timendres

An associate once said, "I wouldn't touch one unless I was wearing a wetsuit".

This is the result of the legal system in the US. Due to the onerous demands of proof of guilt, police often believe they need to catch the perp in the act. Especially if they want to apply the most serious charges.

My brother "extended his visa exempt for 30 days" at LakSi. I "converted my visa exempt to Non-O" at CW. So you are correct.

It may shift. If it does shift, people will adapt. Nature plays rough. Wear a helmet.

Nope. Happy with equal application of the law. My point still stands.

Right. Let in millions of undocumented, god knows who, but kick out the guy who started SpaceX and Tesla. Makes total sense.

I came to fall in love with a Thai girl. I fell in love with Thailand. For me, it is Thai people. That is why I stay. I really like them.

I read AN on my laptop. The new newsletter looks really nice. Well done.

Since you do not fully understand that gold is money and fail to see how the upside down chart clearly shows paper "money" losing value against real money, I believe it is you who will regret not getting sound financial advice. You are correct that "money is not dying" - the value of gold in terms of the paper known as USD demonstrates this. You are also correct that "fiat paper" is not dying, since it must continue to be used for transactions. It is simply that fake money is losing its value relative to real money. The answer, therefore, is to stop thinking of fake money as a store of wealth. Real assets, like real estate, gold, bitcoin, and many other investments, are for storing wealth. Paper money is for transactions.

SS will not stop sending out checks. The US Federal Reserve will but all US Treasury debt when they have no other choice. Your real concern is a "haircut", where the SSA determines that benefits cannot be met in full. You will lose 20% or more of your benefit. But before that happens, you will likely see them nullify the COLA adjustment. That is the big red flag. What will complicate matters, at that point, is that USDTHB could potentially be in free fall. Then your haircut will be amplified by the poor exchange rate. You will not get "nothing", but the financial pain will be quite intense. I have planned for a 25% haircut in 7 to 10 years, with USDTHB hitting 25. I feel this is the worst case scenario for those over 60 collecting SS.

When Walz starts launching rockets into space, and creates the first viable new auto company in a century, I will take his comments a little more seriously. Until then, he is the guy who paintballs people standing outside their home.

There is something about "how" the SMS is sent. I read about it once, but have forgotten now. However, I receive OTP codes via SMS sent my Skype phone number for both logins and for online purchase confirmation. It has worked for several years now. This is with CapitalOne. If I remember correctly, my Bank of America purchase confirmation SMS would never arrive.

I am sure that a simple "banking fee" helped that along...

I use Skype. I pay $15 every three months for an unlimited minutes plan with the US. I also pay $15 every three months for a US phone number attached to my Skype account. I can receive the OTP SMS messages from my credit card bank to confirm purchases. Family and friends can call a US number that rings my phone and computer simultaneously. I can call US phone numbers from Skype for free. Nice when I need to call my bank. It is not super cheap, but it works well.

"De-dollarization" is a psyop. There is no such thing. Why? Because the largest (for the moment) consumer market on the planet uses USD. The real concern, for the US, is the move away from USD as a reserve. The reason this is such a concern is that, with the enormous national debt and its never ending deficits, the US needs buyers of that debt. For decades, the trade balance surplus of our trading partners was parked in US Treasuries, creating a never ending demand for US debt. If that changes significantly, the US will find itself in a very bad spot.

$300M USD. Wow. It is good to be a deity.

You would think that Blinken has bigger issues on his plate than flooding in Thailand. Thailand is one of the original members of the mBridge platform (BRICS alternative to SWIFT). They will still conduct business in USD, but they are definitely hedging their bets. Many central banks are lightening up on US Treasuries in their reserves. Gold is the preferred replacement so far...

In my case, I was able to "exempt" the first $100k of income in Thailand. I was able to use the exemption because I earned the money in Thailand and paid Thai income taxes on that income. Since my income was not even close to the exemption, I never owed US taxes.

i paid income tax to Thailand, of course. Hence no tax due in the US. You can still owe tax to the US, depending on the circumstances, but the taxes paid in Thailand offset those due to the US.

It is what we call an "empty promise", since the US and Thailand have a DTA. For ten years, I never paid a dime in US taxes on income earned in Thailand. I am sure there are some who would benefit, but the number would be small.

The WHO recently helped create a massive worldwide mental health crisis.

Same here. Depending on the infection, and its location, sometimes drinking juice with a good amount of cranberries in it, or outright cranberry juice, can sometimes get rid of a UTI. For most people it will change the Ph of their urine, which can sometimes kill an infection. If it does not help at all after several days, it is time for the doc. This will absolutely not work for STDs such as gonorrhea.

There is an actual "exemption" to the 800k rule that can be applied by a high-level officer. It is 100% legit. Getting that officer to make the exemption is where it becomes questionable.

You are absolutely correct. If you can make that change before any serious misfortune. A friend was working for an agent who was caught up in the Chinese Triads fiasco. As far as I know, none of the folks using that agent had any issues other than the inconvenience. It also assumes you have the 800k, which many using this method do not.

The real issue with utilizing an agent is the fact that you are "trapped". Once you engage this agent, you are effectively married to them. And heaven help you if you get caught in some political "corruption sweep". That happened to quite a few folks when the Chinese Triads corruption blew up. Low probability, but not a bet I am willing to make.