Jonathan Swift

10 hours ago, EVENKEEL said:

A powerful speech you say? Can you offer a link to this speech, everything I hear biden say, mumble, miss speak makes him out to be a bubbling idiot. 

So you’re having trouble finding Biden’s speeches? Are you commenting on a speech you didn’t listen to thoroughly?  Is everyone who contradicts your conclusions wrong?  Maybe the problem is in your attention span and ability to comprehend. Biden did indeed reach and inspire a lot of people, perhaps everyone but you. Biden has an actual speech impediment resulting from a stutter as a child. Most of us know and understand that. Most of us understand that his “gaffes” are exactly that, no more, no less. Are you one of those who ridiculed the stuttering kids in school? Called them bubbling idiots did you? There are no perfect leaders. Most will commit blunders from time to time. The war in Afghanistan was always a mess, and was always doomed. I think everyone finds these events disturbing. But There could never be a clean exit. The commitment to withdraw was made by Trump. A president’s decisions are only as good as the advice on which they are based, and you can point to the military brass on that. The heart breaking results of war are unpredictable but inevitable. Biden has in fact given a great number of good speeches, well received by the majority of people. You are in the minority. I presume that you would prefer to listen to Trump then. 

Sure glad I heeded my intuition and went back to US and got mine 1 June. To what advantage? Americans are insane about refusing masks and vaccine because of their "rights", until covid puts them on their deathbed. No atheists in foxholes. You can still get covid after the vaccine, not fun but survivable without ventilators and ICU. To think I could risk even a mild case because idiots and morons are believing right wing propaganda about mind control chips being implanted by the vaccine and other equally insane stuff.  The US even has governors passing laws that schools can't mandate masks or vaccines because of people's "right to choose". One governor came down with covid after he did just that. Karma. So, I wouldn't complain too much about Thailand, still nowhere near as bad as the US.

13 hours ago, LeatFingies said:

No thanks.

Thailand should make the vaccines mandatory for all foreigners as a condition of stay. People like you who refuse are endangering the health of everyone around them, and should be deported. I'll help you pack. 

10 hours ago, jomtienisgood said:

That is a rather sexist macho remark.....

That is a rather ignorant response. The entire rest of the world, inluding women, understand and recognize that women are physically weaker than men, less able to defend themselves unless armed, and that predators will seek out women for that reason. In Thailand even pepper spray is illegal. What planet did you say you were from?

12 hours ago, LeatFingies said:

No thanks.

I hope Thai immigration deports all recklessly irresponsible foreigners who are contributing to the pandemic because they don’t care about endangering others by refusing the vaccine. Unless you have a valid medical reason for refusing you should leave. You’re not welcome here.  I’ll help you pack.

21 minutes ago, stephenterry said:

Clearly, a lower baht realignment would not only lead to cheaper exports, but also attract foreign tourism, if it wasn't for the Thai government failing to promptly vaccinate their population- who now are the greatest danger of spreading the Covid everywhere. 

 

For long-term ex-pats who have been suffering lower and lower exchange rates for many years now, it is, and will be, a refreshing relief from making ends meet. Celebrate with a good quality whisky, or a quality pinot noir.

 

Cheers, guys.

 

 

  

Economies swing back and forth like pendulums, the baht to foreign currency value bottomed out at an unsustainable low and is now doing well, so as you said, the spending spigots of expats and others will now open and hopefully jump start things. It's very similar to when the stock market has a "correction" after a bubble. The exchange rate was a bubble that had to burst. 

14 hours ago, Orinoco said:

I care as much as they care about me. !!!!!!!!!! LOL 

Ironically, the Thai people are  exponentially more compassionate as a culture than the likes of you, much higher on the evolutionary ladder. If you've had bad experiences they were no doubt due to your attitude and behavior and obvious contempt for them. What you get is based on what you give. I show them respect, and I get it 100X in return. Take a look in the mirror. The Thai people deserve better than you, and fortunately most expats live up to that.

14 hours ago, Nojohndoe said:

Why would anyone find satisfaction from the possible demise of the economic status of a country and the impact on the vast majority who are already mainly  far from comfortable wealth?

