chingmai331

I clicked on the site supported by carlos baber.  That GPS is totally made in china, next door to huawei mobile.

They do not need to know where i am going, nor been.

Obesity is a known contributor to knee problems. 

Kiradech is fat, no doubt.  But he is also a cigarette smoker and those are deeply avoided by the telly producers.  Kids, esp Thai kids, do not need to watch 'heroes' pufffing away on a smelly cigarette while indulging in sport.

But, Kiradech did collect 1, 700,000 Thai baht for his efforts to gain tied for 32nd place. I'd not turn it down!

Even Duval, shooting 27 OVER par for 2 days collected nearly 200,000 Thai baht.

Coffee expensive in T'land?  I cannot agree. Any import coffee subject to high tax, transport charges, etc.  Local grown, CM Province, Arabica coffee is of good quality and well priced, for me.

I always, nearly so, go to Hillkopf and snap up a 500 gram bag of beans and have the shop grind it.  Often i choose a different variety or roast i've not tried before  to vary my experience but i always choose grind #11. The bag lasts about 1 month.

Supermarket ground coffee always too finely ground for my needs so i get the beans ground up to fat particles. Keep the cost low, avoid machines and filter papers; make the coffee fast, simple and hot every morning. 

Dump the wet grounds into the toilet.  

Let me also say that, in general, we folks of habit can habituate to any taste so if your taste is high cost, slow, and cold morning coffee, so be it. 

Well, appreciate your response but hardly any room for handicap cheating with System 36 method.  Everyone starts at zero and your play that day only determines your net score.

If the caddy keeps the score card, and honestly records, then no problems.  The thing is  even 4 eagles over 18 holes is no better than 4 pars. These tourneys are very low key and hardly cost more, given all the food, beer, prizes given, than an ordinary round of golf.

Currently playing the Northern Thailand golf festival, 6 or 7 courses around town. All are using the System 36 handicap method to determine 'winners', etc since many players have no established handicap and some may sandbag extensively (claim high HC but in fact single digit players; a form of cheating).

As i read the game is similar to Stableford but holes count all the same in difficulty and bogeys get one point, par or better 2 pts. No other considerations. Double bogeys = nothing.

But in the end the committee figures out Flight A, B and C.  How they do this is not clear and even after the scores are posted, very little is clear.  One might think simply add your points, subtract from 36 = your handicap.  Gross - handicap = net score.

As far as my score, the tally sheet was far different. Most data, except numbers, in Thai.  

Does anyone have good info on this handicap method as practiced in Thailand?

Hey, maybe the Thais want only healthy, younger type retirees, like those age 50-58 coz those chaps visit brothels more frequently than older, sickly expat guys thus insuring a good brown envelope for the local cop.

TallJohn speaks true.  But bear in mind that such wire transfers, from any USA sender to Bangkok Bank NYC, might need to come thru the Brokerage account, not the bank checking account.

I 'chatted' with Schwab and was told that to make domestic bank checking wire transfers to International bank (BKK in NYC) i would need more paperwork at Schwab, which may include lots of info i'm not sharing.

So as far as i can tell, this will be my future money sending plan. Transfer $ from CapOne bank, USA, to Schwab bank, checking to checking.  Then transfer $ from Sch bank to Sch brokerage, then wire transfer from brokerage account to my Bangkok Bank, NYC, account.  All this at no charge.

Or use Schwab debit card at local ATM machines. All ATM fees reimbursed by Schwab.

Quote

 

I live in a rented room in a hotel.  My girl friend comes to visit me for 2 weeks from HK, arrives on a  tourist stamp. Since she is not a paying guest at the hotel, the hotel mgnt does not care and has no responsibility.  

Neither she nor i have ever been questioned by anyone after 3 yrs of this.

We have never considered a TM30 for her. 

In a restaurant, i do not penalize the server if the food is crap.  Same on the golf course.  All my caddies get the same, but depending whether i'm riding a buggy or not.  

She's pulling a trolley for the 7km = 340 baht.  If she's driving the buggy = 300 baht.  Only up would be an eagle or H-I-O. 

Really, the caddy has no influence on my golf game. 

My experience in CM recently was that Immig would not accept Hotel residence document.  I was required to go upstairs and get Immig doc verifying my address, TM30.

