atpeace

37 minutes ago, Enoon said:

 

As far as homicide goes it has a murder rate higher than the UK but lower than the US. Much lower than Colombia, but not nearly as low as Monaco.

 

If one sought to make quick comparisons this interactive world map is handy:

 

https://www.datapandas.org/ranking/murder-rate-by-country

 

 

 

Why do that when you can simply insult the Thai race and show your  superiority.  I doubt any countries citizens are any better or worse than Thais but the circumstances vary greatly between countries.  Poor and desperate people are more likely to kill than wealthier individuals.

4 hours ago, MarkT63 said:

Nah, tried it for a day once a few years back and it just didn't agree with me 🍻

It is relaxing and fun at times also.  I don't know why it so easy for me to quit.  I joined an AA group years ago and I got the vibe other members thought I was a fake alcoholic or alternatively just didn't like me.  I guess I'm lucky possibly...

3 hours ago, mfd101 said:

Thank goodness no tourist worthy of the name would dream of coming to Surin.

Lived in Buriram for a couple years.  Not many tourists but lots of xpats. I enjoyed the open spaces but like a little more variety of landscape.  Now living in a much smaller "local" tourist town with the occasional foreign  tourists passing through.  Might be the most spectacular place I've called home and sense it is only a matter of time before more tourists find it.  To really experience it you have to be healthy and adventurous but even the domestic type find it appealing with a claimed 5 star hotel opening a few years back and many other new nice hotels.  Went for a run today up lava rock hills and swam in a pristine swimming hole in the middle of a slab of lava rock.  Nobody but me to enjoy it but I occasionally take along my beautiful wife   Life can be hard at times but the vast majority of days here don't suck!

4 minutes ago, BigStar said:

 

You can't hold the door open as if it's just a pedestrian obligation. They don't expect it anyway.

 

No, you need to show the obsequiousness reserved for Royalty. You open the door, hold it to the side of you for them to walk past, and give a bow with a dramatic hand gesture sweeping from your head downwards and out, as if it holds a cocked, feathered hat you've just removed. You think, humbly, "After you, Your Majesty."

 

And then you'll get a nice smile and even a laugh of appreciation. Try it, unless you think you're too much of a badass. It's funny. 

 

Re: elevator greeting, I always give a polite "sawadee, krub" when I get on, which I think makes the Thai passenger comfortable. No greeting in return is expected, and they know it isn't expected, but they'll often give it.

 

 

I've seen this a few times in Thailand and always leave the lift, restaurant, etc happier then before getting on.  Don't think I'm a badass but never done it.  Takes a certain type and I'm not the type as of yet.

Maybe they read what many posters here think about Thais.  

 Thais really don't care to waste their time with most Xpats compared to 25 years ago and that is much the same even in rural Thailand.    I bathe regularly, have decent hygiene, and other than some wild nights out - behave well.  25 years here and only have been disrespected a few times and might have deserved it. 

Maybe you are taking their lack of acknowledgment a little to personally because you feel superior to Thais? 

2 hours ago, SunsetT said:

If the ban begins midnight 23rd does that mean alcohol can be sold in bars and clubs etc until midnight?

So if you make the 23rd an early night out and the 24th a late night start, you just have to survive on no alcohol upon waking on the 23rdto arriving to the bar on the evening of the 23rd.  Washing the dishes is more of a hassle than this...

2 hours ago, FritsSikkink said:

Sure, that is why pre covid we had 40 million visitors.

What about 3 years before the pandemic?  They are same now and the rebound has been dramatic once the restrictions were eliminated.  It's quite worrying for me and would love to see it slow down but people seem to love coming here. The trend line growth is almost vertical and excluding a world wide recession it will hit 50m in the next 10years 😔 

Couple days that are slightly inconvenient if your an alcoholic which i am but  easy to carry-on.  For some reason I can quit drinking with ease and do it once or twice a year for a a week or sometimes much longer.   Any alcoholics out there that quit on their own terms periodically every year or two?  

6 hours ago, riclag said:

I suggest you call Schwab for advice!

