Presnock

I have an account at Bangkok Bank and when I got my new passport and had the stamps transferred, I went to the bank as I thought I would need to update that. However, after talking to several people there, they said that I didn't have to do anything about updating my information.

Most forgot to mention that he promised "no more chain migration" (if you are unfamiliar with that term, it means sponsoring one family member from a foreign land and then since that person is now a citizen, can sponsor the rest of the family unless they are a convicted criminal. EXCERT FOR MELANIA'S FAMILY, FATHER JAILED AS A MAFIA FIGURE, PROVIDED LIMOS FOR THE COMMIES BUT TRUMPER LET THEM COME IN TOO. He also is the one that negotiated the leaving of US troops from Afghanistan, doing it just before Biden took over and then the crap hit the fan since there was no time in the negotiations for planning the actual leaving by the troops and their equipment. His disdain for the military is well documented, and since I am a VN vet and know that he avoided that fiasco by having daddy's doc claim he had heel spurs yet they sure didn't stop him from playing many sports while in college. A total assh... . As for that other old fart running against him, I once worked at Dupont in Delaware (Biden's state) and I never once heard ANYONE have ANYTHING positive to say about him nor did any say that they voted FOR him. As for the third candidate running - RFK - braindead for sure already! but will upset someone in November. Scary to say the least. Many foreign countries must be wringing their hands trying to figure out what they will be doing come Jan 20, 2025. Me, I will just sit back here in this "paradise" as I have done for the last 25 years. Maybe something resembling a miracle will spare all of us in November. Good luck and good haha voting.

Yessir, been here off and on over 50 years and every year same story re pollution. Complaints seem to fall on deaf ears BUT, it is not only a Thailand problem but a South Asian problem. All the countries in S. Asian that do any crops or have forests with mushrooms or something else to get from the burnings of fields and forests have uncontrolled burning. Yeah there are laws against it just like there are traffic laws. For traffic accidents, I have read many times in local language newspapers that the accident(s) are caused by ignoring the traffic laws. Everyone knows that the local police/governments just cannot or will not control the burning and if someone is caught setting a fire the fines are so little that anyone can pay it if a fine is even forthcoming. For those fires that are set and the culprit is known, it should be prison time but that won't happen either. The Thai government is caught up in a dilemma in which many times the pollution in certain areas of Thailand are caused by fires in neighboring countries that cannotor do not control the burnings either. They have been doing the burns for ages and most don't seem to have any plans to stop it anytime soon. As the weather continues to change and more and more droughts affect this region, the fires will only get worse. But I do agree that monies being spent on war materials (submarines, aircraft, etc) should be better spent on equipment to enable the fire fighters to be able to better control fires. Odds of that happening in my lifetime - forget it as I opine that my 20-year old daughter will never see it happen either. But, the good news - this AM in my area of Bangkok the 2.5 micron reading was single digit!!!!! first time for me seeing this level in 8 months. Take care

Actualy. Americans has always as a group refused to learn foreign languages. It used to be prior to the 1980's, that studying a foreign language (fr or sp) was a requirement for graduating out of HS. Then it was dropped totally and I am not sure if it ever came back anywhere or not. Now US teachers in many cases have to be multi-lingual due to the invasion from the south border of families with school-aged children who need to be educated by the state. Thus folks in the US just don't want to be bothered. The US State Department (diplomatic missions around the world) reported in 2022 of being able to only fill 24% of their foreign-language slots. Thus in many countries they have to hire locals to interview folks for visas etc. I was lucky, as the govt sent me to many foreign language schools and countries which enabled me to better enjoy those countries and to meet and talk with the locals. My daughter, now in college, graduated from HS having studied Fr 1 year, Chinese 6 years, Thai 12 years, English 12 years and self study Korean while getting awards for Chinese class (also teaching Chinese at a different HS after regular school) and has passed to level 4 of the Korean-international test having only self study. None of these have the same alphabets, 2 are tonal and 2 are not and grammar is different too so it is possible if people really WANT to learn a foreign language. Also I have read studies about dementia and worse brain diseases that show that bi-lingual people are less likely to suffer from. Living within the country speaking a foreign language becomes much easier as one can be immersed in the local life and language. My experience as a linguist for a 40-year career showed me how valuable speaking the local language can be in how one feels about where one lives. My experience and opinion only of course.

