kokesaat

FFT: Back when I still lived in Thailand and became eligible for SSA, I was able to apply by phone through the US Embassy in Manila. According to what I've read recently, the government is taking steps to make initial applying only in person. Don't know if this will affect any of the younger expats living in Thailand, but it might be a thing to watch out for.

I've been messing with reading/writing/speaking Thai for several years. I'm probably an intermediate intermediate level. I tired of many of the same old reading lesson that I found on traditional Thai language sites. Several months ago, I started using chatgpt. It's magic. You can see some of my links here:

More on Chatgpt and Thai language learning. I gave chatgpt a few lines of Thai script that I typed from a short file and asked for corrections. This the reply: check my spelling นี้คือเช้าวันจันทร์ของวันที่อยี่สิบหกสิงหาคมวันนี้เลยครับ เมื่อคืนฟนตกหนักมากตอนทึงตอนช้าว ตอนนี้ฟนยังตกอยู่น่าแต่แค่บอยๆ สงใสวันนี้คงจะตกทางวันครับ ผมสงภาพสงวิเดียวมาให้ดู มันอากาศช้าววัที่อยีสิบหกเลย สดๆ นี่เลยครับ ChatGPT said: ChatGPT Here’s the corrected text: Corrected Text: นี้คือเช้าวันจันทร์ของวันที่ยี่สิบหกสิงหาคมวันนี้เลยครับ เมื่อคืนฝนตกหนักมากตั้งแต่ตอนถึงตอนเช้า ตอนนี้ฝนยังตกอยู่ แต่แค่เบาๆ สงสัยวันนี้คงจะตกทั้งวันครับ ผมส่งภาพส่งวิดีโอมาให้ดู มันคืออากาศเช้าวันที่ยี่สิบหกเลย สดๆ นี่เลยครับ Corrections: "อยี่สิบหก" → "ยี่สิบหก" "ฟน" → "ฝน" (twice) "ทึงตอนช้าว" → "ตั้งแต่ตอนถึงตอนเช้า" "แค่บอยๆ" → "แค่เบาๆ" "สงใส" → "สงสัย" "สงภาพสงวิเดียว" → "ส่งภาพส่งวิดีโอ" "ช้าววั" → "เช้าวัน" "อยี" → "ยี่" Pretty cool stuff!

I translated the first two paragraphs of the article at https://udontoday.co/130567-2/?fbclid=IwZXh0bgNhZW0CMTAAAR2ImsnnBFBIREuu0md_AlvgXWwSXTlGNej8g5owlh8aNW86CgwT1MPrVuI_aem_AYe178S8qjdUm0ujX4lS6vNq09WD9HgDgJwShPFmcOIQW92PttwB0WSkdfHp_vpineEw8K6UVdeje8YkZVgO9VVc first into google translate, then the same into chatgpt ("translate this article in english") Here's chatgpt's version: The article titled "Arrested Gunman in Nonsaad District, True Childhood Friend" reports the arrest of the suspected shooter who was indeed a childhood friend of the victim. The police have found evidence including closed-circuit camera footage, clothing, pants, and a gun that were seized. The suspect confessed that he was afraid of his wife sharing information, which led to the shooting. In the case of Mr. Pijit Wongwai, aged 60, also known as Khun Phan, a prominent figure in Nonsaad District, his body was found shot in the chest in his own cassava field. The incident occurred at Ban Khok Klang, Moo 13, Tambon Khok Klang, Nonsaad District, Udon Thani Province, in the early morning of April 24, 2024. Recently, the police have apprehended the gunman. It was discovered that the gunman was a childhood friend who shot him due to fear that Mr. Pijit would disclose information to his wife in Nong Khun Sri District, Kalasin Province. However, they used to meet regularly, but after suspecting Mr. Pijit of having an affair with his wife, the gunman decided to confront him before the situation worsened, leading to the shooting. And here's google translate of the same. Caught and the hand shot Khun Phaen Non clean. They are actually childhood friends. Police have CCTV footage. Shirts, pants, and motorcycles that were confiscated Claimed to be jealous of his wife, afraid to share her heart with him From the case of Mr. Phichit Wongwai, 60 years old, a young man nicknamed Khun Phaen, Non Sa-at District, was found dead, shot in the middle of the chest. In his own cassava farm, the incident occurred at Ban Khok Klang, Village No. 13, Khok Klang Subdistrict, Non Sa-at District, Udon Thani Province, in the early morning of April 24, 2024. Recently, police have arrested this shooter. Found to be a close friend from childhood The shooter had a wife in Nong Kung Si District, Kalasin Province, but they visited each other regularly. Lately, I've been suspicious of the dead man having an affair with his wife. So I came to clear my mind before the shooting ended. Both cases give me a good enough gist of the article. As an intermediate reader of Thai, I'd say the chatgpt version is smoother and easier to read. If I wanted to smooth out the rough spots, I'd probably use the chatgpt version as a starting point.

