rwill

Well before they changed the law to 800K two months before and 3 months after then 400K the rest of the year, it used to be just 3 months before the extension and you could then spend all the money after getting your extension.

TTB (formerly TMB) allows 30K withdrawals. At least they used to. It's been several years since I have done one.

And yet you want to do the same...

Anything posted here isn't just between you and me.

In Ratchaburi a couple of months ago it took about 15 minutes to get the letter for renewing my Thai Drivers license. 5 years ago the form had a picture of me on it but this time it did not.

Who told you there is no inflation in Thailand? Everyone I know complains about it. One of our friends owns a boat noodle restaurant. She kept her price at 25 baht for a long time and was always complaining about the cost of everything. I kept telling her she needed to raise her prices but she was afraid of losing business. She finally did raise the price to 50 baht.

Any wat should be able to do it.

They probably would not accept it. You can actually be arrested for trying to bribe them if they are so inclined.

In general people that borrow money don't have the means to repay it.

One time I was at a restaurant with a group of people and somehow my wallet had fallen out of my back pocket. A waitress came by picked it up and gave it back to me. Another time my family had come to visit and I had rented a van to drive them around in. We had stopped at a roadside restaurant to eat. We got back in the van to leave but there was a lot of traffic on the road. A random lady walking down the side walk looked at us and then went out into the road and stopped traffic so we could back out. As it was happening I even asked my family, "Would any stranger in the US stop and do that for you?"

I ordered some cosmetic stuff for my wife on Ebay. It was sent from Australia. I was expecting to have to pay customs on it as Ebay does not withhold funds for customs like Amazon does. However it arrived and I didn't have to pay anything.

Just wait until a karaoke bar opens near you... Very hard to get away from noise anywhere in Thailand.

Well if he makes things bad enough he can declare martial law. Someone needs to remove this guy. He's as bad as Putin.

There was a comedian I saw that said something like: "I've been all around the world. The most beautiful women are the men in Thailand."

Did you ever go in to the bank and have the facial recognition scan set up? You need that for transfers over 50K.

Some stuff that Amazon will not ship to Thailand can be available on Ebay. Ebay international shipping does not include customs charges like Amazon does. So you may be hit with additional charges when it arrives.

We live in Ratchaburi about 2 hours from the Myanmar border. Lots of Burmese workers here. In our experience they work better than Thai workers. Our current housekeeper is Burmese. We are giving her a raise to 400 baht/day this year. She is here for 8 hours a day but with a 1 hour lunch break included. Plus we do give her quite a bit of food to take home. Just for reference her husband, also Burmese, works at the local Ban Jak gas station. He gets paid 400/baht a day BUT he has to work 12 hours a day and only gets 1 day off a month.

If you are looking for just a part time housekeeper you will probably have to use an agency. Do a search for house cleaning services in Thailand or just for the area you live in. Most of the housekeepers we have hired want to work at least 6 days a week, some of them 7 days. We can get someone for 350/day where we live but may be different where you live.

Sounds like you have a good wife. You just need to trust her. She's trusting you to be alone too.

I'm not sure what the allure of islands is. Plenty of nice beaches with ocean views on the mainland. Basically continents are just really large islands.

It's a very Thai thing to tell people your age is one year older than they really are. Social standing and age are the 2 things that count for who has to show more respect. My wife had her 75th birthday in Oct. and she is already telling everyone she is 76. I ask her, "Why do you want to make yourself older than you are?"

Probably going to be harder to get shipments starting in January. As they are supposed to start charging customs on every shipment regardless of value. Up til now anything less than 1,500 baht and 2 kilos was exempted and got thru pretty much unchecked. But if they actually go through with it every package will be getting checked. As previously mentioned it is illegal to import drugs/vitamins without a license.

Last weekend we went to the NaSatta Light Festival in Ratchaburi. The prices had been 200 baht for Thai and 400 baht for foreigners. I went up to get our tickets and I told the cashier in Thai, "I am Thai." He replied back in English, "The price is the same for everyone now." It was 300 baht per person.

Nice prison with a pond and everything...

The banks do make some additional money from debit cards by selling versions that have different types of insurance attached to them. We used to get one that paid medical up to 30K for accidents. But those have age limits so we haven't had one for awhile now, just the basic card.