owenm

And more and more TM30 reporting and fines for their foreign employees.. Sure to make new management very happy.. 

What if Thai Imm decided  tightening the thumb screws further.. 

And if DL ID was no longer accepted for domestic air travel, but farangs had to check in with PP, and long distance provincial bus travel also, with reports to Imm.. 

Anything is possible with this BS.. 

How long is a piece of string?? 

I'm sure things would be so different if Big Joe was still around.

From Australia twice I have used international registered post with tracking and rcd within 5 business days without a problem.. The original bank envelope with letter and card is folded into 3 and posted in registered envelope.. 

I wouldn't ever consider wrapping the card in foil because it would ring alarm bells on x-ray machines that you were trying to conceal the contents. Hasn't foil been used over the years to conceal drugs in mail shipments?? And additional delay because most likely will get physically checked, either from your home country or on arrival in Thailand.. 

You CC is useless to anyone anyway until it has been activated on-line. But having said that, if someone has recorded your card details after x-ray check, what's to say there may not be a future attempt to use your card details, after you have activated it.. 

I've never been into Thai street food, poor quality meats, msg, too much sugar and cheap palm oils. 90% of cooking done at home by GF. 

I need my weekly fix of spag bol using quality mince pork, carrot, onion, chilli, Italian herbs and a base of sauce mix. Usually get 5 meals out of one batch.

Then usually weekly, a fillet of chicken for a schnitzel or parmigiana with tomato and cheese topping.. Pork steaks with a farang gravy topping. Crumbed fish with French fries. Home made hash browns, being grated potato and egg then shallow fried.. Chicken and veg soup, occasionally for breakfast or lunch, and too much bacon and eggs for breakfast. Poached, scrambled, omelette, boiled, fried for variety.. 

And I still usually have about 5 Thai meals a week, stir fries, Tom yum soup and curries.. A great mix of both western and thai suits me well.. 

The seat belts are always tightly wrapped under the headrests, only for show, but I've never, ever seen one being used.. 

When will Thailand ever get serious on road safety measures, old minivans that should have already been retired, aging 40 Yr old buses still on the roads.. No care, too expensive, not my problem.. 

On recent trips to Penang, and also Vietnam, was amazed at the almost new, modern buses being used.. 

Thailand public transport is on par with India, but not as bad as Bangladesh.. 

3 hours ago, tifino said:

yes @luckyluke you can use the acer laptop with charger, with battery at 0% or removed...

 

done the same for over 4 years on my Acer laptop.

 

Try the possible cure;

remove battery

wrap battery in waterproof wrap

put wrapped battery into your freezer, over night

 

next day, take from freezer, and slowly thaw (in fridge) but keep wrapped.

next morning remove from fridge, and let slowly warm to room temperature (still wrapped)

 

That next night, unwrap when now at room temperature and insert into laptop.

 

Turn on Power to the charger, but leave laptop OFF for another few hours.

 

Finally, turn on laptop, and after a little while remove the charger and note how well the battery level is now... The laptop should be able to stay ON with battery only

 

 

This is mostly an unknown trick that works is many cases, particularly lithium photographic and phone batteries.. The ice forming causes a bridge between cells in the battery..

It is known as a way of conditioning a battery giving poor performance.. But is is crucial that after overnight to 24 hrs in the freezer, that it then reaches room temp without any remaining condensation in the battery.. Then unwrap and leave for a further 12 hours before charging.. 

I was formerly a photographic service manager in Oz, and can attest to it working in many cases.. A great way to rejuvenate old cells..

I would also suggest putting battery afterwards into a zip seal bag with 3 TS of RICE for a further 12 hrs to draw out any remaining moisture.. 

How does one book and prepay for a Fast Track online? To be met at the gate on arrival but only 60+..

Would be interested to know.. And have there been any refused entries, for whatever reason, using this premium service? Maybe the IO is more accommodating.. Wishful thinking though, I am thinking.. ???? 

