Stevemercer

1 hour ago, Baerboxer said:

 

I think you'll find most countries allow their IO's to deny entry should they suspect the person wishing to enter. 

If they suspect you aren't a tourist, possibly therefore working illegally to finance your stays, not bothering to get the correct class of visa, they can deny entry. That isn't unique to Thailand.

True, but most countries vet visa applications fairly tightly to rule out 'tourists' wanting to work, rather than relying on IO at their borders to do that job in a more arbitrary fashion.

A previous poster noted that the rise to 800,000 Baht was largely due to severe depreciation of the Baht in the global financial crisis.

Now that the Baht has appreciated so much, the requirement should be reduced. A new requirement for 500,000 Baht would adequately reflect this appreciation.

Motorbike rentals are always having to retrieve impounded bikes because the tourists can't figure out what to do, the police have recorded wrong licence details or some other problem. Of course, the rental owner would prefer to avoid such hastles, but he will just get one of his employers to retrieve the bike.

Don't worry about it. There is no way the owner/police are going to go to all the bother to issue an arrest warrant for such a trivial matter.

Here in Mahasarakham it has been hot and dry. My ponds/dams are the lowest I have ever seen them and might dry out for the first time ever.

I put it down to the mediocre wet season last year. Enough rain to get a crop of rice in, but we missed the torrential, flooding rains we normally get in August.

I live about 40 km from Khon Kaen and it is always hazy this time of year. It won't clear until we get a few thunderstorms at the start of the wet season. Maybe spraying water does help, but you would need to spray an awful lot of it and things are very, very dry out this way.

My Thai wife is currently staying in Townsville. She is staying in a high rise self contained apartment on The Strand which costs $150 per week. That area has not been affected by flooding, but the constant rain over the last 10 days makes it hard to get out and about. She is working for a friend in a Thai restaurant, but business is slow on account of the rain.

She will fly out when the airport reopens on Sunday.

Yes, it is all very strange. Of course the Thai government can just send him back to Australia. The Thai PM and his Ministers must owe Bahrain some pretty big favours.

I've always said that being Thai is like being part of a cult. You can take a Thai person out of the cult (by going to a western country) and, over time, they become 'normal'. But return them to Thailand and they slowly get absorbed back into the cult.

As a farang, it doesn't matter how much you try to assimilate, you can never join the cult.

I reckon you could be suffering depression when everything seems too hard and you start to wonder why you bother. Go to a city hospital and talk to one of the mental health doctors. They might put you on an anti-depressant. They take a few months to kick in, but it can be life changing/saving. At the very least you will begin to see that maybe you were taking it all a bit too seriously and perhaps weren't quite sane.

What I'm saying is that it might not matter whether you were in Thailand, or somewhere else, it might just be you getting stressed and worked up. Certainly some of the things you describe are symptomatic of depression - opening up in great detail to complete strangers (e.g. your original post and cry for help), becoming reclusive, not trusting anyone and perhaps becoming a little detached from reality.

I never worried about money at all until I married a Thai woman!

We did a straw poll with the 20 or so farang who live locally. ALL spend more than their monthly pension, income or salary, which means we are all dipping into our savings.

My old man retired at 55 and planned his investments based on a life expectancy of 75. Well, he turns 95 this year and is still in relatively good health and mobile (can drive, walk 5 km each day etc).

Hopefully, as one gets older ones living costs might go down (e.g. cut back on the booze, women and 'toys').

I guess money may not be the most important thing in life, but it sure opens up options.

It happens every day in Australia and, I assume, other western countries - Thai or other visiting nationalities do not have adequate insurance and must pay hefty bills (of course, if the illness or accident is life threatening they will be treated anyway). No one makes a fuss and life goes on.

Why is it such a big deal when the same happens in Thailand? 

Well, you can hire these in our neck of the woods.

Koh Chang is close to the mainland and has a car ferry

2 hours ago, billsmart said:

What never ceases to amaze me is how the Thai police get all these criminals to actually ADMIT they did the crime. And then, in many cases, they take them to the scene and video record them as they "re-enact" the crime.

And that seems to work with Pharangs, too.

Maybe, we only hear about the ones that confess. In fact, I guess that would make sense. If they claim they're innocent, their faces shouldn't be plastered all over the media sites.

Well, if they weren't guilty the police wouldn't arrest them. Simple logic.

OK, thanks very much for the replies and comments. I'll look to beg or borrow to make up enough for the bank savings method. At least I still have some credit in that regard.

I looked through the current threads on the new income method for retirement/marriage extensions, but couldn't find an answer to the above.

Under the old method (statement from embassy) one could use one's gross income (before tax). The new method (monthly bank deposits) seems to rely on net (after tax) income.

For example, my gross income exceeds the monthly income requirements. However, my net income (after paying 33% tax at the overseas rate) is below the monthly income requirements. Tax is automatically deducted from my income before it is deposited in my bank account.

Does anyone know if it is still possible to rely on gross income (this would mean using my yearly tax statement to this effect)?

Oh sorry. I was going to add that the water is too cold for swimming much of the year in Jervis Bay, but no problems in Port Douglas (apart from the stingers etc. etc.).

54 minutes ago, Lacessit said:

Well, it's a myth that has worked for me in Australia for 45 years.

First house bought for $14,000 in 1969, sold 1978 for $40,000.

Second house $42,000 1979. Valued at divorce settlement 1995 $200,000

Holiday house, $6000. Sold for $13,000 about 3 years later.

Townhouse, bought in 1998 for $80,000. Sold 2003 $130,000.

Last house I will own, bought 2006 for $275,000. Sold 2015 for $535,000.

Do you have some evidence of your own to support your assertion?

I agree that in Australia (and many western countries), housing keeps appreciating. But it is risky to apply the same thought processes to property in Thailand. The poorer build quality limits the life span (meaning there is less time for appreciation) and supply will continue to outstrip demand for at least the next 10 years. 

On 1/11/2019 at 1:13 PM, Odysseus123 said:

Sorry Marko-but didn't you post that you had run the previous wife's father off the road after he had tried a machete on  you?

 

Didn't you also post that this one had totally stuffed up a holiday on you?

 

And then you built another house..

 

There must be something in the water over there..plus lead piping,of course.

 

Sorry but I am just another tourist now-as I saw enough fleeced farangs to last me a life time..

 

As for "quality of life"-it's rat droppings..

 

This is for me..

 

That looks like Jervis Bay, NSW, Australia. 

Diarrhea can be a symptom of many nasty things, but if you are not losing weight it is more likely to be a local problem. Are you on any chronic medications? Sometimes these can contribute to diarrhea.

I had diarrhea for 6 months or so, but stopped taking a particular medication and it seemed to resolve itself. 

Japan has just announced a $25 departure tax for tourists. No doubt tourist numbers to Japan will plummet.

We had drunks hanging outside our front gate and got the red police box. The police came around in the morning and evening each day to sign off the book. The cop turned up one evening when the drunks were there, and told them to piss off. We never saw them.

If you had a police box, sooner or later the cop will visit while the lady is outside and there is a fair chance she will go for him. That will be the end of your problem.

Good story...good luck with your next taxi.

...or too much sun. Malaysian grass prefers 50/50 sun and shade. 

Are you using bore water or town water? I'm not sure where you live, but our lawn can look a bit ratty in the dry season. It comes good once we start to get a bit of natural rain.