eisfeld

And holding on to a passport for a year is something that smells to the heavens.

Very good post, thank you. I can only repeat that most people don't fathom the crazy distances when talking about the universe. Combine that with the fact that the fastest way of communication (electromagnetic waves) is actually quite slow when talking astronomical scales. Compared to the cosmic calendar we're just a blink of an eye long when it comes to being technologically advanced to send or receive signals.

The reason why it is a matter of belief is the fact that there is zero verifiable evidence. Some peoples belief is a bit too strong though and so they think that such evidence exists but is being hidden from us by "them" in power.

Nah most people just are a bit too rational to believe in crackpot conspiracy theories. Luckily 🙂

That's a bit narrow minded. The fact that it happened this way on earth does not mean it has to always happen this way. There's an infinite amount of alternative ways by which it's physically possible to establish intelligent life without going through these exact steps. So all these priors are imho not reasonable.

People understimate the sheer vastness of the universe. Just going by statistics it's likely that: 1. There are aliens *somewhere* in the universe 2. That they are not anywhere close to us in location 3. That we wont make contact with them anytime soon because travel would take forever 4. Due to the accelerating expansion of the universe the time is ticking for there to even be any physical way to even know about their existance before they drift away faster than light

The Milky Way is not our solar system. It's our galaxy which the solar system is a very small part of.

I'm pretty sure it's Saudi Arabia who made the gaff. The official purpose was to promote religious freedom and the Saudi foreign ministry approved. To then force someone to take off their religious clothing during the visit is frankly absurd. It's like having a meeting on womens rights but then disallowing any women to speak. The behavior is in direct contradiction with the purpose.

I'm rooting for you on this epic adventure. 🪛

For most people? Yes, absolutely without question. Better for families to raise their kids. Better for job prospects. Better for social support. Better for clean and diverse nature. Now if you don't need a local job or just want to enjoy warm weather and a good standard of living then Thailand might be a better choice.

Because what you claimed is simply not a fact. There is no worldwide sudden drop in fertility in 2022. I know exactly what you are trying to push for and will call you out on it. Simple.

These do not support your claim. Italies birth rate has declined much earlier than 2022. Their curve turned around 2015. Switzerlands population is still growing steadily. Japans curve inverted around 2010. Here a graph for the whole population of our little blue ball including forecasts. I do not see any "sudden and simultaneous worldwide drop in fertility" as you claimed. Source: https://www.worldometers.info/world-population/ As usual, you are posting misinformation.

Any source for your statistic claim? Last I checked the population decline in many countries started much earlier than 2022. Oh and of course there are countries with population growth. Like India or the USA. Or the majority of countries actually. Don't take my word for it, check https://www.worldometers.info/world-population/population-by-country/

In related news, the 18 year old American is reported to have fled Phuket and said to be on his way to Kantang, Trang.

There are no explicit policies yes. But there are informal internal guidelines which can vary between branches. These are not hard rules, they will accept americans if they want to. I learned that from speaking to account executives at various banks. This isn't even a Thailand specific thing. And I am not talking about the W-8 BEN form. That's standard and no big deal.

That's flat out wrong. Dual taxation treaties still apply even if you are not a US citizen. As explained I am not a US citizen but still benefit from the DTA between US and Thailand. There was no such claim. The claim is that *some* banks prefer to not have US customers. Don't twist the words, the nuance is important. Thailand has not signed CRS and is not participating in CRS. Thailand is participating in other information exchange programs. I didn't say any such thing. BTW Thailand also is not a OECD member but they of course collaborate and might join. I also didn't claim that! In fact I explicitly said the opposite that Thailand is sharing information of foreign citizens with other countries.

It is more difficult for americans as other nationalities at some banks. Some banks refuse americans but accept others. The banks don't want the hassle with the US. Of course it's also more difficult for foreigners to open accounts than locals. But americans are again a special case.

My main gripes with Thai airports are the sometimes unfriendly immigration officers, sometimes long queues and that in the past years I feel like more than half of all flights had delays or other changes. I am always happy to be out of there. Contrast that with Changhi which is always a breeze to go through, the immigration officers are friendly and never make problems and flight delays have been rare. I always enjoy my travel there. Two years ago the immigration officer while leaving Thailand accused me of having a fake permission of stay stamp just because they were not familiar with the one issued by the office in Chamchuri Square in Bangkok. A senior officer had to come and clear it up. This should not happen. Even if the officer is unfamiliar with it they should first check with someone else before accusing me of having a fake stamp. It's just one example out of many over the past decade.

