soalbundy

Be grateful you aren't in a suitcase.

I just can't agree. Many years ago I was making out with a pretty 'girl' on Koh Samui in a bar, when I left the table to get a beer from the bar, the barman, who I knew, whispered to me she was a katoey, I threw up spontaneously on his floor and left immediately, I was traumatised for days afterwards. I've never forgotten it.

He, he, he, doesn't look too bad, don't pulled into this craziness.

No but they are questioning 3 people already so they aren't sitting on their backsides.

Yes that was my experience, the lady even wanted to know the last 4 numbers of my Thai bank account but I was relieved when she told me that they had received the life certificate. Worrying for me was when BMW couldn't acknowledge that they had received it, it wasn't registered in their system even though the EMS tracker showed it had been delivered 2 weeks earlier and their pension is a lot more than that from DWP (I didn't work in the UK very long). I am to ring back on Tuesday and if they still haven't got it I am to repeat the process, scan and email it.

EMS is faster I think, a letter costs 1,000 Baht (also with tracking service)

Scary, I've had it once, very unpleasant, apparently any further infections are cumulatively worse than the last one. A manager from my German company on a foreign posting in Thailand had to be sent home after a second infection causing him to have massif blood transfusions, the hospital told him the next infection would kill him.

That was quick work......the 3 million Baht reward helped no doubt.

If you get it that is.

From each according to his abilities, to each according to his needs........Karl Marx.

Maybe at 45 he should consider a haircut and possibly a bath.

I was answering a post from Britmantoo who wrote that I wouldn't need these life certificates if I had a false address in the UK. These days where AI is available nothing can be hidden for long. I wasn't being judgmental, just an observation.

Yes I did that then a page came up asking me to fill in a box with the 12 numbered transaction number, which I don't have. Two Germans that I know in the next village had the same problem. Apparently one can get this number from the post office (German?) maybe a Thai post office because on the back of the QR page it is translated in Thai.

Where did you get the transaction number from? what I noticed in their list of document requirements for Thailand only a scan from a driving license was allowed, what driving license Thai or Deutsch, my German license is 20 years older than I look now and I have a beard since 2 years, also is this only for the Anmeldung to use the system and afterwards only the QR code is needed?

That's the same question as why do pubs have parking lots. They all require snail post in case you alter something with digital tools but I have found when push comes to shove they will accept a scan sent per email as long as the original is on its way per post, in my case with BMW the woman said she would authorize payment with a scan as long as either they find what I had already sent or I send the second original per post. Sounds like an employment scheme to me.

Lying has its own dangers. The German state pension people have worked out a scheme with a QR code, sounds reasonable at first but then you need a transaction code number (how to get?) and you have to make a video of your face etc. Reading through all the steps it seems easier just to fill in the form. Everyone seems scared of scams, security is number one these days. My German bank changed their bank card system, so after 3 failed attempts I get the new card but my tan generator wouldn't accept it, I had to buy a new QR tan generator but the producer wont supply outside Germany so I had to get a German friend to buy me one and send it to me. I can't use the card in an ATM, you have to register for permission with the bank, no permanent pin number, you have to use the tan generator each time which will give you a new pin number for each use, it's bollucks.

Yes I understand that, BMW will also pay the missed payments. The worst thing about it all is being so powerless, having to rely on office staff in a different far away country who are just doing their day job, there are no email exchanges with the same person, each time someone new answers so there is no time to build a rapport with anyone, you're just a number causing problems. Yesterday I sent a life certificate to the German state pension provider, my biggest source of income, thankfully they have never given me problems but there is always a first time. 3 life certificates a year is a source of problems, one is bound to go tits up.

We are all familiar with the inadequacies of the Thai postal service but we rarely speak about the lack of efficiency in our homeland. My BMW company pension and my British pension were both canceled in May because I hadn't received the life certificate forms sent to me through the Thai post. I sent emails to both organizations and received new forms from them per email, so far so good. I filled out the forms and sent them off with EMS confident that I would receive double payment in June, imagine my surprise when no money came in June either. Again I sent off emails asking why. The answers given were that they hadn't received the life certificate. I wrote several more emails explaining the situation in detail and received no reply. Now into July I used the EMS tracking service and found that both organizations had received the certificates on the 20th of June, leaving ample time I thought for payments to be made end of June. I decided to telephone them. I started with BMW Munich, the lady was polite and sympathetic but explained, after typing on her keyboard, that my life certificate wasn't in the system, my explanations regarding the EMS tracking service brought forward only, "Hmmm, yes, I don't know, perhaps it's delayed in another department, ring up in a couple of days time and if I haven't got it then do another one and email it to me and I will authorize payment." This caused me to lose my cool telling her she had had 16 days already to process my certificate, so much for German efficiency, like water off a ducks back. My telephone conversation with DWP had more success, 15 minutes of 'please hold the line or perhaps you would like to call later,' a friendly female voice greeted me, after the lady had typed on her keyboard, she told me that yes they had received it (success at last) but it was in another department being processed. "How long does this take", I fumed," You've had it for over two weeks", "Hmmm (the same Hmmm in Germany) yes well these things take time, it will all be finished in a few days time" "So DWP needs 3 weeks to process a simple document" "Apparently" she said laughing. Full marks though for EMS, they had delivered to both Germany and the UK from Isaan within 4 days.

Actually water buffaloes are very timid towards people normally....exceptions sometimes, if you are with a very large dog, great Dane size (it will go for the dog) or if they have a very young calf. Water buffaloes will stare at you if you walk past them but that is curiosity. There are many in my immediate neighbourhood and they will shy away from a 6 year old child.

After looking at the pic all I can say is fill your boots

Somehow I don't think they are bothered about what Somchai thinks, the air is rarefied in the circles they move in.

Maybe someone in the kitchen is gnashing his gums in anger at his lost teeth.

No, I was obviously fitter at 40 when I had all my own teeth but I still weigh the same 68 kilos but at 75 I still clamber on the roof to clean the rain gutters and go for long walks at 5 in the morning, genetically lucky. What I meant was my mental state; I feel more confident, at peace, grateful, I have made all my mistakes in the past but regret non of them and the future doesn't concern me, it is causal and beyond my control, ("there are paths that guide our way; rough hew them how we may"). it is as it is; I observe what happens with detachment; I am on the stage but also in the audience. I don't expect to reach 85, if I would then no doubt physical ailments would appear but that is a concern of the body and the 'me' that thinks it's real (even now). There is comfort in the inevitability of what will happen eventually.

Dry you out. The booze is just making things worse. We have all gone through difficult situations, life throws us challenges. You have only 3 possibilities, change the situation, leave the situation, accept the situation. Remember, no good or bad situations last forever. The stoic philosophical Roman emperor Marcus Aurelius once said, "You have power over your mind - not outside events, realize this and you will find strength". He also said, "Alter the things that you can and accept those you can't"; good advice. I wish you well.

You're right, nothing does, life is movement and change but it's important just to observe it and not take it personally, it isn't for anybody....it just is.