impulse

I don't know about Thailand, but it was almost impossible in the USA to rent a car with a debit card, even with a very healthy balance. When I checked into Bumrungrad for my bypass, they asked for a credit card to guaranty payment and would not accept a debit card. That was before my insurance (European company, time zone thing) verified my cover and my employer sent someone to the hospital to guarantee payment on top of that.

Wow. That's got to attract the best and the brightest. Is that a provisional wage that gets boosted after a probationary period, or does it increase in ridiculously small percentages each year? And is it even possible to live on that in most of the UK, especially urban areas? Thailand's a perfect example of what happens when you don't pay your police a living wage. And not in a good way...

The linked graphic explains a question I had about the sign on their shop in Kanchanaburi that said 18,000 and some Thai script. I was wondering if that was the starting price or a discount. They had some great looking e-scooters, which I'm a big fan of, having bought and used several here in China and in Bangkok. I passed the K-Buri shop after closing hours so I didn't get to shop. I'm wondering if a 1000 watt motor would be adequate for grocery getting around town. They seem to get pretty spendy above the 1000 watt motor. I'd never want to be tempted to take it on a road trip because I'm a skeerdy cat. Just around town (If I do decide to retire to LOS). Also, if the lower end 1000 watters are licensable... Edit: Here in China, I have a 750 watt NIU U-Sport (love it), which is perfectly adequate for the dedicated bike lanes. I'm wondering about real world city traffic with 1000 watts.

Good info... That's a shame because 10 years ago, it was a great place to find whatever you need under one roof. It wasn't generally cheap, but one stop shopping beat slogging all over Bangkok to find that one item (for me, it was a set of grips for my 2000 baht 2nd hand Callaway lefties). While I was there, I spent quite a bit of time perusing, coming from a family with 2 golf course superintendents as brothers. Like you, I wasn't impressed with the staff but that's not hard to understand since I doubt many Thai's start golfing as kids like back home. I wonder if Covid took the wind out of their sales? Off topic, but on a related note... Is Pantip computer mall back, and any good? It went into the toilet when they renovated it, and I haven't been back since Covid. I've done my tech shopping at Fortune Town and Chinatown because of easier access to the MRT.

Immi does those things to stop the scammers. That's the opposite of making life easier for the rest of us. On one hand, you're complaining about the effects of the clampdown, and then you're advocating more clampdown.

They don't affect the quality of my life one iota. I'd rather see them focus on the ones that actually misbehave.

That's not a negotiation.

Sure they do. Wars are an absolute boondoggle for the MIC, the donor class, and politicians. Ordinary citizens and children, not so much.

I'm not disagreeing. I don't claim to know. What's the basis for that statement?

What on earth would that be? My favorite was the lady showing off both sets of lips. Her shorts were cut so short we got what Ray Stevens referred to as a free shot.

If you do find yourself in Bangkok, off Silom near the Sala Daeng BTS there's a whole building of golf shops where you can find shafts, grips, clubs, whatever. It's been years since I was there, but I'm sure someone can chime in with the building name. I wanna say it's Thaniya Plaza, but that may not be right.

Almost a year ago, I did the same at K-Bank with a new passport and expired debit card. It went smoothly, but it took almost 2 hours, and that after waiting 30 minutes in the queue. I hope my experience was "special", but I'd suggest carving out a good block of time. Especially if the OP is American, with our KYC requirements.

I'd be curious what the OP's immigration history is. Last week, I entered Thailand visa exempt for the 12th time in the past 12 months, and it was all smiles and less than a minute. I fly in, stay a week and fly out. It resets the 30 day clock on my China visa. My buttcheeks always pucker up a little on both ends of the visa run, so I'm interested in what folks have done (if anything) to merit the extra scrutiny. BTW, US citizen, 67 yo, worked in Thailand on BOI WP for 7 years and haven't had a Thai visa since. Just exempt entries by air. (One by land when I pursued a wild hair to take the train from Kuala Lumpur to Bangkok- never again) Edit: I also wonder how close the posters are to being denied entry when they post about extra scrutiny, and being curious I always wonder how they dressed on the day. I see guys and gals I'd ban just for bad taste and disrespectful apparel.

This week flew to China on one of their airlines after booking the ticket on Orbitz. I was meticulous about selecting a flight that included one free checked bag plus a carry on. Still got hit up at the gate agent for just over 4000 baht for my one bag, claiming my ticket didn't include a bag. I need to contact Orbitz to see whether that was true or not. (My 12th flight to China this past year, and the first where I had to pay extra for a checked bag.) In any case, the gate agent had no card swiping machine so I had to go to an ATM and withdraw cash. Not a huge deal, but a PITA, and a cautionary tale. Carry some local currency in case things don't go like you planned. I had plenty of USD and RMB, but since I was on my way out of Thailand, I only had a couple of thousand baht cash. Lesson learned.

