Presnock

Except maybe the world...sems even within "developed" counries there are daily reports of heated arguments leading to peoples' deaths. No one seems happy lately except a few of us in Thailand. Now they will have the winter weather to add to their woes.

Yeah they are chomping at the bit...uh failing economies too! They won't be able to send any military so the locals will bleed them dry just like they did the Russians in Afghanistan.

Yeah now Iraq seems to be a failed state...if there was no oil then the west would depart quickly. Just like such a great success in Afghanistan - now that country is back to the stone age. All those females that had jobs, were going to school, etc are now back sitting on floor at home. Another wasted country their people and the US debt.

like the article also reported that the crowd joined in the singing and dancing as they obviously LIKED it. I did not see any photos of "scantily" costumes, as a matter of fact see them with sexier clothes on daily tv in Thailand!

I have studied Thai and Vietnamese among the 10+ foreign languages I have studied. I found them more difficult due to tonal sounds versus the different writing system. My daughter a native born Thai/American speaking native fluency in both, also has studied Chinese (5 years) and Korean and as a native speaker of Thai and tones, easily mastered the Chinese speaking without giving it a thought. She also taught herself Korean well enough to pass the level 4 international Korean proficiency test. She continues her study of Korean as she wants to improve her test score and eventually get an advance degree in that language. If one really wishes to learn a foreign language there are a multitude of teachers that can help based on how the student learns. This has been explained to me by my daughter as she has also taught Thai students in Chinese, Korean, English and others in Thai so she told me that each student learns languages in a different way. Works for her!

Based on other problems that they have faced over the years and what they did, they invited "expert" from the developed countries - Japan, US, EU or Singapore even to see if there was a fix that could be done locally. Seems that they couldn't agree with the experts as it might cost too much or too advanced for the locals to accept such a drastic change. I would imagine now though that the elite folks would be tired of having an official language (English) that so many citizens cannot comprehend let alone speak, read and write. There are many organizations that have contacts willing to assist the Thais - I would imagine that with so many students opting to go overseas, it might impact the number of schools tutoring or sole teaching English so that the students can apply for foreign universities. I would think that the public would want their children to get properly trained in English in any case but just too many continue to accept longer hours and too many hours spent in religious, local customs, animist beliefs, regional and ethnic and cultural practices rule over regular academic subjects. In addition to regular holidays, the Thai govt likes to add a weekday to a weekend to extend some holidays. Stats can be googled if one is interested in seeing how Thailand stacks up against other countries. Literacy rating is high but after 15 years of age or so, it seems the youth are disengaged from the work force and are unemployed. Over 50% of Thai students want to study abroad - knowing that is one of the only ways to get ahead locally. Mostly, the stats show Thailand to be in the middle half for many different areas. But, stats can sometimes be interpreted in different ways to benefit certain groups and I think that happens here as it would be naturaly for parents to want the best for their child but TIT so it only works for some. Good luck for sure...we were lucky, finding a school like Chiang Mai International School - made our daughter wanting to actually go to school every day! Making learning fun and beneficial for the future!

You got that right...I am an American, have paid my taxes every year religiously and when Trump was president he jumped at the tax break too....for the billionaires!!!! and big business while we in the middle class continue to be pushed lower and lower with the tax breaks we don't get and meanwhile due to the fewer taxes from the rich, during Trump's 4 years in power, our debt zoomed 8 trillion dollars!! It continues under Biden...but with the Congress we have, they won't fix any of the problems while they continue to blame Biden...I am definitely not a Biden fan but nowadays not a fan of any US politicians! Our Congress refused to even floor a bill that would not allow them to continue with insider trading - from their sometimes very late (by law) in reporting the same some are trading in the 10's of millions...that is why they all retire (on a yearly benedfit from the govt) as millionaires - they or their family - like Pelosi she and her husband reportedly around 6-700 million...Pelosi 200 million - higherst govt salary as Speaker of the House was latest around 255K but as a regular congress person 80K less than that. Seems to be criminal in my mind anyway.

Most elementary schools I have seen, have Thai English teachers, they learned English in the Thai schools...need I say more?