Not true. The US has a dual taxation treaty with Thailand which I am benefiting from even though I am not a US citizen. There seem to be generous exemptions which probably would apply to most people like $2M net worth, $171k annual income. A Thai bank does not care if a US citizen has investment in the US obviously. It's about reporting several things like net asset value, income and especially suspicious transactions that might run afoul of AML regulations. You are mixing here Thai taxation with US taxation. The controlling regulations are written btw. The only thing that changed was the interpretation of one paragraph which exempted certain income which it now doesn't. But again that's Thai tax regulation that applies to everyone and has nothing to do with Thai banks refusing american customers. The banks already started that before the recent tax change and they don't do it with anyone else in the same manner as with americans. Thailand does currently not participate in CRS. You are mixing a lot of different topics. The fact is that banks are more reluctant to accept american customers compared to say europeans. None of the topics of the Thai tax changes, mule accounts etc. are related to americans specifically. From the sound of it the OP probably has a long term visa (retirement, marriage) so that also doesn't apply.

Which part isn't true? I didn't say they all refuse americans. Many still accept americans but the times are changing as they say. Banks only get trouble dealing with the US and sometimes severely so while at the same time getting no revenue from it. Some are starting to refuse to do business with americans and the trend is clear. I don't think many americans were opening mule accounts in Thailand btw. That's usually poor locals or from neighbouring countries. That they refuse americans also has nothing to do with taxation changes. The bank couldn't care less if you as an individual have to pay taxes or not and it's also not specific to americans. Regarding the information sharing that's also something not american. The biggest agreement in place here is the CRS - Common Reporting System. Thailand didn't sign it but is taking part in a global tax transparency effort. But the only country that is actively putting serious pressure on banks all around the world is the US threatening to cut them off for banking networks or heavy fines. Can you clarify? I'm not a US citizen and not familiar with what happens when you renounce that citizenship but foreigners can have financial investments in the USA just fine.

I'm not excusing him in any way. People behaving badly should be punished. But how is that in any way warranting the Prime Ministers involvement? Should he be involved in any case of a foreigner harming a Thai? If not, why? Just this time? To make an example out of the guy? Doesn't sound like justice to me. It's populist poltics.

The US government through their strong power over international banking networks has put in the past decade a lot of burdens on foreign banks if they want to deal with USD. Crossy mentioned one of these measures called FATCA. Thai banks don't make any meaningful revenue from personal accounts owned by americans compared to other nationalities but they have to spend significant effort to be on the right side of the US government. Every person that applies for an account has to fill in a form explaining that he is in no way a US person. That means no US phone number, no US address, no US citizenship and so on. The logical result is that banks will more and more not want to work with US citizens. I can understand their sentiment. If things continue the way they have in recent years then on-US banks might even think about avoiding touching any USD even. It's too early for that because the US Dollar is still the common currency when it comes to international transactions but the castle is starting to shake.

I get where you are coming from and yea social media exposure can be good (and bad). But involving the Prime Minister of the country? Has he nothing better to do? What can he actually do other than say "do something!"? It's a publicity and propaganda stunt. Dangerous too. It could very well prevent him from buying himself out of the mess he created but it also has the very real chance of destroying his life completely which seems to me like a punishment that far exceeds the crime.

There seems to be a populist propaganda push happening right now. I mean in what way does it make sense that the Governor, Chief of Police and even the Prime Minister get involved because someone got kicked? It's a matter for the local police and courts. Very unprofessional and will just fuel a dangerous anti-foreigner sentiment. Way worse things are happening every day but don't receive any attention. It's completely out of whack. Just to be clear: I do not condone the alleged actions of the Swiss guy in any way. He should be punished if it indeed turns out to be true. I'm just strongly against this very public overreaction.

Of course I now cherry picked because I gave an example of cherry picking to you! I did the same as you! Picking any point on the graph is cherry picking. You picked arbitrary peaks. Why do you think those are in any way meaningful as a comparison vaccine vs non-vaccine? It simply doesn't work that way in statistics. If you want to show the effect of vaccines then you can't compare the overall population. You need to compare vaccinated vs non-vaccinated. Isn't that extremely obvious? It's the most basic thing when you want to start some analysis. You can't just pick random points on a graph that mixes both together when there are a million other factors. And if you at least showed cummulative numbers, trends or really anything more meaningful. But what you picked is about the worst that you could have in terms of analysis.