You mean like that video where Biden himself says "Son of a bitch, the guy got fired"? (I'm paraphrasing) Betcha Obama had a cow when he heard that.

Is it mostly foreign tourists or is it Thai tourists? I've never been to Samui, but I recall several weekend jaunts (Pilok mostly) absolutely packed with Thai tourists and hardly a foreigner to be seen.

As I recall, the infrastructure bill passed. Was there even a whiff of money in there earmarked for this particular bridge? Or was it all rainbows, bullet trains, electric buses, DEI, and other wet dreams?

Nice dancing. But my claim was that Biden got paid $8 million for a book deal and then read classified information to his ghostwriter for that book. I'll refer you to that AP link that he got paid $8 million, and to the Hur report that he read secrets to the ghostwriter. That the Biden DOJ didn't choose to recommend charging Biden is another topic for another thread. And, BTW, Reagan was president. So was Trump. So Hur actually skipped a cog when he brought up Reagan. It's not been decided whether a former senator or VP has the same privilege to personal classified records. Biden just assumed...

Where did I say that one party is purer? Of course it's on both sides. That's the swamp that Trump is always calling out. And why so many Repubs are against Trump. Not to mention the millions of unelected bureaucrats whose jobs are on the line. The only way out is to elect leaders who are not career politicians, who have real life skills so they can find a job when they pass term limits. (Fat chance of that). Elected officials need to serve the public then go out an live in the world they created. Looking at the choices in 2024, which candidate isn't a career politician and could make a living outside the Beltway? I know it's a small chance he can bring reform, but a small chance is better than none.

You really need to read the report... To our knowledge, no one has identified any classified information published in Promise Me, Dad, but Mr. Biden shared information, including some classified information, from those notebooks with his ghostwriter. at least three times Mr. Biden read from classified entries aloud to his ghostwriter nearly verbatim. He had no legal authority to do so, and his retention of these materials, and disclosure of classified information from his notebooks to his ghostwriter, risked serious damage to America's national security. Mr. Biden's decision to take home notebooks knowing that as a whole they contained classified information, and then read verbatim notes from national security meetings to his ghostwriter-recognizing those notes were at least potentially classified-counts squarely in aggravation. I refer you to the Hur report these were quoted from, which has been linked ad nauseum, yet some folks don't bother reading. They just parrot what CNN and MSDNC tell them is in the report.

OP doesn't mention his nationality, which may make a difference, especially if he's American. Which is neither here nor there if he is planning on using an agent. They should know what KYC requirements may cause issues. Please post back with your results. And let us know how they're handling the million baht for tax purposes. Though I doubt we'll know for sure until it's time to do the annual reporting to the Revenue Department, next year.

There used to be a couple of posters on here who knew a website that estimated the revenue stream of various YouTubers, Facebookers, TikTok'ers, etc. They estimated based on the number of views, country, etc. I never really cared enough to make the effort myself, but it was sometimes interesting to see that some nimrod was pulling down big bucks on what I thought was a hobby at best.

Getting the visa is the tough part where all the questions will be asked. I doubt there will be any issues at the border. I would make sure she has an exit flight within the limits of her stay, which I think is 6 months. Or she could always fly into Tijuana, walk across with the crowds and turn herself into the Border Patrol claiming asylum. They'll give her a court date in a few years, a smartphone, and a flight to the Dem city of her choosing. Choose her destination wisely and she'll get free accommodations and a monthly stipend. I think they're also issuing permission to work in the USA, but not if they enter legally. Edit: FWIW, the agency we hired to help get my Thai friend a visa to come visit me in Texas suggested she leave my name completely out of the process. Said it would not benefit her, and may harm her chances. She did, and she had no problems. She spent a week with me before heading off to parts unknown in Lost Wages and California to visit family. She returned to Thailand well within her 6 month window and about a year later I got a series of LINEs from her on the east coast, from Florida to NYC to Niagara Falls.

When did peddling influence and selling classified information become legitimate? Who said it made it into the book? Biden gave out classified information to his ghost writer. It's documented in the Hur report. Whether it made it into the book(s) or not isn't relevant.

I agree with the self defense aspect. But a guy should never hit his wife twice. He needs to leave her after the first time he has to defend himself physically.