scorecard

Fourteen years back, at K Bank, Chiang Mai, I opened a joint savings account with my Thai adult son either party can sign / operate the account. I put my foreign pasport on the service clerks desk and my son put his Thai ID card alongside it. Very cursory examnation of both documents, only one question, adrresssed to both of us 'do you want a debit card?' Son replied No. All done and out the door in 10 minutes.

Nice points but the old style Thai politicians see another world where they are beholden to nobody and don't have to comply with any laws let alons Thai laws.

There's more re the royal Jomtien fire. Investigtion indicated that the fire was caused by a fire in the gas tanks area which supplied gas to the kitchen. A couple of junior kitchen staff were then accused of doing something wrong with the gas tanks and they were the scapegoats, they got severl years in jail.

There's 2 subjects entangled so far? 1. If an Aust. citizen is appoved for the OAP, can they receive the 4 weekty payments (full OAP entitlement and OAP supplement) in Thailand on a very long-term basis (lifetime)? The basic answer is yes if that person is entitled to 'portability'. But when abroad the pensioner is not entitled to the energy allowance or rent ssistance. If paid abroad the payments change from fortnightly to 4 weekly ( 2 fortnights). Transeffered by international bank transfer from Service Autralia (Centrelink) to the bank account of the recipient in the country abroad. e.g. K Bank of BBL, or.... The bank fees ae tiny and the transfer is very fast. The name of the bank account to receive the funds must include the name of the persioner, but it can be a joint savings account, the pensioner and one more person. Centrelink prefer that the second name on the bank account to be a family member but that's not compulsory. Cenrelink is not interested in any details re who must sign for withrawal in the other country. Can be the pensioner alone, or the second account owner alone or both parties. Up to you. Mine is a K Bank joint savings account, myself and my Thai son (I was not asked for any proof he is my son). As soon as the funds are deposited I get an instantaneous e.mailed 'Credit Advice' from K Bank in English and in Thai. I had to request this facility, took 5 minutes, it's not free, from memory 200Baht per year. 2. Australian taxation implications when the OAP is being received abroad - already much written in these threads on that point. And difficult to find a clear answer. If the OAP is the only income then it's likely there's no tax implications.

No doubt thaksin will decide who will be next PM and no doubt he would like the person to be a shin family member. But the only thaksin child not yet held the PM chair is the son. But he has behavioral baggage, he's been involved in collusion (advertising contracts for MRT trains / stations and more), he got dismissed for cheating in exams at 2 Thai unis, and he's not that bright. But can't help but wonder if Thaksin would now go for an inexperienced nephew or niece for the PM position. We wait and see.

What about the language script on the keyboard?

Why the thumbs down emoji?

"...spoke to the co-owner." 7/11 is a franchise operation. The only 'owner' of 7/11 is the parent company in Japan.

Well said. I discssed your second paragraph with my son's Thai wife (educated, teacher, balanced, good communicator. She thouht about it and then called her sister, a Thai bank manager. Their conclusion; most pretties would be looking for a mid 20s to mid 30s wealthy handsome well built young Thai man, with house and car(s) and there's plenty of them.

Just waiting to see which shin ends up in the pm chair.

Agree to some extent. I'm rather selective as to which foreigners I might approach (never met before) and it's not very many, and who I respond to. Too many negative experiences, mostly the 'I need 10,000Baht now' types. I just ignore and keep walking.

"This poster" is over 80 years old with very serious extremely painful lower back and knee damage, caused by combat incidents in the Vietnam war. Also serious chest / lung issues, from my Vn service with recurring non-repairable very painful chest pain which is much worse if I engage in any strenuous actiity. I live with my Thai son and his Thai wife and 4 kids who give me a lot of care and support and love every day. Adding a 'lady' to the house is not going to fix anything and is not on my agenda. And the last thing I need is to upset the good harmony we have in the house which is of great benefit to me.

Flew once HK to New Delhi on Air India, Full flight 99.9% of the passengers Indian. yelling and screaming all the way. At one point an Indian man marched down the aisle, grabbed a hostess by her neck and dragged her back to where his family were seated.

Agree!

Thanks for your polite answer.