digbeth

8 minutes ago, Neeranam said:

Interesting as I got SS when I was a foreigner, but now I'm Thai and could have either.

Why am I paying 432 baht a month for an inferior service? I can't get any private hospital where I live(Hua HIn).

Exactly, and by continuing SS payment after (section 39) you've left your job will means reduced pension payout as the final salary used to calculate the pension will now be 4800 instead of 15,000 maximum you were based on during your employment,  that's the difference between 3000 (or more if you've been contributing over 15 years) and 960 baht under section 39 you'll lose off your pension, let alone the 432 baht a month extra it'll cost you  

So work out your pension you stand to receive first before deciding to continue payment

If you've worked and pay into SS for less than 15 years, the pension maybe negligible to not care and having access to government hospital if you're not Thai could be a lifesaver

A staff is seen in the video next to the door talking to the driver on the intercom next to the emergency stop lever

If it were done in nanny state gone mad, the train should have stopped, the track de-energized meaning trains in other direction stopped in case any idiot fall into the track from the open door and electrocuting themselves, passengers evacuated and walked back to the nearest station or have another train transfer them, or wait half an hour for an engineer to come and fix the door, making everyone stuck on the trains and commuters in other directions stopped too and whole day ruined. 

In a triumph of common sense, the staff see that the door is open and directed passengers to stay away from the door and presumably got it fixed at the next station 

I'd be mad if I'm stuck in the train because some Karn pulled the stop lever because the door was open

11 hours ago, AustinRacing said:

Can someone explain this. If she’s a tenant and is allocated one parking spot then what does it matter if she leaves it there for however long. 

There is no allocation,, when there's 40-60% parking space to the number of rooms the salesperson can say each room is entitled to a parking space, but what happens if all residents turn up to park? 

Often if the room is allocated a spot and is included in the deed they'll have room number painted on the spot, or incase of posh condos that have like 110% parking space to room number, not needed. 

I understand most of us here can't imagine living in a place with such situation

condos around 1-1.3 million baht in Pattaya might not see the car park full all year due to foreign tenant not having car and only in the holidays that the Bangkok owners show up

but this is reality for most working class Thais in popular commuter areas for condos in this price range, with cars double or triple parked and spilling over onto the street and if you don't make it home before dinner time on Sunday you're not getting a spot

12 hours ago, Neeranam said:

In what ways is the universal system better than the SS?

SS approved medicine list is more restrictive, the doctor would have to tiptoe around what they can prescribe

Acute Diseases treatment like cancer is better on the Universal system, on SS they just cut you off chemo if you've reached their threshold

Dental on SS you have to pay out of pocket to be reimbursed, and quite limited compared to universal system, but getting appointment at local government hospital will be a drag

Only plus of SS is that you can designate private hospital as your primary care, but private hospital will shove you in SS wing with wait times similar to government hospital, but at least the nurses won't bark at you like poor people. some Private hospital do have external clinics for SS you can visit which is nice for not so serious needs.

If you buy a condo and didn't ask about parking situation and expecting there to be a 1:1 parking per unit, in most cheap condo, you'll be in for a surprise 

cheap condos with 1:1 parking exist, expect to pay extras for them though, 

most work out to about 60-40% car park per unit in the real world 

1 hour ago, Henryford said:

Crazy rule. So you can't go on holiday for more than 14 days !!!

not without prior notice, no

it's a rule owners voted in or agreed to when they bought in

the salary base used to calculate pensions in case of having contributed for over 15 years will be the maximum 15,000 baht, should come out at around 3000 baht per month

if you continue to pay under section 39, the salary base used to calculate your pension will be 4,800, works out to around 900 baht per month

unless you are continuing  treatment already arranged under SS system, and can't get/afford private insurance, not continuing payment and get more of what you paid in back is better.

For Thai nationals there's the universal system they can fall back to which has better coverage than the SS system too.

be mindful that in case you have been paying into the SSF for more than 15 years by continuing the payment on your own under section 39 after leaving your job means your pension will be significantly reduced

I wish I had kept renting mailbox and UK bank account, 

8 minutes ago, Thaindrew said:

a tax resident is everyone that lives here more than 180 days a year (that is clear), currently we are not "forced" to do a tax return but it sounds like we may well be as a way to assess any tax liability

You're not forced to do a return, but I suspect they have mechanism to check or report overseas transfer coming in at the bank, while there may not withhold the tax straight away, they'll certainly know if you have

If you think hell has broken loose here, the Thai investor in forums and facebook groups are going mad, any Thai that has enough savings worth sending abroad to invest in place with decent return will be taxed on the initial capital that went out of the country too, unless there are ways to declare money you sent abroad. 

