EricTh

I wonder whether we can open up two accounts? One for bank book and one for online? Online seem to pay more for Krungsri

Which insurance policy do you recommend we buy ?: AXA and Aetna, which is cheaper while providing the necessary covid coverage?

What's the interest rate over 1m?

TSL use the same curriculum as YMCA Chiang Mai. I do not recommend that school at all for following reasons: 1. The material taught is too formal and not practical in real life 2. Their teachers just can't teach properly. There was even a male teacher there who flirts with his male students during class-time. 3. Their teachers' English is not good enough to translate the Thai sentences in the books. Most of the time, they used the translated English words in the books which has a lot of errors. However, not all the sentences have translation in the books. Believe me, I went through both YMCA and TSL and it was a waste of my money. If you are just looking for beginner level Thai (level 1 to 2) like numbers, how to order food, then they are fine. But if you want to go higher up, then look elsewhere as in my previous post.

I suggest Learn Thai with Mod, she speaks pretty good English and teach practical Thai unlike most Thai language schools. https://learnthaiwithmod.com/online-group-lessons/ Once you have been to both classes, you can definitely see the difference in the level of English proficiency of Mod versus the other Thai language teachers in Thailand. Another person who can explain well is Duke language school of Bangkok. Not sure whether he has any online classes.

You might want to read this. https://www.cnbc.com/2022/01/10/covid-vaccine-pfizer-ceo-says-omicron-vaccine-will-be-ready-in-march.html

Did you eat sweet snacks on your bed? That will attract those ants. They are very sensitive to anything sweet.

Thailand has been dilly-dallying this project for almost a decade now. Imagine a lower income country like Laos getting ahead of Thailand now. I heard from some Lao people that the project have brought economic development to the people along the route. Laos never had any modern train until now. Thailand's current trains is still backwards when compared to this train.

Definitely not anywhere in East or Southeast Asia where people are paranoid about the virus. Try Europe or South America.

Many countries are following the western countries in allowing only the vaccinated to go to public places or work in public places. This is a breach of human rights if you ask me. If a vaccinated person can catch the virus then what's the difference between him and an unvaccinated?

Interesting. I wonder what's the difference in soil composition of this Van Egmond that cause plants to grow fast?

In the past, it's a point based system but now it is a requirement for each category. I guess it is because in the past, there were some rich Japanese investors who couldn't pass the 'read and write Thai' requirement but were given citizenships. Having some knowledge of simple Thai is certainly easy for most foreigners but not the school level Thai for primary school students.

It's ridiculous, I was recently refused cash for using DHL. They should accept all types of money and not just digital. Why print money when you can use it?

That has changed with the new requirements. In the past, it was just 'some knowledge of Thai', now it is 'can write and speak Thai'. I wonder at which school grade.....

Even if one is employed, the write and speak Thai will disqualify most applicants. In the past, it was just a 'knowledge of simple Thai', now its at least low intermediate level that a primary school student can converse.

Even por 2 is difficult for most foreigners. I was shocked when I saw a Thai por 2 book. Its level is so much higher than those Thai classes for foreigners. Most foreigners think that learning Thai words like 'where is the toilet', 'how much', 'numbers', 'mai pen rai' is considered 'able to speak Thai'.

I used to speak those words taught by Thai teachers many years ago but Thai people would laugh at me and then they started switching to speaking English instead. Then I realized that all those formal words are not practical in real life and started to learn practical Thai from real Thai people. Now they don't laugh at me anymore. This is one of the Thai series that I watch to improve my practical Thai. See how much you can understand without the subtitles.

If Sinovac is ineffective, please explain scientifically how Indonesia's rate of infection is so low recently (past four months) considering it has the same population size as the USA with a lower vaccination rate. https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/country/indonesia/ I won't even mention other countries which use mostly Sinovac/Sinopharm with similar results. Indonesia use mostly Sinovac unlike Thailand.

What about KrungThai bank which is govt controlled? Why are the private banks allowed to have a higher transfer amount?

What is this GMT immune response thing? Is this a new invention? I wonder any big pharma companies paid for this new terminology.

People will still come to Thailand despite this increase. 300 baht is nothing when compared to the expensive hotel quarantine and Covid tests.

Access to the locker keys does not entitle you to use the swimming pool. There is a separate charge for the swimming pool printed at the counter just before the swimming pool. Thai citizens have to pay 55 baht to use the pool , foreigners much more. You got lucky the lazy staff didn't catch you but they are stricter nowadays.

Sorry to tell you but 'where is the toilet', 'numbers', 'chicken rice' are at level 1 beginner. I learnt all that in my first Thai lesson. To carry a real conversation is a different level.

What I meant is your pink Thai ID card. I showed my 5 year Thai driving license and they still charged me foreigner fee. There's no distinction between tourist and non-tourist foreigner in entrance fees. That was in Sankampaeng hot spring.

I agree with you on all your points but you miss out the most important point that most foreigners don't know. Ordinary Thai people use a completely different set of words than the formal words taught at Thai schools. That's why I had trouble communicating with Thai people at first until I unlearn the formal words and start learning the informal words. You may think they are 'dialects' but they are actually informal words that Thai schools don't teach but Thai use a lot. Thai language teachers like to teach Sanskrit words because they sound 'more elegant' but in real life Thai people don't use much Sanskrit words but real Thai words. There is a lot of Sanskrit words for almost every Thai word. It's like learning two languages. That's why learning Thai can be a nightmare due to all these problems. By learning Thai .. I mean to reach a high intermediate level and not beginner level. Thai language schools teach the formal fonts but most Thai don't write in that font but another different set of fonts.