ronnie50

I only transfer money internationally to Thailand once a year. Do you think it's worth using Wise? The rate I got from my sending bank last year seemed quite good and no big extra charges there or here. I also don't like the idea of giving money to Wise to sit on... Is Wise only worthwhile if you need to make multiple transfers (e.g. like monthly or more frequently)?

Never had a woman say that to me - always 'ka'. As someone said earlier, women say 'krap' to young boy children. They don't use 'pee' for age with young kids either. It's 'kwap' - song kwap, sam kwap, etc.

Post-earthquake, do you believe the BMA will honestly declare seriously damaged hi-rise offices/condos uninhabitable and order demolition?

Sure. He should just order another round - 'on the house' - the White House

Some years back, I remember reading a theory that America, already in decline from its best days, would need to let other regional powers rise. In other words, China would be the power influencing Asia-Pacific without any major challenges, the US would hold the power of influence over the Americas, Russia would also be a power allowed to do what it wants, and Europe would need to band together for their own good. It seems to me that Trump is putting that theory into practice. His threats to Canada, Panama and Greenland, seem to support this. And his relationship and attitude toward's Putin's aims seem pretty clear by now. Trump's position on China is not clear yet. He seems to be a bit hesitant there (maybe because of the US debt they could call in). Would Trump really go toe to toe with China if the latter invaded Taiwan? Maybe he'd hold back? Anyway, Trump could be in the early days of executing the regional power theory..

Dunno. A lot of this going around. Trump and Rogan appeal to the misguided numbskull patriots. Tate appeals to the incels and misogynists. Musk appeals to the uneducated losers who wish they were rich, but never will be. The internet - the once great innovation that would bring mankind together - is now just a bully pulpit. The louder and more profane one screams to get attention the more they get it seems. That's why it's proliferating with guys like this. So no, that's my answer.

Even the pricier places like the most well-known chain of Japanese restaurants is getting weird. Along with my food, I usually ordered an orange juice, already overpriced at 95 baht (price hasn't changed), and is always filled more with ice than orange juice. Anyway, that's not uncommon to have more ice than drink in many places, so for the last year I'd order the orange juice with no ice, and it would arrive in a half-sized glass at same price of 95 baht. No problem. However, this week, when I went to the same branch and ordered the same thing and got the half-sized glass with no ice, I got a surprise. When the bill came, I was charged MORE because I didn't want the ice. Same small glass - bill said "orange juice - no ice -100 baht" Okay, so it's only 5 baht more. But it's the principle - why would I pay more for the same amount of OJ but no ice? So I argued with the manager and she changed it back to 95 baht. She was really unhappy and complained to her staff about me. Whatever. TIT. I remember when I first moved to Thailand, a box of 12 Heineken at the supermarket was actually more expensive than buying 12 bottles individually. When I asked why, I was told it was because I was getting a box too..

As I posted earlier - a third hand story to me from an engineer - said bedrock is so far down in Bangkok, that engineering firms just guess how deep to drive/dig supporting columns in the soft Bangkok earth (some kind of depth-vs-height measurement). It's 3rd hand account and could be wrong.

Ch3 today is showing a recent (?) media launch of the construction of the new Thai government audit building after the external concrete infrastructure was complete. Big Chinese sign hanging from the top floors and a whole team of Chinese at the base and a banner. What is most interesting is the video shots from that time when the TV camera panned down into the clearly visible lower floors (mezanine levels I guess), and it became clear the main supporting structures were in the centre of the building - not the external four corners. They seemed quite close together. Hopefully the video will become more available to see more clearly. In any case, why is a Chinese company building an important Thai government building? The fast rail link can be adjacent to it.

So it was a joint project with Ital-Thai Construction and China Railway Construction number 10. Anyone remember this? https://www.khaosodenglish.com/news/crimecourtscalamity/calamity/2024/08/26/tunnel-collapse-while-constructing-wall-at-high-speed-rail-project-in-korat/#google_vignette I think we all know if this building collapse happened in China the CEOs would have already been claiming refugee status in the UK or USA. So what's happening here? The mayor holds a press conference and said 169 buildings had structural cracks - oh, but only buildings under construction in Bangkok, he said. All the others (completed offices and condos) are safe. Well the videos and photos now available on line say otherwise.

The AP reported yesterday with some illustrations of the fault line that the Myanmar earthquake was sitting on. It exstends down through Myanmar into the Andaman Sea - so much closer to Bangkok underwater.

Yeah? So how many people have they pulled out alive? I'm watching Ch3 (midday Saturday) and they show a worker who is alive and moving his head and chest around midway up the rubble in bright sunshine. All I've seen is a video of the guy and then the same video from last night where they pulled out one injured worker to great applause. And today?

Thailand needs to quickly call in the international expert search and rescue teams who routinely fly into really bad earthquake zones like we've seen in Turkiye and Iran and elsewhere. Within a few hours they can be on scene and finding their ways through the rubble with dogs and other equipment. I know the govt has lost face/confidence given the collpase in the first place, but to rely on inexperienced search teams in a case like this will result in needless deaths.