If a single retiree, who maybe asset rich, owning a 4-6 mill Mc Mansion, (less the land) a modern car, one or two motorbikes etc. but solely reliant on their pension for day to do living expenses, is then caught short.. And each extension is only for 12 mths with no future guarantee if further changes are implemented to weed out more and more expats. 

How many are receiving an OAP from their home countries that exceed the min. of 65k per month? 

I know that a typical Aussie, who is 100% solely reliant on their pension for retirement, is only receiving about 37k monthly.. And still caught short for married visa extension of 40k..

How much is the OAP for UK, Canada, US and various European countries? I'm sure many are under the min 65k per month unless they also have a private fund.. 

Now that many IOs won't accept combo method, it means you have to have 400/800k in the bank, and no ifs or buts.. Plus having to report any movements 24/7 with TM30..

A Thai could move to Australia as a married or defacto to a citizen and have temp residency within a couple of months, and PR within 2 years. They have immediate access to free healthcare under Medicare, can work in any job they are qualified for, can purchase a house and land without restrictions, and don't have reporting requirements for their every move, holiday, weekend away or overseas trip.. 

Then they can become a citizen with an Australian passport within 5 years.

Thailand is becoming more repressive than North Korea, China or Zimbabwe with their dislike for farang retirees living in their country, wanting to know their every move, and having to prove an income of more than is reasonably needed to live here comfortably.. 

Ah, I think my door bell rung.. Five police to check my passport and whether I've filed my TM30.. 5556..

So it takes 7 officers to raid the house in Koh Samui and 5 officers to raid a hotel in Pattaya.. 

Sounds like great use of police resources, not!! 

North Korean tactics being used on tourists visiting LOS.. Great PR for their friends back home on how welcoming Thailand is for tourists and expats alike.. ???? 

It would be very interesting to know the total assets of Prayut and Prawit, which are not mentioned.. 

And how much are the current MP's earning as parliamentarians in the Prayut 2 camp? 

While 1% of the elite own 70% of Thai's wealth, nothing will ever change with inequality between the haves and have-nots.. The hisos can rule with impunity, because money talks.. 

Many major international airlines have experienced major financial hurdles, including QANTAS, Australia's major airline..

The CEO cut his own salary and perks by about 50%, as well as cutting meat to the bone to reduce operational costs, cutting back on overtime, reducing management staff and paying bonuses, retiring older poor fuel efficient aircraft, leasing newer aircraft with better fuel efficiency.. Cutting back or culling unprofitable routes.. QANTAS was on the verge of bankruptcy, but by turning it around it is now quite profitable again, without having reliance on government handouts. But with sensible management decisions to rebuild the brand and go from operating in the red for several years, back into the black again..

If Thai cannot see the writing on the wall by now and make major decisions to restructure their major national carrier, it will disappear like the Abyss.. 

And I just wonder what are the medical skills of ambulance drivers and staff.. Do they all know how to do basic CPR?? Or are they just a carriage service.. 

Maybe international travel insurance policies to Thailand will need to add to their dangerous activities list, using a people mover minibus for inter provincial travel as a passenger, along with zip line activities, unlicensed motorbike driving and jetskis.. And maybe in the future high-speed boats.. 

Sixty road deaths average per day should be included as a dangerous activity unless the government gets serious about change.. 

These vans are death traps because of crazy inexperienced drivers, and passenger vans that aren't fit for purpose.. 

A logbook system with mandatory 15 min breaks every 3-4 hrs would help eliminate driver fatigue. Speed limited to max 100kmh. Front vision recording cameras made mandatory. Min. insurance of 100k Thb per passenger in all people moving vehicles, be it vans or buses. Driver's responsibility that all passengers are wearing seat belts, and banning drivers from using any mobile phone while driving.. 

All wishful thinking, as I know nothing will change with government inaction.. And all previous governments have all been talk and no action.. TIT.. 

Two TOP brand products from Thailand that I consider to be worthy of recommendation are Findig footwear and shoes, they last for years and Hatari fans and air coolers.. They keep going year after year.. 

I've used both brands for years and found both to be good quality products.. 

