jas007

I gave up trying. When the time comes, I just drop my passport off at my agent and pick it up a day later. 100 baht.

I have that situation and I'm not going to. The DTA addresses not only Social Security, but government pensions, which are taxable ONLY in the country of origin. Bring into Thailand less that what you receive from those sources, why would you file? My opinion. only. Not advice.

If it really was 7.7, that's a big deal. Are there known faults in that area? Let's hope that wasn't a warm up for something even bigger.

I'm sitting here at Wongamat Beach and, unless I'm crazy, I didn't feel a thing. I've lived in California, so I've been through a few earthquakes. Usually, it's no big deal. A few things shaken up and then it's over. I remember 1989 and the big earthquake up in San Francisco, but at the time, I was at a strip club with a friend in San Diego. We didn't feel anything. The kinds of earthquakes they usually had in San Diego were no big deal. In Japan, the building codes are such that earthquakes are expected. In Thailand, I'm not so sure. I guess I'll keep my fingers crossed.

This guy has a pretty good handle on the current political struggle in the USA and around the world. It's worth a listen.

What if it's not digital glasses and what if it's not a phone? I was just thinking about this issue because I thought I lost my wallet along with my ATM cards, my credit cards, etc. Fortunately, I didn't but for a while I was mad because I needed to carry that thing around in the first place. There has to be an easier way. They already have eyeball scans and facial recognition, so those would solve the ATM issue and the building entry issue, for anyone who has to deal with that. Trying to buy something? Use your eyeballs and let them scan your retina. Isn't Bezos already doing something like that at some of the Whole Food stores? He was also working on some sort of a shopping cart that kept track of what you put into it. No noeed to check out. Just bag your groceries and leave. That leaves trying to call or text someone. Maybe if all the account recognition problems were dealt with in the cloud, everyone would just need a cheap throwaway device for when they're out and about? Of course, all this would come with a massive invasion of privacy and a loss of individual control. You would no longer have control over your money, how you spend your money, of even if you can spend your money. And they would have a record of all your communications.

I haven't kept up. What's unattractive about Nevada and Florida? No state income tax in either state, so that's a plus.

How many have actually been kicked out? There's a limit to what the room can hold, I'm sure, and some effort has been made to include people from the "non-traditional" press. Bloggers and so on. If anyone repeatedly asks the same question and expects to receive the answer they're looking for to prove their point, maybe they are a waste of space. As I recall, during the Biden administration, there were members of the press who were NEVER called on. They were allowed to be there and they wanted to ask questions, but the Press Secretary refused to address them. I guess she didn't want hard questions that weren't scripted. I think the current Press Secretary is doing a little better, in terms of "Free Speech."

Any expat needing a US address that would be sufficient as a real US address would look into South Dakota. Maybe it's still possible to set something up there. The residency requirements are minimal. I remember reading about this when I was thinking about living in Mexico and registering a car in the USA. Long story. Anyway, it used to be possible to obtain a South Dakota Driver's license and have a South Dakota address and residency, after spending only one night in the State of South Dakota. It's sort of a cottage industry there, catering to digital nomads. Some people make money and the State of South Dakota collects fees for licenses and whatnot.

How much of Gaza is left, at this point?

I don't know about the "best in Thailand," but I've had a few that were pretty good. PrimeBurger in Pattaya at Central Festival, and a place called Craftburger, I think, on Sukhumvit Soi 11, in Bangkok. Of course, with a grill and the right ingredients, I could make something really good. CraftBurger: PrimeBurger:

I didn't "think" much about it, actually. In my mind, there was only one issue: Free Speech. The Democrats had devolved to a point where they seemed to think was OK to spread their nonsense propaganda around the world while at the same time censoring, controlling and cancelling anyone they could possibley reach who didn't agree with their insane agenda. To me, that was crazy. Once you lose Free Speech, you lose everything. And for what it's worth, I didn't bother to vote. I knew Trump would win. Harris? LOL. There was no way. Only in the delusional minds of some people, and delusions don't count for much when they tally up the vote.