What is the value of old, even broken, CDs?  I noticed that Rimping in San Sai has a box for collection of old unwanted CDs and i cannot imagine these have any value to anyone.

Insights?

U r 2 foolish BritMan.  Let folks eat what they want and pay whatever price is needed.  Many folks on holiday spend 1000 baht per night for a hotel, whereas i could sleep at the Green Palace for half that cost.  But i don't condemn others who have more disposable income, or have differing tastes; i welcome the variety of life.

If on a tourist visa and want to get a 90 day Non-O visa, must i show a bank balance of 800K baht? No income stream at this time.

I agree about checking the stamps, which i did not do the first time at Immig.  But even if i had this would not have changed the situation. On that day, getting what i sought was impossible.  My ignorance.

IO told me to return with docs mid-Feb to get one year stamp, and re-entry same day. Hope all goes well for me.

Arrived on a tourist stamp, then got a 60 day visa, then went for a one year retire extension, with all the proper paperwork. Jumped all the hoops in CM and got a stamp.

2 weeks later went in for multi re-entry, thinking of course, good for one year.  But clerk stamped till end of March only! She already had my money, 3800 baht so i protested. After a long jaw-boning with the Immig chief ?, i got sorted and got my money back.

So, is it true that you cannot get a 1 yr Non-Imm O visa directly from a tourist visa?  But you can get a 90 day Non-Imm O having only a tourist visa.

My particular beef is that the Immig Officer did not tell me 90 days only.  I applied for the one year, she fussed and gabbed, but never told me i did not succeed.  

I went to CM Immig with updated Bangkok Bank savings book showing 800K+, plus bank letter (50baht).  Immig Officer required that i show, or at least explain, where did this money come from. 

My impression is that Immig wants certainty that the money originated outside of Thailand.  So carrying cash in a suitcase from OZ, or USA, and then dumping that into a Thai bank might not be the best idea.

I've got the 800K in the bank, but little income.  I hope i can continue to make it here.

Here's a good read discussing both sides of the good/bad plastic container issue

https://qz.com/1189422/in-defense-of-plastic-the-worlds-most-wasteful-hazardous-downright-useful-material/

Personally i believe that if ultimate consumers had to pay, even 1 baht, for such toss-away bags, there would be fewer of them floating around. 

I found china (10 yrs ago) and the Phil Islands (5 yrs ago) the worst for local bag litter: roadsides, alleyways and waterways densely crowded with crappy toss-away bags.  Ugly, very ugly and ultimately damaging to the environment and all who live there.

Customers must pay for plastic bags in China, and Hong Kong.  Now, in HK per plastic shopping bag is 50 cents, so at 4 baht per HK $, that would be 2 baht per bag.

The cost does cut down the use of the give-away bags. Can you imagine how many such bags are used in China everyday...astronomical.  There, it's called 'white litter' and it's all over the countryside.

Money market earning 2.5%?  maybe in Zimbabwe. Even the highest earner in USA just reaches 2% and most go at 1.5%, approx.

Why dream of beefsteak when chicken wings are prevalent. 

Stamp runs out 27 Nov, so need to extend. Have been 'retired' here 4 yrs but with USA/Thai Immig changing rules a new course of action needed. I put in 800K thai baht into Bangkok Bank before 1 October, 2018. Then i left T'land for 30 days and entered on USA psprt, and got stamp. 

Assuming i need 60 days to season the cash in the bank, then all might be OK for retirement extension.

So now, do i go to CM Immig and get an Tourist visa (60 days?); extend my Stamp (30/60 days?), or apply directly for Non O Visa?

Have not read all these pages but i think probably the Thai Immig does not want all farangs gone, but rather to 'give' more money to Thai banks. The banks do nothing to get the foreign money but can support various loans to Thai businesses, etc.

And of course, the Thai Monarchy recently invested lots of money in Siam Comm Bank so naturally he wants more cash (our cash) into the Thai banking system.  Of course, he is a great guy but who can afford lousy investments when the remedy is so easy.

More here:  https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-06-16/thai-king-now-holds-crown-property-bureau-s-billions-in-assets

Cook your food in Thailand. Even if smelly, once cooked, OK to eat. 

But even in USA some foods are dangerous buys. I'm thinking of raw  salad foods, like greens and sprouts, processed far from your home and contaminated with fecal bacteria. 

The bottom line: cook your food.