gearbox

2 minutes ago, ravip said:

I will be visiting Australia next week, for 1 month.

Can someone recommend a SIM for a tourist?

Data 6Gb would be fine, and some local calls.

I will mostly be around Melbourne.

 

Thank you in advance.

https://www.optus.com.au/prepaid/traveller-sim

Last time I saw a kiosk at the international arrivals in Sydney, I imagine there would be one in Melbourne as well.

Otherwise head to the large supermarkets like Coles and Woolworths, there are always prepaid sim packages on sale.

If you have a phone with esim you may be able to order and activate it online, the Amaysim prepaid sims can be bought as esim as well.

19 minutes ago, Sandboxer said:

 

It all sounds great on paper but after having done a quick Google search as well as the ISG forum, it seems that err......female company, be it p4p or casual/easy, is basically non-existent or at least super difficult.

 

So, hard pass (for me). For now.

 

But interesting nevertheless.

One thing I noticed in Albania is that there are almost no female waitresses in the restaurants.

The families are protecting a lot their women, if you mess with a wrong family you'll wonder in which part of the world to hide.

Wonderful country for short visit, but it is the most criminal infested nation in Europe, tons of brutal gangs controlling drugs and sex trafficking across Europe.

1 hour ago, riclag said:

Do the women appreciate older men  similarly to “some Thai Girls”?

I can’t say enough about hospitality.Im often treated with dignity , respect and worth , here.

I especially like the bowing & complimentary , Thank you to love me.

No snow is a plus too.

 

Yeah...give it a go.

https://exit.al/en/albanian-blood-feuds-more-than-10000-revenge-killings-in-30-years/

12 minutes ago, Olmate said:

Yes, 75 is out, not returned in 7yrs so not sure re Medicare, but assume can do.More meaning travel issues.. also cover for thai partner I failed to mention.slap.

Medicare is more than enough, for medical will cover anything wrt emergency. If your Thai partner is below 60, get Safewings or World Nomads insurance, from what I've seen the Thai providers coverage is too low for serious issues in Australia.

12 minutes ago, ChaiyaTH said:

Doubt that makes any sense he says 'lets say a month' to stay.

In case of medical emergency less than a month stay in Australia may cost you hundreds of thousands. Last time I saw prices in the North Shore Private Hospital basic ICU was around $5200 AUD per night.

3 hours ago, jacko45k said:

Or Chinese of course.

The Chinese are at the forefront of the nuclear technology, the only Gen 4 commercially working reactor in the world is there.

However the Thais are probably better off having wind farms in the gulf, and there are plenty of opportunities in residential solar too. The cost of the solar panels and wind turbines has gone down a lot.

48 minutes ago, Olmate said:

May be wrong forum, but wanting Oz input. Say one month visit, did it make sense? Older age price toohigh? Thoughts gentlemenplease! 

Most of the worldwide providers won't insure 75 years old. From my research the Thai providers offer poor value for money. Can't you reinstate your Medicare?

5 hours ago, daejung said:

So maybe my notification was made too early ?
if the count starts from extension renewal on on january 17th and not on re-entry on january 10th ?

 

This is quite possible, the Samui immigration resets the reporting date if an extension is approved. It makes sense, for the extension you need to submit the same documents, even more. As mentioned they may attach a paper in the passport with the next reporting date, although TiT, not sure if all offices are doing it.

23 minutes ago, hotandsticky said:

 

Absolutely yes. 

 

My online report was rejected following my return on 30th December. At Jomtien I was told that they want the first 90 day report, after returning to Thailand, to be done in person.

 

That was NOT the case when I returned last July.

Well that's in line with any paperwork handled differently at different immigration offices. I'm in Samui, and god forbid I never wasted half a day to submit 90 days report in person. All done online.

5 hours ago, Mahseer said:

Each time you renter the first 90 day report has to be filed at immigration.

Absolutely not. I just got my 90 days report approved and I re-entered last October, have done already one 90 days report online after the entry. In fact I've never done 90 days report at the immigration, always did it online.

15 minutes ago, JayLeno said:

Thanks for the feedback. Any other suggestions. I live in Thailand 

How old are you? If you are below 40 you can get good insurance with Safewings or World Nomads.

