Gecko123

Below statement from your post appears to be a falsehood: "Here's the problem...the US Election Board had already decided at the Federal level that no crime had been committed for this action." The US FEC dropped pursuit of this matter in a split ruling based upon: (1) an approaching statute of limitations deadline, and (2) because there was already an ongoing DOJ investigation which the US Election Committee felt would make their investigation redundant. It is completely false to claim that the US FEC found that "no crime had been committed." https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2021/05/06/fec-trump-stormy-daniels-cohen/#

Wouldn't place much significance on the overnight contribution surge Trump's campaign reported. A knee-jerk temper tantrum from the MAGA hard core faithful who know in their hearts that they are now more likely to lose in November. Trump's narrative that "the system was rigged", "the judge is conflicted" and "the trial was unfair" because "we couldn't get a change of venue", "they wouldn't allow us to present evidence", blah, blah, blah is not going to resonate with mainstream America, moderate Republicans, and most notably suburban housewives (who are already sick to their back teeth of Trump over abortion rights, the sexual assault verdict, the marital infidelity, the chaos, and his lying and lack of character). Voting for a one time convicted felon (who in all likelihood would have multiple felony convictions if Eileen Cannon and the Supreme Court weren't so politically corrupted) is going to be a bridge too far for the majority of American voters, and I expect that to become more and more apparent as we move closer to November.

These politicians and suck-up supporters of Donald Trump who are claiming that the case was politically motivated and should never have been brought by the NY District Attorney are ignoring the fact that 12 American citizens unanimously agreed that Trump was guilty as charged. They are also, irrespective of whether he was prosecuted or not, turning a blind eye to his dishonesty, and to the fact that his actions concealed the truth about candidate Trump from the American people, something which should disturb anyone concerned about democratic values. To the MAGA crowd: do you really want to vote for a liar, a thief, a tax dodger, a sexual assaulter, a racist and a malignant narcissist who is in obvious cognitive decline? Donald Trump, Felon. Let that sink in for a while before you answer.

It takes years to learn the language. I studied it intensively for 9.5 years before moving here. The idea you can move to some rural village and "immerse" yourself in the language is a total myth. The only way that could even happen would be if your domestic partner and you only spoke Thai at home, which is clearly not the case. 99% of the guys I've ever met in rural Thailand who speak English with their spouse never get out of the starting blocks in terms of learning Thai. Chances are you're going to be very socially isolated, no matter how much you like Thai people.

The number one question the OP should have a firm answer to before he even thinks about moving over here, much less to his fiancee's hometown/village, is what are you going to DO with your time and life once you move there. What are you going to DO from 7:00 am until 7:00 pm every day? Not theoretically, but what will you actually do? That's what you need to figure out before you start worrying about bank accounts and visas.

You sound like you are in holiday euphoria, and are making major plans which involve financial commitments. Don't let the visa urgency cause you to rush into things. The number one rule here is things are not always what they seem, and it's doubly true if you have no knowledge of the language and a cursory familiarity with the culture.

Slow the f down would be my advice.

Will obviously be watching his P's & Q's for a while, but worried about what might go on behind closed doors if he has anger management issues.

Cops need to keep an eye on this guy. Hard to believe someone who assaults a gas-station attendant and drove intoxicated is the model citizen he purports himself to be. Wife had to be under a lot of pressure to portray him as a saint out of fear of him being deported and loss of support, but wonder what neighbors have to say about this guy. Hope the investigation included a check of this guy's reputation in the neighborhood. Little bit worried about what's going on in the home and potential for domestic violence.

I think you're overstating the hierarchical nature of Thai society. Most people interact with people in their same social milieu. It's not like Thai people are a big army and everyone has a name, rank and serial number. With that said, the two things which limit foreigners' social status potential are the inability to own land and the inability to vote and hold political office. Trying to climb the rungs of a mythical social status ladder is probably futile. What I would advise striving towards instead is building your respectability over time by displaying good character and being as likable a person as you can manage to be.

Dude, I'm just telling you what I think China's views on decriminalization are and suggesting that geopolitics may be playing a role in the rollback decision making. I am American, but what you think my nationality has to do with this is beyond me. I don't know why you're so upset. If smoking weed is so important to you, you can always go back to Amsterdam, can't you?

