Enzian

Thanks much for the two above replies. Question: If it's the owner's responsibility to file a TM30, how do I "have" it? By asking the owner to show me and taking a picture and making a screenshot? My old place in The Trendy never filed that form and said so. Another recent thread on this forum indicated that compliance and enforcement is all over the place. But I will see if i can comply. The main point I'm getting is that it is not necessary at first to have a long term commitment in writing to extend a non-O by reason of retirement. I meet all the other requirements I believe. Thanks.

I'm flying in on Friday Dec. 10, Monday the 12th is a holiday, must renew my non-O by 20. I don't know yet where I will be staying--but almost certainly not in my old rental in Trendy 13. Can I just set up in a hotel and go to Chaeng Wattana to renew and tell them that I'm in a hotel and looking for the best long term place to commit to for the next several months? and will report when I'm situated? Or must I commit to a term lease place to stay before arriving? I've been away since July, so forgot a lot of the details, but have a re-entry permit. Money is in the bank, in baht. Thanks all.

But there is a scary side to it. When I heard him speak at the FCCT earlier this year defending his decriminalization crusade, he slipped in some nasty allusions to foreigners which sounded like his real attitude. He totally rejected the idea of a stoner culture of foreigners. He is a complicated character, and not easy to read. But he is not our friend.

My gf from Khon Kaen told me how years back she reached a point where she had to tell he parents she was no longer giving them her earnings from Bangkok. Recently she complained that her father had failed to wish her happy birthday, and when she mentioned it to him he told her to get lost. I know him a little, he's an old jerk, and deserved to be cut off.

I for one never get tired of looking at naked women, and I'm a scholar and a gentleman. I guess I could do that elsewhere, but it would probably cost more.

No, because the most destructive thing that can happen to a country is out of control inflation. The Fed has made a lot of mistakes but at least that is one thing they know from history. High inflation almost always leads to populist leaders taking over, and the last thing that bunch wants is another likeness of Trump.

The Ghost Ship venue fire Dec. 2, 2016 where 36 died here in Oakland (where I am at the moment) not only killed all those people wrongfully but incidentally changed the culture of thousands of people here in ways great and small. Wikipedia has a detailed entry on it.

Just for culture contrast, if you ask a pharmacist in Thailand or many parts of Europe for something for a specific problem they will suggest and sell you something. In the US, having been gone for a long time last year, I asked the CVS pharmacy for something for constipation and they went high horse and said don't ask we can't answer questions like that go see your doctor. I had forgot that I could just Google, but I did contact my Kaiser doctor and he was very helpful.

I just came back to the states for a visit and my doc here said wait till the new vaccines designed for the latest variants come out in the fall, and then get a booster.

The way it shakes out is, if it might cause particular police persons to have to do actual work, it won't be implimented.

So how do all the buds imported from California-and it looks like a lot-actually get here? Do the importers just declare it at Customs on the way in? Do the pay duty? Do the airlines know this? Where is this explained? I have no personal or financial interest, just very curious.

The history books I've read make the point that the RTP and the military are two separate entities, two different independent franchises if you like. And they've always been in competition over which has the most power in the country. This gets into areas that no one wants to discuss, and they sure don't want to clarify it for us. So it's a conundrum whether Prayut doesn't want to crack down, or in reality can't.

It's the reason I had to change my FCD account to baht: there is no paper record of a dollar account that one can make that my office will accept. Eventually this has to end, but I'll be gone by then.

Well, I stay alive here by assuming that every driver of every vehicle of any kind that I see while I'm walking is out to kill me, so I'd say yes.

It's working already. I passed a vendor on the curb last night talking to two white guys, tourists I assume, one of them asked the vendor Where is the nearest ATM? and the vendor pointed and the soon-to-be-happy customer took off in that direction.

And that's why I'm not anti-American like most of my American friends; this is no joke. But Blinken's vision doesn't really seem to go beyond maintaining the post WWII status quo, which isn't enough.

Isn't it that more than ever and in many ways "we" become a satellite of China like parts of Cambodia, squeezing out Thai business and leaving no path out of peonage for the vast majority? "Money #1" is bad enough in Thailand but the Chinese leave us behind.

Just like the renewal of stay form that asks your basic reason, there are boxes to check but no box with the word "retirement" next to it, just "other". Absurd because retirement is the reason so many have to use that form. You can write "by reason of retirement" on the line below, but does anyone read it? So Thailand can offer a way to retire here, but at the same time tell themselves that there is no such thing as a "retirement visa", and be correct.

What's in it for Chuwit to be publicizing this sort of thing? 1. To keep his name in the news? 2. Because he cares about public morality? 3. Because he wasn't cut in? 4. Because he despises the RTP and wants to show he's justified? 5. Because his constant theme is that the country runs on corruption and this is the latest prime example? 6. Because in his old age he's a joy killer? 7. He dislikes the power and influence of Chinese entrepreneurs?

It's bad enough to have to keep 800,000+ baht in a bank here, and never be sure if your visa will be renewed, if Immigration will honor your reentry permit, not know if you die your heir can just walk in with a death certificate and will or have to get a lawyer and a judge's order, etc.

A medium sized transfer from the US to my local baht account was recorded yesterday at almost exactly 35.6, on a day that the official Buy rate was a tad over 35.8 (I'm in effect buying baht with dollars, and can't do much about the result without changing banks). I can't really complain and while I know I can't time the market, conveniently the decision was made for me by the fact that I'm leaving in a few days, for months probably, and want my baht account to stay at a certain level. The dollar is strong, a safe haven, I assume more because of the global effects of the war in Ukraine than any other of the many factors. Just noticed that the Lao kip is falling to an almost catastrophic degree; might be bargain destination if civil unrest doesn't break out.

It's just a numbers game. The odds seem in favor of vax and boosters, though nothing in life is certain.

In Paris the Roma pick up a "gold" ring on the side walk near you and ask if it is yours and take it from there. In Italy they unzip your back pack from behind, more direct.

Here’s Anutin speaking about the change in law to the FCCT last Wednesday night. He said then, if my memory serves me right, that the point was health and not recreation. Wink wink, nudge nudge? The woman on the right complained that some weed being sold was imported, and we don’t know what pesticides or other chemicals were used, and she was concerned for her children. And actually a street vendor a couple of days ago told me straight out that half the jars he had set out were from California. FWIW I guess I’m in favor of the change though I don’t partake. So there’s a lot of wrinkles to work out, like with other grey areas in this society.

On one trip to Rome I found a great family style restaurant near the Trevi fountain. On the next trip they had two menus, for locals and anyone who looked like a tourist. I was civil to the waitress when she asked how our meal was, but was mad and never went back. I'll check it out this year when I'm back in town, see if they are still doing it.