fittobethaied

Just 3 days ago I went through this process and had no problems paying for my US Passport renewal using a credit card. However, after I signed up for the Thai Post Office Mart to pay the 100Baht for the return envelope, there was a glitch in the website. After putting in all my credit card details, I pressed the link to order and I got a small window saying there was an error, so I reentered my data and clicked the order link again and got the same message. I went to my email inbox and TWO receipts for payment had bypassed my inbox and showed up in my junk file. It had actually processed my order twice after showing that both orders had failed, and there was no way to cancel one of the orders. Now, I can only imagine the confusion when two return envelopes show up at the US Embassy. On a separate piece of paper, I attempted to write an explanation to the embassy staff, but God only knows if it will be understood by the worker at the embassy. It seems that every time I try to do business on a Thai website, there is always a problem with the site not working properly.

Typical conversation between the worker and his supervisor......"go install the sign, do as you're told, don't ask any questions, and above all, DO NOT THINK FOR YOURSELF!!!!!!

Why ask AI instead of going directly to the Word of God to read EXACTLY what Heaven will be like. Just goes to show the extent to which "lost" men will go to avoid picking up the Word of God. John 3:20-21.....For everyone practicing evil hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed. But he who does the truth comes to the light, that his deeds may be clearly seen, that they have been done in God.”

Dear OP, Sadly, you are among the ranks of a worldwide multitude of vulnerable men/women who are weighed down with sins and led astray by various passions, ideologies and psychologies, who are always learning but never able to come to a knowledge of the TRUTH. You go through life, and along the way you pick up little tidbits of untruths that form the basis of your entire belief system, and it is all vanity and meaningless. If you truly want to be set free, then sit down with The Word of God and simply begin to read starting with the Book of Matthew in the New Testament, and your eyes will finally be opened. If you approach the Bible with an open mind and heart, diligently searching the Scriptures with a heart that is prepared to accept the TRUTH, then it will be revealed to you. If you approach it with an attitude of unbelief, then the revelation of God's Word will be shut down, and you will eventually die in your sin, and you will never know the true meaning and purpose of your life. Seek the Lord Jesus while He may be found. Your eternal destiny is at stake my friend. Jesus said, "I am the WAY, the TRUTH and the LIFE, and no man comes to the Father except through ME".

It's time to walk away from a few people, and if you have to, take your wife and move away from them! It's just not worth all the grief and stress.

I recently discovered that I could use Wise.com to transfer USD's to my Foreign Currency Deposit Savings account at Bangkok Bank. Just choose "same currency" USD's to USD's and choose the SWIFT option for the transfer. I sent a low 5 figure transfer for only a $52 fee, and my credit union in the US would have charged me $80 for the same transfer. Had it done within 5 minutes with no hassle at all.

You can never go wrong by doing the right thing. Always be honest in all of your dealings with people. Damaging your conscience for the sake of saving a few hundred Baht is just not worth it. I can't count the number of times in the past 14 years in Thailand that I have done exactly as the OP did. Most of the clerks are bewildered by the honesty, some may feel a loss of "face" due to their mistake, and some just don't want to be bothered with having to correct their error; however, none of that is more important than saving your own conscience from the feeling of guilt. I get it, some of you guys/ladies have a conscience that has been seared for so long by your wrongdoing that you no longer feel guilt over what you may perceive as nothing so earthshaking as cheating a vendor out of a few hundred Baht, but it's still dishonesty even if it's only one Baht. I have a feeling that Thais expect us "dirty farangs" to be cheaters, so why not set a good example and show them otherwise. It's not that difficult to be honest. On the other hand, recognizing that many Thais pay little to no attention to how they perform their duties at work, you can bet that 20% of the time they will make a mistake when calculating your bill, and most of the time it will not be in your favor. So, for that reason I always double check my bills no matter where I shop or eat out.

