suzannegoh

On 2/3/2025 at 1:38 PM, Rimmer said:

 

Quoted by Toyota dealer and then measured over four months since when we got the car. average spend over four month on petrol 600Baht a month the CRV was over baht 2000 a month

 

I just looked it up as well:

The fuel efficiency of a 1.5L Toyota Yaris Hybrid depends on driving conditions, but you can expect the following:

 City driving: 25-30 km/L (due to more electric motor use)

 Highway driving: 20-25 km/L (less electric assist, more engine use)

 Combined: 22-28 km/L

Over that combined 22-28 km, how much electricity would typically be consumed?

On 2/2/2025 at 12:28 AM, Rimmer said:

We were not ready to make the leap to full electric and all charging rigmarole of it, also range concern so we bought a Toyota HEV Yaris Cross SUV at the end of last year which charges its self up as you drive along and as you brake.

 

We previously owned (at the same time) two Honda CRVs but owning two cars and paying huge petrol bills just doesn't make sense, so we traded them in and paid the difference on a New Toyota Yaris. what a light and day difference:

The Hondas gave us only 7.62 km per liter of fuel the Yaris gives us 27 to 30 km per liter.

The Yaris is a tad smaller and therefore much easier to park.

The Yaris has a much tighter turning circle than the Honda.

Both Hondas were incredibly noisy on any road surface from new, Honda 'said situation normal'.

The Yaris is super quite and when running on electric virtually no noise at all

The Yaris is way quicker off the mark than either of the Hondas and overtaking much quicker.

Yaris comes with all kinds of built in safety feature alarms also reversing camera, dash cams and electric seat adjustment and a great multimedia display.

 

We love it, wife loves it and as they say happy wife happy life

 

27 to 30 km per liter is remarkably good.  Is that was Toyota advertises or what you have measured?

I've noticed that whenever a farang gets robbed in Thailand that he claims to have lost some incredible amount of cash.

58 minutes ago, proton said:

Seem to recall these images supporting another story not so long ago, over stayer?. The Airbnb was letting illegally if under a month of course, I'd like to be the first to say there must be more to this story, smokey beat me to it

I think that you're right that some of those images were used in another story.

On 1/24/2025 at 9:01 AM, PomPolo said:

Hello all, just wondered peoples thoughts were on this.

I currently have a retirement visa in Thailand down to my savings and age however I can't touch my personal pension until I am 57 years old.
I live in the north of Thailand and my wife and I have just built a house so rent would not be an issue.
I am not a huge drinker but will meet up with friends every now and again but don't hit the bars every day.
I am sure similar questions have been asked before I won't go into full details of the value of my personal pension but I think it is reasonable.
At a retirement age of 57 in my circumstances people with more experience of Thailand than myself what would you recommend/suggest as a minimum retirement fund and not working, I understand questions like this are subjective and relative depending on point of view and circumstance but just looking for peoples point of view?

A couple million USD should cover it.

On 2/1/2025 at 10:14 AM, GammaGlobulin said:

 

The last time I drank this Dutch offering was quite some time ago, when Taiwan purchased two subs.

In exchange for agreeing to sell Taiwan subs, I think Taiwan, out of the kindness of the heart, decided to buy up a ton of Heineken beer.

 

The locals did not like it.

And, the price kept dropping

Finally, I bought some, too.

 

 

I would prefer German beer.

And, I think I would never pay "extra" for Dutch beer, at least no more than for Singha or Leo.

Is Heineken more expensive than Singha?

 

And, what about the Dutch Brew's Bubbles?

Are they small enough for me, do you think?

 

We on Formosa salute the Dutch for their Subs, but not so much for their Brew.

Although, Heineken seems to be doing much better in Taiwan these days, compared to 44 years ago.

 

 

The Dutch just LOVE Taiwan....

 

But, in the past, the Taiwanese disliked their beer.

Not so much, now, I think.

 

 

Maybe they want to sell more weapons to Taiwan.

Or, establish another colony on Formosa...

IDK,

Too early to say, for now.

 

 

Heineken is brewed in Thailand for the local market.  I think that it's a little more expensive than Singha and Chang but not dramatically so. 

Some 711s have Chinese-brewed Stella in 500ml cans for about 79 (or maybe it was 89) Baht.  Not a bad option compared to the local beers and Heineken.

18 hours ago, billd766 said:

What Trump does not seem to understand is that 100% tariffs are a two way thing. If the USA under Trump wants to impose the tariffs, he can do so, but other countries can also do the same to the USA.

Thailand imposes pretty steep tariffs already.