I've done about 10 stories using chatgpt. Now, when I create a story, I add a second 'command' in chatgpt asking it to create 10 questions in Thai language to check my comprehension of the story. Works great. You can make your question specific to a topic, if you wish. Such as, "create a 1000 word story in Thai language about a poor farmer family living in the northeast of Thailand" or "create a 500 word story in Thai language using vocabulary needed to get a haircut' or vocabulary needed to go to a bank and open an account or go to the electric authorities to complain about electrical problems in the neighborhood.

I try to do a few minutes of reading/writing practice each day to keep up with my ป.2ish reading skills. You can ask chapgpt (in English) to "create a 500 word second grade story in Thai language" and have a story waiting for you in 10 seconds. Tailor you query to your specific skill level.

With the google translate app active on your phone, you can take a pic of the scanned document and have it translated.

The handle on my old bialetti crapped out on me after years of use. I bought a stainless bialette to replace it, and covered the handle in aluminum tape (available in Home Pro, Global House) to better protect it. 5000 cups and several years later, the pot keeps brewing.

Never say 'never'. We lived in Thailand for 26 years, always figured we'd finish up floating down the Mekong. Then older age set in and we jumped on an opportunity to assume a 2.65% VA loan in a desireable neighborhood near our daughter. Some of the hoops that we had to jump through: -Good credit score.....check. I guess that was the result of maintaining/occasionally using a US credit card over the 26 years.....airfares, diesel, vacations, NYT subscription -Tax returns for the past 5 years. -Certificate of eligibility from the VA (obtained online) -A most difficult time making the mortgage company understand that we lived in a house in the jungle where I wasn't the owner, I didn't have a deed, I wasn't paying rent, I didn't have utility bills or a vehicle in my name. - I did maintain a US driver's license with our daughter's address. - We both paid into medicare part B so no issues when we moved back to the US. What should have been a 60-90 day closing on our home ended up taking 5 months. We moved to Thailand in 1996 with 2 suitcases each and moved back to the US with 2 each. Our main lesson learned: Never say 'never'.

Not for everyone, but the village pharmacist wanted to improve her English and I wanted to improve my Thai. Her mother was a primary school Thai teaccher and the daughter learned the rules from mother....probably better than most primary students. We struck a deal.....2 hours of English conversation for 2 hours of Thai. She took me through the first 20 or so lessons of Maani (https://ressources.learn2speakthai.net/ for examples) before worrying about tones). But from the start, I asked her to insist on proper pronunciation. I wrote each lesson as homework from the start. After those 20 lessons, we started to break the code on tones. It took a few bottles of headache medicine and lots of practice, but the day came when it all came together. You might be surprised to find a person in your village/area that an do the same. In any case, best wishes on improving your language skills. All the pain and agony is worth the effort.

That should have been ผมอยากไปสวนสัตว์ Quote

Or, people will speak in the third person.....me, being Uncle John: ลุงจอห์นอยากไปสวนสัตว์ instead of ผทอยากไปสวนสัตว์

Thanks for the info. I've been an amateur Thai learner for 15 years......can read/write/type/speak passably, and can't say I've come across the character (ฤ)ๅ. I never learned the alphabet (a,b,c,d), so maybe that's where I missed out. Thanks, again.

According to what I can find, the word for 'hermit' can be spelled: ฤๅษี ฤาษี or ฤษี Is there any difference in the verbal spelling (pronunciation of each letter) for the 3 different spellings?

I apologize for jumping late onto the train. I've been married to the same Thai woman for 50 years and we have lived in Thailand for the past 26 years. We are days away from relocating back to the US for our own personal reasons. We could just as easily live out our days here. My advice is you're not financially able to retire in Thailand based on the numbers you provide. You'd probably do fine on your numbers with normal daily living expenses, But if you're already exploring the use of an agent to get you over the visa hump, then I'd say you shouldn't retire here. You're at that point in life (somewhere between ?55-65?) where you need to be thinking about medical care. Not cheap in Thailand. You don't have the option of having a serious medical problem/accident in Thailand and choosing to get medical care in the US. Even at 65, medicare doesn't cover any expenses overseas (unless you're retired military). With your savings, consider coming over every year or two for a few weeks.........relax and enjoy. But whether you choose to stay in the US or come to Thailand, you're going to need substantially more money to make your retirement enjoyable.