as in Murp[hey's law, just after I write about how polluted it is too here in BKK, this AM (4) as I walked the dogs, measured the 2.5 micron - 5!!!!!!! yes five...then at 6AM only 14. The best I have seen in 8 months. Hope it hangs around as summer storms also forecasted.

sungod: check the air quality in Pattaya - did so an hour ago myself - it was over 50, above the WHO recommendation for healthy breathing. WHO is continuing to use 25 while the US and some countries opt for 50 because they couldn't get the 25 hardly ever - in 8 months here I have only seen it below 25 once! and that was early (4AM) only before it started to rise. Pattaya is on the water and should be cleaner but not a whole lot.

Live in a Muslim Country in the fundamentalist areas - where the majority of the citizens live. I did for a couple of years. Had what I considered to be more than just acquaintances. Was invited to their houses for meals and meetings with their families. Some with teen-aged female children tried to convince me to adopt the girl and take them away from the country! They indicated that male children at the age of 4 are taken regularly to the mosque for indoctrination and hatred of the non-believers, especially America and Europe. Driving to work one day instead of using an official vehicle, at a red-light, I refused to stop as we had been warned of possible terrorist activities while the official van was right behind me. Their local driver stopped at the light, a car pulled up in front of them, the driver of which stepped out with a pistol and fired at the van - the driver put his body/head under the dash, meanwhile a passenger got out of the car, armed with an K-47 and shot each of my friends 5 times before climbing back into the car and they drove away. On the opposite lane also stopped at the light was a pickup loaded with local police and they did not even bother to come over an check out the van and its occupants. fortunately, the first American shot was hit with arm, leg, foot and grazed head - head wounds bleed profusely usually as his did so the shooter thought that he was dead as were the other two but he told the local driver to immediately go the the hospital. These were not the first Westerners to be killed by Muslim radicals nor are they the last. I spent an additional 6 months there after the shooting. There was a quiet but huge smile about the killings of non-believers. Those pouring into the US unrestricted almost, don't assimilate into US society/culture but try to change their local area to be like that which they left. Women are slaves to them. Some areas now have enough immigrants that they can even elect one of their own into our law-making bodies. I have also been in Indonesia, the largest Muslim population - in the capital it used to be when I was there like any western city as far as dress and position of the women. But horror stories also come out of some of the island where Muslim radicals control that area. I am sure that there are"good" Muslims that have not been radicalized but I would never bet on that. Sorry for the negative verbiage but every now an then about this time of year I recall the shootings of friends.

Among many respiratory diseases yes and the burning continued through the pandemic years too. I am fairly sure that during the world wars the farmers continued to clear their fields by burning. I was in CM during COVID and yeah, I exercised outside with a mask but during that period, no one said anything about it as just about everyone wore a mask in those days.

For Marco51 - that is true - pollution though is not just a problem for CM but for any cities around the world. Looking at the satellite picking up open fires, one can see that S.Asia is peppered with open fires. It is the burning season even at other times than here in Thailand. One would have to find another country if one wanted to escape the pollution here but would probably run into other problems including pollution elsewhere. There is no EDEN left in this world. It is either too cold, too hot, too wet, too windy, tornadoes, hail even as big as a soccer ball but regularly bigger than a tennis ball, too snowy, volcanoes erupting, strong earthquakes, tsunamis, whatever, or corrupt governments and autocratic rulers. Maybe if all the immigrant folks went to China, Iran, Russia, N. Korea, Syria, Afghanistan, et al there might be something better though I do doubt that.

for soalbundy - yeah, google Australia and you will see a basically clean country - yeah one or to spots if you zoom in on them might jolt you but the majority of the cities are pretty green! That would be why if an Aussie went to just about any capital city in the world there might be the smell of pollution! The S. Asian mainland and islands in SEA are world famous for their burning seasons and therein lies the biggest drawback for any of the member countries to stop pollution. None will kill the goose laying gold eggs until there aren't enough people left. Negative birth rates, early deaths, unhealthy workers...the end seems to be approaching quicker rather than fixing things.