Hit the nail directly on the head there! I speak Thai fairly fluent. My daughter is a freshman at Chulalongkorn Univ. she graduated HS from ChiangMai International School- studied Chinese for 5 years including AP Chinese, worked as Chinese Teacher's aide one year, taught Chinese at a (Muslim) HS near CMIS, taught herself from age 15 (while studying Chinese in HS at the same time) Korean language and has been able to pass level four in the intenational TOPIK (test of proficiency in Korean), native speaker of Thai and English. When she first went to elementary school here in Bangkok, we moved and selected a school reputed to teach English well, (wrong) so after that first year we moved to another part of the city to a school reputed to have great English teaching (within the first 2 months they fired most of their western English speaking teachers and hired Filippinos) so moved again to another school, great reputation pre-k to 12th grade, lots of western teachers...but after the first year, they dropped all above 6th grade and fired some westerners (this school had a 2-year waiting list for entrance - some got in line when they learned they were pregnant) then, they greatly expanded the pre-k and Kindergarten because they could charge more (3 teacher per class to take care of the young ones). I would check my daughter's English homework and noted many errors in the teacher's-prepared homework so I would correct same with a red-pencil and wrote a note asking to meet with the teacher. Upon that meeting, I learned that they were not allowed to ask the western English speakers about any written assignments as those were prepared by the school director and although I was showing them how they were wrong, the teachers said that they could not correct the students either. So, I made the trip to the director, and after 20 minutes of listening while she explained how great she was and her credentials, I showed her several of my daughter's homework assignments. She noted immediately my corrections in RED and said that she would not change anything and who was I to correct her work? Of course I laughed even knowing how that would upset her but I just couldn't contain my disdain for such comments. I was a professional translator from foreign languages to English for US govt officials so I needed to be proficient in my native language. We left again, moved to CM, Rangsit University had just opened a newly built school there. We jumped into that first year - learned although Rangsit had a great reputation in their satit language teaching (Bangkok) so we quickly learned this new school would not be so great nor even close to that in Bangkok so moved on to CMIS and our daughter bloomed tremendously in learning. It suddenly became more fun the more she learned. Even with the pandemic closures, CMIS had already obtained an online training program from Singapore because the school had to close due to pollution before the COVID became rampant here so CMIS kids never missed any schooling. Our daughter is doing well here in Bangkok is happy and continues her foreign-language studies. We were lucky that we could find such a school here, and note many times that other families have been having the same negative feelings about the local schools. Thais spend more hours in school that most of the top schools in the world yet learn very little in compared test results with the foreign students. I realize that there are some students with great parents that enable their child to do well but that is the exception, not the rule. From reading some not to long ago reports schoolbooks were to be upgrade, notebooks were to be provide to all the secondary school kids, etc but then we read about budget cuts and those upgrades seem to be chopped at the beginning...but yeah submarines or frigates are more important that kids learning! Ido believe all the studies show that one cannot cure poverty by throwing money at it...but it gets the votes I guess so what counts? This is factual as far as my daughter was concerned...I do not know how other families feel about this.

Well 50 years ago I went to Laos too. The "hotel" I stayed in had folks speaking English - maybe not perfect but I spoke Thai and they are close enough that we could always end up satisfying whatever we needed to know. As an American native, I realize that most native born Americans are not bi-lingual nor do they want to spend the time learning a foreign language. US govt agencies cannot even fill their vacant billets for foreign language speaking Americans (i.e. the US State Department online jobs mentions that several years ago State could fill only 24% of their foreign-language billets. Around 1980 or so, the US High Schools dropped the graduation requirement for studying a foreign language, usually French or Spanish is an example of the Americans not willing to put in the time necessary to learn another language and now with AI there are new APPs that enable folks to "get by" in many different languages. I don't believe one can really understand the cultures of a foreign people unless they can actually converse with them. I have been fortunate enough to study over 10 different languages.

Absolutely not!

Years ago (at least 48, I was assigned to Thailand with my family. There was a radio station that played the English soundtrack for foreign movies, news programs, etc. Prior to that, there were many US bases here in Thailand with 100's of thousand of US military. Yet during those times too, one would think that English would have at least gotten off the ground but TIT and their xenophobia. Instead of fighting those different, they appear to sign treaties with foreigners but only to keep a certain distance from them so that the powers that are can better control the masses. My opinion anyway as I havelived/worked in most of the ASEAN except for Cambodia and yes, over a span of 50 years Thailand always has ranked the lowest on the locals' English speaking. Many can read English but I am not always sure that they understand it. The folks that do speak English usually have gone to schools outside of Thailand and they went to internal schools that probably had a fairly good English program or private tutoring. My younger daughter at first went to elementary schools that had a reputation for English language but we learn fairly quickly (or not so quickly as we changed schools often) but finally found a reasonably affordable international school with a great program - all English except for the Thai classes. And yes, I speak Thai well enough to go anywhere and talk about just about any subject. I make mistakes but we laugh together. This is still paradise to me.

I continue to regularly see questions about the taxation by the Thai govt of US pensions - I queried a foreign tax advisor concerning this question. They informed me that even though the US and Thai governments have a tax agreement, legally the Thai govt could tax the pension funds sent into Thailand. They said that any taxes paid to the Thai government from pension sent into Thailand, then the US will refund the same number of dollars taken out of those funds by the Thais. Previously in this forum someone provided the tax brackets for Thai taxes and it indicated that the lowest tax bracket begins at 150,000 and I think that was in US dollars so if one is on a US pension, they probably would not have to pay any taxes to the Thai government. Until the Thai government comes out with the final approved law on the taxes, we are all wasting time even thinking about it. If they do tax us anyway, it might mean that they are killing the proverbial goose laying the golden eggs. But, since this is TIT...

