newnative

I'm in sort of the same boat as the OP. I'm 71, spouse is late 50s. He, fortunately, is educated and intelligent and will not squander any money away. He might qualify for some SS benefits when he reaches 62--I am a USA citizen and we were legally married in the US. That is sort of a murky area for me at this point as I don't know if we would have to live in the USA for 5 years for him to qualify for anything or if that is waived for survivor SS benefits--and the rules may be different when he reaches 62. He currently works and earns income on his own but I want him to be comfortable after I pass away. Our current strategy consists of USA stocks, most providing dividends, Thailand property--Pattaya house and Bangkok condo, and some cash in both countries. We maintain a joint USA bank account and some Thai bank accounts. Right now I feel we have more money in cash than we need, earning very low interest in both our USA and Thai bank accounts. More of the money is here in Thailand but we have not found anything like bonds, cds, etc. here that would be safe but still earn around 4 or 5% interest. We can afford to have the money tied up for several years or more. If anyone has stumbled upon any new investments here along those lines we would appreciate the heads up.

Well, we know who wears the pants in that political 'family'.

Good

I have no idea--and why in the World ask me. The point I was making was they are making the trek to Pattaya with staff, making all the effort to find and secure the meeting space, set up the space for the services, seating, appointments, etc., and all for just 2.5 hours of 'outreach'. Seems totally ridiculous to me--at the very least it should have been an all-day affair, or why even bother.

That's the fun of it! But, I also order on-line.

My spouse and I are going to Japan for a week, we leave on Tuesday. I lived in Japan as a child in the early 60s for a couple of years but my last visit was a quick stop-over in Tokyo for a couple of days with my spouse on our way back from the US in 2016. We found the Japanese to be very friendly and everyone we ran into could not have been nicer or more helpful--starting with assisting on helping us find our hotel the first day. The next morning we were also trying to locate a particular tourist site and a very nice Japanese gentleman, clearly on his way to work, insisted on not just telling us where to go but walking with us part of the way to make sure we did not get lost. So nice of him to do that, even though it was not in the direction he was originally going. This visit, we hope to not be such dunces. During our 2016 visit, we went out for dinner and looked around for a restaurant, and found one that looked like it was popular with the locals. Went in, found a table, and patiently waited for the wait staff to come over and take our order. And, waited. Finally, someone took pity on us and explained that we needed to place our order at an automated restaurant screen outside that we hadn't noticed on our way in. Smiles all around. Well, in our defense, we are spoiled brats, living in Thailand with practically everything done for us. Wonder what will be new for us this trip--both looking forward to it.

9AM till 11:30AM. Skimpy hours, skimpy numbers served. Don't work too hard, fellas, that's 2 1/2 hours of work. Pace yourselves, and take plenty of breaks. Keep hydrated with this long, hard work.

Actually, if you selectively shop, IKEA can be a good resource for a number of items for the home, especially here in Thailand. My partner and I are furnishing our new home and we just bought sisal area rugs from IKEA. IKEA has a wide selection of carpets and rugs, which we have sometimes had trouble finding in the styles and sizes we want. We like the sisal rug IKEA carries called Lohals, which comes in at least 3 sizes. We've used them in a number of projects as they are a nice neutral and add texture to a space. The biggest size, 200 x 300 cm, works well to anchor a living or dining room space. We used two other matching Lohals, in a smaller size, for the hallway area. They look great, are durable, and reasonably priced. And, IKEA will deliver to your door--in our case, Pattaya. IKEA can also be a good resource for large, upholstered ottomans, as they have a number of styles that come in a variety of fabrics. We've used big, rectangle ones several times as combination coffee table/foot rests. Put a big, decorative tray on one and you can set drinks on it like a regular coffee table. The ones we bought also had built-in storage, always useful. Big ottomans like this are also hard to find here in Thailand--a lot of the stores just carry the smaller footstools. IKEA also has a good selection of housewares, picture frames, decorative items, outdoor furniture, storage items, and lighting. Today we got a delivery of two Japanese-style paper floor lamps. I liked the look, the shades are handmade, and, again, an item we haven't seen much of here when we shop around. A lot of style for the money. I think we've outgrown the putting-together-furniture stage of our lives, but IKEA is always still a fun visit for us. We'll look forward to visiting the new city branch when it opens.

