xylophone

Bunnings.......

I'm not sure if this is exactly the same problem as is being discussed here, but I've noticed over the past few days that even using my Smart DNS Proxy VPN to access BBC iPlayer, I am getting some buffering as well as a poor picture at times? I am with 3BB and have never had a problem in the past and I wondered if the BBC had cottoned on to Smart DNS?? However Smart DNS does have an additional "app" in which you can select the country you wish to connect to, and when I have used this for the BBC iPlayer, lo and behold, I get a perfect picture! Of course it could still be a 3BB problem because I have noticed some line work going on around the place??

I can't seem to find any movies to my liking at the moment, although there are a few good series out there, to which I am not too partial, so I went foraging around for a couple of movies from the past and came up with, "Falling Down" and "Three billboards outside Ebbing, Missouri", both of which I liked very much (again). Something intrigued me on the comments about Falling Down, when someone on a movie website asked, what was the point of it and there were many suggestions, not all of them seemed to make sense! For me it was a guy at his wits end because of his divorce, followed by being laid off from his job, and then encountering circumstances which seemed beyond his comprehension and control, and which eventually turned to violence. The Three Billboards movie was also good to watch again.

I thought I'd try and post something whilst sitting uncomfortably in my computer chair, although I haven't been out in the evenings in Patong, I have been out a few times to Bangkok Phuket hospital, accompanied by my daughter and her mother and also been to Big C here in Patong on about three or four occasions, clinging onto their shoulders whilst I shuffled along, trying hard not to fall over. And they have been great. As regards Big C, I went along today and the long queues at the checkouts have disappeared, almost as if by magic, and many of those folk in those queues were Russians, with a few Chinese thrown in, so it would seem there has been an exodus, and coupled with the fact that the traffic has improved somewhat, I would appear to be right? On that subject, whilst coming out of Big C there is a machine in which you put your parking card, and pay a fee so that you can exit the car parking area, but things were not going smoothly for a Russian woman this time! She was shouting at an employee, who I have to say handled himself very well, suggesting that the amount of 120 baht which was showing on the machine for her to pay to retrieve her card, was wrong and it wasn't her card!! No matter how much she shouted at this guy, he basically said they could review the camera in the area and that would show if she had inserted her card and what the time of it was, therefore showing if the card was hers or not. He handled it well, and I had left before it was solved, but kudos to the Thai guy in this situation because he tried to explain what happens and she just wouldn't listen. Staying on that nationality, the restaurant at the entrance to Nanai 6, "Santorini on Nanai" which was bought by Russians about three months ago, is now back on the market at a quite remarkable price of 2 million baht!!!! For this one gets a small restaurant type place which would seat probably eight people at best, and two chefs and a helper, according to the advertisement on Facebook! It is being marketed by Russian estate agent and at 2 million baht is far and away in cloud cuckoo land, especially seeing that it is in a row of about five similar sized "shops" in which one would be lucky to be able to "swing a cat", one of which was a laundry and has been closed because of lack of business, but is now open again and bought by some other Thai lady hopefuls, and the only price point is that one of the shops of the same size sold for around 250,000 baht a short while ago, so the asking price for Santorini is either a joke, or they are hoping another desperate Russian will buy it? Not only that, the recently refurbished and renamed hotel and restaurant just metres across the road from this, offers a substantial menu with different cuisines available, whereas Santorini has just Greek food. It will be interesting to see what happens to this. Whilst my Thai daughter and her Thai mother (my ex-GF) were taking care of me, we would often discuss current events around the dinner table and according to them, the "word out on the streets" from the Thai community was not very favourable for the Russians here, with a number of instances being that the Russians ordered the Thai food in a café, ate a great deal of it and then suggested that it was no good or too spicy and refused to pay for it. This as well as a few of these folk doing a "runner" before paying the bill did not endear them to the Thai community in general by the sounds of it. As I have not been out and about much at all, the above is all I have as regards the latest news in Patong!

