ghworker2010

On 8/29/2017 at 6:13 PM, alanferdi said:

Thailand Thailand....Lovely Open country with beautiful landscape and people who do have a heart.

What got me off my rocker was the fact that you were constantly nagged.....Its normal to retire and live a normal lifestyle. But NO...Not in Thailand.

1. You have to go through these 90 day checks...they want to see if you are alive. It has got easier with this govt. but still a hazzle. Why cant they make a digital system and have retirees an ID like in Hong Kong?

2, Then you need to keep 800.000 blocked in a bank and produce receipt of it each year when you go to renew your pension visa.

3.  The constant hackling and having to play games with the immigration officials that seem to make up things as they go along.

 a. No working - Painting your own house or doing some manual work around your own house could put you into position to pay a fine from 50.000Baht. What nonsense is this. A retiree should be able to do the things he loves to do around his own house. Its his property and his money and bloodywell his hobby so what the cracker is this.....Retirement benefits for Thai employment.

b. There are jobs that only Thais can do

c. Farang is always farang and always in the wrong. The legal system does not protect. its only there to make the process a maze to both its own citizen and the rest of the world.

After spending money and making sure of the loops. It seemed to get out of hand and I thought it best to leave the country.

I am presently in Sri Lanka. It costs me 10.000Rs for a Residential visa or Retirement visa. Which is  100$. I can choose my own home, work in it and also be treated as a local. I do not have to jump loops in a circus as in Thailand. And besides most people do speak English and its easy to get about and do the things that I love doing as a retiree.

Happy I left Thailand nothing to loose!!!!

 

Im sorry but painting ones own house is NOT a risk. What are you talking about? This is B.S right?

3 hours ago, jumbo said:

I dont agree with that very broad statement... there are local (some bi lingual) schools even government provided that are  better than the often overpriced international schools and often the international schools give a lesser smooth link towards Thai universities of which some are excellent as well..

 

I agree and if your child is top of the class intellectually then there's a better chance of getting into one of the medical degree's via the 'quota' system thats available at some of the govt schools. 

On 9/12/2017 at 0:17 PM, jumbo said:

Ayutthaya, hands down. Has all you are looking for and still beach and big city around the corner. Interesting places, goood schools and universities around the corner. easy access to anywhere and the river for relaxing moments...

 

how long does it take to get to a nice beach from Ayutthaya city?

With all the tension occurring at the moment in the region, what do you think are the chances of military conflict?? My gut feeling is that there will be war in that region sometime this year. 

Putin seems to think that the U.S and NK are on the brink of war....

http://www.smh.com.au/world/north-korea-and-united-states-on-brink-of-war-warns-vladimir-putin-20170901-gy9dnl.html

I can't see Trump backing down from conflict if NK steps over the line, e.g. if they hit Guam. 

Are there any implications for Thailand if NK detonates a nuclear war head on Guam or South Korea?

There's an old thai couple who own 2 vicious dogs and they live 2 doors up from us. 1 month ago we were sitting on the pubic bench opposite our house with our toddler; and they came running up attacking my dog right in front of use. The next day we went and politely spoke to the lady and gave her 2 chains. We asked if she could chain them up prior to opening her front gate. It worked for about a week and then things returned to normal with the dogs running out on the street everyday- mostly down to our front gate.

This morning I accidentally left the gate open a bit after taking my dog for a walk. 30min later the 2 dogs were inside my yard attacking my fury friend. The wife ran out there with a stick and got them out and the old lady was complacent at her gate doing <deleted> all. 

Ive had enough and want to take the police to the front gate this afternoon. They need a warning. I don't want to have to worry about my toddler or my dog being attacked inside my front yard. If I have to I will pay an attorney to write a letter of warning. 

Does anyone know what are our rights here? What is the law regarding this issue? I will go up to the station with the wife and let her deal with them but what is the go there. Are we going to have to make a donation for 2 of them to come with us to the woman's house?

Needless to say, majority of Thai people are absolutely clueless and hopeless when it comes to dogs. I'm not saying anything new here. This is amazing thailand. 

Personally I would never use a Thai exchange. I would only use a U.S based one for sure. 

I've been doing a lot of research and investigation in the last week or so. I was clueless like OP at that time but now more knowledgeable. 

In principle it's considered safer not to keep money in the exchanges.

Bitcoin works with addresses. You send and receive money from/to addresses. For an address to be yours, you have to have the private key for that bitcoin address.