None of the government hospitals charge a nurse's fee to take weight, height and blood pressure, but all of the private hospitals do. It's their "cash cow" and a total rip off. Most everyone who goes to the hospital will already be stressed out, so they will have "white coat syndrome" which is an elevated blood pressure and pulse due to stress or just having run up steps or walked a great distance down hallways. Most doctors are aware of this, so I think they pay little attention to these number anyway. Again, the entire procedure is nothing by a sure-fire way to extract money from the patient. There have been times when I have even insisted that I will NOT take their tests, but they charged me anyway. Just imagine if they see a mere 100 patients a day at 300 Baht a pop, that's an extra 30,000 Baht per day or 10,950,000 Baht per year in the hospital's coffers. That certainly makes the shareholders happy!

It's easy to change religions if all if have is "religion" and not a personal relationship with the Creator of the universe, the one and only true God. When one accepts Jesus Christ as their personal Lord and Savior and experiences a spiritual rebirth from above, that person is "sealed" by the Holy Spirit and guaranteed eternal life in Heaven with The Father, Son, Holy Spirit and all those who are part of the family of God. Once one receives the Holy Spirit, you don't just "change your mind" and become the whore chasing other religions. It is impossible for anything to take you from the Hand of God once you belong to HIm, and you will never have a desire to seek another path. It was said of Abraham..... Yet he did not waver through disbelief in the promise of God, but was strengthened in his faith and gave glory to God, being fully persuaded that God was able to do what He had promised. The true follower of Christ will have the same faith as Abraham, if not greater. Jesus said "I am the Way, the Truth and the Life, and no man comes to the Father except by ME! That alone should be enough reason to never seek another God!

I'm not convinced that Alexa is always listening. Until one uses the word "Alexa" its microphone is not activated.

The government will never get a handle on domestic abuse until they begin to censor the practice of it on television. Turn on any Thai soap opera and you will see the hisos slapping around their hired help and men slapping around their wives and girlfriends. I once heard a Thai soap producer say that they're only portraying what they see in the culture, and that's a big fat lie. What they are actually doing is shaping culture! When mostly uneducated people see things on TV and in the movies, that becomes their standard of behavior because they actually believe it is acceptable since they saw it on the big screen. The same goes for violence in general on the screen. It turns otherwise semi-normal people into violent humans. However, the government loves it because it gives the military and the police a reason to exist in such huge numbers. It's job security for them if the public can stay scared to death of every imagined boogeyman waiting around the corner to rob them, murder them, rape them or just beat them within an inch of their lives.

I have a deviated septum which was discovered with a Naso endoscopy procedure. I don't notice much blockage on the one side most of the time, but just the slightest allergy or laying down at nights will totally block that one side. I use one spray of Oxymetazoline HCL .05% solution in each nostril before bed, and it will keep my passages open for a full 12 hours. The best and least expensive spray I have found at nearly all pharmacies is Phindroz. I pay 70 Baht for a 10ml spray bottle. Good stuff!

My Thai wife and I have lived in the same village for 13 years. We have always tried to help people and have tried to be good neighbors. We maintain our home and keep a nice yard. We have the tidiest home on our soi, and I am always very friendly to our neighbors; however, most of them will not even make eye contact with me. I walk around the lake in our village on most evenings, and the homeowners around the lake treat me as if I am invisible. They will never even acknowledge me unless I say hello to them first. Others walking around the lake will totally ignore me when we pass each other. Other farangs tell me it's because they are intimidated to try to speak English, but I think that is a poor excuse. I mean, how much trouble is it to just smile and nod their heads? It makes no sense to me. I have traveled all over the world doing business, and I have lived in 4 SE Asian countries for extended periods of time. I have never experienced this kind of phenomenon before. It is not only frustrating and depressing, but it actually irritates the heck out of me.

Mike Lister, you may want to confirm with a lawyer or the bank's manager that you have Joint Accounts with Right of Survivorship (like we have in the West), which I don't think you have here in Thailand. I have been advised by a high ranking official at Bangkok Bank in the Bangkok corporate office, to have my wife immediately clean the joint account out after I pass on and not to tell the bank that I am deceased; otherwise, the bank will freeze the account and my Will will have to be probated in order for my wife to access the funds in the once Joint Account. Without a probated Will or a court appointed Executor, the money will be divided by Thailand's complicated line of inheritance protocols. Also, if all you have is a Power of Attorney on the account with your spouse as your legal representative, a POA ceases to be valid upon your death. Let us know what you find out!