On 8/17/2019 at 12:16 PM, RLAretired said:

Vitamins & Food Supplements: With the low quality of most local food ingredients, I've greatly increased my use of vitamins and food supplements since coming to Thailand.  Thai brands of such products are never worth buying.  Imported brands can be okay, such as Blackmore, but even there the quality is mediocre

Surprisingly, for an Aussie, Blackmores are almost a household name.. But their export products aren't the same as their domestic products.. Executive B formulation has only 50% of the active ingredients of the home version.. A bottle of Magnesium tabs, one a day in Oz, recommend up to 2 a day on their exports, and min age for domestic is 12yrs, but export from 9 yrs.. They want to sell more product but without the stringent regulations for being sold domestically.. 

22 hours ago, Nyezhov said:

I havent entered international at DMK since before Swampy was built and hope I wont need to do it on this trip, but I probably will ????

 

Of course I look at it this way, like on a trip to Cambo:

1 hour to PP airport

2 hours in airport leaaving

1 hour flight

3 hours Immi at DMK

1 hour to home

 

Total 7 hours

vs

 

4 plus hours drive to Khlong Yai  from PP 

3 hours crossing border then getting to Trat

5 hour bus to BKK

1 hour home

 

13 hours. Even assuming I get to Trat in time to catch a bus.

 

Planes and lines vs TukTuks and Busses. I carry a piss bottle thank god.

 

I think a lot of folks who bitch and whinge about things never consider the alternatives

At least planes don't drop from the sky but speeding minivans run off the road frequently.. I'd prefer not to be using funeral insurance, even though I'd only be there in body and not in soul.. You only live life once.. 

OMG.. You're on a METV so you have to leave the country every 60 days.. If you don't need a 30 day extension on an entry you don't need to visit immigration, so no TM30 grief.. 

If you have IDP and your home licence, is valid for a continuous period of 90 days.. Because with the METV you have to leave every 60 days, you are covered.. IDP is officially valid for 12 mths but only 90 days continuous in one country.. 

So forget a Thai DL and TM30's as isn't necessary.. 

14 hours ago, keith101 said:

As long as DNA evidence proved he was the killer then he got what he deserved imo .

I don't know if there was much DNA evidence available in 1986.. The technology wasn't advanced enough 30+ years ago..

Fingerprints, yes.. 

If the OP #prevaill wants to use his VPN in a simplified way to watch Netflix or Catchup TV on his smart Samsung TV, the easiest, as previously suggested is to use your laptop.. With the Nord VPN loaded, and the designated country sorted, and Netflix or others installed to your laptop, you then find your source and view on your computer and via a HDMI cable running from laptop to HDMI port on your TV, you are up and running.. On your TV remote, under SOURCE, find the HDMI that's connected, click on it and your problems are solved.. 

You cannot cast or mirror Netflix from your phone to TV if your VPN is connected to your phone.. So via your laptop, it is very easy.. 

On 8/11/2019 at 2:21 PM, georgegeorgia said:

What is the fish they usually use in Australia}

isnt it the vietnamese catfish?

why cant they use that in Thailand?

 

what is the fish they use in Thailand?

 

also regarding the chips ( not fries) where are they from?

I suppose the most popular choice at your traditional fish n chip shop in Melbourne is Flake, which is shark and some name as Gummy Shark.. My favourites were Blue Grenadier, King George Whiting, Hake, Bream, Butterfish and Flathead tails.. 

Each having their own individual taste.. Different states have different choices on the menu, depending on local fishing breeds.. 

But fish always has to go with Dim Sims, Potato Cakes, Chiko Rolls, and Beef Croquettes.. Lots of salt, and don't forget the vinegar on the chips.. 

Unfortunately the crap they serve here is waterlogged, tasteless and enriched with everything you shouldn't be eating anyway.. 

I agree with the sentence and may he rot in jail for the remainder of his years.. 

But here in Thailand one can be charged with aggravated murder and be sentenced to 12yrs and by pleading guilty, out in 6 yrs.. Unless you're a hiso and can have your conviction quashed with the handover of a brown envelope.. 

It is good to be always on the right side of the law in Thailand as a foreigner, because shites can happen if someone's not careful..