I have them ! 
But its not a international account and 

my residence is listed on file as USA.

TD Ameritrade accounts have now been switched to Schwab.  I'm Assuming my account is not international.  Can they send your debit card to Thailand even with your US residence? TD Ameritrade wouldn't.

5 hours ago, Doctor Tom said:

have you ever stood in front of an aircon outside.  An aircon is a heat exchanger and it does not just circulate internal air without an outside vent.  Its why portable aircons are a waste of money and never really work. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gVLhrLTF878

 

No -I think he was right.  The vent you mentioned is not taking air from inside the home.  It is expelling heat that is caused by cooling the recirculated air.  That is what I always thought but maybe I'm missing something.

I had crabs in high school before the internet and I wasn't living with my parents and probably wouldn't have told them any.  Rubbing alcohol was my choice.  Figured it was really good at killing germs...  It will kill most things including  scabies but thinking a whole body, In my case, -only my Johnson, might have complications.  Definately clean all surfaces with rubbing alcohol or something powerful.  Take all your clothes to the new laundromats they have all over Thailand that have HOT dryers.

Can be upsetting.  Do you feel them now frolicking in your epidermis?

16 hours ago, Bangkok Barry said:

 

And if the first test was wrong? Ever tried getting a refund from a Thai company?

Do it often but never for prescription glasses.  I could see that being a pain.  Them telling you to show them what is wrong and how would you do that? Hard to resell  prescription glasses or maybe not and you're wearing the last person's glasses that successfully returned them.  20k - ouch!

2 hours ago, G_Money said:

How hard is it to park 20 meters away and just walk.  Just lazy imo.

On Soi Bakhao?  It can be very had to the point of impossible unless you give-up and double park but then you risk a deserved beating.

55 minutes ago, digbeth said:

 2 factor token generator are available and used already on commercial accounts for most Thai Banks, I'd happily pay extra 5-800 baht a year to use it with my personal accounts 

How would that work?  At checkout or only for online transactions?  I like the email authentication that most banks use here and feel it is the appropriate security under 50-100k baht daily limit that you can place on an the account.  Is a pain though when you hit the daily limit.  I had to pay a friend some money over three days so I wouldn't go over the limit.

1 hour ago, John Drake said:

 

I've only had two major problems with Bangkok Bank. They are both ongoing. The wait times in the banks are usually, although not always, thirty minutes plus (except for the Mahidol branch which usually hasn't got but one or zero other customers when I go in). I must use the counter because my Social Security account with Bangkok Bank is locked and I can only withdraw money from it in person. I don't mind that, because I like the "locked feature" and keep my 800,000 for the retirement extension in that account. I also have a separate BBK ATM account. The second issue is the receipt of my SSA deposit which is usually a day late. I wouldn't mind the day late, except that it sometimes hits the weekends and subsequent holiday, so I may not get the SSA deposit until the 5th or 6th, instead of the 3rd. 

 

SCB has been largely indifferent. I went three times to ask about facial recognition. Why? Because they kept telling me to come back and they would have it available for foreigners in a month/6 weeks/2 months time, until eventually telling me it wasn't available for foreigners (although like I said in a post above, I have it and have used it with BBK). The woman who last told me that they wouldn't have it for foreigners also told me not to ask again. This was at the Phutthamonthon Sai 5 Lotus, at the branch that closed. So maybe she's looking for another job right now.

 

Several other posters have pointed out that they've seen no decline in the number of SCB branches or ATMs where they live. So perhaps it's regions they are shutting down. 

 

I get it. It is hard at times being a foreigner here when it comes to banking.  Can't speak of other  countries x-pat banking because I've never had an account in them.   A simple process for us becomes complicated more times than not.  My Thai friends don't have the same experience with the exception of long wait times. 

My latest gripe is that Bangkok Bank and Krungthai keep rejecting monthly payments to Google.  No idea why but my solution is to pay annually and do it manually.  In the end, banking here today vs banking in America prior to 2008( when I retired here)  is wonderful.  Probably even better back home than here but wouldn't know.

16 minutes ago, GarryP said:

Yes, I had to with UOB. Drove nearly two hours to their nearest branch to do this.  

