gearbox

I thought the passport was very expensive until I paid $220 for a 5 years NSW car driving licence two days ago. Just a plastic card, similar to the Thai driving licence which costs a few hundred baht.

Just open the Canadian market to the Chinese...in 5 years you would barely find any American products on the market. China can take gas and oil as they don't have it.

Nobody would pretty much care what Trump says. https://www.lowyinstitute.org/china-versus-america-global-trade "In 2001, some 80 per cent of economies worldwide did more two-way trade with the United States than with China. Just over 20 years later, the newly published Data Snapshot reveals an almost complete reversal of global trade relationships: around 70 per cent of economies worldwide now trade more with China than they do with the United States. China has not only widened its global trade partnerships but also deepened them. More than half of all economies now trade twice as much with China compared to the United States." Chairman Xi calls the shots.

While I was at the counter I sighted a filled in KYC form, looked more intrusive than the Australian one. I don't remember if I filled in something like this 6 years ago when I opened the account. In principle the KYC details need to be updated at some time, CBA in Australia says 2 years, but I don't remember filling in KYC form at all with Bangkok bank. Maybe my memory is fading 😄

There are a lot of Russians now in Samui, the vast majority don't look like they belong to crime gangs. Families with children, no tattoos, neatly dressed.

Not really a tax return filing experience, but this week I went to Bangkok bank to open term deposit, as I would be away for a while. I wasn't able to open the deposit until I provided my Australian tax file number. Another Aussie was doing something else at the next counter, and he was also sent back to find his Aussie tax file number. Seems that CRS is kicking in, and if worldwide income taxation is introduced it would be fairly difficult to work around. Less than 180 days is my solution.

Excluding covid times, the Aussie is near 5 years low against the Thai baht. A bit better against other currencies, but still downwards. Tough times coming for the holders of Pacific Peso.

Thanks, I have a 5 years licence, pink card and yellow book, hopefully that would help. Last time I used the yellow book instead of certificate of residence in Samui.

Are DTV holders eligible for 5 years renewal?

These scam centres are not sanctioned by the Chinese government and are mostly scamming their own people. Their own government is after them.

Philippines like the rest of ASEAN and most of the developing world needs solid infrastructure to move forward. At the moment only China is able to provide this relatively cheaply with very good quality. Alienating China is not a wise move. Look at the massive infrastructure the Chinese are building in Cambodia which would allow them to move ahead quicker. The new Phnom Penh airport would be better than many western airports. Vietnam is going to build high speed rail between Hanoi and Saigon, and is quite likely the Chinese would build it. Now tell me what the US is going to deliver to the Philippines in this area? They can't even fix their own dilapidated infrastructure.

The continental Europe seems to be in irreversible decline now. EU should realise that US is an enemy and competitor, and act accordingly. Handing over the Russian resources and market to China was a monumental mistake and act of self harm. They allowed China to push them out of Africa, a continent which is much closer to Europe than China. Unfortunately the only forces which maybe able to fix this are the far right parties. They need to win the elections, clear the continent from American military presence, dismantle NATO and establish new EU security alliance, and start winning back the markets. Hopefully AFD will show some great numbers next month with the elections. However the main competitor - China is racing away, and the damage may be irreversible. https://www.voanews.com/a/german-far-right-leader-questions-nato-membership-/7901894.html

Affinity to America just accelerates the race of the Philippines to the bottom of ASEAN. They have been overtaken by Vietnam, Cambodia soon to follow.

The USSR was claiming the same thing....

Did you momma tell you every day that you were born in the greatest country in the world? 😄 In 2022 Germany exported 149 billion worth of cars, with China being the no 1 export market. The Chinese market is twice the size of US. The US share of the German car exports was 11.4%. https://oec.world/en/profile/bilateral-product/cars/reporter/deu