Money blog: Thailand wants you to move there for work on digital nomad visa (2024)

Every Wednesday we ask Michelin chefs to pick their favourite Cheap Eats where they live and when they cook at home.This week we speak to Vivek Singh from the Cinnamon Collection (home to popular restaurants including the Cinnamon Club and Cinnamon Bazaar).

Hi Vivek, can you tell us your favourite places in Londonwhere you can get a meal for two for less than £40?

Everest Curry Kingis a Sri Lankan place in Lewisham - I will pretty much eat anything there. It is homemade in house and everything is fresh on the day then reheated to order. The dosa is made to order every time. You can definitely get a filling meal for two here for less than £40.

Babur is a southeast London institution to me. Some of the most-loved local restaurant's prices have crept up in the past 35 years, but Babur is still a great place to have a really decent meal for under £40 for two people.

It is especially great for lunch. You could get aloo gobi, mushroom corn saag, a side of pears and kadai paneer, a couple of breads (for example, a cheese and chilli naan), as well as rice and tomatoes all for under £40 for two people.

What's your go-to cheap meal at home?

My cheap eat to cook at home would be a chicken tikka and cheese toastie.

One tip that non-chefs might not know is everything tastes better between two slices of bread (haha).

If I have some leftover chicken tikka or have some from the deli, I'll get some chopped cheese, onion and ginger then I will pop it in a toastie and a little goes a long way.

We've spoken to lots of top chefs and bloggers - check out their cheap eats from around the country here...

The start of Euro 2024 this week is predicted to drive an increase in shoppers splashing the cash on new tech and food supplies.

According to a survey by the British Retail Consortium, 6% of shoppers say they expect to buy a new TV or device to watch the matches, and 4% are planning on buying official merchandise.

Meanwhile, some 13% of people said they're going to spend more on groceries, alcohol and takeaways for the month-long football fest.

The research reveals that younger people are most likely to fuel the spending boost, with nearly a quarter of 18 to 24-year-olds saying they'll spend more on their food shop, compared to just 4% of people aged 55 and over.

Kris Hamer, BRC director of insight, said the survey of 2,000 adults shows retailers "could score a hat-trick".

"After sluggish spring sales, shoppers are expected to kick off their summer spending at the Euros," he said.

"Here's hoping England and Scotland can make it all the way to the final."

Different figures from Adobe show there's been a 14% rise in spending on TVs, while online sales of England shirts and other team merchandised soared by 115% in May.

And while football fans in the UK are preparing to watch this weekend's games from their sofas, anyone lucky enough to have tickets to the tournament in Germany will benefit from the pound hitting its highest level in nearly two years against the euro.

The currency fell when Emmanuel Macron, the French president, called a snap election after his party suffered calamitous results in EU elections.

The euro dropped to as low as 84.53p yesterday morning - its lowest sinceAugust 2022 - so it's a good time to snap up that holiday cash if you're heading over there!

Salcombe in Devon has been found to be the most expensive place in the UK to buy a home near the sea.

Properties in the town cost an average of £970,657, according to Lloyds Bank.

While that's down 22% (or £270,641 in cash terms) since 2022 when they cost more than £1.2m, it's still around nine times the price of a house in the cheapest costal area - Rothesay, on the Isle of Bute in eastern Scotland.

Here properties cost an average of £101,477.

Affluent Sandbanks in Dorset, home to celebrity residents including Harry Redknapp, is the second most expensive, with an average price tag of £957,739.

In fact, all the top 10 are in the South West.

Padstow in Cornwall, with its renowned Seafood Restaurant by Rick Stein, is third, with homes costing around £701,979.

"These pricier areas can result in a lack of affordable homes for first-time buyers, a problem often exacerbated by high levels of second-home ownership, meaning that many who have grown up in the area may find themselves priced out of owning their own home locally," Amanda Bryden, head of mortgages at Lloyds Bank, said.

The average coastal home is now £293,710, 4% lower than in 2022 but 48% higher than 10 years ago, Lloyds Bank said.

Costal properties in Margate in the South East and Amlwch in Wales have more than doubled in the past decade to £309,049 and £255,189 respectively.

All 10 of the least expensive coastal locations are in Scotland...

Since the pandemic, almost 800,000 people have fallen out of employment into "economic inactivity", a catch-all definition that covers the nine million people of working age not able or looking to work.

