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bradiston

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Posts posted by bradiston

  1. 1 minute ago, thesetat2013 said:

    Perhaps they felt guilty about it and decided to give up that information. 

    Stupidity begets stupidity in this case. 

    Perhaps the police found some document that led them to question about the other condo?

    I very much doubt they felt guilty about it. Maybe the police already knew about it. Or your suggestion. Maybe a tip off, or customs had had "dealings" with them before? What a disaster. No wonder they look totally wrecked. They could be facing 10 years. Or maybe it was part of a plea bargain. Cooperate and it will go easier for you? Who knows?

    • Agree 1
    • Thumbs Up 1
  2. 54 minutes ago, AAArdvark said:

    Wise's biggest problems are transparency and consistency. 

    I have been using Wise for 6 years in Thailand and the Philippines and there is definitely a difference. 

    I use Remitly for my Cambodian transfers.  There is no exchange rate for me (USD to USD) and a fixed fee. There are two sending prices, economy ( from your home bank account at 4 to 5 days) or express (from a debit/credit card at the same day). The difference is about $4. I am notified of every step. For any issue at any time of the day. I can even deposit into my Cambodian bank's debit card and directly into my account, something I have never heard of before.  I can get very fast chat service where everything can be explained should there be any questions. No mysteries. 

    I've just spent 4 working days setting up a Wise PHP account. In order to do this you need proof of address in Philippines. Like KYC, it's not easy! They wouldn't accept my rented condo address as they said it was advertised on Airbnb which they don't accept, even though I didn't book it through them. They wouldn't accept a letter addressed to me from HMRC, to my address in Philippines as my name was only initialized, not printed in full. They wouldn't accept my utility bills because of discrepancies in the address. Eventually they accepted my BDO bank statement with my complete name and address on it, something I had to set up with BDO in person, as they had a Thai address for me. It got really stressful. But great result in the end. I've a large amount of PHP I want to move to Thailand and am now able to do so from BDO, online. Set it up in Wise then switch to BDO app and fill in destination bank details and amount as per Wise's instructions. Instantaneous!

  3. 2 hours ago, khunjeff said:

     

    I can only speak for Big C, where I used to shop a lot. The points that you collect are worth a bit, but not much. They send an SMS when the points are going to expire, and a year's worth of points would usually get me a discount of 100 baht or so. 

     

    The real value of the membership was that nearly every week there would be a promotion for members where you got a set discount for spending a certain amount on one receipt on certain days (usually Friday-Sunday) - often 120 baht off when buying 2000 baht of goods, for example. I easily got over 1000 baht in discounts each year by doing my shopping on the assigned days.

    I remember now. I used my phone number as my membership id. So when they ask you "mee bat my?" Or simply "you have card?" it's easy. And yes, they do add up to reductions.

    • Agree 1
  4. 1 hour ago, dutchweller said:

    Thanks for the reply 

    How did you end up advertising/marketing it?

     

    Ah, that's where I got lucky. I used a couple of websites but got nothing of any real interest. Some Chinese money launderers but they proved too dodgy even for my Hong Kong contact. I put up a for sale sign in Thai by the road and had a few enquiries. Finally a long standing friend got interested. He'd had a businesson on the island for ages. His wife got fed up with living in a small apartment and he had 2 grown up sons. Buying the house was a no brainer for him. Loads of room. Its own well.  So in the end we reached a deal. He could probably sell it tomorrow for twice what he paid for it. It wouldn't worry me. But finding a buyer.... I'm in the same position now in Philippines. Got a house I can't sell.

    • Like 1
  5. 3 minutes ago, bluemoon58 said:

    Mmmmm ghetto! I served with the Gurkhas twice, great guys. Never had a problem when I worked with Russians and Chinese. However, I served in the Middle East and also worked there as a civilian and 100% stand by my comment. They are the most hateful and aloof people I've met whilst serving and working across three quarters of the world! Ghetto, really...!!!

    Well, YMMV as they say.

  6. 1 hour ago, Cabradelmar said:

    No one is afraid of the police or the consequences of breaking laws. If it's not 2 NZs wrestling away a cops gun, it's a Thai slapping a cop. Add to that the prevailing thinking that any trouble with the law can be evaded if you pay the right people. Thailand has only themselves to blame.

     

    Fear of the police is my best friend. No way do I want to get in a ruck with the police here, or anywhere. You never know where it might end, or not end.

  7. 2 hours ago, spidermike007 said:

    Patong is one of the most blighted and horrific places in Thailand. Having accompanied a friend there last year, I would never return. It is dreadful, and it attracting the lowest quality tourists in its history. 

     

    The cops here are very weak. For us, there is a good and a bad side to that. In the US, they can be overzealous. Here? 

    Here, you just get a confused or sad emoji. Maybe add a dazed one?

    • Haha 2
  8. 7 minutes ago, bluemoon58 said:

    Couldn't agree more. 

    I live in Pratamnak. Surrounded by Russians, with whom I have no problems. Chinese ditto. Not that many Middle Easterners nor Indians, but I always have a natter with the Nepali ex Gurkhas who run a tailoring shop on Jomtien Beach Rd. Friendly and communicative. Always a bright smile and how are you today.

     

    Maybe you live in the ghetto?

    • Thumbs Up 1
  9. 17 minutes ago, ChipButty said:

    I dont know about Villa market, sometimes you can mix and match, I leave it all to my wife, I know Sunday morning we got 10% discount in Starbucks, I don't know where that came from as we don't spend that much in there,, could have come from PTT on petrol, they have a points card there, even your mobile phone, we are on AIS monthly contract, they offer alsorts,

    Omg the dreaded coupon/voucher checkout. Just my luck to always end up standing behind you then (just kidding!). On a slightly different topic. How many of you always end up in the slowest queue as I invariably do? It may look the shortest, but don't be fooled. Everything that can go wrong, does, roughly in the following order:

     

    Item scanner can't read barcode

    Promptpay not working or qr code scan

    Price not the same as shelf price

    Bogoff but you only took one item

    Cash customer hasn't got enough so manager has to be called to remove item(s)

    Cards don't work

     

     

    • Heart-broken 1
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