Another observation to back that up is how the smaller new Thai (in-shop) eateries pop up and look really nice - like they've spent lots of money on outfitting/decorating the new place from whatever the shop was before. Maybe you know better, but I'd guess the leaseholders of these single/double shopfronts that are renovated into smallish restaurants must cost them 2-3 million baht in capital expenditure. I feel really bad for them when so often they are gone in less than a year.. Indie coffee joints are a good example. Now you see them now you don't - but an Amazon is always naerby..(which are pretty good price/taste wise)

Not so sure about that. If the scenario of US isolation grows, and imports drop, why wouldn't demand for the USD drop as well (and thus the currency decline in value)? Would a cheaper dollar be good or bad for the US? Depends on a variety of things I guess..

I did it recently at IMM1 (Changwattana). The officer briefly interviewed me, checked the dates of my arrival and retirement visa. The practice there is to mail it to you by EMS/registered. Took around 5 days I guess, but it can take longer. It's only valid for one month.

My understanding is that the restaurant business is one of the hardest to turn a profit - in any country. Very slim profit margins. Lowering the price might mean going out of business as so many others routinely do.

During the last couple of months I've noticed portion sizes were getting smaller at a couple of major Thai restauarant chains. I guess that's one way to respond to this. These are places where the average main course would be around 180-200 baht.

It's not beyond the realms of possibility that Jeffrey Goldberg was deliberately on the list (and maybe is privy on other lists of the Trump administration given his pro-zionist stance and IDF prison guard background). The fact he was quick to spill the beans about this could be his way of saving his career before someone else noticed and pointed a finger at him for staying quiet. It's not unusual in the least for the world's editors-in-chief of very big publications to get tipped off about things. It's just kept quiet - kind of like developing major sources and then protecting them. Otherwise, then yes, it's just one huge f@ck up and the truth will eventually come out - or not.

I had more than enough THB in my Thai bank account, for at least a year or more, by the time I applied to change to O Visa for purposes of retirement. But I transfered more than 800k in foreign funds anyway into that account just so I could show a foreign transfer and not chance being turned away by IMM. You can try without it. Be good to know how you fare. My understanding was the first application needed to include a foreign wire transfer - then for subsequent renewals you just needed to show you had the minimum 800k in the account (for more than 3 months at renewal). Please let me know if that's not correct, but they (IMM1 at CW) certainly wanted to see the transfer (both from my home country bank and then the Thai bank incoming wire) for conformation, etc.

From Dubai Ports Corp and China's position, I kind of get the economic and geopolitical interest. But I still don't see the economic logic from a shipper's perspective. While it saves time and some fuel, by not sailing around Singapore, the logitics and additional costs involve two ships instead of one, and two loadings and unloadings (of ships) and an additional loading and unloading of container-carrying vehicles (and their labour and fuel costs). It would be good to get a shipper's perspective.

I've been getting Thai massages for more than 20 years. I've also never heard/seen the term 'nuad'. Agree about laziness and elbows. Wat Po trained used to be the gold standard, as far as I recall. They get a certificate and I believe there already exists a scale of hours trained at Wat Po for the certificate. I usually ask for one hour Thai massage if it's a place or practitoner I haven't been to before. If the first thing she does is bend my feet one at a time and then together, then proceeds to use the palm/heel of her hand to apply pressure to the first calf muscle, then I ask for 1.5 or 2 hours. If she doesn't do any of that and starts digging her thumbs into me - I ask her to use her palms and then I can't wait for the hour to end!

We had a Thai neighbor who left a really big concrete planter full of water - never changed for a year - for the squirrels she said. One hot day I emptied it and she got p!ssed off and so I refilled it. A couple of months later I got dengue that landed me in hospital for a week. A month after that a live-in relative at our place got sick with dengue and went to a government hospital. He was there 5 days until passing through the febril period and starting to recover. We're sure it was from that huge planter of water. Big mossies would fly around our place all day long. My platelets dropped to 24,000 before recovering. My relative's platelets dropped to just 7,000 before recovering! (likely his secondary infection and my primary). Dengue is a serious, serious issue in Bangkok.

Tlaking about the export markets not the domestic consumption - maybe I wasn't clear enough.

Show who? It was a Brit that invented it.. In any case, the US guys on here waving the flag and acting like the US owns the world and everyone that buys products that were associated with America originally are still American. It ain't the case and hasn't been for many years. And it's not just the US. Burger King isn't American anymore, neither is Wendy's. Tim Hortan's isn't Canadian anymore, nor is Molson (despite its adverts), and the list goes on - these well-known names are owned by multinational coprorations - often owned by big funds from various countries in a partnership from Europe, the Middle East, Brazil and the US. Much of the mining and forestry is now in the hands of Australian multinationals that operate in the US and Canada So the main point here is these duties and tariffs simply hurt the little guy who ends up paying more at the check out.