Well, I got an unpleasant surprise at my last medical checkup. As part of the checkup, I could choose 1 of 2 optional tests. Since I have elevated cholesterol, I chose to have a CAC test done. CAC stands for Coronary Artery Calcium scan. In dozens of annual physicals, here and in the US, this test was never done as part of my annual physicals, even though, as I said, I have elevated cholesterol and have been taking a daily statin for years. My CAC test came back with a score of 433, extremely bad. Anything over 400 apparently indicates high levels of plaque on the arteries, and serious risk of a heart attack. Had I not had this test, I would have had no idea that I have this problem. My blood pressure is normal, stress test was ok, EKG, ok, etc. The doctor doubled my daily statin dosage and put me on a baby aspirin a day, also. Had a second test several months later, result,432. They also did a test that showed where the plaque buildup was on my arteries but it didn't give a blockage percentage. All this was done at Bangkok Pattaya Hospital. I plan to wait a few more months and get a second take on things from either Bumrungrad Hospital or Bangkok Heart Hospital. My big question is whether I should have stents or not. The Pattaya doctor seemed to think not at this point but I want to see what a Bangkok doctor will advise and weigh the two. Stents seem to be recommended if the blockage is 70% or more, but some recent research also seemed to indicate that stent surgery was perhaps being done in too many marginal cases, because it is apparently a money-maker. We'll see what happens. All this is to illustrate that checkups can be a good thing, and can be helpful in pointing out areas of concern. In my case, my medication was changed, which, hopefully, will be somewhat helpful, but I do wonder why I wasn't given this test years ago, when my elevated cholesterol was first diagnosed, or at least when I entered my 60s, to check the plaque buildup at that time. Had it been done with each annual physical, I could at least see the progression of the problem, and an earlier change in medication may have been of benefit.

No, it went through just as it always has. Fingers crossed that will continue.

Should not cost more than 10,000 baht and that fee should include the Will being in both Thai and English.

Not true, of course, but even if it was, the majority of Chinese do not travel in tour groups to Thailand.

I just did mine on-line and the process was the same as usual. Got an email on the 25th that they had received my application, got the approval with the attachment for my passport on the 27th.

'Fast-tracking' translation: Not likely in my life time. But, I would like to be legally married to my Thai partner in Thailand; though we are already legally married in the US.

Probably younger than my age, due to a full head of brown hair with a bit of gray at the temples. My father kept his full head of salt and pepper hair until he passed away at 95, so here's hoping . . .

We live in Pattaya but we have a Bangkok condo that we visit about once a month. It's close to the Phetchaburi MRT and the Airport Link so easy to use it to get around Bangkok and trips we take from the airport.

Pattaya

There are many examples but here's one--do the rest of the research yourself. In America, roughly half of the state run lotteries earmark the net proceeds of the funds to go to education. O course, increased tourism--to places like Las Vegas, benefits the local economy and provides well-paying jobs for the local population. And, as I said, safeguards can be put in place. As others have mentioned, the poor are already betting now.

Not a viable excuse. Limit admittance to foreign passport holders and Thais with a minimum specified income who have applied for and received a special admittance card. The gambling proceeds could actually benefit poor Thais, with some of the money directed to social programs.

Those are just mood changes--happy, grumpy. Neither addresses what you are doing with your life and how you are spending the time you are given each day--or what you are putting in your 'memory bank'. But, anyway, off you go and good luck wherever you end up.

Re-read my first post and you will see 'what's the difference'. Or, more likely, not see. Of course, no place is perfect, every place has both positives and negatives. Of course, one weighs positives and negatives --on many, many things. Duh. No need to 'admit' something so absurdly obvious. Take another gander at the last sentence of my previous post; that's where I am at, with my thinking, with the way I am trying to live my life. It's fine you're looking to move. Just don't expect a change of scenery to change you. You need to do that work yourself.

Huh? Seems you completely missed the point, and ended up concluding the exact opposite of the intention regarding the old woman's story and her take on how she has tried to live her life, her take on how to face adversity and aging, her take on choosing to be positive, even before the get-go, rather than negative, when life throws you a bad curve ball. All of which first starts in your head, with your outlook, before anything else. You did get that one thing right--it does involve your head. For the record, I am here because my spouse is Thai. I am American. We have also lived for a number of years in the USA. We are now living here, which we prefer for a variety of reasons, one being his career; I am retired. Had my spouse been Spanish, we might be living in Spain. Vietnamese, perhaps Vietnam, or maybe the US. We have been here since 2010 and are still loving it. We have been making some wonderful memories here, I know I have, for our 'memory banks'. The point, though, at least for me, is not where you are living your life, it's how you are living your life, what you are making of it, where you are.

