gearbox

You can end up in jail spreading unsubstantiated rumors about banks in trouble and causing potential bank runs. Many countries have legislation about spreading false rumors about banks in trouble. https://www.csmonitor.com/Business/The-Circle-Bastiat/2012/0606/Can-you-yell-run-in-a-crowded-bank Closures of a few branches is not an indicator whether a major bank is solvent or not.

Known as "The Maldives of Thailand"

Sure it is a general statement...and is 100% correct. One can't just put a mask and snorkel on any beach in Samui and expect to see clear water with corals and fish as pictured in doctored photos. I can provide a detailed statement as I've landed on most of the Samui's beaches (even the beaches claimed as "private") but it would just repeat what I've said. I've snorkeled at hundreds of beaches around the world and have a good base for comparison. Most of the Samui snorkeling tours go to Koh Tao, some go to Koh Ma (Phangan) and a few go south of Samui on the east side of Ko Taen. There are tours to Ang Thong as well, although most of the tourists are taken to sites with poor snorkeling. The Ko Taen site is closest but again it could be exciting for people who never snorkeled before in a good location. However if one is into kayaking or open sea swimming Samui is a great place to be.

I'm not familiar with the Pattaya's beaches, but Hua Hin has really mediocre muddy beaches. I stayed once for a couple of days there, will never go back. I live in Samui and never had to take a taxi to anywhere. Most of the times I use my bicycle to move around. Health care can be an issue, tthe Samui private hospitals are generally quite small, I think some of the specialists are fly-in fly-out from Bangkok. But Thaksin Hospital in Surat Thani is pretty good and reasonably priced. The Phuket hospitals are larger. IMO one really needs to be a "beach person" to be worth living on the islands. It means to enjoy swimming,snorkeling,kayaking,sailing...not just going to the beach twice an year.

From mid October to end of November both Samui and Phuket are pretty much write off (Samui is worse), so it is difficult to get a decent beach location for the cold parts of October and November anywhere in Thailand.

There is no good snorkeling in Samui...in fact on many of the beaches you won't be able to see your legs in the water, the water visibility is that poor. Nearby only Mae Haad on Koh Phangan offers some reasonable snorkeling, you need to head to Koh Tao to get some good snorkeling. If you are just snow birding for 4 months no need to purchase anything IMO, there are plenty of places to rent by the month everywhere in the tourist areas. If you like snorkeling you should plan to spend some time at Koh Lipe on the Andaman side.

I think some people are getting through only with covid insurance, that probably doesn't cover any other cases.

Repatriation of diseased is not a big cost...I would be much more worried if I'm alive but need repatriation, this could be hundreds of thousands. Most insurers won't make much of an issue with the repatriation of the diseased, the amount sought after is only 5k, any major accident requiring medicals would cost heaps more. Again once the person is dead he or she becomes cargo, no need of private jets and accompanying doctors.

Why an outcry...they work in Thailand in local jobs or have local companies and need to pay the local taxes. With the digital nomads they need to rely on goods and services consumed, not tax collected, otherwise the digital nomads being "nomads" can go "nomading" somewhere else...the others with work permits or local companies can't easily do this, nobody misses shooting a sitting duck.

True, it is included in most medical insurances as it doesn't cost that much. If a person is dead, he or she is a cargo in terms of transportation, if alive and need medical evacuation the cost would be many times higher.

That family should fly to Thailand to get a few lessons in dignity, responsibility and family values. When a Thai person dies, in many cases the family borrows a lot of money for the funeral, which they pay back for a long period of time. Haven't heard of an article here of type "help us to bury our brother, we have a few clunkers here which are too dear to us and we don't want to sell them"

This is what I get from the post office web site....the way I read it max length is 3m, most kayaks are way longer. https://www.thailandpost.co.th/un/article_detail/product/561/64 "Delivering large items by mail" details : Bulk cargo service Or special shape suitable for transporting heavy goods or large packages. which can be deposited and waited to be paid at the post office that is convenient for the recipient There is a system to track and check items with the Track & Trace system or via smart phone with the Track & Trace application and the website. www.thailandpost.com condition : Accepting weight from 20-200 kg. The size does not exceed 150 x 200 x 150 centimeters (Width x Length x Height) on each side. If one side exceeds the specified height, an additional fee will be charged as follows: - The size of one side exceeds 100. cm. but not more than 150 cm. Additional fee will be charged at 300 baht/pc. - Size on one side exceeds 150 cm. but not over 200 cm. Fee will be charged at 500 baht/pc. - Size on one side exceeds 200. cm. but not more than 300 cm., an additional charge of 1,000 baht/piece Delivery standard arrives quickly within 2 - 4 business days. The service fee is based on the weight or volume of the consigned items. (either one) and the distance to deliver the goods In the case of finished goods such as televisions, refrigerators, motorcycles, etc., the rates as specified by the Post Office will apply. Delivered to the recipient's address for every piece.