When you open an account with an exchange, what happens is they manage the address for you. This means they hold the private key, not you. So when you buy/sell cryptocurrency on an exchange, everything you buy goes into a Bitcoin address controlled by the exchange. On some occasions, there's a fine print or policy or something like that that can screw you out of your money. For example, what if you get banned from Kraken for whatever reason? What happens to your money then? It's a gray area. These things do happen.

The normal way people get around this is to trade on the exchanges, and then withdraw the cryptocurrency balance to a wallet that you control.

A wallet is basically software that lets you manage your private key, to access a bitcoin address (and send/receive coins with that address).

However Bitcoin Cash is still new created after the fork 1st Aug. The wallets don't seem very mature. Also, because Bitcoin Cash is a fork of Bitcoin, there is no error message if you try to send Bitcoin Cash to a Bitcoin (not Bitcoin Cash) address - in that situation, you simply lose what you sent!

In addition, there are currently some issues if you install a Bitcoin (Bitcoin Core) wallet and a Bitcoin Cash wallet on the same machine.

Ive read so many dodgy stories about exchanges and wallets. Heres an interesting one about Jaxx wallet:

https://www.cryptocoinsnews.com/users-report-losing-400000-due-to-jaxx-wallet-vulnerability/

I can't believe that a CTO would say: '' Please please please, if you do not feel comfortable with our security model do not use our products. We’re are creating for the masses a multi-platform, multi-coin interface for the blockchain ecosystem where users are in full control of their digital lives.''

_____________

Its like he is saying its not his problem. Completely rogue if you ask me. 

Ive also read not to use a 'cloud' wallet at all as theres too much risk of hacking. 

I hope that helps OP

No one has answered the question yet.... Where can one buy the new Bitcoin Cash instrument created by the fork on 1st August. Or is everyone as clueless about this as me?

On 8/3/2017 at 7:55 AM, chingching said:

I hope you take no offense, because no offense is meant, but if you need to ask that question,  then perhaps you should not be investing in crypto currencies.  Currently btc-cash ( ticker BTH (for the most part))  is traded on many major exchanges, bittrex, kraken, bitfinex.   You can see a list of markets at https://coinmarketcap.com/ ( general information )  

https://coinmarketcap.com/currencies/bitcoin-cash/   coin specific info

https://coinmarketcap.com/currencies/bitcoin-cash/#markets  markets

currently in alphabetical order:
BTER
Bitcoin Indonesia
Bitfinex
Bittrex
CoinExchange
Coinfloor
Cryptopia
HitBTC
Kraken
Liqui
Novaexchange
Quoine
Stocks.Exchange
The Rock Trading
ViaBTC
YoBit
 

Your reply is somewhat patronizing and borderline vague. After reading your answer I thought that you actually don't know much about it yourself but your good at copying and pasting links. The reason for this thread is bc I read somewhere that the new Bitcoin cash (created by the fork) can only be traded on the futures markets. 

To make the question more specific can you provide me with a website where I can buy Bitcoin cash (i.e. an exchange). Obviously coinbase will not provide this functionality on their systems until the 1st Jan next year. 

I would be grateful if you can provide me with the information I require. Im a non U.S citizen and thus don't have access to the above I think. 

4 hours ago, psyvolt said:

Hyperbole much...

 

Sunday rates were only cut for a select few industries (which I still don't agree with, but it wasnt a cut across the boards)

Energy costs are not the highest in the world, far from it, and neither are fuel costs. Where did you get this rubbish from???

Food prices are high, but again not anywhere near the highest in the world and comparing it to two areas are silly, but then again - you also fail to mentiom Australians have one of the highest weekly wage earnings.

Good that the gov finally put the GC spit issue to bed. Dragged on far too long.

Unemployment rampant- compared to what? It's actually low (5%). So again, your whinge has no basis. Which also goes for your drug rant. 

Your whole post is nothing more then alikely baseless pathetic rant.

Come on... The energy prices are absolutely expensive and unregulated. It was in the news a few weeks ago about another 20% price rise. 

14 minutes ago, Rancid said:

Mind you if you want to cash in on the housing bubble while there is still time may not be a bad idea to do so now.

 

I recently sold my house at a ridiculous price and downsized to a nice waterfront townhouse with very low body corporate. Cashed me up nicely and I even prefer the new place.

 

The only thing you can be sure of is that future governments see expats as a small unimportant voting block so will happily go after them.

