55Jay

Archaic, superstitious, anthropomorphic nonsense.

But lucky for those snakes, and the locals, that Dane was on hand to intervene. 

7 hours ago, webfact said:

As April 1st of every year is the Civil Servants’ Day,

I know it's a western thing but ^ that's ^ amusing.  

IMV, a symbiotic relationship between government flunkies and "the people" already exists, primarily as a cost avoidance measure. 

If "the people" never got any benefit from systemic corruption, they wouldn't accept it.  They do and they're careful about throwing the baby out with the bathwater.

My old '78 Jeep CJ5 3-speed. 

But for sheer drivability and comfort, have to say the Ford Bronco. 

Whatever happened to "Not the Nation" ? 

No help to you right now, but noticed State Department Credit Union apparently accepts American Citizens Abroad members, without a US physical address required to open or maintain the account.  I haven't looked into this particular credit union or their procedures, fees, services, etc., but on its face, could be an option for Muricans who are already overseas and need to develop US banking options and/or back ups.

https://www.americansabroad.org/sdfcu-account/

Good luck with Chase, hope you can find a way around the lock out. 

12 hours ago, argoscrete said:

Landlord just increaed water costs per m3 from ฿20 to ฿30. Can this be legal - a 50% increase!

As long as you're out there giving rabies jabs to soi dogs, how about birth control at the same time?  Even a one time effort would create a temporary but welcome "paws" in the never ending breeding cycle. 

The Junta could take inspiration for the campaign by thinking of soi dogs as University student protestors.   Or farang over-stayers.  Soi dogs are probably easier to catch.   A Kingdom-wide Operation Soi Dog would cost about the same as just 1 Chinese tank, but definitely less than a submarine.

23 minutes ago, bwpage3 said:

40 years old.

 

They had a house, car, and motorbike that he torched. (Where was she living when he torched these things?)

 

She obviously had more material possessions than manyThai wives.

 

Had a daughter together.

 

Yet he still got banged up and did himself in?

 

Claims she took everything from him?

 

With a house, car, and motorbike, you have to ask yourself why she decided to take off with their kid?

 

Seems all the materials pieces were in place to give her face and keep her happy?

Well, you know what they say about money and possessions as related to happiness.  Maybe that's what you were alluding to.....

8 hours ago, lvr181 said:

Perhaps all food and drink should be labelled? Just in case. 

Old fella once told me, "We basically eat and drink ourselves to death".   This after he'd had a heart attack and bypass surgery and began minding his diet.

Ah, OK, I don't know anything about that,  so I'll leave it there.

Good luck, cheers.

4 minutes ago, HHTel said:

NO it's not.  It's simply an address check. Nothing sinister about it.

See above post. 

Not suggesting there's anything sinister about it.  Just a bit daft really.

On 2/8/2018 at 12:38 PM, webfact said:

The checks involve officers visiting foreigners at home to ensure they have not overstayed their visa.

I don't suppose it worth a bun fight over but.....  from the OP itself ^. 

I leave the earnings/taxes to someone else, but for moving some money into Thailand from US, I (and other TV members here) use Bangkok Bank. 

You can do on-line internet banking transfers from a US bank/institution to their New York Branch, which makes it a "domestic" transfer.  

Bangkok Bank New York then deposits the funds into your Bangkok Bank account in Thailand, in Baht, converting at the TT rate.   My transfers typically take 48 hours and cost me about $12.00 USD for $2,000 dollars +/-.  Fees are all Bangkok Bank, my US bank doesn't charge for the domestic transfer.

I believe Bangkok Bank has a branch in London that offers a similar procedure. 

http://www.bangkokbank.com/BangkokBank/InternationalNetwork/Pages/Default.aspx

51 minutes ago, jacko45k said:

Most UK banks are all pretty much free, including cards and domestic transfers.

They hit you in the goolies if you accidentally overdraw or ask for any extra statement or block something though... 

I think many go years and years without incurring any charges.....

They charge a bit on over-drafts though....

Overall though I am quite pleased with the service etc with my Thai bank.

The two Thai banks I use do fine for routine things.  Money in, money out generally not a problem. 

Otherwise I dread having to deal with either of them in person.  8/10 times for me over the years, anything remotely non-routine but still "normal" for a bank, turns into a brain numbing ride through the Twilight Zone. 

3 hours ago, jvs said:

Aparently some people do not reside at the address given to the

Immigration Police.

Sure, but that's not the point of the OP.  This is about finding over-stayers.

To that end, Immigration and the Tourist Police might net more "bad guys" if they started with a list of "bad guys", not known "good guys".

But then again, elderly foreigners typically don't run when the cops visit; if they do, it's not very fast.  So they are low hanging fruit for unimaginative jobsworths who might also be dumb enough to think media coverage of tourist police harassing old guys at home in Hua Hin, makes their outfit look good.

7 hours ago, HHTel said:

Typical TV.  90% BS and 10% sensible posts.

Started with a simple report of police doing their job, and doing it politely.

 

Nothing changes here!

I think the cynical point of view stems from the assumption Tourist Police are cooperating with Immigration Police on this effort.   I know they have in my area.

So Tourist Police had to have received a list of foreigner addresses from Immigration's data base.  How else would they know where to go?

One could reasonably presume the Immigration data base print out would also reflect the foreigner's visa/extension status.  So why waste time checking a person who's details are up to date with Immigration, such as the man in the OP? 

8 hours ago, Cheops said:

How much does banking in your home country cost? 200 baht per year is quite low imo!

Does your home country bank charge you for their ATM/Debit card, and an annual fee to use it. 

Lovely spin, and not taking away from him pulling a few things out of the many piles of rubbish Thais dump here, there and everywhere....

But his motivation is most likely purely financial, because his police salary is most likely insufficient.  He could be as straight as an arrow.  Or it could be that Na Pho sub-district isn't bursting with extra earning potential for a motivated Royal Thai Policeman closing in on retirement age. 

47 minutes ago, streetlite said:

OK, thank you everyone, and yes I carry some guilt over this. How do I recognize the good ones from the bad ones though? I appreciate your education.

I wonder..... if you HAD known it was harmless or only mildly venomous, would your wife have smashed it to bits anyway?   

Go on the internet (as you've done) and find out what kind of snake this is.   Read about it, look at photos/videos, which helps imprint it on your memory.  Check out Vern's Thailand Snake site and e-book, and others, to become familiar with the common snakes in your area of Thailand.  You don't need to become a Jungle Jim, but a basic understanding of snakes you might encounter is useful here.
 

That's what I've done and over time, able to ID the common snakes on sight. Having said that, I've never handled a wild snake here, even if I know what it is.  I just move them along, or catch and re-locate to a nearby field/klong area.

Well, Republicans do believe in smaller government. 

^ Wow!  That's one big boy there.

I suppose he would pass through emergency exit of a larger plane, not so sure on smaller aircraft?

Airline employee at check-in desk enforcing weight limit.

Employee:  How much do you weigh , sir/ma'am?

Pax: 299 lbs. 

Employee:  Pfffft!  In your dreams, sugar cheeks!  Step up on this here luggage scale, and let's just see about that bit of fiction, shall we?