Did you have a 5 metres+ kayak with you?

The Thai rail will ship long objects but there are no railway services in this area. Very interested whether you can manage to move it in the end. I'm going with a kayak from Samui to Ko Chang later next year, but I have a foldable kayak which the buses and the trains take.

How do you try to submit it? My gf and myself tried a few times via laptop(Ghrome), always failing on "Save", even when submitting via uploaded spreadsheet. Next day we went to the immigration and a girl there told us to use the section 38 app, we downloaded it and managed to submit successfully while still at the immigration. This was around a week ago, so who knows what is working right now.

The smart money doesn't seem to take notice of what Krugman writes...looks like the inbound FDI for China would be record high this year. But what do they know...listen to the TVF experts! Also growing the economy by growing the population is a dumb thing to do. Japan and Germany don't record any population increases and the population is aging, but their goods are still sought after.

Xi is a smart cookie and what he is actually doing is channeling resources into areas which give long term competitive advantage. Residential real estate and online gaming are areas which waste resources and do not provide any competitive advantage. The Chinese are focusing on areas requiring hard science, where it takes long time to build expertise, but once mastered it takes long time for any competitors to catch up. And the latest trade data confirms he is on the right track, record trade surpluses and exports, record currency reserves, and 60% of exports are machinery and electronics, only 18% are now labor intensive like producing t-shirts. From these 60% machinery and electronics exports an ever increasing share is produced by the Chinese multinationals with their own IP. Compare that to some western countries with huge service based economy, and you can understand why Xi is saying "time is on our side".

Living out of a bag is actually great if you can do it. Free like a bird, no responsibilities whatsoever. It was my plan but somehow I ended with 3 bases in Australia, Thailand and Europe ???? Whenever I arrive in any of these bases there is always a <deleted> problem waiting for me.

True... https://www.paktales.com/how-much-is-1million-youtube-views-worth-youtube-earnings/ 1 mil views apparently earn between $300 and $2000.

There is no hard data, just assumptions; https://www.dailysabah.com/turkey/inactive-jabs-may-serve-better-against-omicron-turkish-expert/news

OMG we are all going to die! Where can I buy 30yo Hibiki, I want to drink it and hug the empty bottle in my coffin.

That's not a specific Thai phenomenon. Worldwide the politicians are now drunk with power, will be harder and harder to get our freedoms back. Australia is introducing so called "anti-trolling" legislation.. https://www.theverge.com/2021/11/28/22806369/australia-proposes-defamation-laws-unmask-trolls I guess one soon needs to submit a passport page and driving licence when registering for a forum account ????

I don't think there is different treatment in case of being non-resident. https://www.mlc.com.au/content/dam/mlcsecure/adviser/technical/pdf/super_for_non_residents.pdf "If a non-resident cashes out a lump sum from an Australian super fund, the taxable component of the amount being withdrawn may be subject to lump sum tax11 in Australia. This is likely to occur if the non-resident is below preservation age or if have reached the preservation age and amount withdrawn from the taxable component exceeds the low rate cap (LRC12). "

It depends on the structure of your super components. Your fund should be able to tell you what proportion is taxable etc. In reality you probably don't need to pay tax for withdrawals of lump sums below the low cap. The low-rate cap is the limit on the amount of taxable components (both taxed and untaxed elements) of a lump sum that can receive a lower (or nil) rate of tax. It applies to people who have reached their preservation age but are still aged under 60. In 2021–22, the low-rate cap is $225,000.

True, but July and August are high season in Samui and low season in Phuket....and what did Samui get? One thousand tourists coming with 100+ flights. I was told by a restaurant owner that to be included in the "Green zone" to sell alcohol one needs to prepare tons of paperwork and pay 3000 baht for the privilege. Total nonsense for an island where pretty much 100% of the adult population is fully vaccinated and only fully vaccinated visitors are allowed as well.