The last sentence is exactly right. But its extremely unfair to treat ozzies like this who have been paying taxes all their life. 

5 minutes ago, carlyai said:

Why can't the expat become a resident again before they se'll the house?
I'm pretty sure they can't stop a nonresident from becoming a resident again.

Sent from my SM-J700F using Tapatalk
 

Yes this is a valid point. Maybe don't sell it in the next 12 months but hold it until after you return. In which case its still 100% taxable (under the existing post 8 May 2012 AU property CGT rules) but pro-rata recognition of prior residency SEEMS to be permitted but I cannot yet confirm this. The document isnt in the public domain (yet) and I want to see the full copy. The 2019 rule could also take it away !!)

5 minutes ago, carlyai said:

I don't know much about these things, but wouldn't they be trying to stop say Chinese investors buying up Australian properties, and then after a time selling them?
These people are only investing and driving up the house prices, then selling for big profits.


Sent from my SM-J700F using Tapatalk
 

maybe, but the average joe blow living in Thailand will be hit by this harsh new revenue raising tax law:

The proposed law is far worse than I envisoned. Its a "drop dead tax" and needs careful consideration..

1. At the TIME OF SALE if the vendor is a non-resident for tax purposes they would be incapable of access to:
a. The main residence exemption for past property use
b. The main residence eabsence rule allowing up to 6 yaers of exemption and
c. The general 50% CGT concession. eg at present a valuation at 8 May 2012 is allowed to partially protect loss of grandfathered gains

If your an ozzie living in Thailand and you own a house back home.... the nanny state government are drafting a new tax law where you will lose your CGT exemption if you sell after the 30th June 2019. 

http://www.smh.com.au/business/property/skewering-expats--youll-lose-the-capital-gains-tax-exemption-on-your-home-20170802-gxnk9f.html

I can't believe this government or maybe I can. They are so anti expats / or any Australians who want to live abroad. Maybe you have been paying taxes all your life in oz and want to retire in Thailand and change your tax status to be a non resident of oz at the ATO.... you will be stung by this new rule. 

Time to put your PPOR on the market? You have 1 yr. 

Australia has gone to the dogs. You couldn't pay me to live there. Screwed up govt run by old dinosaurs driven by revenue raising goals. 

I've been watching the bitcoin price to see if it would crash after 1st Aug. This is when the fork in the chain happened. Coinbase are not supporting the new Bitcoin cash. Does anyone know how to invest in BCC?

http://fortune.com/2017/08/01/bitcoins-new-currency-trades-above-200-on-first-day/

You can't believe everything you read online but this journo writes the following:

https://www.cnbc.com/2017/07/31/bitcoin-to-surge-nearly-80-percent-to-5000-standpoints-moas-predicts.html

This analyst could have his head up his ...ss and thus might be completely wrong. But what if he is right.....

Thanks

24 minutes ago, Crossy said:

Often quoted here, rule one of driving in Thailand, don't stop for someone else's accident.

 

Besides the bike taxi behind me did stop and there is a group of concerned citizens heading across the bridge towards the sound of lotto numbers.

 

And, my Thai really isn't good enough to call the emergency services.

 

Poor excuse. As if they are going to see this thread on tvisa.com.  This bad karma will catch up with you mr moderator. 

Can you recommend a newly built hotel in Korat? Any location in Korat is ok. 

thanks

I find the noisy motorbikes that have the muffler tweaked to create the loud roar bloody annoying. Why do the thai bogans have noisy bikes like this. It it a feeling of power. Some of them are incredibly loud and annoying. They should be banned in my opinion. 

Whinge is now over. 

I want to download the new movie 'hampstead' but pirate bay doesn't have it. Can anyone recommend another good torrent site for me?

thanks

5 hours ago, speedtripler said:

I am the OP... 

I find it amusing that those people decided to spread misinformation about btc back in the day instead of educating themselves.... 

 

Every second post in those days was calling it a scam or a ponzi or worthless or unlimited when it was never any of those things to begin with.... 

 

I have no problems with anyone who buys metals, but metals are not going to be the money of the future, they will still have value but the lack the other property's which give CryptoCurrency  advantages going forward 

 

 

With any investment you make the money when you buy- assuming you bought it cheap. This goes for bitcoin,  property, shares etc. 

I raised a thread on this forum 2 yrs ago about Facebook ('Invest in Facebook and double your money in 2 yrs'). We are living in the golden age of digital advertising..... I knew that I was onto a winner back then and have nearly doubled my money as I predicted in that thread. I still believe it has a long way to go and will not sell.