2 hours ago, samtam said:

@gearbox

I am indebted to you for your advice to use the Live Chat facility. Was going along swimmingly yesterday until they had an IT glitch. Then couldn't get back on Live Chat until today, and spent 4 hours booking 2 flights, (using 2 laptops for the two of us), and we successfully managed to book JAL with Avios points (plus the fees) from Qatar. The Live Chat went down in the middle of the process, but everything confirmed, except now I need to check the JAL site for booking, (which is not yet showing), and to select seats. When/if that happens, I will proceed with the unrefundable accommodation bookings.

 

A major palaver, and frankly not one I will undertake again. Only use Avios on Qatar or BA, not any of their partner airlines, as the system is simply not geared to it. 

Glad you figured it out. Sometimes the airlines' points are pain to navigate and use.

I had some points with Etihad expiring this month and I didn't need any ticket to book. Luckily they have an option to open a digital visa card, convert the points to currency and move to the card. I've put the card on Google pay and spent the points in Tops.

Comrade Gamma it depends on the point of view and the narrative. Deutsche Welle is a government propaganda outlet, they rather focus on the miserable state of the German economy.

If you follow the real numbers China logged quite impressive trade numbers the first two months of the year. Now there is a bit of squealing from the usual suspects - "We want to manufacture goods too! They are eating our lunch!"

The Qatar avios bookings with partner airlines are "pseudo online", as one can't see which dates are available. I had similar to the OP experience booking one way ticket Samui - Singapore with Bandit Airways. The requested date was not available,  after 4 days waiting had to request a different date. The tax for Samui - Singapore was nearly 2400 baht, quite steep.

IMO it is better to use the support chat than calling numbers.

7 hours ago, hydraides said:

3k fine is alot and pushing it for one stop when so many thais are riding without a helmet, normally they combine fines and give you a 800thb- 1000 thb fine

 

They got greedy here it seems 

3k doesn't seem much for 2 offences. In NSW Australia for driving without licence the max penalty is $2200 AUD, or more than 50k baht.

51 minutes ago, theblether said:

All those that sent AirAsia or any airline a donation to offset losses during the pandemic put you hand up. No one? 

 

Then don't complain when they recover the losses and refill their coffers. 

 

ps - among other inflationary costs there's severe disruption to new aircraft deliveries ( Boeing are having a meltdown ) and new staff bottlenecks across the worldwide airline industry. 

 

People don't realise that the worldwide pool of qualified people and high quality candidates is running dry. 

I'm grateful that AirAsia exists. If one can plan well in advance the prices can be really good. Last year we had a few trips with my gf, one international from Krabi to KL. I paid 5200 baht for 10 individual tickets.

In July I'm flying with the Malaysian AirAsia from KL to Makassar Indonesia return, that's 3 hours 30 minutes trip. I paid 7000 baht total, which includes 55kg of checked in baggage both ways, including sport equipment (my bicycle). I think this is an excellent price - try to move 55kg with a full service airline and your wallet will be a lot thinner.

5 hours ago, BritManToo said:

I don't believe anything I do will have any effect except to leave me with less money in my bank account.

If I were Thai it might be different, but only if my family had more money/connections than his family.

This is a deeply corrupt country with no rule of law or justice for locals, let alone foreigners.

 

If you have enough money you can even kill policemen with impunity.

Seems you have figured it out. The police is not there to police anything, have you seen a speed camera anywhere? They don't care if a motorbike or car is registered and whether the drivers have proper licences. It benefits them to have more accidents to "mediate", which results in mediation fees. In the mediation process it is important who has more money to be milked and who knows bigger khun. Why would they be pressing charges? What's in for them?

2 minutes ago, steven100 said:

yes ... the sim is only $5 ... 365 days ..

Another option is Amaysim, they have prepaid sim with PAYG $10 credit valid for 365 days. This can also be bought as esim (Aldi doesn't support esim yet) so in theory you may be able to buy it online and activate in Thailand, but check with Amaysim first, it varies across providers. Your phone must have esim support.

1 hour ago, steven100 said:

 

The problem with that is it's only 60 days ,  then top up is $15 ....  so just to have that sim in the phone for a year may add up somewhat ....

