xylophone

Thank you for being my online medical practitioner, but you fall very short with your comments and diagnosis, because I don't have any anger or spite, or outrage – – just disbelief that there are so many mindless and gullible people in the US who would be taken in by this conman. Sadness is what I feel for folks like you and other trump supporters, mainly because they can't see that they are being played. I don't think my sorrow for trump supporters is going to do anything to my stomach acid or indeed help the gastrologists of America or anywhere for that matter. I like the reference to "people just not being able to move on" because it really doesn't mean anything to folks like me, what happened, happened and the dumb clown is still a dumb clown, and it is now in the history books and will be for future generations to view, and perhaps with a lot more still to come. Save your mental anguish about people who dislike trump, because it is what it is, and means nothing to them that he is an idiot with many followers.

I know who I would rather have sitting in the presidential office and it's not the orange buffoon who would rant on and on, spreading lies and misinformation and at times trying to drum up funds for one thing or another, which he used to pay for his campaign expenses. Even "stealing" funds from a charity – – no, give me Biden with his flaws, and he does have them, versus the previous dumb, lying clown any day. Covfefe, ivermectin, hydroxychloroquine or UV light, anybody. And Kool-Aid drinkers bought it, hook line and sinker, just the same as many of them still believe the election was stolen – – yeah right.

Didn't quite work like that for a friend of mine who used finasteride for a few months, rubbing it on his bald head twice a day – – he didn't get any hair growth on his head, but the palms of his hand, looked like those of a yeti!

Just loved some of the "Kelly Enema" humour.

One of the other things to think about, as if you haven't got enough on your plate already, is the fact that strictly speaking, bona fide shareholders should be able to show how much they have invested in this particular "company" in order to become a shareholder? In the case of "shareholders" who don't have/own a share in this company then it becomes quite obvious on close inspection (if that is indeed ever done) that this is a sham company, set up in order to allow a farang to own a property. Just to add that there were many many "workarounds" suggested by posters, some of which were quite convoluted, however as a few posters pointed out, no matter how one looks at this and tries to justify it, the end result is that it is illegal and the particular investor/owner could stand to lose everything.

Right on the nail with that remark, and I remember having a long conversation/discussion on this very subject on the previous Thai Visa forum, perhaps some eight or nine years ago now. I had first hand experience of this because a friend of mine had bought a villa in Rawai using this method for owning the property, and when he went overseas for a six month job contract and returned, someone else had moved into his house and said they had bought it. Turns out the lawyer was crooked and had resold it, and to cut a long story short the case went to court and although the lawyer was reprimanded for his actions, the ruling was that my friends purchase in the first place was illegal and he had no claim on the property – – he lost everything. I had many a long conversation/meetings with him trying to help him solve it, but the lawyer had some pretty powerful contacts and was still able to practice, whilst my friend had no claim on the property. The OP should beware and as other people have pointed out, as well as your good self, setting up a company for the sole purpose of buying a single house is illegal.

And I'm sure you have convinced yourself that those four years of relative peace were because of this dumb idiot trump. And of course that the Russian invasion of Ukraine was the fault of Biden – – – some very faulty logic there, but then again that's natural for someone who supports trump. No rhyme nor reason nor logic in the argument you have, but then again, those who drink the Kool-Aid seem to be of the same ilk.

Any dumb idiot in charge of the country is a threat, and that fits trump exactly. After all, with his many failed businesses, lies and deceit, along with the attack on the U.S. Capitol that disrupted a joint session of the U.S. Congress in the process of affirming the presidential election results, which trump stated was "stolen" from him, the man is mentally unstable and a threat to democracy in every way shape or form. So he is a threat, along with the poison he spouts and which weak minded and weak willed supporters gladly lap up. Indeed, a threat which should be eliminated.

Agree with that statement Dr Jack54, although I've never experienced any quick service at Phuket, and every time one has to come back the following day to pick up the passport. If you are lucky there are only a handful of people waiting outside of the first office one visits, however if you are not, then I have experienced well over 10 people waiting for their number to be called. The process on the first day, provided everything goes smoothly, takes a few hours, however if they are being "difficult" then frequent visits to the photo copier to copy blank pages can slow things up even further. Then of course return the next day for the passport.

True about doing well in major issues, and I particularly liked this latest one, the intro of which I have copied here: –This year, the American people won and Big Pharma lost..... Biden Hits Republicans, Drug Companies in Healthcare Speech WASHINGTON -- President Biden struck an unusually combative tone on Tuesday during a speech about healthcare costs, criticizing Republicans for trimming a bill to lower insulin costs and for wanting to sunset federal laws every 5 years, something he suggested could endanger Medicare and Social Security. "If you're on Medicare and you have diabetes, the cost of insulin will be capped at $35 a month per prescription," Biden said during a speech in the White House Rose Garden. He was referring to one of the provisions in the Inflation Reduction Act recently passed by Congress. And much more................... https://www.medpagetoday.com/publichealthpolicy/washington-watch/100939

Wow, there appears to be so much "recoverable" stuff in this place, it's a wonder it hasn't been stripped bare by now?? If not the above, then surely could be a "home" to the poor and needy/homeless??

