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.

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.

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 

3 hours ago, KhaoNiaw said:

เรา is used much much more widely than that. Even in quite formal situations. Listen for it. This is a culture where the 'we' is often more important than the 'I'. And people also look for ways to avoid 'I'.  

Or, people will speak in the third person.....me, being Uncle John:

ลุงจอห์นอยากไปสวนสัตว์ instead of ผทอยากไปสวนสัตว์ 

5 hours ago, PPMMUU said:

Technically speaking, the Thai word ฤษี should have a slightly different pronunciation than ฤๅษี. The ฤ (ru) sound in ฤษี is shorter than the ฤๅ (ruue) sound in ฤๅษี.

 

Regarding the difference between the Thai words ฤๅษี and ฤาษี, it is important to note that the correct form of the word for "astrologer" is ฤๅษี. The existence of ฤาษี is technically incorrect, as it should be written with the ๅ character as ฤๅษี. However, the newer form of the word has found its place in modern Thai text, possibly due to the infrequent use of the ๅ character.

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.

I haven't flown with them, but have read that they have one of the highest cancellation/late rates.  A friend who works at Air Asia also said that airline often cancels or is late.

If she makes a simple will and gives everything to you, then that's that.  All the yad-pee-nawng (family/relatives) don't get anything.  Simple

I like shoe photos......shoes outside of a primary school, shoes outside an eye clinic, shoes outside a temple.  Shoes tell stories.

As for taking photos of people in public, I'm not shy about asking if I can take someone's photo......I've never had anyone turn me down.

I have a retirement account with 800k.  My wife and I have a joint account with several xxxk at the same bank.  I am not allowed an ATM card with my retirement account, but have one for the joint account.  I applied for online banking.....assuming it'd just be for our joint account.  I set it up and have access to both accounts.  I can transfer between accounts online.........obviously, not as the system intended, but it's the way it works for me.  A classic case of t.i.t.

We've been using a Severin 5 tray that we bought on Lazada several years ago.  Dry beef, fish, all sorts of herbs, fruit.  There are many more choices available on Lazada nowadays.

We did the old blue net drying for several years.....but the electric mode is more reliable and attracts far less flies!!

I live in the boonies, small village.  The village pharmacist wanted to improve her English, I wanted to learn Thai.  We swapped a few hours of Eng/Thai each week.  No charge to either of us.  I learned to read/write/break the tone code because of her.

When I used to do my 90 day reports in person, I always went in a week early.  Better to be early than late.  Now that I do 90 reports on line, I likewise do them about 10 days early.  That gives me some wiggle room in case I don't get my on line approval back in time.....I can still do it in person.  Fortunately, the online reporting system has been working very well with approvals usually back in 24 hours.....or less!

I searched Thai websites, but couldn't find the real deal.  You might be able to find one at the stores that sell military items (uniforms, used boots, etc) outside most all military bases.  Udon has a few....I'd guess the same at other bases.

We live in the countryside (jungle).  I keep 2 spray-paint-tops in the engine compartment with a few small mothblls in each.  There are a few spots in my Revo where it's not excessively hot and where the tops fit snugly.  I also place a large moth ball directly under the engine compartment when parked in my car port.

I'm sorry, I should have provided the link to the Thai Rath article:  https://www.thairath.co.th/news/local/2572586

As I read it (in Thai), she was driving, he was seated next to the driver.

3 minutes ago, flexomike said:

I think he did

No, he didn't.  His wife was driving.

So, my Thai isn't much special, but นางงามเพ็ญ นาคสวัสดิ์ อายุ 79 ปี นั่งอยู่เบาะคนขับ และนายวิโรจน์ นาคสวัสดิ์ อายุ 94 ปี สามีนั่งเบาะข้างคนขับ tells me that the woman was in the driver's seat and the man was in the seat next to the driver.

Thanks for all the feedback.