I didn't go for bitcoin years ago as it was unregulated and too risky. Obviously I regret that decision now but you win some and lose some. I had a friend who put everything into BHP yrs ago in the mining boom in oz. He sat on it and rode to the top and made a fortune. We can all get lucky sometimes!

Are crypto currencies really going to be the money of the future? Why would I use it rather than the security of my visa card / bank? Who knows....

On 6/23/2017 at 11:04 AM, HooHaa said:

first of all, i wasn't speaking directly of the OPs wife, i was just weighing in with my opinion on the general situation. the loss of nested quotes on the forum often spins these discussions out of context.

 

independence doesn't mean a severance of ties to their family it means a commitment to the new family and the ability to move forward with a new partner. The ability to make decisions that look froward look and are not heavily or unduly  influenced by ma and .

 

Family loyalty is all good, but people marry to have families of their own and if one partner is always looking back, its pointless.

I'm the OP and have read most of the responses thus far. The above comment was valid to me because its the way I think as well. All I want to do is to move forward with my own new family. We can still visit her family every 2 months or whatever. Im not in the poor house like so many have assumed. Im not a deadbeat either like it was suggested 8 pages back. I simply don't want to live in an old dust bowl city just bc her family are here. Where we are intending to move to has better hospitals, food, good schools and beaches. My intuition tells me that the transition will be tricky to start with but in the long run it will work out ok. 

Back to this thread. The upper pain has happened now around 6 times always after consuming fatty food.

I had an ultrasound at the local hospital in the sticks but didn't know I was supposed to fast before it. Anyways to dr said 'from what he could see' he couldn't see any gall stones. He took a look at the pancreas and said it looked normal. He also had a look at the liver and kidney both sides. He said the liver and kidney both had cysts on the left side only. 

The gastro dr said its probably just heart burn / acid in the stomach.  He suggested that I should have a gastro scope (I think). He said he would have to put a tube down my throat into my stomach. I declined as I know I would not be able to do this unless under general anesthesia. 

Its unpleasant being waking up at 2am with severe upper body pain that only goes away when I sit up for half an hour and take the heart burn medicine. 

Am I best to just monitor this and see how it goes. If I had done the ultrasound on an empty stomach at Bummers in bkk I think I would feel better about the prognosis. I will see how it goes for another 12 months I suppose. Do you agree?

7 minutes ago, Retiredandhappyhere said:

As your wife appears to be the main bread-winner with a good career and would clearly miss her family if you moved away "to the sea", I think you should stay where you are.  Your family could be worse off if your wife could not find such a well-paid position and she would undoubtedly, as a poster suggested, want to visit her family often, either with you or alone, in addition to which they might want to stay with you occasionally, which could present accommodation problems.  

 

Living near the sea always sounds great but many people who do so, rarely visit the beach after the initial attraction wears off and most would not want to swim in the heavily polluted waters in some locations.  I would advise that you confine yourself to occasional visits to beach resorts for holidays etc. and keep your wife happily living close to her family and present job.  If she were to end up by moving to a less satisfying job and to missing her family terribly, she would always tend to blame you for what she might consider as your selfish action in "making" her move.

 

I developed a good career in the UK and my wife, two kids and I enjoyed a pretty good relationship and lifestyle, but that did not prevent her going off with a guy she had only known for a few months after 37 years of marriage, with the excuse that I "worked too hard", even though for the last 22 years I worked from home. It was no consolation to me at all, when after two years, the divorce and the equal division of the proceeds of all our assets, including our home and my business and future pensions, she wanted to return as she had "made a terrible mistake".  This is, of course, nothing like your own position, but it does illustrate how easily you can be blamed for trying to do what you believe is best for your family.

 

thats a good story. did you take her back? i hope not

17 minutes ago, joecoolfrog said:

Phuket is vastly overdeveloped but it is a big Island and still has some nice spots , I would take it any time rather than an Isaan dustbowl village.

Frankly a lot of members ( not all ) talk nonsense about the island and I suspect would love to live there if they could afford it. Not having a dig at you in any way , just a general reflection on what I consider to be an unfair stereotype.

You couldn't pay me to live in Phfucket. Its full of Thailands worst low life aggressive thais. I would rather live in Issan than that hole anyday because the people are better. There are so many better locations than ugly Phuket