"deep state led by Biden's weaponized DOJ & FBI"........................Oh dear, you still believe in this rubbish, so there's really no hope for you, but I may come over to your side if you can give me the address of the pizza parlour in which the demonic/Satanist Democrats are drinking children's blood!!!

I take on board all that you have said, however every time he commits one of these gaffes, and this one was particularly grim, it can cause people to doubt the ability of their leader and indeed the state of the Democrats. I don't believe this can continue if the country is to have faith in its leader and the more gaffes he delivers, the worse this will become, so for the sake of the US, and indeed the rest of the world, something has to be done, as the thought of the dumb orange liar reclaiming the "throne" is truly frightening.

I like the Sharp water heaters and have installed several in my houses and in the houses/apartments of friends, with no problems whatsoever. They have a copper tank with the appropriate flow and overload/overheating devices and I've never had a bit of trouble with any of them – – last one I bought about a month ago for a friend of mine was on special at 2200 baht as I recall.

I normally like Bill Nighy, but in this role/context???? Chiwetel also like and I think Naomie Harris is beautiful............but so far not a "goer" for me. And as has been said: "different strokes for different folks"!

Great stuff KhunLA and not dissimilar to my situation, whereby when my girlfriend moved in with me here, she bought down her six-year-old daughter to live with us and we got on famously. Unfortunately the relationship ended after about six years, but I was keen on "unofficially adopting" the daughter and taking care of her for her future; so I gave them money to live on and put the daughter through high school, and now she is at university north of Bangkok and doing very well, training to be a teacher, and we speak almost daily and whenever she has free time she comes down to see me here in Phuket. She is wonderful young lady, almost 22 now, and like you, this was one of the most satisfying things I have done in my life and I wouldn't change it for the world. In addition, she is set up for life when I decide to visit the great vineyard in the sky.

No, not at all, although I could have saved myself three years of heartache in a useless/nonworking marriage back in the UK, but apart from that I have done well in a couple of sports, played football alongside former professionals, played tennis against Steffi Graf and sailed the NZ America's Cup challenge boat in Auckland harbour, to name but a few things. I partied hard when I could and travelled overseas seeking out adventure and money after getting qualified in a trade, and later on in life I moved into management and investments and ended up starting an multibillion-dollar investment division for a major NZ bank, before retiring. My only regret would be that I worked too hard in that last job, putting my health at risk and not knowing when to stop – – being a "driven man" seeking out recognition, which was something I never got in my childhood, which endangered my health eventually. No way in the world could I ever look back and say I wasted my life, because there's nothing in it I would change. Actually there is one thing I would have changed if I had the chance again, and that was when I was around 18 years old and playing in a good standard of nonleague football, I was asked to go for trials at Queens Park Rangers, when a couple of their scouts had watched me on a few occasions, and although the manager of the football club encouraged me to take up that opportunity, I never had the confidence in my own self/game and didn't go!!!

Have watched the first three episodes of "The Man Who Fell to Earth" and thought it was very poor indeed, so I won't bother watching any more, and as for Bill Nighy making an appearance in it, well he stood out like the proverbial "racing dogs goolies" and IMO totally miscast!

Have watched the first 8 episodes and now waiting for more............???????

I decided to watch a documentary on BBC iPlayer called "Bitter Lake" and my oh my, was it an eye-opener, as it was thoroughly enthralling and examined problems with America and the UK getting involved in Afghanistan, mainly because neither understood the country, the people or the customs, so it was bound to lead to disaster. Much good footage, including a few comedy movie insertions to ram home the point, but in the end, not only were America and the UK made to look like fools, but Mohammed Karzai should be arrested and locked up for misappropriating/stealing perhaps billions of dollars from both countries and from the Afghanistan people. I can thoroughly recommend this.

