EricTh

That's one of the worst channel to learn Thai. Learning Thai is not just about learning words but to form sentences. A lot of the words she taught are actually too formal/classroom Thai and not used in everyday Thai.

Indonesian or Tagalog is much easier. They don't have tones, their grammar is more similar to English and they use latin words and space their words. Thai writing is terribly difficult to read and write because of many factors and they don't space their words.

@Grecian The problem with learning Thai in Thai language schools is that the teacher only teach formal written Thai. I regretted learning formal Thai for one year as spoken Thai is completely different from formal Thai which is taught at schools. In short, it is not practical at all. Furthermore, the Thai teachers English is just not good enough to explain the grammatical difference between Thai and English causing a lot of confusion for foreigners. If you just want to order dishes or asking where is the toilet, then it's not a problem. But if you want a real conversation at an intermediate level, there's no way to learn it in Thai language classes because they don't teach informal spoken Thai. I found out the hard way when Thai people laughed at how I use formal Thai like 'garuna' which they don't use. That's why most farang can't speak Thai after being in Thailand for xx years. There is a disconnect between teaching Thai and practical Thai.

Does your PR card contain a newly given Thai name in Thai script or just your English name? or both names are printed on the card? Do you still have to pay foreigner's fee instead of local fees when entering certain places?

Yes, it can be done. I have my water and electricity bills deduced every month automatically. Some banks will charge 10 baht per deduction.

It's better not to come to Thailand because you might test positive and have to pay a lot more in a quarantine at a hospital.

Does anybody know where I can get plant soil to help my Christina plants grow faster? I went to several plant nursery but they only sell the mixed soil type that is black in color and soft (they said mixed with leaves etc) I thought there is another soil that is brownish red that is of better quality??? First time gardening so I need some help

It is illegal for the agent to hold your passport for more than a few days. But then immigration will be asking why do you need an agent to renew your visa.

This is what I got from Bangkok Post dated 8 Jan 2022 which I can't link here. "Thanet Supornsahasrungsi, acting president of the Chon Buri Tourism Council, said the tourism sector in popular areas such as Pattaya and Bangkok has to brace for a further slowdown without inclusion in the sandbox scheme." Bangkok is NOT in the sandbox scheme

Chiang Mai city center is literally a ghost town now. I know at least two of my favorite Thai eateries just opposite Kad Suan Kaew who have packed up their bags and gone back to their hometown due to lack of business since the pandemic started. Most of the shops have closed and 'for rent' sign put up.

The government has an iron bowl so whether or not tourism improves, they are not affected. It's the common people who are suffering from loss of jobs and not the government officials.

All these frequent changes to policies is confusing the hell out of tourists. I thought even the Bangkok quarantine is suspended now?

If you don't do it, you know that you're breaking Thai law, don't you? Look at the guy who left the hotel after taking the first test.

These people will probably be fined and then banned from entering Thailand for x years. It's just not worth it.

Why did they approve when your balance is below 800k? What did you do to get it approved?

Do not use Dhipaya anymore because I find their customer service horrible. I tried to renew last year but gave up after trying to communicate with their customer service. Imagine what would happen if one is infected, it will be very difficult to claim any money. I heard some people recommending AXA, I have no experience with them so I can't give any opinion whether they are good or not.

The world should move away from looking at infection figures but look at the hospitalized cases instead. If you just had a cough, slight fever and headache due to Covid for a few days, it's considered mild and shouldn't be worried about it. Mild and asymptomatic should not be counted as serious cases. It's serious cases that is worrying.

Do you think that banks will give you back your investment if Bitcoin crash one day when everyone sees it as just another pyramid scam albeit legalised by certain parties? Cash was backed by gold in the past but the US dollar is in a unique situation because of the link to petrodollar. Once the petrodollar link is broken, then US dollar is worth very little due to endless printing and high debt. Bitcoin is not linked to a powerful country whereas the dollar is linked to it.

Reading books is not a Thai thing outside of classrooms. That's why their general knowledge is quite lacking outside of work and schools. I was shocked to see some of their universities doesn't even have a bookshop unlike western universities which has university level books from many authors. They get all their materials from their lecturers. They don't learn anything outside what their lecturers teach.

Do you think that a company can get public listed if they didn't earn profit in the first place? Of course, when one invest in stock, one should invest in the blue chips stock like banks etc. Some big companies like airlines lose money temporarily like during the pandemic, but they will bounce back after the pandemic. So their stock value is still tangible and will give dividend. How does that equate to crypto which is just non-tangible and worth nothing if nobody plays?

It's a very selfish scheme that doesn't take into consideration the feelings of those people who lose a lot of money on pyramid scheme. Many people have died after playing on the stock market and this crypto scheme is no differenr for those who will lose money.

Stock has also crashed many times in the past and a lot of people were hurt or even committed suicide because they bought over-valued stock. At least stock still have some real values connected to real companies giving dividends unlike these paper bitcoin. Like paper gold, it is worth nothing if nobody plays. There is a real market price for stock versus inflated price. It's the real market price that holds and not the inflated price.

Bitcoin is a pyramid scam. When everybody start to pull out their money, the last few ones are the ones who is going to lose a lot of money. Think musical chairs

Agree. I was dressed up properly but got rejected by a SCB branch (not in city center) just because I had a retirement visa. They only want those foreigners with work permits but not retirees.

That's the Bangkok Bank branch with the most number of farang in Chiang Mai. The mall was much loved before the pandemic with many live shows inside the mall and weekly market. It will pick up again after the pandemic.