17 hours ago, khunJam said:

That’s what I eluded to. It seems to be a hassle if the OP is planning to live in Chiang Mai and needing to take a trip once a year to renew. I mean as time goes by and age sets in people tend to get lazy. Just seems best to iron out a good path during the younger years of age. Or am I missing something here?

is it only in Pattaya where agents get their customers retirement visas by putting 800k in a bank account for a couple of days and then bribing an immigration officer to issue the visa?  I've never noticed agents offering that service in CM but maybe it's just more underground than in Pattaya.

41 minutes ago, CMHomeboy78 said:

Funny you'd mention fish at The Duke's Iron Bridge.

I had the fish and chips a few nights ago with some friends and relatives who ordered a variety of other things.

The fries were just OK - I've had better there in the past.

The fish [snapper] was exceptionally good and done to a turn.

There have been many positive and negative reviews of The Duke's over the years but the place has been going strong since the early '80s and has always attracted a diverse clientele.

The consensus seems to be that it is the best - or one of the best - restaurants for American steakhouse food in Chiang Mai.

To each his own.

 

Duke's is like a Bennigan's, Applebees, or a TGI Fridays in the States.  If you're homesick for that type of food it might hit the spot but fine dining it's not.

On 1/27/2025 at 11:53 AM, KhunLA said:

Obviously, that's going to depend on the source, and DTA with TH from home country, if the funds haven't been sitting there since the previous year.   Some people do just leave the funds put, if not needed.

What if you're drawing funds from an account that contains both old and new money.  In that case, how would it be determined if the money that you brought into Thailand was already taxed?

On 1/23/2025 at 8:58 PM, SiSePuede419 said:

Thai Revenue Office.

Took 30 minutes.

Now need to file taxes in America 

Get copies of Thai Bank book (deposits are income)

File Tax return online with deductions for 

Life insurance for wife

Medical insurance for son

Life insurance for me (maybe)

 

Let's say my tax due in Thailand is 10,000B.

 

But I paid 20,000B in America.

 

Then my taxes due in Thailand is 0B...?

 

More likely my Thai tax is more than tax due in America then I pay the difference.

 

That's it.

 

Easy.

 

Now I can use that money to pay optional taxes.

 

Like the Beer Tax.

 

Or the Farang Food Tax.

 

Or the dreaded Penis Tax.

 

Up to you. 💯

 

 

Is that really how it works, that what what matters is how much tax you paid in the US in the year is which you transferred money into Thailand?   That could be very costly for any Americans who are living off saving and who aren't on a backpacker's budget.

On 1/24/2025 at 10:54 AM, JohnnyBD said:

I would file in Thailand before Mar 31, then file in US before Apr 15, and claim the tax credit using form 1116, instead of waiting until 2026. Your choice I guess. I'm not sure of the proper way to do it.

Are you sure that it works like that?  I thought that if you paid a foreign tax in 2025 that you would claim it on the US return due in April 2026. 

I still use  it but with the Free42 app rather than with an HP calculator.  As a general rule, I wouldn't recommend an RPN calculator to someone who says that they've never used algebra after High School, and that seems to include most farang in Thailand other than the ones praising RPN calculators in this thread.

7 minutes ago, GammaGlobulin said:

 

Strangely enough, I agree with you, once more.

 

I first encountered this phenomenon when asking some Chinese guy, who had a 4.0 in soft-science courses, how he would factor or multiply equations or variables embedded within parentheses.

 

His entire order of what he was supposed to multiply first, second, and third, was all mixed up, and totally opposite to what is standard form, and logical.

 

Even if one showed him how, he still could not accept the better order, ie which to begin with, and the next.

 

Just another example of what can go wrong when taking up RPN.

Maybe this is why there are those who are unable to appreciate the beauty of it.

 

I switched to an HP about halfway through engineering school. Before that I had a TI "scientific" calculator that evaluated equations as they are written.   It didn't take long to adapt to RPN, and after awhile you find that when tackling equation that you think that way the calculator does.

17 minutes ago, GammaGlobulin said:

 

Yes.

100-percent AGREE.

Those ankle-biters will never become scientists and engineers if they do not immediately get in the swing of things with a good STEM curriculum, and plenty of MATH, preferably using RPN.

 

Just go online, and one can read so many testimonials from users of RPN...that it isn't even funny.

 

Also, the REALLY funny thing is that the critics of RPN, most of them, have never even used it for a year, or so.

 

If they had used it for a minimum length of time, then they would probably understand its advantages, and never go back.

 

But, little minds...
You know what they say...

Can't teach little minds tricks that might help them improve themselves.

 

One also need not be an engineer to appreciate RPN.

But, it helps if one is solving more complex equations.

 

Even if not, then it's just a pleasure to use RPN.

And, I have been a convert since the early 1970s.