Since you ask Dr Jack54, I will give you my worst three experiences at Phuket immigration office: – 1). I received a new NZ passport so when the time came to renew my retirement extension I took the old and new passports down to the office, and was told there would be no charge for the new passport. Imagine my surprise when the officer behind the desk asked me for 500 Baht, and my only "fault" (if you want to call it that) was to suggest that I was told it was free and I didn't hand over 500 baht. The officer then turned to his sidekick and spoke something in Thai and smiled and returned to me and said that he wanted copies of every page of my previous bank book, which I didn't have on me. So I had to drive back from Phuket to Patong to pick up the old bank book, which by the way was not relevant to anything, and when I sat in front of this officer again, he then said he wanted copies of every page, so I had to go downstairs and get copies of every page. I then returned and he said he wanted copies of EVERY page of my old passport, even though many of them were blank, so down to the copy shop again to get more copies for him – – of blank pages that is. I eventually was issued with the retirement extension but it took me four visits and two days of hassle to get it. He just wanted to show me who was the boss, so made me jump through hoops as the saying goes. 2). In the days when regular income was accepted by immigration, I had half a pension coming from the UK and half from NZ, +400 K in the bank, so I thought I was okay, and just to make sure that the paperwork was understandable (because the overseas pension funds came in on different days) I had added them all up on a page by page basis, and everything should have been fine as I had the letter from my embassies – – so plain sailing I thought. The officer was grumbling and mumbling as he was flicking through the pages and after a short while he looked up at me slammed his hand on his desk leaned forward into my face and said with a scowl, "next year you put all the money in the bank"! This despite the fact that 65K per month was one of the options available and I had complied with that completely. 3). This happened last year (or perhaps the year before) and I had everything lined up and had been to Bangkok bank to get copies of the bank statement with 800K in it, plus a copy of my normal bank book and a letter from the bank explaining everything, however the bank manager said I would have to wait a week as they had to send to Bangkok to get this report. So a week later I went back and they didn't have it and it was getting perilously close to my retirement extension date, so I came back on the Monday and there it was, and it had been there all the time but had been overlooked. I hurriedly got everything in order and raced down to immigration and tried to explain to the officer what had happened. No luck on that score, because he simply said that I had overstayed three days and was going to be fined 1500 baht for three days overstay, even though I explained to him that the bank was at fault and the money had been in the account all of the time. It didn't make a blind bit of difference as he took my 1500 baht and shooed me away. It shouldn't be difficult and there have been other occasions when I have managed to get through the day at immigration without too much of a problem, apart from the queues and the waiting, and having to come back the next day for my passport, but it is something I dread, and as I am in a position to be able to spend money on an agent and not worry about it, then that's what I will do. For the record, a close friend is going to use an agent again this year even though he has had 800K in the bank for more than 10 years here, because last year he was bringing in money from the UK at a rate of 65K baht per month, and for some reason the overseas transfer didn't occur in one month and although he had the 800K in the bank the immigration officer wouldn't accept his application because of this, so my friend asked him why this was, when he had the 800K in the bank all the time, and the officer lost his temper and ordered him out of the office. So my friend collected his paperwork and went to an agent and that's what he will do again this year. Just to add some icing on the cake a Canadian friend of mine has been down to immigration three times over the past 14 days and as he had just come back into the country he was unsure of what was required, so he handed over his passport and whatever visa he had and they just told him to go away. He enquired as to what he should do and the officer just told him to go away, so he did. He went to the farang at the desk, where the guy actually checks the paperwork to make sure it's in order, and he told him that it was, so he went away and came back a few days later, only to be told to go away again, so he asked why and what he should do, but no answer and he was waved away. His comment to me was that he found it absolutely amazing that Phuket was desperately in need of tourists, yet he and a couple of others who had turned up at immigration were treated like lepers. This is absolutely no way to run an important part of Phuket tourism, and I don't want any more of it, so off to an agent I go when my extension becomes due mid next month.

I will stress that I do have the 800K in the bank and it will stay there, just in case, so I'm not doing anything illegal, just getting some help to get past the immigration Nazis, and as @Misty has said, it's not surprising given the hard time I've had with those guys in the past, despite everything being in order. I'm 75 this year and I just don't want a hard time at immigration so the 15,000 baht will be well spent IMO.

Quick follow-up to my post zzzzz, as I have managed to locate a few Visa agents via Google, so your expertise/advice/info may not be needed – – but if you were considering sending it to me, thank you all the same.

I am in Phuket zzzzz, Patong actually, and if you have the name of an agent who would charge 10,000 baht, then perhaps you would be kind enough to send it me via a PM? If not then no big problems, however a 5000 baht saving would go a little way towards my next wine purchase!!!

Slightly off topic, so mods can feel free to post this elsewhere, but as regards the use of an agent, for the first time in my 15/16 years here I'm going to use one. I have the 800K in the bank and indeed it has been there untouched for a number of years, but I just don't want the hassle of dealing with the immigration people as I've had three instances where everything was in order, but they made life difficult for me. So I will take all of my bank statements, passport and necessary docs along to an agent and pay 15,000 baht and they can do it all for me – – it means I will be hassle free, have saved myself two roundtrips to the immigration office and not have a couple of sleepless nights, and for me it's worth 15,000 baht.