Because some people are entirely self centered, devoid of compassion for those who live difficult lives, and take sadistic  pleasure in others' misfortune. These are diseased human beings. 

14 hours ago, RotBenz8888 said:

Sorry Thai people, but I'd really love an economic meltdown to make things cheaper, in particular the overvalued condos in Bkk. 

Your compassion runneth over, it would appear that the real overvaluation is of you as a human being. I suggest you move to North Korea. You don't belong here for sure. 

12 hours ago, AnotherFarang8 said:

Tourists will have to pay inflated prices for everything as weakened baht will buy less on international markets. Just to transport coconuts to the resort the farmer will pay more for gasoline because Thailand imports oil. Tourists will need to pay for that, who else. Not to mention household private debts accumulated by Thais over the jobless period. So no, tourists won’t see their currency do better than 2 years ago.

Gee, all those tourists spending all that money! Funny, I haven't seen any. Are they all staying at your place? I think the picture you paint is vastly oversimplified, and do not reflect today's realities. In my humble 64 years of experience when sellers inflate prices, buyers stop spending. If there's no wiggle room then raising prices is economic suicide. The attraction of Thailand as an affordable attraction will disappear along with tourists. Revitalizing tourism in Thailand will be uphill all the way, if inflation occurs then economic recovery will slide back down that hill. Who will pay for gasoline if no one buys the coconuts? But then, I'm not a financial genius beyond the fundamental principle of supply and demand. If the retailers are in fact absorbing higher costs the influx of money caused by the exchange rate's buying power for foreigners should increase sales UNLESS those sales are stymied by inflated prices. Then you likely will see a stalemate. It will be a delicate balance. We've all seen retailers whose shops and stands are virtual museums gathering cobwebs because their prices are unrealistic. There are limits.

I have a non O retirement visa and have been doing exactly that for two years with no problem. I use Transferwise to send the 65,000 baht once a month to Bangkok Bank, which clears in one day, then if  necessary I use another account at Kasikorn Bank (they have a convenient phone app for international transfers) to send what I need back to the US, and that transfer also clears in one day. Kasikorn only charges 250 baht no matter how much you send, and it arrives at my US bank in US currency as an ACH deposit, and my bank charges no fee because the system does not recognize it as an international transfer. For the visa renewal I have to order one year's worth of bank statements from my bank, pay one hundred baht, and I get it in a week. I bring it on my renewal date along with everything else. I did all of my paperwork myself when converting from tourist visa to retirement. First they issue you a non immigrant visa, then after a certain amount of time you come back (I think 2 weeks) and they give you the retirement visa. It's not rocket science as long as you know the rules, and if you make a mistake, you just correct the mistake and then return to immigration with the necessary corrections. I was quite happy to not have given $800 to a law firm just to fill out forms. 

8 minutes ago, Kerryd said:

Pretty sure he can be given a death sentence. However, it has been the practise of the courts to commute it to a life sentence afterwards, or it is done when the next Royal Pardon is issued.

If I recall, I did some research on this just a couple years ago after reading about Michael Karas. A career criminal from Canada who came to Thailand using "stolen" ID and shacked up with a local girl for a year. Then one day they had an argument and he "snapped her neck like a twig", after which he mutilated her face (hoping she wouldn't be recognized then dismembered her body and hauled the pieces to a nearby swamp.

I think that was (or used to be) a death penalty sentence in itself (mutilating/dismembering a corpse).

I suspect that his fate may turn out to be worse than death. A farang who killed a Thai woman sentenced to life in a Thai prison. 

13 hours ago, scubascuba3 said:

i wonder why he is being "uncooperative" personally this case is very fishy, he allegedly just meets this girl then kills and dismembers her, what's the motive? most likely a jealous ex boyfriend involved

Me being from a country full of insanely violent people (US) this needn't be any more than a violent man who flew into a rage over some little triggering event, maybe an argument over payment. People who commit violence are not thinking, they are acting.  Maybe he didn't want to pay, and maybe she got too "assertive" in her demands. Maybe they got into a physical fight over it. I think that is the most likely scenario. The dismemberment is just an attempt to cover the evidence, standard practice in the US among psycho killers. It's heinous.