 

 

One may not need to be an engineer to appreciate RPN calculators but one needs to intuitively understand the order of operations when trying to solve complex equations.  Most non-engineers seem not to - numerous posts can be found on Facebook asking people to solve sample equations and most just plow ahead from left to right without any concern for which operations take precedence, and then after coming up with the wrong answer they argue that the rules must have changed since they were in high school.

On 1/23/2025 at 9:47 AM, phetphet said:

I must admit, I know nothing of RPN, but what I have been reading about and watching on Youtube videos recently is what is known as Singapore Maths.

 

This seems to teach young school children to be able rapid solve many + - x / questions in their heads.

 

Below is an example:

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wXnp__Ni8e0

 

 

 

 

Mundane video that has nothing to do with RPN calculators.

On 1/22/2025 at 6:29 PM, GammaGlobulin said:

Dear Folks,

 

As you know, any time you might need to add or subtract a few numbers, then Reverse Polish Notation (RPN) is always faster and more convenient, not to mention more accurate.

 

And I am wondering how many in Thailand are using RPN, versus the more inaccurate way of adding numbers, such as using AN, instead.

 

Some have said that a minority of schools here do not stress ARITHMETIC enough.  Maybe this is true. But, still, if kids today, not to mention we adults, would increase our use of Reverse Polish Notation, then surely our Math (Maths) skills would continue to improve.

 

Hewlett Packard has always been a big fan of RPN.  Yet, in the past several years, it seems that HP has not been offering as many calculators with this RPN function.  Do you know why?

 

If you do NOT use Reverse Polish Notation, then would you care to share your thoughts concerning why you do not?...  Because, really, such a choice seems just so illogical.

 

 

 

These days, of course, many people use their phones for doing arithmetic calculations.  And, maybe there is a way to do Reverse Polish Notation on one’s phone.  Do you do this on your phone?

 

I could send you a photo of my first Reverse Polish Notation device, if anyone cares.

Please let me know if you do.

 

Times are changing, but I just hope that most people here will continue to use Reverse Polish Notation whenever they feel the need.

 

Best regards,

Gamma

 

Note and Question:  Most people are logical.  Right?

 

 

There's an app for Amdroid  and iOS called Free42 which is an excellent emulation of an HP42S calculator. 

4 hours ago, lordgrinz said:

 

The number of people using a VPN on their smartphone is so small as to be insignificant. 

Also small and insignificant is the number of people who get hacked just by connecting to a public wifi network.  By now all traffic that matters is SSL encrypted,

28 minutes ago, CaptainPeacock said:

 

So what are you going to do about your Thai bank accounts?

 

Leave instructions with your beneficiary about how to go online and drain those accounts before the bank knows that you're dead.

15 hours ago, Purdey said:

I am interested to know how one finds out what locals pay as opposed to foreigners. Is there a dual language price list?

It varies. Yanhee Hospital, who receives a lot of foreign patients for cosmetic surgery, has such a price list showing the local and foreigner prices.  Others, such as Bangkok Hospital and Bumrungrad, are either equally expensive for everyone or are not transparent about their dual pricing.

19 hours ago, DonniePeverley said:

Not scammed but had an over zealous clerk for the first time last night. It was 11:58pm (even by his own watch), but he refused to serve alcohol saying it was no midnight. 'Cannot do midnight'.

 

I then showed him my watch, showed him the world clock on google, and asked to look at his watch, but then i think it became about honour and not wanting to climb down. 

 

An odd one. 

 

 

I didn't know that he prohibition hours were being manually enforced at 711s, I thought that it was programmed into their system for alcoholic items to automatically be rejected when scanned during dry hours.

3 hours ago, J Branche said:

Recap.

 

Immigrant Foreigner fails to check Immigration requirements, fails to make alerts for important dates in his phones free Calendar that can be synched with tablet, computer automatically.

 

Foreigner fails to check maybe every week when he must visit Immigration or leave.

 

If you are here legally, have Proof of Immigration documents on Phone, chances are if you get in minor fight you are treated like Thai culture (Say sorry, say you will work better to prevent this next time, maybe pay small fine)

 

Minor fighting is part of Thai Culture.

More likely he overstayed his 30 days visa-free stay in Thailand by 18 months.  According the article. that guy came to Thailand with the intention of settling here in April the year before getting busted in November.  That's 19 months.

"His Thai adventure began with hope and ambition in April of the previous year, as he planned to settle and start a business. However, his dreams crumbled in November..."

Conditions like that are inexcusable but if he entered Thailand 19 months earlier with the intention of "settling" in Thailand and wasn't a retiree or a millionaire, it seems more likely that he never had a proper visa than that that he overstayed by a "few" days.