bank statements! However, if I create the transfer on a Thursday, exchanging the...

Err.. unless I've misunderstood Ivor's reply it's incorrect. If you are eligible for the UK state pension, then it can be paid to you in any country outside the UK. If you are outside the UK when you reach the age at which you can start to claim the UK state pension, then you may have to apply...

Yes we would, always assuming that we had paid National Insurance for sufficient years, failing which a lesser amount would be paid pro-rata.