Yes, get going immediately, if not sooner. I suspect, though, that you will come to be unsatisfied and unhappy with wherever you end up. And, wherever you end up, I won't be surprised if you'll soon find something, other than yourself, to blame for your dissatisfaction with your life. Then, you'll likely start looking around for the next place to move to--thinking that if you can just find the right place, your life will finally be hunky dory. I think that is apparent to most of us who have been reading your posts on the Forum. Brace yourself for a hard truth. It's you, not your environment, that is the root of your unsatisfied life. You have been living in Pattaya and have found it wanting. Now, you've decided, it's not just Pattaya, it's also the Thai people. It's anything and everything, but certainly not you. Yes, unfortunately, it's you. Pattaya is a huge city. You can be in town with all the entertainments, if you want to. You can be in any of the many quieter beach areas, anywhere from south Jomtien to Wong Amat, if you want to. You can choose to be on the Darkside, with hundreds of housing projects to choose from, if you want to. Ditto with the huge selection of condos to rent or buy all over town, from low-rise to high-rise, in big projects and small. Wherever you end up in Pattaya, the city offers plenty in the way of entertainment, shopping choices from huge malls to fresh markets, services for just about anything, and health care facilities--certainly much more than the American city I lived in. There's plenty here to make every day interesting, but you first need to have some interests--true wherever you hang your hat. There's all sorts of sports available, from badminton, golf, cycling, bowling, hiking, snorkeling, scuba diving, parasailing, volleyball, yoga, working out at a gym, swimming--just about anything is on offer. For socializing, there are expat groups, clubs, and volunteering opportunities. Bangkok, with everything it has to offer, is less than 2 hours away to explore and enjoy. Just scratching the surface and, meanwhile, doing all this with year-round nice weather. In a nutshell, if you can't be satisfied in a big city like Pattaya, with all its variety, how is the next place going to be any different? Any better? You seem to have no apparent interests that have been mentioned in your posts, other than spending a lot of time at the bars, where you seem to meet people you find unsatisfactory, to go with your new view of Thai people, also falling short of the mark. Yes, I think it's definitely time for you to move on, but think a bit on this: Today's Facebook related a story of an old woman, recently widowed, going into a nursing home. The attendant escorted her to her new room, describing it on the way. "I love it!", she exclaimed. The attendant asked her how she could love it, having not seen it yet. She replied that seeing it didn't matter. Happiness, she said, is something that you decide on, ahead of time. Whether she likes the new room or how the furniture is arranged, is not important. What matters, she explains, is not the arrangement of the furniture, but the arrangement of her mind. In her mind, she already decided to love her new living arrangement, no matter what it turned out to be. In her mind, she has arranged it to put aside all the negatives of her now very-changed life, and, instead, focus on, and fully embrace, the positives. At this stage in her life, she tries to disregard what may not work well in her old body, and rejoice at what still does work. That, essentially, is how she has lived her life, greeting each new day as a precious gift, to be made the most of. She relates that, as she has lived her life, she has deposited wonderful memories in the 'memory bank' of her mind. Now that she is in her twilight years, she can withdraw those wonderful memories to savor. She also wryly notes that, even at her age, she is still making deposits in her memory bank. Some might find all this silly and sappy to the max but I do try to live my life--especially as the years advance--along those same lines, to try to accent the positive, rather than the negative, and to try to appreciate the time I have been given, and make the most of it. I'm not sure what you have in your 'memory bank', JT, but, from your posts, your account seems negative. Maybe, starting tomorrow, try beginning the day with a positive attitude, and do something memorable with your day.

Hopefully, sooner.

It's all rather short on details--what's considered petty and what will be the fines charged, rather than prison time. I imagine the police are going to love it. Likely the criminals, too. The actual crime victims, not so much. Steal something and sell it for, say, 100,000 baht. Maybe a few days later get caught for the theft. Pay, I'm guessing, maybe a 1,000 baht theft charge, net profit, 99,000 baht. A penalty fine, if they even catch you, but no jail time. Someone could possibly get a nice little earner going, depending on the details. Perhaps mot quite as good as parts of the USA, though, as I've posted before. In my brother-in-law's jurisdiction, you can steal up to $150 from a store and the police will not respond at all if you phone to report the theft. Nada. Don't bother to even pick up the phone. They don't want to hear it, and certainly don't want to investigate it. So, make the rounds of a couple dozen or so stores each day in that jurisdiction, steal $150 or less worth of merchandise at each, and, there you have it, another nice little earner, with no penalties at all. Use what you want, sell the rest. Some of the CEO's of the biggest retailers are starting to finally publicly squawk about the huge theft problem, cutting deeply into their bottom lines, so maybe things might change a bit--but I doubt it.