Those hoping that this legislation will not be enacted or, if enacted, that enforcement will be lax, need to consider China's influence on Thailand's current government. Not only is cannabis consumption viewed as a youth corrupting and decadence inducing activity by China, but it is also seen as encouraging Western values at a time when China is working hard to increase its cultural and economic influence in SE Asia. Thailand's cannabis legalization also provided Chinese tourists with an opportunity to experiment with cannabis while on vacation and had the potential for encouraging cannabis use in China and other SE Asian countries. I strongly suspect that China sees Thailand's cannabis legalization as a poorly thought out attempt at populist political grandstanding by Anutin and that they are firmly in favor of tightly restricting its use only to cases where its medical efficacy is well-established, if not completely recriminalizing it with no medical use exceptions.

You are conflating your ability to find housing and food that fits into your budget with inflation which are two entirely different issues. Your reasoning would be the same as someone saying there's no inflation in the US because they could always move into a mobile home park, go van-life, or pitch a tent for free in a city park. You're the one who's being ridiculous. Your argument that food inflation has been strictly limited to "farang" food is simply uninformed. Durian, mangoes, oranges, bananas, salak, melons, pineapple - all locally grown produce - have all gone up considerably. A large peeled durian packed in a cello package can easily sell for 500 baht a package, unheard of five years ago and budget conscious durian loving Thais are buying them. Potatoes, broccoli, green beans, peppers, onions, ginger, fak tong, pak chai, collard greens - you name it - have all gone up. Using tiny bundles of herbs sold by elderly women in the market for 10 baht does not represent overall food prices, and you will be hard pressed to find any Thais,n o matter how humble their diet is who will agree with you. A really good example are long green beans which 10 years ago sold for as little as 5 - 10 baht per "gam" (about 2 kit/7 ounces) are now selling for a whopping 82 baht at Lotus's (maybe 60 baht at the local farmer's market) but still that's a 600 to 800% increase over 10 years for a staple vegetable eaten with many staple Thai dishes (nam prik, som tam, massaman curry, stir fry, etc.) I have been growing my own green beans for well over a decade so hadn't purchased green beans in over a decade and I was totally astounded that the price had risen that high. By the way, have you not also noticed that more often than not you no longer get that basket of mung bean sprouts and savory herbs that you used to get with your food at a restaurant? They're cutting costs because food prices have increased so much. And another point I'd like to make is that if you are interested in eating a very healthy balanced varied diet (high anti-oxidant, high omega oil, high fiber), for example, the Mediterranean diet, which is rich in nuts and seeds, fatty fish, olive oil, green leafy vegetables and berries, you are probably going to gravitate to a certain extent towards higher end imported foods. Anyone can "go native", saving money by eating at 50 baht noodle shops for a short duration, even multiple years, but if you're concerned about your health over the long haul, a hard-scrabble Thai diet of Ma-ma noodles, CP hotdogs, river fish, and swamp weeds is not going to cut it. So no matter how hard you try to write off anyone who has noticed food inflation as being a cheese, beef, and wine lover who refuses to adapt to the local diet out of inflexibility that's simply not true in all cases. And by the way, people aren't complaining, they're just sharing their observations, so you might want to tone down the righteous indignation a tad bit.

My recollection from decades ago was that they checked the ID's of all the girls and didn't let ladyboys in. I really liked that policy.

What an idiotic and poorly written article! The protests in Europe are directed at overtourism, overcrowding, loss of community, and unaffordability of housing for local residents due to AirBNB vacation rentals, not misbehavior by individual tourists.

Labor costs have gone up. Daily minimum wage now stands at 363 baht. Not an out-of-control wage-price spiral, but noticeable nevertheless, and I expect that to continue at a moderate pace for some time. Climate change (extreme weather, water scarcity, greenhouse infrastructure) have driven up food production costs, especially for meat and dairy, but also fresh produce, especially fruits, esp. imported fruits. Thailand is not immune from climate change damage to the agricultural sector, and prices for animal feedstocks such as corn and cassava have gone up significantly, which feed directly into meat and dairy prices. Some imported foods seem to be slightly cheaper than costs reported back home, i.e., olive oil, but I chalk that up to lower overhead (labor costs, rents) in Thailand. Anything ordered directly from overseas be it clothes, shoes, gourmet food, housewares are pretty much the same price you're paying in US, and import tariffs can be quite steep. Medical and dental fees at private hospitals have gone up considerably in past 5 years. Relatively speaking, overall inflation has been fairly well-contained in recent years, but I would anticipate that rising labor costs and food production costs will continue to keep inflationary pressures on a moderately upward trajectory for the foreseeable future. Your exchange rate risk, ESPECIALLY with the USD, runs an infinitely higher risk of jeopardizing your standard of living in Thailand than the local inflation rate. As soon as the Fed starts trimming interest rates, you can fully expect the dollar to take a nose dive. This has the potential to have a far greater impact on your standard of living than the local rate of inflation will ever have.