You do if when setting up your account you or the bank set the limit at 50k.  I just found this out with Bangkok Bank.  You can use the app as customer service tells you to do to  up the limit but that will just add another 15 minutes to the ordeal with the same result which is  an online message at the end of the process telling you to go to a bank branch.

21 hours ago, John Drake said:

 

Yes, there are no SCB ATMs that I can find inside the Lotus now. I live on Phutthamonthon Sai 3. Used to have two SCB ATMs within 200 meters. They went some time ago. The Mahidol branch where I originally opened my account has been closed since Covid and never reopened.

I'm sure your experience is honest but I have had  many bad experiences with Bangkok bank.  Probably just an x-pat issue in many cases.  Don't think we were really ever that important but less so now and international regs (FACTA, etc) make dealing with us a pain in the buttt.  I had to drive 30 minutes to find a Bangkok Bank branch but that now has closed and the next nearest is 90 minutes away.  Bad luck because I  see Bangkok Bank branches on every corner when I don't need them. Also VPN's need to be turned off with all my banking apps for a couple years now.

17 hours ago, uttradit said:

I rarely hear people talk Biden or Trump. They talk about food a lot or exercise or a movie.

 

 

I'm glad you are back.  I seriously enjoy most your posts.  Short, offensive, silly and sometimes funny in a weird way.  Why uttradit? MrHumungous, Tyrannosaurus, stallion... 

1 hour ago, ChaiyaTH said:

Soi bukhao is just the worst place in Thailand there is, even when I lived in Pattaya, and did enjoy the nightlife a lot, I never went there for multiple reasons, one being to have this kind of stuff a few times a day. Full of drug users there too. Soi 6 is even half decent compared to it lol.

Yep - the soi 6 patrons are thinking with their peckers and letting their ego have a rest moment.

4 hours ago, OneMoreFarang said:

 

 

And for all those who cry victim blaming: It doesn't matter if legally he was right to use that parking spot. It is just stupid to argue with some people. Walk away! 

Took me too many years to figure this out.  I still might help a fool in the right that got himself into a bad predicament but I avoid being that fool.  Bad things seem to happen to me les these last few years 🙂

Not just a Thai problem or possibly it isn't a problem.  I've been waiting with semi dread since the financial crisis and governments resorting to war time deficit spending and QE for the economic collapse but not the case.  It seems like all issues can be fixed by just adding more debt and QE.  Covid - no problem - just double down and ignore deficits because they seem not to matter. 

I'm bitter because I was so wrong but still believe eventually I will be proven right albeit my timing was off by at least a decade.  I wonder how long I'll be in cash and short term treasuries waiting for a debt crisis that may never happen.

13 hours ago, spidermike007 said:

Interesting point, and something like that is entirely possible. This is a man who is guided by hatred, has an extremely dark heart, and has nothing in the way of a moral compass, so unless the people around him are able to stop him, unless Congress or the Senate are bold enough to stop him, there's no way to know how far he would go.

 

There's no question that he's an extremist imbecile who would attempt insane policy, if given a second term. Anyone but Trump!

Agree but who? Like many people Biden has made them question voting democrat.  I know many/most love  him and just like Trump, he could kill someone and they would still vote for him.   

Why all the lousy baby boomer President candidates?  Baby boomers seem to rule the world at the moment and I for one would love some churn. 

3 hours ago, uttradit said:

Cool words (ie web gibberish)

Deflection

No leg to stand on

 

Nobody talks like this in face to face discussions.

 

I do all the time with people I meet when having fun.  I know what you're getting at though and if i sensed you were the sensitive or violent type, in most cases I would be more careful with my words.  How do you carry yourself in public?  Punch anyone that has a laugh at your expense?  Would be loads of people.

Different set of rules online and I'm not sure I like them.   Usually after a month or two I get bored posting here and disappear for at least a few months up to a year.

5 hours ago, Bangkok Barry said:

 

Nice attempted deflection.

Please explain? Seems like the new cool word posters use when they have no rational comeback.  Deflect that!