Continued: I could afford to live in the US in an unpolluted area but then I would have to put up with the bad weather that goes with the good weather and COLD! I had actually planned to go back with my daughter (with scholarships, etc) but due to visa problems, she decided she wanted to go to college here...liberal arts so even better than going back to the states. So we remain here, we have air puritfiers all over the house and her condo, wear our masks whenever we go out. I don't smoke nor booze as I do care for my health. Even the pollution doesn't get me down as I take precautions and I am 77 and can still do everything that I want. I don't get sick, had COVID with a 2-day sore throat only, no colds nor lung problems and haven't even had a headache in over 25 years. Thailand provides a super variety of healthy foods, fruits, nuts and vegetables. And on top of that all of that cheaper than the US and most other places.

I choose to live in Thailand knowing well (been living here off and on for 50 years, pollution in the burning season has been around all of those 50 but spreads just about every growing season as farmers need more money to eat rice or whatever. Big business when they went to ethanol and needed corn for the mixture in fuels, sugar cane burning is getting bigger as they can get more money and the health issues - we were told on this forum in the news media that the pm wouldn't call CM an emergency site (so that they could get additional funds to fight the fires and pollution) because it might scare tourists away.

We are supposedly to try to understand why anyone would want to live in a polluted city...yet I suggest everyone google air quality Thailand. One will see that the average for all of 2023 was 4.7 times the WHO safe air chart. Today's air quality report which covers ove 400 Thai sites list cities throughout the country at many times the healthy level of pollution. Even the coastal cities near large bodies of water are polluted too. Just because you don't see it nor smell it, doesn't mean it is not there - I guess that is why so many hundreds of thousands yearly in Thailand have to be treated for pollution caused illnesses. About time for those with their heads buried in the sand or elsewhere to yank them out and realize they can't smell the roses. My opinion about these naysayers.

not sure where you live but I have checked the 2.5 levels in my part of BKK over the last 8 months and the number of days it is within the WHO level of safe can be counted on one hand. I walk 6 km every day, wearing an n95 mask (google if you don't think they are safe and read the test results) and I seldom see others walking/jogging wearing a mask and some ask me why I am wearing a mask - their response when I tell them the 2.5 micron level they reply but this is outside! Pollution and capital cities is not a new phenomona - I have lived in many and doctors always told be if I was to exercise outside then I should wear an n95 mask!

the above is for " foreverlomsak

Not at all but the TM.28 was there before that expats used if moving locations and that was dropped. Now the Tm.30 is here and while hotels and some landlords do those as they are required to do but some landlords I have seen complaints here on this forum and based on my landlord's complaint about doing this requirement. So, no I have done it myself and it was not difficult but now here in BKK having to go to CW just to do that is not worth it to me so I pressured the landlord to do it , especially since he has other properties too and for me he did do the tm.30 online. Some expats have complained that their landlord dinn't want to give them their ID and blue book copy so the expat could do the TM.30. I have ALWAYS followed the immigration and other laws wherever I have lived, that is how I was raised.

Yessir! CM every year is the same. I can recall 50 years or so ago, flying up from BKK several times during the "burning" season, and was amazed at how I couldn't see the ground at all due to the smoke. Now I own a house there and every year from about the end of February until the rains start hopefully in May, burning of fields and mountains is all we see. But I don't recall so many medical reports actually being circulated about the resulting ailments from this pollution as it scares tourists away. All one has to do is look at the fires in all of South Asia every year and people complaining about that pollution. BUT, my daughter began college last year in BKK so we rented a condo for her near the college and we rent a house near the train enroute to the airport and live at the 3rd stop before the airport. I do on a regular basis a 6 km walk trying to do so daily. Since I did the same in CM, I bougt a 2.5 micron meter to see what the pollution was each day. Since moving to BKK I note that less than 10% of the days even come close to the 25 WHO level of safety while some of the days are over a 100 but mostly in the 50-60 range. Everyone needs to be aware of the pollution in S. Asia and take measures to avoid ailments caused by it. N95 masks have been proven to block the 2.5 micron dust, air purifiers are available in many stores. But the governments need to start working together to bring the farmers and big businesses together to stop the burning of the fields and forests and big $$$ penalties and jail time should be used to deter those that violate the burning laws. If you don't blv me about the masks, google " masks and pollution".

