gk10012001

18 hours ago, Bruno123 said:

I had the same feeling when staying at the Siam Bayshore end of Walking Street some fifteen to twenty years ago. That whole area, including Bali Hai, had a completely different feel to it. Palm trees swaying in the breeze. Very pleasant and relaxed. Now Bali Hai is just a mess of concrete. Absolutely horrible.

Yes.  My first visit was in 2004.   I had photos of flower beds in the walkway on the north end of Beach road.  It was beautiful.  That bali Hai concrete overhaul is nonsense

Gold, as any other physical holding, pays not dividend, no interest while you hold it.  One only makes money if the price of the Gold increases above what you paid for it.  Now, had one bought Gold in 2004 at say $400 an ounce one would have made 3 or 4 times their investment within the next 9 years.  Then Gold dipped and rose again.  Your money could easily be dead money for many years and earning nothing.  Interest rates are likely to rise.  Global stability is a <deleted> shoot.  So up to you to try and hold for ten years in hopes of doubling or tripling your investment.  Or invest in things that return 7 % which will double over 10 years as an example.  I gave up trying to predict things to any great extent and just took the brute force approach. Since I was working, I could save quite a bit every month and every year and I just kept pouring money into dividend and interest paying Funds, a few stocks, tax free Municipal bonds in the appropriate account, etc.  I think most people fail miserably at trying to buy low and sell high.  Even if they time it right, they rarely sell at the high point.  They keep holding and hoping it rises some more, but it doesn't and they give back much of their gains

13 hours ago, Swiss1960 said:

Yep, face saving BS in full display. Shame on the Swiss ambassadress to attend such a nonsense-event, there are more important things to do for you.

Makes no sense even after my 15 trips to that country.  That woman had nothing to do with the case.  If Thailand thinks this saves face for Phuket or Thailand, well, I think they need a better cultural attache' to help explain Western cultures and perceptions to them

4 hours ago, BusyB said:

Should there even be U-turns?

 

They seem to be at the center of so much carnage ...

In many situations no, there should not be U turns.  Roads in the USA often have signs at the intersections saying No U turn.  Dangerous intersection, blind spots or whatever.  Of course the mentality of going down the road one or two Kms before finding a safe road to turn down or a station to pull into and then pull out of and reverse direction would be too alien to most Thais thinking

In the USA it is getting to the point where most drivers have their smart phone mounted on the dash or just to the side of it and are always displaying something. It might just be the moving map showing and barking out directions.  I have a SUV and I sit up higher than many cars and I can see the people's phone displaying some program, or video, or news or whatever. All easy distractions.  My phone is in my pocket when I drive.  When I drive, I drive.  I have seen too many accidents and even had two cars totaled by others that just simply drove into me so I make it a point to focuse on the task at hand.  50 years of driving come next year and I have not caused any accidents and have avoided quite a few by being aware, looking ahead, and glancing around and in the rear view mirror to keep an eye on things that might be coming up on me fast, etc

22 minutes ago, ChrisKC said:

What I find odd about most serious accidents is no mention of anyone (mainly police) appealing for witnesses. It would be very unusual for there to be only the two vehicles involved to be around at that time and place, particularly following traffic that might have seen something "unfolding" resembling something going to happen!

nobody wants to get involved.  The way the Thai courts work, and the way out of court settlements work, witnesses are often harassed or threatened or cajoled or if a Hi society person is involved in the accident or some official, they definitely may prefer to see nothing

7 hours ago, tracker1 said:

That is no slow vehicle impact !

Yeah, not slow for sure.  The U turn guy made a bad thing, but the pickup was not paying enough attention or he would have seen the truck

5 hours ago, WISteve said:

That sounds pretty Ozzie & Harriet to me, hahaha.

    Some of us grew-up poor white trash in rural America with a single parent who was more interested in where the next bottle was coming from than the education of the seven kids. Didn't stop most of us with five of us getting college degrees working part time during the school year/full time in the summer while attending a state university.

 

   I have nothing but respect for the ladies who work a few weeks in the bar between terms or take a semester off to finance their education.  But twelve years in the bar is just a poor career choice; a life full of addictions with no light at the end of the tunnel.  The young pretties can always find someone who will finance them but the smart ones don't hang around very long.  The ladies who stay too long will eventually go back home too but with a closet full of old clothes and a heart full of broken promises.  Some will view this drastic downturn as an opportunity to learn other skills that will support them in their later years.  The writer of the original article didn't bother to follow others who make the choice to get out of the trade and do something positive with their lives.