There is a section in here which SEEMS to cover superannuation/retirement funds, suggesting they are tax exempt???? Exemptions……. Certain types of income are exempt from personal income tax. In respect of income from employment, money derived in the form of per diem, travelling expenses and certain fringe benefits, such as medical treatment, is tax exempt. The exemptions also include maintenance income derived under a moral obligation (subject to a threshold - see gift tax above), corpus of a legacy or inheritance (see the section on inheritance tax below) and certain capital gains as noted above. Provided that certain conditions are met, gains or benefits from registered provident funds, retirement mutual funds, long term equity funds, super savings funds, national saving funds including amounts derived from insurance or social security funds, interest on a deposit received from a bank in Thailand, a savings co-operative and a return from a deposit in Thailand according to Islamic principles are also tax exempt. Profit sharing distributed by a fixed income mutual fund to individual investors is exempt from tax.

I would like to say that the information provided by a few posters on here is good and thought-provoking, although as many have said, we will not know until the powers that be actually know, and it appears they don't at the moment. On a personal note I would like to thank Mike Lister for the information which he has provided to me, which seems to cover my situation at the moment, but if nothing else it is food for thought and gives me a better idea of where I stand in this whole thing. Great that folks like this, TroubleandGrumpy and Dogmatix are posting information as they see it, and although they might not all agree on certain aspects, it's fantastic information and I would like to thank them all, and of course others also.

Or an adult nappy?

As the saying goes, "TIT".......

Thanks for your reply Mike and will send you a PM as not sure that I would like to share my financials with others at this moment in time.

How does the DTA agreement fit into this.....and I have been here for 17 years but have never paid any tax on the pension I have sent here nor the monies I have transferred here for living expenses????

I don't know enough about this particular incident to comment further, however is it possible that Hamas was using its old ploy of hiding the terrorists in amongst ordinary civilians?

Thinking about it, my lawyer was instrumental in getting my first house sold, because I gave her the details of it, knowing full well that she had plenty of current clients, many of whom were quite wealthy and possibly looking for investments through rentals, as well as newcomers to the area, and of course she knew their current financial situation so there were many pluses to this move. Now there is a little story around this, because I got a phone call from an advertisement I had put in the Phuket news paper, and the Aussie guy said he was interested in looking at it and although I tried to close him on a visit, he was reluctant and said he would get back to me?? Anyway a few days later my lawyer called me and said that she had a potential buyer for my house, and she turned up with the guy who'd phoned me previously, so strictly speaking I already had him as an interested party, so I explained that to my lawyer, and as that was the case I wasn't keen on paying her the full percentage commission I had apprised her of, and her answer was great, when she said, well he is now a client of mine and if you want to sell the house, I suggest you let me handle it for you and pay me the full commission. I thought that was a bit cheeky of her, but then again I thought that was a great response from a hard-nosed business woman, so I went along with her and paid her the full commission; making sure that I kept her as my lawyer and provider of other services (insurance etc), and we are still friends and respect each other's business nous. Seeking out the professional folk (especially lawyers etc) who might/will have contacts, especially wealthy and interested parties, should play a key part in gaining leads.

Somebody mentioned the 1984 BBC series, Edge of Darkness, so I managed to find it on Pirate Bays and download it. Have watched the first 2 episodes and thought them very good. The guy who plays Craven in the above has that certain something about him, which is intiguing (and great acting) therefore will be keen to see the remaing episodes I have downloaded. I have seen the Mel Gibson movie of the same name and thought that was good also.

Possibly Facebook......in the property section. When I sold my two houses I took pics of the inside and outside and put them on an A4 flyer which I handed out to all and sundry as well as pinning them up in bars of folks I knew. I even got a response from someone who saw the flyer in a Go-go bar!! In the end I sold one through my Lawyer, who contacted some of her clients about it, and one from a banner I had made up and put on the gate. Also of course put an advert (with pics) in the local newspaper Good luck with whatever you do