That is correct! Japan has always had a strict immigration policy, Australia used to be that way too until they realized they needed more workers. Japan has a birthrate of less than 1 per couple. S. Korea now has a birth rate of .8 per couple and by the end of the century, the N. Koreans will just be able to walk over the border unless things change I read the other day. I sure have no idea of the rate in N.Korea but can't imagine that it is very high. The US problem is that there are way too many now pouring into the country. It used to be that shortly after arrival, an immigrant would proclaim to being an American and was accepted as that. They moved to different areas and learned to live in a different society from which they fled. Nowadays, they tend to flock together with their former countrymen, until they can elect the govt people as they outnumber the old residents and then try to change the society of the Stateside local into their old society from which they fled. I don't get it? oh, our government doesn't fight them for the space as we just turn it all over to them. Now Europe is experiencing the same thing.

I have checked with a tax advisory group re pensions being taxed - if a US citizen the country having a tax agreement could still tax the pension but then the US IRS would lower one's tax equal to that taken out by the Thais. I also saw one responder that the tax rate in Thailand would be on any income including pension over 150K US dollars as the very basic tax table so most folks here probably don't get a pension of over 150K USD annually. I do not know what the Thai govt will do, all I can do is wait and then decide what I am going to do. If they do begin taxing every ex-pat pension or otherwise, then I do think they are going to kill the goose-laying the gold eggs. But as we all are well aware, TIT

says it is good in the local area only - what about students? if they are away from the district in school the majority of that time? Just wondering

My recent 90-day reporting experience - got my notice 16 days prior to due date (Monday), on day 15 ((Tuesday I did the on-line report with and sent it in during the morning. I received my new 90-day report date on Thursday morning. Great service and much better than what we used to be required to do. This was with the CM immigration office.

Actually it has been going to crap for a while, it finally hit the level that makes it obvious to almost everyone. I have been seeing folks talk about buying a bag of chips or something else, all markings including weight of product inside are exactly the same except in reality, the product is up to 50 percent less. And since TIT, in order to make more money, they tell you it is on sale but the price is really 10-15 % higher than normal. What a deal they have for all! Probably a lot of the same going on elsewhere as I hear nothing but complaints from friends still in the US.

Well, I have been told by visa officers that the reason many Thais (other ASIANs also, especially not so elderly females, go to other countries and stay longer than they are allowed. I do not know what they do but even my wife was denied a tourist visa, owns her house, car, owned a restaurant, was chief chef and only wanted a tourist visa to take child to US for college. Consular folks said that wasn't enough to guarantee she would return to Thailand. She was married to me a US born citizen! They said that we have to apply for an immigrant visa - took a while for all the paperwork, then had to wait over a year due to immigrant backlog in the US so changed our minds and daughter is in college here.

During my working years, I lived in 14 countries, (Asia, Cent AM, Af, Eu), kept a log of good or bad. I included food, people, acceptance of foreigners, religion, climate. I spent a total of 9 years in Thailand between 1972-2005, 6+years in the PI and when all as said and done, decided to retire in Thailand with the PI a close second. I spoke the local lingo in those countries that I lived and basically got along well with the locals. I loved the PI, golfing, scuba diving, beaches, different islands with different folks, English speaking, cheap BUT, 18-20 typhoons per year, earthquakes up to 9 level, volcanoes active and local food not to my liking so much. The weather was a bit like Thailand but no really big typhoons (though more violent than before), earthquakes but much weaker, local food is great, people accept westerners, especially when one speaks the local lingo, plenty of golf available and though things are getting more expensive, it is still fairly cheap. I hope to spend many more years in retirement here!

Ther isn't anything about colluding - Trump over valued all his assets when applying for the loans and yes they were repaid BUT, by over inflating the assets that is fraud - then, on top of that, when it came to paying tax on those same assets, Trump and co. under valued said assets. The law doesn't state from what I have heard about people having to lose money from the loans but the fact that the values were not even close to being accurate! We are talking 100's of time more valuable as Trump wanted to be high on the Forbes magazine US richest billionaires! All this is from the trial and people under oath. When he is not under oath he lies but when he swears in court he claims the 5th amendment so they can't get him for lying!

wrong! Trump and the MAGAites all question the vote totals...according Trump close office folks, he questioned the totals even before the election was over.

in my opinion, I do think that he won the 2016 election as so many Democrats voted for him instead of Hillary plus all the regular people too coming out hoping to change politics.

And to think he just inherited this "empire" from his dad. This tangerine colored turd has lived with a silver uh make that a gold spoon his entire life, never EVER admitting making a mistake...I read not too long ago that a reporter asked him if he ever apologized to anyone for something and he replied that he never did anything wrong in his life! and so many worship him...scary.

This indicates to me that they are acting as a mobile consulate. If so, then why do I have to use local mail in order to get a new passport? Just wondering. Or, can I just make an appointment at the Congen, Bangkok to get a new passport? Anyone have ny idea?