khunjeff

The brokerage account you can open through that link does, at least for expatriate US citizens, come with the much-loved Schwab debit card that refunds all ATM fees. Unlike the version for US residents, though, it requires that the account be funded with at least $25,000, which makes it of marginal utility for most people.

Hour-plus waits were fine earlier this year, but now OH MY GOD the Chinese are coming, can't keep 'em waiting!

It's not just advertised as a benefit, it was also legally implemented - Royal Decree no. 743, gazetted on 23 May 2022 ("Decree Issued in Accordance with the Revenue Code Concerning the Reduction of Tax Rates and Exemptions (No. 257") made the exemption official.

"Exceeding the target" is quite different from a "surplus" - they will still need to borrow money to cover the government budget.

Apartment buildings, and other landlords with at least five units, have been required to charge no more than the government rate (plus a maximum 25% service fee) for several years now. While some of them may still be trying to gouge tenants, it's hard for them to stay under the radar if people start complaining.

The "33% increase" line isn't at all believable. The new satellite should make the existing concourses less crowded and reduce the need to use bus gates, but at this point will just be spreading out existing flights. There won't be a real possiblity for a meaningful increase in flight capacity until the new runway opens (years late, but now expected for mid-2024).

It's just extra gates (not check-in or security or immigration or baggage claim), so staffing shouldn't be an issue.

I hope that's true, but I think it's optimistic. Airlines don't only use remote stands because no contact gate is available - some use it because it's cheaper, others for enhanced security of the aircraft, and still others because the incoming flight is domestic, and the next one international (or vice versa). In the last situation, they prefer to just bus pax back and forth rather than having to move the plane between gates (since BKK, unlike some other airports, has no capability to change a gate from domestic to international by moving barriers and doors).

Parallel to the D concourse.

Oh, the poor dears. My heart bleeds for them in this, their time of trouble ????

Good luck with that...

They already tried Bangkok several years ago with the same issues of a very high price and difficulty getting around due to traffic. According to what I see online, some form of the service is (miraculously) still operating. https://www.khaosodenglish.com/life/2020/01/20/review-for-sweat-free-bangkok-sightseeing-consider-hop-on-hop-off-buses/ https://www.traveldailymedia.com/elephant-bus-tours-partners-with-city-sightseeing-to-elevate-the-bus-tour-experience-with-open-top-double-deckers-for-the-first-time-in-bangkok/

What about Jerry Lee Lewis, or Elvis? The law changed in 2003, when the PROTECT Act was enacted. Prior to that, sex with minors abroad was covered by Customs statutes, which required proof that the US citizen left the US with the intent of having sex with persons under the age of 18 - something that was very difficult to prove. (It's also worth noting that both Jerry Lee and Elvis married teenagers. Laws in the US are peculiar in that many states allow marriage to someone below the age of consent, as long as their parents agree.) Under the PROTECT Act, there is no need for the government to prove intent. If an American has sex with someone under age 18 while in a foreign country, that's a crime, period, even if that sex isn't against the law in the country where it took place.

1) By regulation, the embassy can only provide notarial services that are equivalent to what a US notary public is authorized to provide. That does not include verifying or guaranteeing financial claims of private citizens. 2) The embassy has no ability to implement a fee for any service. All fees are set by the Office of Management and Budget after being published in the Federal Register, and are the same worldwide. 3) Fees for notarial services are not retained by the consular section, the embassy, the Bureau of Consular Services, or even the State Department - they are turned over to the Treasury Department as part of general government funds.

When the program was introduced in 2003, Thaksin literally - and very publicly - announced, repeatedly, that they expected to sell one million Thai Elite cards (coincidentally, the same goal as for the LTR visa, and just as likely to be achieved).

The program was an abject failure - literally losing money every year and considering closure - until Covid and then the war in Ukraine created sharp spikes in demand from people seeking a safe haven. Thai Elite was very lucky that world events created a sudden and unexpected demand for their product, but there's no particular reason to believe that the enhanced demand will continue forever.

This happens all the time in translations of news stories about him - they mix up "phon aek" (four-star General) with "phan aek" (Colonel).

Can someone help me understand how these two sentences fit together? The sedan driver couldn't get out of his burning car because the flames came up so quickly, but was able to have a chat with the truck driver because he didn't know there was a danger of fire...?

The property sector manages to turn every piece of news and rumor into a reason why real estate is about to enter a boom cycle, and the media keep faithfully repeating their press announcements as though they're based in reality rather than wishful thinking.

We've heard similar announcements from the same group of countries every couple of years for decades, and so far virtually nothing has happened - so I don't think Uncle Sam has much to worry about for the moment

"they were charged under the Scout Act of 2008, section 64. The act stipulates that anyone who dresses in a scout uniform or displays scout symbols without permission, leading others to believe they are authorised to do so, is subject to a maximum penalty" As usual, the authorities ignore the key part of the law, which is meant to stop people from fraudulently presenting themselves as scouts. I don't think anyone was led to believe that these women were actually scouts... ????

Don't lose sleep over this. First, unless you're fabulously wealthy, the odds of anyone challenging your will are pretty remote. Second, it would be abundantly clear in any legal proceeding that Miss V (single) and Mrs V (nee Miss V) are the same person.

I was having a bunch of specialized tests done as follow up for a previous retina problem, so I'm not sure what the cost was of the basic exams - like refraction - that were part of the whole program that day. I seem to recall from friends that a garden variety eye check up, including a new prescription, was about 1500 baht or so.

I've been going to Rutnin for almost 30 years. As long as you tell them you want to update your eyeglass prescription, they'll give you the appropriate exam - I believe it's listed as "refraction" on the ticket. (Rutnin has a kind of "stations of the cross" process where you go from room to room where individual specialists do each test.) I had an appointment with my retinal doctor at Rutnin a couple of months ago, and asked to add the refraction exam. The guy was very thorough as usual, and the PD was included on the prescription. Note that they don't hand you the prescription; after everything is done and you've paid the bill, you have to go to the optical shop on the ground floor and have them print it out for you. Strange, but not difficult. After getting the new prescription (only a slight difference from the previous one), I ordered from Zenni for the first time. With every bell and whistle added, they came to about $250, which is still less than I used to pay in Thailand for poorer quality lenses. (The Zenni glasses aren't as good as the ones I got in Korea ten years ago, but those cost over $800...) Shipping took two weeks. At the end of week one, I got an email telling me the glasses had arrived in Singapore (!). A week later, they arrived in Thailand and were delivered the next day in a mailer showing a return address of Malmo, Sweden (!). No duty or tax was charged.

Zenni's instructions say that they only ask for one addition, as it's almost always the same for both eyes (it was for me). I guess if someone has different additions for each eye, they would have to contact the company to ask what to do.