Impersonating an immigration officer...unprovoked assault on two people... ...if he begs for mercy, claiming inebriation, it looks even worse because he drove to and from the gas station... plus immigration is going to take a dim view of someone pretending to be an immigration officer... ...given the incident follows so closely behind other high profile assaults by foreigners....this guy's days in Thailand are probably numbered...

I get that on paper you can live on $5K/mo in the US, but when you start contemplating the need for setting aside funds for potential contingencies down the road, your free cash flow is a lot less than it looks on paper and the picture starts looking a lot less rosy. Potential liabilities for medical, long term care, assisted living, etc. Potential cuts in ss benefits. Variability in your portfolio return, interest rates, inflation rates (especially for housing, food, and fuel). See sample monthly budget and punch in your own numbers.

Another thing to consider is that many landlords now require that you show your household income when making a rental application and impose an income to rental cost ratio which you have to meet. Seems to vary by locale, but using a 3:1 ratio, this would mean you would only be eligible to spend $1,667/month in rent, unless landlord agreed to make an exception. Median monthly rent May, 2024 in US is $2,123.

You don't say whether $5,000 is your individual income or combined household income with your partner. A lot about the advisability of repatriation would depend on your age, ability to supplement income with employment, projected medical and long-term care needs, etc. $5K is on the low end for individual income; way below average if combined household income. Avg USA retiree supposedly has $4345/month in expenses, but keep in mind that includes people who own their home and aren't paying rent/mortgage. As far as "where", you are probably talking rural, midwest or southeastern destinations.

There can be service issues vis-a-vis foreigners in Thailand. The lack of accountability/slacker approach to service standards seems to stem from four things: (1) a mentality that all foreigners are here temporarily and thus their value as a repeat customer is limited; (2) a belief that the language barrier will prevent the foreigner from complaining to the owner or disparaging the service to other potential customers, or (3) cutting corners or doing a half-a$$ed job is OK because the customer isn't Thai, or (4) because they think they can get away with it or it's a macho power trip thing to provide crummy service (I'm in control, not you.) Poor training has a lot to do with this as well. Trust me, I'm not shy about telling people when I receive crummy service, but the longer I've been here, the more I doubt whether providing "constructive criticism" is the way to go about it. It's almost never well-received. Long ago, I stopped talking to the employee, and opted to talk to the manager, but you're wasting your time unless you have confidence in the manager's ability to improve the situation in the future. More and more, I'm thinking that just stop patronizing the business is the most efficacious solution, i.e., vote with your feet. Believe me, they notice when business drops off, and I've noticed that if I've been dissatisfied with the service or how I've been treated, it seems like other people are as well. I recently took this approach with a lawn mower repair shop which was doing half-assed repairs and I ended up finding a great new mechanic. I also found a new auto insurance agent because my policy renewals were being handled incompetently. Unfortunately, the idea that you will be rewarded as a faithful customer is not always the case in Thailand. Sometimes, familiarity does breed contempt, and you gotta vote with your feet in order to keep people on their toes.

Latest report: helicopter crash site located; preliminary assessment is that chances of finding survivors "don''t look good." (source: Le Monde)

Aging populations in villages has played a big role. When I was having a loud music problem with some neighbors about 10 years ago, I canvassed Thai people all over my amphoe about their attitudes towards people playing loud music. One interesting theme that emerged was that people who played loud music were often perceived unfavorably as alcohol and drug users. I suspect that when this perception started to gain traction, some drug users turned down the volume because they didn't want to attract unwanted attention from the police. The concept that loud music can annoy people has been slow to sink in, and noise complaints were often perceived as infringements on their personal freedom by control freaks, especially if they were foreigners, but that has gradually changed over the years. When loud music is cited on the forum as a reason for not wanting to live in a village I have to wonder if people are basing this on experiences they had 10-20 years ago. At heart, I think Thais are pretty considerate, and with the right approach, loud music issues can be managed. In fairness to some young Thai men who like to crank up the volume, some of them don't own cars or pickups so they don't have the luxury of getting their fix of loud music while cruising down the road in the privacy of their car (like most of us can.) That leaves them with the only option of cranking up the home stereo which has more of a potential for causing friction with neighbors.