I traveled the world for 20 years doing business, and I lived in Hong Kong, Taipei, Vietnam and Manila for extended periods of time. I moved to Thailand thinking that Thais would for the most part be like all the other SE Asians that I had met, but boy was I wrong. I have a very keen sense of spiritual discernment, and I have never felt this uncomfortable in any other country where I have lived or visited. We are surrounded on all sides by evil and chaos in this place. I don't judge a people by the way they smile at me with their flaky smiles, but by their character, and outside of my immediate family I have never met a Thai that I would trust as far as I could throw him or her. I find them in general to be detestable in so many ways. I'm sure that we all have varied experiences and opinions, but these just happen to be mine for what it's worth.

I've lived in Udon Thani for 13 years now, and it was a good 8 years before I finally realized that I would never assimilate into this society. I complained the entire time and nearly drove my wife crazy. Everyone said that I was painting all the Thais with the same brush, and that was unfair to them because there are some really good ones out there. I can only go on my own experiences, and so far, I have not met any of those "so-called" good ones, so I simply gave up trying to befriend any of the Thais. Now I surround myself with my own family, who I trust 100% not to lie to me or try to scam me or take advantage of me; and I have a small group of American friends with whom I associate, so that is my world and my new normal and I enjoy it. Trying to make friends with and understand the Thais is really too much of a headache for me, and it does nothing but complicate my life. For the most part, I simply ignore the Thais and act as if they are invisible. After all, that's exactly the way they treat us foreigners.If you aren't in their core circle of friends and associates, then you don't exist to them. The sooner you understand that, the better off you'll be.

The only way to stay on top of a budget is to micromanage it by the week and pay only with cash. I take cash from my bank account at the beginning of each month and put my fixed expenses like utilities in marked envelopes. Then, I have 4 or 5 envelopes for weekly expenditures depending on the length of the month. At the beginning of each week, I transfer that money from an envelope into my wallet for groceries, meals out, GRAB or other incidental expenses. I usually have a few thousand left over each week which goes back in the big pot, but if I ever get close to spending all that is in my wallet, then I just stop spending until the next week. It's a method that I came up with back in my high school days, and it has served me well ever since. My house, car, furniture and clothes are all paid for in full, and I have no debt at all. My wife cooks breakfast about three days a week, and most all other breakfast and lunch meals are ordered through GRAB or PANDA. We eat lunch out about 5 days a week and enjoy buffets in some of the better hotels in town. We live a very comfortable life and want for nothing, and I only spend about 20,000 Baht per month. We never feel like we are missing out on anything. I don't drink or smoke or go anywhere alone, and my wife is with me 24/7. It works well for us, and we are both very content with the arrangements. There is a huge difference between being frugal and being a cheap Charlie. The key is "discipline" and having the will power to say no to things you "want" but don't really "need". My wife gets a salary each month to spend as she wishes, but I control the money and set and maintain the budget.

It would seem that you would be entitled to be sponsored by your sons, but I have no facts to back that up. What we Westerners consider to be logical and reasonable aren't necessarily interpreted the same here in Thailand. Might be a good idea to begin investigating your options.

Thanks for your comment! I do use the government hospitals, and I am thankful that the prices are so low for us foreigners, but I am thinking ahead to the inevitable "big" event that could even bankrupt me, and I would like something to fall back on if I am legally entitled to it. I'm not asking for a handout, but only to be able to apply for that which is available to me by law or rule. I am 75 years old, and about 8 years ago I applied for private health insurance and was denied by two companies simply for having high blood pressure at the time. I have since lost 15 kilos and my pressure is normal, but now I am in the system as having been denied insurance. It's high unlikely that I would be approved at this time for a new policy.