It is not...Aldi mobile PAYG credit is valid for 365 days.

Has anyone been in a road accident and settled the case in court? Seems that most of the accidents here go through "police mediation", with the corresponding brown envelopes. If a person doesn't have a driver's licence at all or drives unregistered vehicle would that be considered "person at fault" pretty much all the time? I think in Australia that is probably the case, but here it seems the driving licence is not important.

A person I know has been involved in an accident, so with Samui being a war zone wrt accidents I better get to know more. Seem the chance if accident here is "not if but when".

On 2/14/2024 at 11:21 AM, CharlesHolzhauer said:

Any thoughts on this?

a) The Australian government actively encourages 'self-funding retirees,' referring to individuals who are financially independent and do not rely on government support for their retirement. These retirees can invest their accumulated wealth in an 'Account-Based Pension,' where pension payments must be withdrawn at a minimum rate as determined by the government annually. These pension payments are tax-free. Due to the freedom of movement, individuals can relocate and retire in Thailand without losing the benefits provided in an 'Account-Based Pension' environment.

b) An Australian individual has the legal option to liquidate their entire stock portfolio, submit a final tax return to the Australian Tax Office (ATO), fulfill necessary tax payments, and subsequently repurchase the same or other investment products. Following this process, the individual can relocate to a country such as Thailand and rely on the distributions/dividends generated by their investments for their cost of living. The individual, being a non-resident of Australia for tax purposes, benefits from automatically deducted withholding taxes. Should the individual choose to make significant purchases, such as a condo or car, and decide to sell units or shares to cover such expenditures, it would not trigger a taxable event, as they are considered a non-resident for tax purposes. All these actions are within the bounds of the law.

Do Australian individuals residing in Thailand who legally do not pay taxes in Australia face any repercussions from the Thai RD?

It depends how the DTA is interpreted. From what I read if you are not Australian tax resident your super may be taxable in Thailand. If you are a resident in both countries there are "tiebreaker" rules to determine primary tax residency for specific cases, e.g pensions.

Again, it seems that the only amounts taxable in Thailand are the one entering the country, so if you transfer nothing, nothing will get taxed. This is different from the Oz taxation, if you are resident you get taxed on worldwide income, it doesn't matter if you transfer it to Oz or not.

I'm starting withdrawing super sometimes in 2025, to remove any doubts I'm planning to spend 7 months back in Oz.

Phuket - Bangkok is one of the cheapest domestic routes in Thailand. Prices can go as low as 100 baht (not including check in baggage) during sale times. Planes are not like buses, prices go up a lot if booking a flight next week.

36 minutes ago, hydraides said:

I was just at this lake last week and its pretty still......very small waves indeed

 

I find it impossible he drowned, even if you can't swim ...... you should stay bouyant on the surface.....makes no sense

 

I suggest foul play for whatever reason, wasn't his friend with him? should investigate the friend

Logic dictates that if one can't swim and doesn't have a life jacket flotation would be difficult...

Looks like the guy wasn't alone, I wonder why the other one just didn't tow him to the shore instead of going to look for help.

On 1/20/2024 at 4:31 PM, Celsius said:

 

Are you sure this is a good idea?

 

In Canada, condo fees double (or triple) every 10 years. 

 

Here is a breakdown of all the feel I googled on a 400k condo. Interest rates won't stay high forever.

 

Strata $2650 per quarter including $1029 into reserve fund.
Council $1592 per annum
Water $1160 per annum

 

If Perth is anything like a major Canadian city, living downtown would negate any need for a car. I assume public transport is very good over there,

 

In Australia most of the apartments are not condo types, no swimming pools, gyms, security guards, etc, the strata amounts are way lower than your numbers.

Also our age pension is means tested and the own residence is exempt, so having 500k and more as means tested assets may reduce his pension.

2 minutes ago, georgegeorgia said:

So he says 

So I will have to research how much Super one can have to get the full OAP 

It's no using working to 65 or older save save save and get nothing 

 

I'm thinking better to go at 60

23 minutes ago, Nemises said:

And he will be hiding the $1M cash under his bed right? 

1m cash or equivalent assets will bring way more income than the OAP itself.  Would be pretty dumb to keep 1m cash at zero earnings in order to claim OAP.