Yes I agree.  I was kind of ozzie and Harriet.  Born in 57.  My intent was that the odds favor certain things.  If one is born into Kensington Avenue in Philadelphia, PA to a drug mom, well...  Few parents know what they are doing when they raise kids.  With luck, the parents will eat well, make the kids somewhat aware of physical fitness.  Keep books around the house to stimulate curiosity.  Maybe picture books of dinosaurs, butterflies changing from eggs, to larva to cacoons then beautiful adults, leave a big dictionary out somewhere.  I remember growing up and on days when it was raining or snowing outside I would browse the book case where my parents had some books.  A round of golf with Tommy Armour was a great read because it discussed thinking and strategy on a golf course.  To me, that was eye opening, not just because it helped a golf game, but because it even had the words strategy and the idea of how planning can increase the odds of better things happening.  Some history books, some geography or world Atlas books.  Some travel books.  Many other topics.  Anything except Smurf cartoons, mindless MTV reality shows or the Thai equivalents.  Play board games that require some thinking.  I remember playing Gin with my grandfather and he wallopped my ass as he would knock and I would have like 40 points in my hand.  I was about 12.  Sadly in Asia cards usually mean gambling but we did not gamble.  we later played cribbage in junior high and high school.  Fun game.  We just played to win.  Never gambled or even considered it.  The idea is to try an steer your kids towards something.  Make them curious.  Of course they may learn things and ideas you do not like!  They may reject Christianity and prefer a mild Buddhism.  They may decide to go vegetarian and no longer eat the meat meal you slaved to prepare.  And a myriad other things they may end up trying or doing.  Confucious saying "Do unto others as your would have them do unto you".  Try to teach fair play.  Sadly if the kid is bullied they may not turn the other cheek and instead will become bullies.  Anyway, I love Thailand.  I miss Thailand.  I have been 15 times since 2004 and I am ready and able to semi retire there as I am done working.  Just waiting a bit more to see how the country handles COVIDs and travelers

35 grams of heroin.  Over one ounce.  I wish they would follow up on these stories, get to a higher up distributor if the Nigerian or Thai rat them out, etc.

9 hours ago, Sheryl said:

 

Conversely, there is a wealth of evidence that viral infections can have long term (even life long) consequences and mounting evidence that long term effects from COVID occur in something like 20 - 30% of people. Including those whose infections were mild or even symptomatic.

a valid point.  This is why it is too soon to draw any firm conclusions about COVID or its treatments or related things.  Barely heading to two years since first mainstream

12 hours ago, 3NUMBAS said:

you have more chance of a lottery jackpot than  getting side effects that will kill you or even make you ill just a tad

What lottery?  I think Power ball is like 150 million to 1.  So be precise if you are going to talk about probabilities

15 hours ago, Chomper Higgot said:

Feel free to wait, but don’t encourage others in your ‘poker game’.

 

COVID holds a ‘Royal Flush’ and the stakes are death.

 

 

 

 

Who said I was waiting?  Once again, you are one of those nits that makes incorrect conclusions.  And your fear mongering accomplishes nothing.  The mortality rate of COVID is less than any severe flu season.  Yes the old, the weak, the sick, those with pre existing conditions are hit the worst.  That is the same as has always been and will continue to be the plight of the human race.  Get used to it

On 8/11/2021 at 3:42 PM, blackcab said:

If the owner does not have a Thai bank account then are they present in Thailand?

 

If they are not, who is going to register your TM30? If it is going to be you, will you be able to get a signed copy of any necessary documents, such as the owners ID or the condo blue book?

 

Or is the owner able to register your TM30 online?

 

There are so many units for rent I would steer clear of any with obvious issues.

And that is just one form.  I have read for some extensions they want some additional Landlord information...

5 hours ago, cdemundo said:

Did you read the article?

Yes I did.  And if you want to take :"Goepfert opinion, then fine, up to you.  These RNA type of vaccines have not been around as long as other vaccines. So categoricaly saying there are no long term effect to worry about, is theoretical, until a long term period has passed.

3 hours ago, Kinnock said:

First vaccine uses in 1796 - think I'll take my chances.

 

And new type of vaccines tested more than the originals.

 

A tested, inactive vaccine versus a wild virus that mutates regularly, represents very different levels of long term risk, and all vaccines look to significantly reduce the chances of serious illness with minimal risk.

Few of that is true for the COVID vaccines. 

I don't think you need to leave the country.  But you are expected to be at the BKK airport and that is where you are met and then walked over to immigration and get the Elite stamp and stuff.  I am not sure what to do if you have an existing O A visa or extension already.  I am pretty sure you can not have two types of visas at the same time, so you need to check on how to cancel that OA right when you get the Elite Visa.  I am 99% sure there is no "conversion" from one to the other as they really are quite different.

I suggest the Long Term effects are not really known yet, as the vaccines have not been out for what most people would consider a long amount of time.  All that is known, to be precise is the data collected since the first COVID vaccines were administered.  If one considers that a long term amount of time, well, so be it. 

1 hour ago, Grusa said:

Could it be that Stamford Raffles had the right idea, all those years ago?

 

Colonise the bloody place.

 

(no I don't mean colonoscopy, that's different, but mind you they might keep their grey cell up there, it sure isn't in their brain case.)

I don't know about that, but I did appreciate the reference to Sir Raffles so I read up on him a bit.  Interesting historical figure and time.

OK, so sandbox people are not a virus issue.  Now what?  Is there an exit plan or strategy?