I genuinely appreciate your reply, but do you know this for a fact, or is this just a "guess"? Plenty of foreigners marry Thai women who are government employees and piggyback off of their wife's health benefits, and this doesn't seem to be an issue at all. If a daughter can sponsor her mother and father, and the real father is not taking advantage of that benefit, then I don't see that it is too far-fetched to think that the stepfather could step in and take that benefit. If I were a Thai and not a foreigner, would that stepfather qualify to be sponsored?

I am a retired American legally married to a Thai whose daughter is a certified government English teacher. My wife piggybacks off of her daughter's government health insurance benefits and gets free care at a number of hospitals where she is registered. My stepdaughter's real father is a retired teacher and has his own benefits; otherwise, he too would be entitled to piggyback off his daughter's benefits. I am very curious to know if I would be eligible to piggyback off my stepdaughter's health benefits given that I am married to her mother. No one seems to know the answer to that question, and no one can show me a government rule book that even addresses the issue. My stepdaughter inquired on my behalf at the teacher's admin office in Nong Khai and was given a "no" with nothing to back up their response. I have observed over the years that "no" is the default answer in Thailand when someone doesn't really know the answer to the question, so I would like to nail this down once and for all rather than accept the answer from one office clerk who probably doesn't even have a clue. Since most Thais won't question authority, that one "no" completely shut down the search for the truth. Therefore, is there anyone on the forum who is receiving such benefits or has knowledge of where to go for the exact answer? This is of major importance to me, and all comments will be very much appreciated.

Welcome to the new normal. It's the way of the world now to espouse one's moral superiority. With the advent of the internet and the flourishing of cell phones, tablets and PC's, we are now exposed to a whole world of knowledge that was never available to us before. Hiding behind their keyboards, more and more people feel that it's their god-given right to have an opinion on all of these newfound subjects, and they don't have to worry about being punched in the face for being so outspoken and forcefully opinionated. It's the sinful nature of man to choose sides, argue and fight their fellow man. Sadly, it's only going to get worse.

None of these are okay, but you have to understand that we live in a culture where people are totally fixated on themselves with no regard for their fellow man. It's all about me, me and me. If they are male, then they have the additional indoctrination of being raised as a spoiled brat, so the whole world is centered around themselves. There are no more moral absolutes, so each person determines for themselves what is right or wrong. We are surrounded on all sides by evil in this country, so naturally, the choices they make are slanted toward the evil that lies within them. There is no accountability, and no one takes responsibility for their wrongdoing. If you do try to correct someone, then they have effectively "lost their face", and it could be the death of you for pointing out their error. What amazes me is how they can expect to "lose" something that they never had to begin with. In a normal society you earn trust and respect, and it takes years to build a good reputation and character. In Thailand, they expect you to give them "face" when they've done nothing to earn it. Good luck with trying to change them. It's only going to get worse!

Jim Tripper, in my younger years in the late '80's when I was running the girly bars in Manila, I always wore my brand name suits with ties, all of which were made in Paris. I was always the best dressed guy on the strip, and I never had trouble picking up the ladies. They always flocked to where I was seated. I moved to Thailand 13 years ago, and I like to think I am the best dressed farang in my city. Why would anyone want to dress "down" to blend in with these low-class farmers. I don't dress to impress others. I dress to please myself. It makes me feel good and gives a boost to my dignity and self-respect, so why not. Dress the way you like, and don't worry about what others think of you. When you get to a point in your life where you aren't concerned with pleasing others, that is true freedom!

I too suffer from high anxiety, and I found relief by taking Propranolol 10mg 3 times daily. It is a beta-blocker that is prescribed for heart disease but has several off label uses including anxiety. Even if you don't take it regularly, try taking one to two pills an hour before going to a stressful event like renewing your extension of stay. It certainly works for me. You can buy it at any pharmacy for 1 Baht per tab. https://psychcentral.com/anxiety/is-propranolol-recommended-for-anxiety-symptoms#does-it-work