Everything posted by tomazbodner
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My Permanent Residency Application
I cannot say about humanitarian category nor what's going on right now, but Thai skills were definitely needed when I had my interview... 2010 or so? How it looked then: At CW there's a corridor at the back right side, next to E counters. There are 2 rooms there, a small "waiting room" and a larger room where interview took place. In my case, there were about 15-20 people in there, all in uniforms, with a very kind officer operating camera on the side. In the middle of the panel was a man with as many medals you could put on his uniform. He was asking questions. It was conversation in formal Thai, but quite basic... It wasn't anything like the exams some European countries have for residence there. Most years, time to apply was usually about a week or 2 in early/mid December. Mine was second week of December. Don't know how many Brits would be applying, but there's a limit of 100 per nationality, first come first serve. So you have some time to polish up on Thai skills. Switch to Thai with your family for a year and you'll likely be fine. And it's not like they would ask you for interview immediately. Maybe 3 months or even more after application. You can do it.
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Govt Alerts Businesses: Avoid Unjustified Price Hikes
Where can I report Government for raising VAT from 7 to 10%, airport taxes from 730 to 1120 THB, income tax increase by 5%,...? Anyone getting 7 years of cold storage for that?
- Russia threatens strikes on Europe after Iran attack
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Upcoming changes to Wise operations in Thailand
Was just making transfer to Japan a few days back. When selecting currency to send in (THB to JPY) the THB account balance was listed as "Unavailable", and only thing I could do was select EUR, and pay 2x conversion plus additional non-EUR card fees. If I read it correctly, this option will also disappear. So, at least to me, with verified address and documents, Wise is quickly becoming totally useless. Internet bank also stated that I need to go to the branch to make transfer - wasn't possible from their banking page online. I understand about the Chinese gangs robbing people worse than Nigerians ever did, but these restrictions are making it near impossible to transfer funds anywhere without getting on the plane and carrying cash abroad...
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Why call it "Operation Epic Fury"?
That tweets aged well...
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Pattaya Police Arrest Two Indians in Sex Trafficking Case
Good question. Used to live in Pratunam and Indra Square was full of "Indian" sellers. But when talking to them I found out they weren't Indian at all. They were Sri Lankan, Bangladeshi, Nepali... But overall, I know what you mean. Ao Nang in Krabi used to have Thai sellers, restaurant staff, etc. You can't see a single non-Indian face now. Drove through Pattaya not long ago... that 2nd? road, behind Central (with Hilton on top) looks like a bit cleaner version of Mumbai. But signs and people look all the same. There surely has been a massive influx of South Asians. But that was before the visa exempt started already, not just now.
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MRT to Scrap Old MRT Cards and Tokens
Right now using MRT Plus on Blue and Purple lines. Was surprised to see Pink line used Rabbit... Anyway, on at least Blue line I see credit cards being accepted. Never tried but see others using it. Might just switch to use Thai credit card instead of moving to Mangmoom. But wasn't Mangmoom supposed to become standard across all the public transportation the same way as Octopus is in Hong Kong?
- Trump Raises Possibility of ‘Friendly Takeover’ of Cuba
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Danish PM Calls Snap Election Amid Greenland Tensions
Thailand for the Thais?
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Worst Joke Ever 2026
- Worst Joke Ever 2026
In the age of AI image generation, anyone can be made to appear with anyone. It's also not clear if the girl is Pam. But if it was her, it would explain a lot about her behaviour.- Six Thai Provinces for a Comfortable, Slower Way of Life
@CharlieH You've got Ubon Ratchathani twice and Korat missing in headlines... And Udon Thani's text under Ubon Ratchathani duplicated.- Five Dead, Six Injured in Chainat Pickup Crash
Amazing luck for that motorcycle driver and whoever was in the other pickup that was missed by a second...- BREAKING : SCOTUS has ruled on the tariffs
Thank you for paying attention to this matter!- US GDP growth slows sharply to end 2025
You really should change your name...- Who picks up Trump's Tariff bill?
And you typed this on a device made in America from locally sourced materials, running on Texas crude?- BREAKING : SCOTUS has ruled on the tariffs
Wouldn't be surprised if administration simply ignored the ruling...- Worst Joke Ever 2026
So racist and insensitive! Why is the horse white?!- Tablet for reading books
I agree with Kindle or anything that has ePaper/eInk screen. I have one that has a fake ePaper... not quite the same, bought it because I thought TCL has figured out a way to fuse ePaper and OLED, but that's not really true - it's just a variable frequency display that can make it feel like matte ePaper but really isn't. Still, it hurts eyes noticeably less than iPad. It's TCL NXTPaper. There's a review of it at ZDNet: https://www.zdnet.com/article/tcl-tab-10-nxtpaper-5g-review/ Got it from Banana shop in 10" form without 5G for about 10k baht, maybe a bit less. Can't remember.- Licences Renewal Goes Online for Motorists Under 55
Really? https://apnews.com/article/los-angeles-california-car-into-store-de8bbfe6c9d413839255d7537ca5a3b5- AOC highlight from Munich and beyond news
DJT finally finds a match. AOC of all people.- Voter ID for the Midterms,News
For country that claims to be so advanced, can't they just install biometric sensors (don't tell me US government doesn't have fingerprints and photos of its citizens) at the voting machines - the same way as getting through the gate at the airports... Darn, even "poor, 3rd World countries" like Thailand have them! There's no need for paper documents. Verify biometrics. You probably would not even need the reason for inserting document that airport uses - there it compares the biometric readings with the chip in the document - but with voting you know exactly who was supposed to vote at that location, narrowing the search of biometric data - and thus speeding it up to a few seconds. It also could prevent repeat voting at same or different places, by disabling the "used ID" from voting again after vote is cast. That would not require people to get a new ID for those that feel discriminated, as they for whatever reason can't get a passport or paper copy of birth certificate, put some work on the government employees or give some work to software companies to regain employment in AI wave slaughtering them, and making a system that would eliminate fraud. And for remote voting - there are voice signatures, digital certificates, webcams, phone IMEI numbers, PingID/Authenticator apps,... It is possible to do. It'll cost a tiny bit more of government debt, but at least make this ID vs no ID conversation irrelevant.- Masseuse Ordered to Pay €1,000 in Berlin Sexual Assault
Maybe if he had masseuse closer to his age...- Worst Joke Ever 2026
No. Need more?- Allies turn on US as Trump sparks trust crisis worldwide
Discombobulator? Gotta say, never heard that one before! - Worst Joke Ever 2026