tomazbodner

What do you mean? The language exam requires answering questions and holding conversation in formal Thai (not spoken Thai), reading and writing. A large part of that interview is not about the language but about attitude and personality. With what you've written above, you look down on Thailand and Thais, which is not a good start. I have PR, but with the (currently unenforced) requirement to give up original citizenship on being granted Thai citizenship, I don't think it's the best time for me to apply for it, even though I qualify. So your above statement puzzles me. As for benefits of learning Thai - you'd have to earn 200k+ per month and have PhD to compensate for just the language portion.

Hotel knows how much the room costs per night at full rate, they will soon know how much the repairs would cost, so full room rate * number of days until renovation is complete + cost of furniture - and that plus some sobering fee should be slammed on this troublemaker, and not let him out of jail until he pays off every penny and interest.

I cannot disagree with that 🙏

Dare to say that to that kids' parents in face? Would you accept such complete lack of empathy if it was your loved one who died? Stoner's [put your most favourite person in here] gets ran over by a speeding van going through red light, driven by a drunk. OK, 1 dead. So what? You're OK with that?

Lazada already includes all duties and taxes in the price of the product. But you might have noticed that some items increased in price slightly. About 5-10% in the past few weeks.

World's worst security guard...

You could get a multifunction printer with phone socket at the back. They are cheap, and apart from being a printer, copier and scanner, they are also a fax machine for sending and receiving faxes. That's not the biggest problem, though. Bigger problem is whether you still have a decent analog telephone line to connect it to? Alternative is digital fax, where there are some subscription services for, where you scan document and send by email to specific address, or upload on their website, fill out what number to send it to and it sends off. If you get internet incoming fax line number as well, then any incoming faxes would get forwarded to your email address. I used to use efax.com, but there are many others out there.

True, but receipt I have got for importing stuff from Japan via EMS always had import duty AND 7% VAT. On the total cost of shipment, meaning on the product price + shipping price. And it's been like this since I started buying stuff from overseas.

Aha...https://thethaiger.com/news/national/week-old-electric-car-worth-over-a-million-baht-unexpectedly-catches-fire-at-udon-thani-mall-charging-point That was just to set record straight. Personally, I like BYD Seal... a lot.

Yes, they'd leave you paper to go to post office, pay import duties and VAT to get the package. DHL cleared it for you, and ask you to go to their website and settle the bill for both import duty/VAT and their service charges, before delivering parcel. It's been like this since forever, only difference was on shipments of below 1500 baht which could be imported without import duty until a week back, but now the rule is the same for everything.

I remember second hand genuine watch shops on floor 2? of MBK and second floor of Fortunetown. There are sellers in Kaidee that post watches they have for sale (both new and used) so maybe you could reach out to them. Having them in Thailand without having paid importing duties and VAT on them though could be a hindrance to some shops, but I guess not many. I was actually looking into Tag just today at Jomashop.com. As prices of used watches in Thailand are about the same as new ones abroad...

Basically like you, then?

There are a few mandatory ones in that list, but the rest are elective by the company. The companies usually provide 13 days of holidays (half of that list) usually focusing long holiday on their heritage - longer new year holidays for western companies, longer Chinese new year for Chinese and Songkran for Thai companies. Also some of those companies have company closure but force staff to take annual leave to cover that holiday. Usually 4-5 days. And with many companies only having 10-12 days of annual leave for employee, taking half of that off for mandatory holiday is quite cruel. On the flip side to @bob smith - Europeans have 20-30 days of annual leave. Thais have nearly none. Should we protest that they give up their annual leave as well? So unproductive, lazy population!

During red shirt occupation of Bangkok's center, and subsequent showdown between "peaceful protesters" and "aggressive army" as BBC and CNN put it, I was watching these 2 and Al Jazeera, plus some Thai channels for live coverage. Having Channel 5 and BBC side by side I got confused. Reporter was speaking English, but what he was saying was describing what I was watching on Channel 5. Later same happened with CNN. It was at that moment that I realised their reporters just watched Thai news and reported them as if they were there. Al Jazeera maniac though, with helmet on and camera on a stick, was in a ditch under expressway, right in between the 2 warring parties shooting each other, pointing camera around to show what was actually happening. You just had to pray he doesn't get shot for his (courage? stupidity?). Having lived right in the middle of the hot zone, and knowing where the bullets came from (with plenty of evidence from newly created ventilation holes on my walls), Al Jazeera was also the only one of the 3 that told what was actually happening and not just going with poor peaceful protesters being slaughtered by the nasty army narrative like Western media. Hence lots of respect for Al Jazeera. There's a reason why most countries in Middle East want them shut down - Qatar was under blockade from neighbouring countries for a while for refusing to shut them down just a few years back, so they are a pain to many dictatorships there. There is a difference between Al Jazeera English and the Al Jazeera Arabic, though. Unlike Israel wanting both gone, most Arab rulers want the Arabic version gone and don't seem to care much about English one.

Your nephew.

In Japan it would have been made director of the airport...

Maybe deny people posting on this forum instead...

It's like robbing a bank or killing someone. It is OK if you don't get caught. Is that what you wanted to hear?

But what does it do to your sugar levels?

It is useful for those with PR, that means those that have Pink ID number starting with 8. It can be used for opening bank accounts, register for credit cards, internet/cable TV (at least AIS and True), it's accepted at hotels, money changers, post office, couriers, by police, immigration, government offices, land department, you can also register a housing loan with it... And main thing is that the number stays the same, so you don't have to update it when you change card, like you have to update passport number each time it changes. The downside is that if you use passport then your account is considered a non-resident account, while with pink ID it's considered resident account. You can't update non-resident account with pink ID without closing it and opening another one, as change from one type to another isn't permitted. I haven't been asked for passport other than at the immigration (entering/leaving Thailand, applying for non quota immigrant visa) for a decade. Pink ID always sufficed.

Was trying to search funeral announcements towards the end of 2015 for Ruthe Phoenix... Nil... Maybe she hasn't been found yet?

Correction - foreigners with PR cannot get a blue Thai ID card, only PinkID.

Same for Bangkok insurance.. they helped file claim to insurance covering party at fault (but that insurance also had approval process and only covered. minimum number of days fastest garage could do the job and not actual time car was out of action/at repair center)

THB isn't sliding as much as Indian Rupees. Exchanged 2 THB to 5 INR a week back, didn't spend any, exchanged back and made a profit.