On a Partner Visa, she can work, but has no recourse to public funds. She will pay tax and national insurance like everyone else, but to access the NHS, she will need to pay the NHS surcharge. If she gets a job with the NHS or works as a carer, that is refunded. A friend of a friend's wife was a degree educated restaurant manager in Thailand, and in the UK, serves behind the till at a bakers. She likes it. Another built a massage business from home in a village. Did a few free meditation sessions at the village hall, put on Thai food at the summer fete, and now the locals are queuing up at £60 a hour. I think you just need to complete a £1000 course in the UK to get the liability cover to into a business like that. But her husband is quite well off with a large property with room for a summer house as the "spa". I expect its quite a sociable occupation, getting to know the locals.

@Ste ******

Labour has frozen until there is a review. Previously, the income threshold was set on the average income a couple would be on before resorting to benefits. Now it is based on an average professional's salary, which makes no sense. The government wasn't previously interested if a couple lived comfortably.

You are teaching online to students in Europe or Europeans in Thailand. If the latter, work permit etc

@Matt ********

Her ex moved into his mums house and seems to spend his day bbqing something that looks like rats and drinking whisky. Her brothers and parents are all dead. Her parents took her out of school aged 12, worked in fields until her and her friend saved for a train to Bangkok. Apparently there are schools there for runaways. Got herself schooled to 17, then apprenticeship. She has no interest in going home, preferring her new life on Samui. Eventually my job will transfer to Thailand or Singapore, then all fixed up. We are similar in age.

@Matt ********

My wife is very hardworking, and driven when she hatches an idea, she will see it through, mostly about money, which is fine if you've never had it. She has a massage shop, that's how we met, because of her cats. But before that she was an electronics engineer for a Japanese company, sent to Japan during her apprenticeship, speaks Japanese. Married her manager, had a nice little house in Bangkok, daughter who went to university. 20 years of marriage, then the husband got his secretary pregnant, and threw the wife out. Brutal. They both lost their jobs as Japanese companies don't tolerate that sort of thing. She tried another firm but didn't take to it. She invested her half of the divorce in getting her daughter through college, and started out all over. There aren't many options open to ladies in her 40s, but she worked hard. Her former workmates thought she had died, so were really happy to see her with me. There are some very tough aspects to her story, which I'm sure are common in Isaan. I see Thailand a bit like the UK 30-40 years ago, in terms of social mobility. We would call her a striver, and I find that an admirable quality. She is also very persuasive..... In terms of timing, that was my call. No time like the present. And we are both very happy.

@Stuart **********

Ireland is not in Schengen

I suppose Turkey almost qualifies as a (beach) holiday in Europe. No visa required for Thai citizens. Though I think Thai ladies recoil with horror the idea of a beach holiday. If you are feeling flush, you could also book a carribean cruise, provided you are careful which islands you get off at. There might also still be in place the 90 day visa exemption for the Republic of Ireland for UK visitor visa holders 90-thai-citizen-visiting-ireland-on-a-uk-visa/

@Brian ********

No but others are getting their knickers in a twist over a photo of dogs being evacuated. Guess you didn't watch the Canadian video of the dog in the hold behind a tarp. I am not sensationalizing anything.

Dog enjoys the trip.so much it bites through metals and walks around the hold during the flight.

@Brian ********

OK, so you are saying the photo is faked.