wasabi

In addition to the usual suspects motorbikes are an underreported contributor to air pollution. While there are still too many trucks and buses spewing filth most cars on Thai roadways are no longer major sources of pollution. Motorbike emissions are still largely unregulated and contribute to noise pollution by intentionally being modified to make loud noises. Another issue is due to wanting to sit in air-conditioned vehicles and laziness many cars and trucks sit idling for long periods of time in parking lots and garages. I'll be surprised if air pollution improves meaningful in Thailand in my lifetime though I'd love to be proven wrong.

I've read in a few places that the website version of Skype dialpad may still work? Any confirmation of this?

I've scanned through this thread so I may have missed a few things but I have gone through the process of buying Thailand Elite Visas second hand. The description of the versions above is accurate. There were multiple versions of the visa so transfer agreements may vary but I was told that the original lifetime versions of the visas cannot be transferred to another person for life. I saw the OP states otherwise and I'm not saying he's wrong, only it's different than what I was told. Thailand Elite is eager to get rid of the lifetime visas because they are money losing for them but perhaps there is a tranche of the oldest ones where it is possible to still get lifetime, but that would be the SE version. This was my experience in 2019. A Russian couple was selling a pair of lifetime Thailand Elite visas. They did not speak English and were having trouble selling the visas so the price had dropped a few times by the time I contacted them. My wife and I agreed to buy the pair of visas for 1.5 million THB total as shown in the original ad below. That includes the sellers fee and Thailand Elites fee. At the time there were other single versions of the TE visa being sold for double and triple what we paid for 2 TE visas. I was very skeptical this was real but a trip to the Thailand Elite office in Bangkok confirmed that it was, so I hired a Russian translator to assist and we got it done. At only 6 years in the visas have already paid for themselves and made our time in Thailand much more pleasant making this the single best purchase of my life. Unlike the LTV we still have to do 90 day reporting which I typically manage to do online, and unlike the LTV we may be subject to additional taxation if and when Thailand ever figures out what they are doing in regard to that. But these are minor concerns for me and my wife and we have no regrets. Initially we were offered a pair of 30-year SE Visas but were given a one-time opportunity to switch to the newer 20-year PE visas which we agreed to do. Why? In spite of the 30-year visas having more generous perks and an extra ten years it has to be extended every 90 days. I don't mean the 90-day report. I mean you have to go to immigration and pay 1500 THB each to extend it every 90 days. Thailand Elite will not help with this process if you are a holder of a transferred SE visa. This 90-day extension can be circumvented by leaving the country every 90 days, but we didn't plan to leave the country that often. Secondly the pair of SE visas required a primary member. If the primary member died the secondary member would lose the visa. We thus accepted the offer to switch to the 20-year PE visa which came with Thailand Elite support and yearly extensions. It was equivalent to the EUP version of the Thailand Elite visa that no longer exists and comes with massages, golf, hospital checkups and unlimited airport transfers in BKK, Phuket, Chiang Mai, and Koh Samui for both domestic and international flights. I've noticed a subtle erosion in the quality of some of the benefits, but they are still nice to have, and the primary reason we got the visas is long term living in Thailand, not the perks. We are both "primary members" So if one of us passed away the other won't lose their PE version of the visa. We have the right to transfer them once more, but have no plans to do that and I'm not sure if the next person would be entitled to 20 years or the remaining years. Probably just the remaining years. Covid hit within days of receiving our visa and the country locked down, so it was a miracle we opted for the PE visa and did not need to go to immigration every 90 days. Also all TE members were given an additional 6 months added to the vis aduring Covid (because many people were stuck outside the country and couldn't use it) so it ended up being 20.5 years. I have wondered if I came across another pair of Thailand Elite visas for sale if we could "stack" them. Meaning I'd buy it now and it would become active when our current ones expired (15 years from now) If that were possible, I'd be interested in buying another pair for the right price. I realize one or both of us might die before then but it'd be awesome to keep this up an additional 20 years.