My daughter started college in BKK and so while we live in CM, we are also renting a house in BKK so when I came to BKK I needed legally to have a TM.30 done by the landlord. I didn't really need to do one in CM according to the rules but I was doing a transfer of stamps in new p/p and they said to get a new TM.30 for inclusion in the new p/p. Was free and only 5 minutes so no problem from me. I was on a retirement O (19 years) but now have changed to LTR.

This is my opinion only but, I have over 60 years experiencing driving, 30 within Thailand and 20 more in foreign countries, some of which are as bad as here but not as crowded. The local drivers seem to me to have learned their driving habits from their very early days of riding motorcycles and eventually they come of legal age to drive a car. Some maybe go to a driving school but many even if they do that, still seem to be driving with their motorcycle skills. They always seem to cut corners even when in the mountains - really scare the whatever out of me to come around a corner and some idiot is way into my lane! They learned while on motorcycles, that they could totally ignore traffic laws and violate many laws right in front of a policeman who just ignores them. They learned on motorcycles that no matter how crowded the traffic, one can just zoom around others changing lanes constantly, etc without any regards to the other vehicles on the road. Mine opinion only of course but....

I used to provide proof of income with statements from govt office sending the pension funds but the past couple of years, they don't want any foreign reports, only the Bank letters about deposits, owner of acct etc. for the yearly extension. But TIT and who knows what they will accept unless you can talk directly to the IO there and ask what exactly will be needed since the US EMbassy and 2 others no longer provide income letters as they used to.

Also, at CM the tm.30 office is behind the main bldg and opens even 15 minutes prior to the main office and they have several IO that take care of any reports that need to be done. Is very quick and hardly any waiting so I also have done a report there, they staple the report into the passport so no problems. But having to go to CW in BKK from where I am staying is a loooonnng trip and I would prefer having it done by someone else.

Yeah agree that ex-pats should not have to even think about the tm.30 - when I came down to BKK in Feb, I notified that owner of the house my wife is leasing so that she could send a tm.30 in. After several phone calls with her agent from my wife, we learned that the online filing system was giving the landlord problems and they asked that I do it myself. I refused as I mentioned to them that this is a Thai law that immigration is forcing onto the ex-pats. They relented and the next day I received a copy of the "approved" TM.30 receipt from immigration. The landlord complained but he did do it eventually. There are also "agents" that can say they are authorized to forward the TM.30 to immigration and require the same documents that the ex-pat would use to do that report himself. After acceptance, the agent provides a copy of the Receipt from immigration - they do the filing free but if one wants a copy of the receipt they have a very small fee. Just saying as an agent can also do the TM.30 for one in person at the local immigration office so all seems to be legal and with a copy of the immigration receipt of the report it seems all okay.

Digitalbanana, I have never used an agent in 20 years of doing the yearly extension of stay and it used to be even more difficult but in all that time I never used an agent until this year as I decided to got the LTR route and the BOI folks were super in help and patience. Definitely worth the 2 weeks of preparation. Now I will continue resting easy for the next 10 years.

That was my feelings also, having all kinds of restrictions on the 800,000 and doing the at least 65K per month was easy for me - I actually did more thn 3 times that every month but, I also was spending more than 65K a month anyway. I still think that is a much easier way without having to think about when to have how much in the account for the IO to check. The letter (s) from the bank were very easy to obtain each year. Never had a problem doing it that way.

Yeah sounds good to me...I read it on this forum about the drop from 100,000 and it didn't give a time frame. Anyway, BOI are really helpful and patient. Took about 3 weeks total time.