When it comes in effect, I suspect instead of wiring in transfer, it'd be wiser to fly in with liquid assets like watches that can be conspicuously worn and pass through customs 

Be mindful that the Shoei and Arais sold around here are definitely 'Asian Fit' for rounded rather than oval shaped heads and padding are different to the ones in the west. 

11 minutes ago, 1DegreeN said:

I don't know if this was or still is true but when I got my kindle a few years ago I read that, because kindle books have country specific licensing, you need to be e.g. a UK resident to purchase kindle books from Amazon UK.  If Amazon discovered you were not in fact UK resident (e.g. because you use a non-UK credit card to purchase), they will disable your account and you lose access to all your kindle library. Could be an urban myth.

This is true, plenty of this happening in Thai ebook readers group, the only safe store to use for international user is US store, otherwise you'll  need to connect via VPN

11 hours ago, Bagwain said:

What hospital, if in Thailand, as It doesn't correspond with our experience!

Bangphlee Amphur hospital in Samut Prakarn for the initial care and operation and the Samut Prakarn province hospital for the only oncology department in the province, this is not under the social security system but the universal healthcare for everyone. Wait times are long, but bearable keeping in mind it's free

1 hour ago, Bagwain said:

Beware ther pay back practices! My missus diagnosed cancer and treatment & operations started. Social Security hospital OK, however she needed to be referred to the cancer hospital and this has to be paid up front. Took SS 13 months to start paying back the 1st lump they accepted. 1st amount 170 k. Divided monthy for 6 months for refund. Took anouther 3 months for the 2nd lump of 150,000 to start paying. (They blamed the elections for this ????) Cost me 2 million so far and hasn't stopped. You only get back 70% and this is just going back into the medical bills. If the company doesn't pay SS on time for the employee there is a fine. The system is F*ked! Tried to open a "Gofundme" but cannot from Thailand. Even if someone does for you overseas you still cannot access it here, even with a VPN! ????????

Cancer is some of the thing where the Universal Healthcare system is doing better than the Social Security, free upfront, free throughout care my MIL on the universal free for everything just went through with operations and chemo for a year now, only thing we have to pay was the hospital room upgrade, the diagnosis, referrals and multiple expensive tests even at private hospitals for things like MRI was all taken care off, so yes, unless you have an existing health problem you are seeing with a hospital under the social security plan, there are no reason to continue paying into the system until retirement if you've left your job. 

I have it with Bangkok Bank too, 100k in the account, if I overpays, the amount owed shows a - minus and I can spend that amount straight away, so yes, if you temporarily need extra credit, you can just pay into the credit card 

you can pay the minimum and pay interest to borrow against your own money

I've never tried but if you open 800k, can you show the bank book to immigration and spend what you otherwise can't touch? it appears as regular bank book, only caveat is that the amount don't show as available balance in online banking

The dealers do organize rides and they used to visit the factory, this is not a regular thing though, also being where they are it's a <deleted>ty ride from Bangkok, no matter how short  

The fresh ones we used to see in supermarkets are barely edible until  you peel away most of the outer bits leaving only the small core edible, making the imported cans or jar that looks expensive at first better value

1 hour ago, OneMoreFarang said:

Option 2, no trap under the floor. Maybe in those cases it should be above the floor.

Often floor drain would have small water trap that surrounds the drain and prevent smells coming through 

some newer solutions are silicone inserts that squeeze shut and not letting smell through without the need for water traps

1 hour ago, Sydebolle said:

I have a complete set of keys to my property which is for rent. Upon moving a new tenant in, I put all those keys into an envelope and let the tenant sign on the back. So, if I ever break that envelope, the tenant knows. 

I had to do this as a tenant once accused everybody of stealing; luckily I could prove being out of town and in the end he admitted having made a mistake. Ever since = envelope time; never ever had an issue again. 

With electronic access systems (fingerprints, proximity card readers etc.) I would have it changed; the tenant must be informed if the landlord wants access to a rented property after the tenant has rendered the termination of the rental agreement to potential future tenants. Any other access outside this frame would present trespassing. 

But how would anyone knows if you have another set of keys outside the envelope?