What are the odds Thailand would ban US tourists in response? Has this ever happened? I have no interest in debating geopolitical affairs and focus on trying to get along with people in my neighborhood here in Bangkok. But this flare up has me wondering if they'd ever try to boot Americans out of Thailand? My wife and I (US citizens) have Thailand Privilege visas. We visit the USA every few years but if I had to choose one country to live the rest of my days it would probably be Thailand.

I haven't seen any noteworthy updates to Skype for a few years yet millions still use it. Why not keep it on life support and continue raking in a few hundred million a year? I've searched and found no viable VOIP alternative that allows you to purchase unlimited calling to cell phones worldwide for a reasonable price. A combination of GoogleFi and Wifi calling may be an option. But wifi isn't always available when you need to make a call.

My final conclusion is it'd be less eventful to walk around Bangkok with a star of David necklace and a Keepah than discuss being Jewish in chat forums such as this.

This is my sole complaint about Thailand and why I cannot definitively say life in Thailand is better than my life in the USA. The air pollution is a problem for most of Southeast Asia. I've found areas with high concentrations of motorbikes are the most problematic. Car emissions are significantly lower than years past but motorbikes are still largely unregulated and spewing constant filth. Construction, crop burning and factory emissions are the other usual suspects.

Damn you're right. That was a serious typo that unfortunately I can't correct. Some of the responses have made me think of my wife's experience. She is Laotian and typically mistaken for a Thai person which works to her advantage in Thailand. We were just in Vietnam and nearly every Vietnamese person thought she was Vietnamese. This was less advantageous because they'd start rattling off some Vietnamese which niether of us can speak, though at least it was met with friendly smiles. The one time I was harassed for being Jewish was while I was walking on the Sky Bridge near the Erawan shrine with my wife. I had a short beard and somewhat longer sideburns at that time. Nothing that comes close to Hassidic Jews but that may have made me stand out enough for the two Arabs to exchange words with me. Every other encounter has been minor and the replies in this thread make me think they largely have been some type of misunderstanding or paranoia and I shouldn't worry about them.

I was talking about the 2023 Hamas attacks. If the hostilities I perceived were real I don't consider myself a victim nor am looking to cast any blame, I understand the anger and frustration that conflict has created, but I'm not going to resolve it and mainly want to avoid it so this thread was created to detect how real these hostilities may be in Thailand (mainly Bangkok) and if my appearance alone is enough for people with a grudge to lash out. I'd never thought of myself as looking Jewish until recently and since I don't actively practice the religion have never flaunted it. I would not have thought someone could spot me by "looking Jewish" but some have at least suspect it based on my appearance. I've made a few Youtube videos where people observed I looked like Jerry Seinfeld at last implying I was Jewish. If people are going to make assumptions I wish I was at least a billionaire to fully fit the stereotype. I think having a long face is one giveaway.

Double standards and grievances are coming from both sides. It concerns me too. To be clear I think the Palestinians do have some legitimate grievances and should have their own contiguous piece of land along with freedom of movement within it. There are reasons far more complex than I could explain preventing that but nothing could possibly justify what happened on October 7th with Hamas's gruesome attack. The history and the pain between them and proceeding the creation of Israel is long and twisted with both sides wanting to be justified in their actions and claims. I fully support Jewish people's right to a homeland but I don't unequivocally support or understand every action the IDF takes or the actions many nations take militaristically for that matter. The fog of war gets the best of every country. The bottom line is not every person in any group is all thinking and doing the same thing as part of some grand global conspiracy.

Dumb things like this have happened to me periodically throughout my time in Thailand. I typically let it slide. And yes the recent media focus on anti-Semitism has made me more sensitive to it, perhaps overly sensitive, hence my original question.

Duplicate

the Thai employee put my food on a plate but the Arabic owner pulled him aside and when he came back he put it in a styrofoam container. I had eaten there before when the owner was not there and nothing like that happened. He may have wanted me to leave but I sat there and ate it out of the container. I could see the pile of black plates and the next customer received one. I had not asked for my meal to go.

FWIW I've been a member of this site including the former Thai Visa for 21 years and this is the first time I've mentioned anything about my ethnicity and animosity related to it in Thailand because I never experienced it to this degree before. (Which I know is still trivial but a notable increase)

As an isolated incident it was almost meaningless and I only noticed because of other recent subtle slights and glares.