That includes students, early retirees and stay-at-home parents and carers, but the biggest and most pernicious reason is long-term sickness, which now accounts for more than 2.5 million people, an increase of more than 400,000 since COVID, driven largely by mental health conditions.

Business correspondentPaul Kelsotravels to Middlesbrough to hear the stories behind the numbers.

Michael is fair haired and frail, with a face that tells a story.

Until seven years ago, his life was perhaps as he imagined it. He was married and working for a fancy food shop in his home town in North Yorkshire.

Then something happened. He is reluctant to share the full details but his marriage broke down, he lost the job, and was left with a choice: "It was to be homeless, or move to a bedsit in Middlesbrough."

Which is how we come to be speaking in the Employment Hub on Corporation Road, opposite Middlesbrough's Jobcentre.

A council-backed centre, it offers help and guidance to anyone looking to get back into work.

Young adults making the leap from education to employment; older people who want or need to earn again; and clients like Michael, who fall somewhere in between, derailed by illness or personal circ*mstances.

The prospect of an interest rate cut when Bank of England officials meet next week has been dealt a blow after data showed basic pay is still rising.

Wages continued to grow at 6% in the three months to April - more than double the rate of inflation, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS).

The unemployment rate rose to 4.4% over the same period, up from 4.3% in the three months to March and the highest level since September 2021.

What does this mean for the Bank of England as it weighs cutting interest rates? Business reporter James Sillars has the latest...

The final set of employment figures before polling day will be monitored by the Bank before it decides on whether to cut rates - we'll get the announcement next Thursday.

The Bank has hinted an interest rate cut is likely in the coming months but it remains worried about sticky services inflation and the pace of wage growth fuelling more price rises in the economy.

There were 14 consecutive interest rate increases from December 2021 up until last summer, aimed at dampening demand to help bring price growth down.

The rate hikes drove up the cost of borrowing, with mortgage holders facing bills of hundreds of pounds more a month as low fixed-rate terms expired.

With the main consumer prices index measure of inflation running at 2.3% - above the Bank's 2% target - members of the rate-setting committee have acknowledged progress but are unlikely to follow the European Central Bank in cutting rates this month.

Even before the ONS data was released, financial markets projected just a 10% chance of a rate cut from 5.25% to 5% on 20 June.

Most of the money is on September. However, those predictions could yet shift.

The ONS is also set to publish this week the preliminary growth figures for the economy in April.

They are predicted by economists to show zero growth for the month, largely due to the impact of poor weather.

And next Wednesday, the day before the interest rate decision, the latest inflation figures will be published - another key factor for the Bank.

BP staff will have to disclose intimate relationships under a new policy.

The rules, which put employees at risk of being sacked if contravened, have come into force after thedismissal of former boss Bernard Looney.

Previously, employees only had to disclose relationships if there was a conflict of interest risk.

So-called "Super-ATMs" are going on trial in England to provide a cash lifeline to residents without a local bank branch.

Customers with multiple banks will be able to make deposits at one machine in a UK industry first.

The ATMs are already up and running in Athersone, Warwickshire, in Heathfield, East Sussex, and in Swanage, Dorset.

Fish and chicken bought from Sainsbury's will soon come in recyclable card trays.

The supermarket believes it can slash almost 700 tonnes of plastic packaging per year on its own-brand products.

Sainsbury's says it is a "UK retailer first" decision.

Jamie Oliver has backed a proposal to ban the sale of some energy drinks to under-16s.

The celebrity chef said the UK has some of the least healthy children in Europe and people would "be amazed" how many consumed an energy drink for breakfast.

Labour has pledged to stop giving younger teenagers access to highly caffeinated soft drinks as part of a strategy to improve child mental and physical health.

"This is really exciting for me. It means they're looking at the detail, it means they're looking at the science," said Oliver, who described himself as apolitical.

"Child health hasn't been put central to any manifesto in the last 20 years, ever, ever, ever. You've never seen it on a bus with a number."

Labour's plans would apply to drinks containing more than 150mg of caffeine per litre, meaning they would prohibit beverages like Monster Energy for under-16s but not Coca-Cola.

Oliver said children were "bouncing off the walls" in classrooms and teachers were struggling to control them.

"You would be amazed if you saw how many kids have breakfast in the form of an energy drink."