I've been trying to eat "healthy" these days, but it isn't easy. No sugar, no high fructose corn syrup, no seed oils, no processed food, no ultra processed food, etc. Take away all the unhealthy food and there isn't much left. So, I buy grass fed beef and cage free eggs and eat those a lot. I can cook that at home and that's what I usually have for breakfast Also, the right green leafy veggies, and some fruits, in moderation. So, I usually skip the Thai food carts and it costs me more money to eat. On the occasions when I do eat out, I try to keep it healthy. And once in a while, I just eat whatever I want. Yesterday afternoon, I had a pizza from a local place. 220 baht. That seemed reasonable to me. It wasn't the biggest pizza you could imagine, but it was good for one person. For what it's worth, I'm at Wongamat Beach, which is mostly loaded with tourists, so the restaurants around here aren't exactly cheap. I'm from the USA, though, and I've never really adjusted to the real Thai economy. If I eat a meal and it's 350 baht or less, I don't feel like I'm being ripped off.

They're probably just keeping up with real prices. The official "inflation" numbers are BS. Everybody knows that. Ever hear or the "Big Mac Index"? From The Economist magazine. I haven't looked at it lately, but the general idea is that a Big Mac is a Big Mac anywhere in the world, and they list Big Mac prices around the world with a US dollar benchmark. The result is the PPP or "Purchasing Power Parity." How is the local currency doing, in terms of value, against the US dollar?

The US dollar isn't going anywhere anytime soon, but, what value will it have, going forward? I'm sure that most people reading this have seen the value of the dollar pretty much destroyed during their lifetimes. And, that trend will likely continue. Nothing goes in a straight line and there will be fluctuations along the way, but my advice is to not save up too many US dollars in an effort to get rich. That would be an exercise in futility. What to do? Diversify. Have some dollars to "buy the dip" when the stock market tanks. Maybe buy some gold and hold it yourself. Maybe buy some silver. Once the real estate market crashes (which is only a matter of time), certain real estate might be a good investment. As for changing dollars into other currencies? All around the world, central banks are dealing with debt problems and would like to lower interest rates to spur economic development. The USA doesn't have a monopoly in that regard. I think I saw a story just yesterday about Thailand and its desire to lower rates. They aren't the only country playing that game. The impact of Trump's economic agenda remains to be seen. No country ever got rich trying to borrow their way to prosperity. Maybe the USA will become more of a producer and less of a consumer of junk made elsewhere in the world. As for BRICS and the alternate monetary system they're trying to set up? Whatever happens, that system won't be a threat to the US dollar anytime soon. Trillions of dollars change hands around the world on a daily basis. The only place that can currently happen: The USA. Wall Street. Perhaps years from now things will be different. For now, do the best with what you have.

The political party surely lines up, right? Democrats then. Democrats now. Only the costumes have changed.

He did win the election and he is now President. And I think most people would agree, even any this point, that the alternative, Harris, would have been a disaster for the country. So, perhaps people should get over it and try to have a positive attitude.

I'm not so sure they're full members, yet. As far as I know, they're just a so-called "Partner Country" of BRICS, which is a step towards full membership.

I thought they just applied to join BRICS? Anyone know what kind of cars they make in Thailand and ship into the USA? I can't imagine, off the top of my head.

It's not the countries that are new, but the "order" that they (the Globalists) were trying to establish. The WEF is one of the culprits. We're lucky that all that nonsense might be history. At this point, some of the damage may have already been done, though, with the COVID jabs. According to some, the jabbed people will be dying over the next few years in mass numbers. I guess we'll be finding out.

I'm in Pattaya, and every once in a while I think about moving to Bangkok, just for a change of scenery. Big cities can be fun. I once lived in New York City, so it's not as if a big city would be anything new for me. Anyway, I think about it and then I finally come to my senses and decide I'd be better off maintaining a condo at the beach in the Pattaya area as a base of operations and then travel around when I want. Bangkok isn't that far away if I ever want to go and spend a month there. It doesn't have to cost too much to stay there for a month. Ditto for trips to just about anywhere else in Thailand or even elsewhere in SE Asia. Just hop on a plane and in an hour or so, you're there. There's no real reason why I have to be anywhere, so long as I have my laptop, my phone, and my iPad and internet access.

Most of the people on the left running around defacing Teslas are too dumb to know what they're doing. They've been programed to respond to everything they don't agree with labels such as "Nazi" or "Fascist." Or, perhaps with some other term they probably don't even understand. Ask any of them what an "oligarchy" is. See if they know.

I still think nothing much is going to come from any of this. At the News conference where he signed the order about auto tariffs, Trumps was asked about the Signal thing. He didn't seem to think it was a big deal, and he expressed the opinion that the attacks were very successful. In other words, it's over, no harm done, move on.

Much ado about nothing because nothing is going to come of this. It's over. I guess they won't do that again.

There's probably more to this story than anyone seems to know right now. Is the Signal chatroom thing something new? