gamb00ler

Exactly this! I noticed how much cheaper it was to rent a car in US if I booked from Thailand several years ago. This was before I lived here. I tried booking one while in Thailand but when I put in my US license info, they boosted the rental charge to what a US resident would pay.

When I tried to call the 410-965-0160 number it was a nigh impossible to get through to a person. SSA did not bother to add the wait-on-hold option to that number, so the only way to get through was: dial... go through the menu... receive the message that all operators are busy....please call back later hang up and repeat until you give up After about 20 sessions I finally reached a person who couldn't actually help with my problem. This result was from mid 2022. On the usual 1-800-772-1213 number, I get to wait on hold for typically an hour. A very helpful sounding person will eventually answer and attempt to do "something" to solve the problem. So far the "something" has not produced any movement towards a solution. For one of my issues it's been over 3 years with absolutely no indication that SSA has heard/read any of my pleas/letters. @Yellowtail Did you call the Overseas number pre-COVID?

FBU Manila seems competent enough to handle the plain vanilla retirement benefit application. However, any time an application requires more complex processing they seem to veer into the ditch and seldom regain control and return to the correct path by themselves. SSA overall has batted .000 on both my wife's and my original applications. Now we both have to hope that our applications to switch benefits don't meet a similar fate. FBU Manila should be up to our upcoming applications because they are both plain vanilla.

I'm not sure of the extent of Boonma's involvement, but when we shipped a container of household goods, they managed the Thai end of transport and customs clearing. The crew they provided for unloading our container in CM was excellent and the lead worker spoke English.

Sorry, I forgot to mention I don't think anyone spoke much English, My son and wife dealt with them. I just got the info from son and am forwarding it to you via PM.

I just moved a 3 bedroom house full of furniture to a new home in CM on June 29. The mover showed up with 4 guys and a big box truck with a lift on the back end. They arrived about 9:30AM and finished about 4:30PM with one truck load. They were mostly reasonable careful, but TIT..... No major bangs or bruises. Almost all of the stuff was already packed. However they did wrap a several pieces in stretch plastic wrap to keep it clean or prevent the drawers or doors from opening. So you get some idea we moved: 2 bedroom sets of dresser + 2 nightstands 1 china cabinet 2 sofa's 1 medium + 1 small fridge 1 dining table + 3 chairs 2 coffee tables, 3 other occasional tables 4 mattress, 2 box springs + quite a bit of odds/ends The total load exceeded the box truck capacity by about 5% so we moved extra stuff in our SUV. Cost was negotiated to 18K from 20K initial bid. We probably paid extra because our move was supposed to happen mid month but was not scheduled until June 24th. Move was delayed due to construction delays at new home. If you're interested I can give you contact info.

@Red Phoenix Please PM me the TM 30 roadmap. ????

Apparently some mobile phones do allow 2 sims to be active at the same time. However as an Apple user, I can only use 1 sim at a time. That shouldn't be too much of a problem as basically the only time I'll need the UltraMobile sim active is when I'm at my desktop doing some financial functions. If my Thai mobile carrier allows it I could forward my inbound calls to my wife's phone while I'm using the UltraMobile sim for a 2FA message or call. Info on dual sim phones, etc. found at: https://www.techadvisor.com/article/723395/best-dual-sim-phone.html

At least I wouldn't need to do the the sim swap dance. My need to use the UltraMobile sim will be infrequent.

I am wondering if I upgrade to an iPhone that has eSim capability can I switch my True account to use an eSim, and then use my UltraMobile PayGo nano sim in the sim slot on the iPhone? I understand computers well, but not mobile phones.

I've used Google Voice for 100's of calls to USA/Canada from Thailand. It's pretty decent but there is a short lag so that conversations are sometimes not so smooth. Is the WiFi calling via UltraMobile better than that with GV?

@Tropicalevo I've sent you a PM with their LINE contact info.

Of course I have considered your suggestion but I don't need all the whiz bang features that the social media addicted youngsters love on either my main phone or the 2FA phone. I just need to receive SMS's reliably and am happier to pay for only the features that are useful to me.

I just received my registered UltraMobile PayGo sim. Now I'm looking for a low cost phone to accept the nano sim full time rather than switch it out with my Thai sim. Will the phone need to support WiFi calling if I'm only going to receive SMS from US banks, etc.? Looking for a recommended phone for this job.

My long time friend gave me a referral to an iptv service with thousands of movies, TV serials and live international channels including most of EU, the Middle East, US, Canada and UK. They also list Thai channels but I haven't tried them. They got hacked (or maybe shutdown by authorities) but were back up in about 5 days. Cost is 2,100 ฿/year. I'll ask if they accept customers unknown to them. I'll PM you their answer.

why do you want to spend more $$ on a difficult to repair/upgrade style of computer with lower specifications just to gain the ability to tote it around? A normal modern TV can be your monitor and wireless keyboards and mice are inexpensive and convenient.

Whenever I've called FBU Manila, no body every answers. I only tried about 8 times on different days during the 6 hours a week they claim to accept calls. Manila also ignored my emails when I requested that they be prepared to discuss the problems I have with my current SSA benefits when they called me to verify my recent change of benefit application.

I thought the same but it turns out they were saying Dumbo with a bad accent.

@exant have you followed up on any of the suggestions that others have given regarding your problem? Ranting to the AseanNow members isn't going to help you if you aren't willing to try what others suggest or steps others have tried when experiencing their own issues.

I think it's quite likely that a lot of qualified candidates are discouraged by the current extremely polarized electorate. Don't overlook the threat posed by the violence prone extreme right wing folks.

I saw this type of path construction and would like to find a supplier of the paving bricks shown in this picture. Anybody seen these bricks? I like the large ones as they would probably stay in place better than the smaller version.

This rental house has a tank and pump as is pretty much required in many places in Thailand. It also has a faucet connected directly to the PWA line before it goes to the tank/pump. I used to be able to use that faucet and get some decent pressure, but the pressure has been declining over the last few months. I attributed that decline to the long dry spell that probably meant that more customers were using more water for lawns and gardens. More demand will mean less pressure for all. Some days the pressure is so low that not much water comes out of the hose when held at the top of the approx. 1.6m tall tank.

I called SSA's 800# again and asked if there is a way to get some attention to the issues with my SSA benefits. I mentioned all the attempts I've made to get SSA's attention but have always been ignored. The first representative I spoke to gave me a phone number for an SSA department in Baltimore, MD. The rep said I could request a call from them or attempt to connect by calling them. I explained that I live in Thailand (11 hrs. time difference) and so I chose to call them. After many many calls that were never answered, I called SSA back and arranged to hopefully have them call me during the first 2 hours after their office opens. The first rep said that there are many different numbers to call and a range of SSN's is assigned to each of the telephone #'s. The SSA phone number did not have a wait-on-hold option so re-dialing was required when my calls went unanswered. I haven't been called yet, but it's only been 4 days since my last call to 800 #.

It is easy to be a cheerleader when you are lucky enough to have a plain vanilla SSA application. It is obvious from the various threads about FBU Manila that they struggle to resolve problems or complications. My retirement benefit application was not a normal one. It was filed using a method that has since been discontinued and was never a common type of claim. Manila made a very silly date error that caused a delay of almost a year in receiving any payments. They subsequently claimed that it was my fault, but I can assure you I it was not as I am very well versed in the regulations that must be satisfied for that application. I also have two other issues with collecting my full benefits due because of two mistakes by the SSA (not Manila). Three years ago, I sent complete details of the issues to my original office in USA and received no response. I must have called SSA's 800# thirty times trying to get them to review my account... still nothing. I also sent Manila complete details and asked them to prepare to discuss them when they call me for my application to switch benefits. They don't respond or even acknowledge receipt of the email for 6 weeks now. When I got the telephone call last Friday.... guess what ... their staff knew nothing of my issues and only wanted to rush through the interview for my new application. Since you don't really offer any help to those having problems with Manila, I think your input is not assisting in finding resolutions.

In 2020 they never requested I sign such documents @SCB bank in Chiang Mai despite my American accent (but Canadian passport). I lived in US for 35 years and now my family says I sound more like a Yank than a Canuck.