Speaking on X, Mr Oliver said: "When we've got some of the most unhealthy kids in Europe, we need to not have one thing, we need many, many things that are going to help make our kids fitter, healthier, have better outcomes and just flourish and be more productive as adults, and cost the NHS less."

Asda staff have been stabbed, punched and threatened with syringes by customers, according to new research.

One in three employees have been attacked at work, according to a GMB union survey of 1,000 members.

Delivery drivers said they have been chased by people in cars and confronted by customers in the nude.

Store workers have had watermelons and joints of gammon thrown at them.

Some three in five respondents said they had suffered injury or illness at work.

"These incidents are horrifying – no one should have [to] suffer this kind of abuse and violence at work," said Nadine Houghton, GMB national officer.

"This situation is only going to get worse as staff hours are slashed, leaving less people in store and those who are there more vulnerable."

An Asda spokesperson said all retailers had had an increase in violence and aggression towards staff in recent years.

"The safety of our colleagues is a primary concern," they said, adding the company had invested more than £30m over the past three years to upgrade store CCTV systems.

Employees have been provided with body-worn cameras, extra security guards have been hired and opening times amended in certain shops, they said.

"We work with all of our colleague representatives in the important area of colleague security and also back calls for violence or abuse against retail workers to be made a standalone criminal offence in all parts of the UK and hope this is a priority for any incoming government."

Do you work at Asda or another supermarket? Haveyou had similar experiences? Share your stories with us in the comment box above.

Like the idea of jetting off to live in Thailand?

Remote workers will now be able to stay in the country for up to five years on a digital nomad visa.

The destination Thailand visa, nicknamed the "digital nomad visa", allows foreigners to stay and work in Thailand for extended periods without worrying about immigration or tax.

Those with the multiple-entry visa are given the right to stay for 180 days a year, with an option to extend for another 180 days, for up to five years for the cost of10,000 baht (£213.75).

While the initial fee is £213.75, workers need to leave and re-enter the country every 180 days and pay an additional £212.20 each time.

Full details on how to apply are still pending, but some information on the requirements have been released.

To apply for the visa, you must:

• Be at least 20;
• Have enough money to pay for the visa;
• Prove you have at least £10,687in your bank account;
• Provide proof of employment with a registered company.

Until now, digital nomads could only stay in Thailand on tourist visas for up to 60 days but it is hoped the new visa will support the government's efforts to increase tourism.

The world's your oyster...

Thailand joins a growing list of countries offering digital nomad visas or similar. Here are some of the others:

• Spain - The remote work visa gives non-EU nationals the chance to live and work in Spain for up to five years;
• Portugal - Visa length is up to five years;
• Italy - Introduced in 2022, it gives workers the chance to stay in the country for one year with the possibility to extend;
• Croatia - Temporary stay is granted for up to a year;
• Greece - The digital nomad visagives you legal residence as a remote worker for up to a year, after which you can apply for a residence permit which allows you to stay longer;
• Estonia - Right for remote workers to temporarily stay in Estonia for up to one year;
• Montenegro - The digital nomad visa is a temporal permit for non-EU remote workers employed in a foreign company outside Montenegro. Nomads can stay for up to two years in the country;
• Malaysia - The DE Rantau Nomad Pass allows foreigners to stay in Malaysia for up to 12 months in the first instance, with the option to renew for another 12 months, allowing 24 months of stay in total;
• Indonesia - The visa allows for up to 180 days of stay but this may be extended further;
• Costa Rica - The nomad scheme allows international residents to work remotely for up to a year, with the option to renew for an additional year;
• Dubai - The remote working visa scheme is valid for one year.

By James Sillars, business reporter

It's a positive start to the day for shares in London.

The FTSE 100 opened 0.4% higher at 8,265 after declines in the previous session that saw bank stocks under particular pressure.

Markets globally were reacting to renewed fears that interest rate cuts in the United States remained some way off and the results of the elections for the European Parliament.

They showed a big rise in far-right groups and even prompted France to call a snap parliamentary election.

Raspberry Pi made its London stock market debut this morning.

The personal computer maker saw its shares climb more than 30% at the open.

More widely, the cost of oil has been on the march again.

A barrel of Brent crude will set you back $81.

The price rose 3% yesterday on forecasts of strong demand during America's peak vacation (that's summer holiday) season.

Analysts, however, see that higher level being short-lived due to concerns about US interest rates being higher for longer.