impulse

Great point about the 20% turnover per year. I'm actually favorable toward the program, admitting that it's not for everyone. Maybe not even for most expats. Since I landed in Thailand in 2011, I've seen a lot of trepidation on the part of expats toward the Elite program, and a lot of changes in fee structures and offerings. But I can't think of anyone who's claimed that they haven't delivered in terms of long term stay. My concern is that they're letting the anomalies from the last 3 years get to their heads, and may be in for a rude awakening when there's no more Russkies and Ukes fleeing a warzone, and the neighbors to the north (where I sit typing this) get past their economic troubles. Of course, either of those may take years to resolve... That's why it would be interesting to see how many of those 35K new members are from those countries. And if I had a wishlist, I'd forgo all the fru-fru for a cheaper program. I don't need a ride to the airport, or expedited clearance, or... or... Just permission to stay without leaving for visa reasons. Being in the 65+ age bracket, I'd probably go with a retirement visa (if they keep those available when I'm ready to decide) But I'd recommend the Elite Visa (or whatever they call it now) to anyone under 50 yo and not married to a local. Partly because I think running a coffee shop under an investment visa would cost a lot more than the Elite Visa, given the coffee shops every 50'. And don't even get me started on the cost of marrying a local if things go south.

Just out of curiosity, you guys taking insulin... How many use the brands specified on the OP linked HHS press release? Fiasp; Fiasp FlexTouch; Fiasp PenFill; NovoLog; NovoLog FlexPen; NovoLog PenFill Another question I have is whether the discounts will accrue to the patients in the form of lower copays, and how much will just be sucked up by the Medicare machine?

Just out of curiosity, under that business model how would they continue providing services once they hit their 20,000 (for example, or even 60,000) target and no longer have new money rolling in? I'd like to think they reserve enough money from each member's one time fees to fund the services they reasonably anticipate. But I suspect those reserve accounts become pretty tempting. As I've often heard from our accountants, "revenue growth hides a ton of sins" What happens when there's no revenue, let alone growth? I perfectly understand trying to dial in the pricing to maximize profits. But not the idea that they want to reach a membership goal and have no interest in getting bigger. Unless, of course, they move to a subscription model that has regular fees. They are always going to need fresh money rolling in.

Whack-A-Mole. Beach Edition.

So, shouldn't someone who's been trying to expose the malfeasance be venerated as a patriot?

No, he answered the question on the eve of a midterm. Not at all the same thing. "We have interfered (in U.S. elections), we are interfering and we will continue to interfere. Carefully, accurately, surgically and in our own way, as we know how to do."

You mean the safest election in US history? The election that people are going to jail for even contesting the results? The one where simply looking into shenanigans is cause to impeach and prosecute your opponent? You can't have it both ways...

More likely to drive up immigration (and tourist) numbers for local countries that are friendlier to longer stays. At some point, it's even cheaper to just fly out once a month for a couple of days. What's 12 months x 5 years x $200 for a long weekend in, say, Vietnam? Or Cambodia, or... or... I get $12,000. Cheaper than the TE, and you get an escape once a month.

Not to worry. Those millions and millions of illegals are going to drive up the wages when they get their work permits. And stifle demand for gub'ment subsidized healthcare. Isn't that the way it works?

Or picking up sticks and moving across a border or 2 to spend their sweaty cash. Those with families will still have the marriage visa (probably). It'll be the single guys between 50 and 60, who are still very mobile...

Do they publish country of origin? Because it seems rather suspicious that the program lost money for about 17 years, then suddenly went profitable just when there are thousands of Ukrainians and Russians willing to pay whatever it takes to dodge their respective drafts. Not to mention the economic SHTF in their neighbor to the north. Edit: My point being that the sudden jump in numbers may just be a transient thing. And jerking the price up then having to come back down is the kind of uncertainty that's always cast suspicion on the program.

Why do I get the sense that what's really going to happen is driving out all the little local vendors, to push the people into the malls they're building.

I wouldn't suggest changing out the glass itself, unless he's contemplating going from single pane to double (or triple) pane glass. But that's a lot of dough. I'd try a film. Relatively cheap, fairly easy, and completely reversible. Not to take the place of curtains, but rather to work with them. Depending on how finicky he is about his view, he may not like the film because it may distort the view of those bikini clad women on the next block.

Classified documents in the garage of someone who didn't have authority to declassify them.

Happens to all of us sooner or later.

Catch me up here. Has anyone determined for sure that he was kissing actual female bargirls... No Adams apple?

While you're looking for curtains, you may want to get your windows tinted to keep the heat out. As roietfortress said, once it's past the glass, it's gonna cause heat issues. If the windows are already tinted, you may want to look for a darker tint.

+1 on the "not draining correctly". On the indoor section(s) of my split units, the drain hoses were plumbed in about 1/4" above the bottom of the drip pan so I always had about 1/4" of standing water in the drip pans. I had to feel around to figure out there was always water in them.

The driver swerved to try to avoid the dogs, causing the truck to hit the store where the unfortunate worker was sitting. I doubt he was wearing a seatbelt.

Give me a over-mellowed pothead over an obnoxious drunk, any day of the week.

I used to really enjoy the piano player they had in the lobby, but I never spent the night there. And that was before Covid, so I don't know if they still do that. Spent a couple of weeks in Bumrungrad for heart bypass and it was pretty enjoyable. The eye candy was impressive. Took my mind off a lot of the worries.

Yeah, if you don't count the number of deaths of otherwise heathy young people by heart damage, and the injuries reported on VAERS and in the literature. Thalidomide came on the market in 1957 and wasn't banned until 1961. Still got some time...

Long term side effects still take a long time to manifest. We don't have a clue what the long term effects of the mRNA vaccines will be. We don't have a clue (for example) about the developmental challenges of kids born since their Moms were treated with the experimental vaccine. Hopefully they'll be minimal. But hoping isn't really a plan. We do know for 100% sure that kids have lost years of educational and social development as a result of last time we went down this slippery slope. How that's going to affect society in the future is anyone's guess. So my buttcheeks pucker when I hear the President recommending that "everyone gets it" when we don't even know what it is yet.

I'm noticing a lack of concrete info here. How hard would it be to post "I pay XXX baht for YYY,YYY coverage from ZZZZ company, and I'm AA years old? Unless everyone tuned in is "self insured"... I recently spoke to 2 guys I used to work with, both long term residents with Thai wives for decades. They're the kind of guys who would shop around. Both in their '70s with significant pre-existing conditions. Each told me they're paying about $1,000 USD for their coverage. I didn't press them on their level of coverage.

I'm crossing my fingers he confirms that I'll still be making bad decision with my little head in 20 years.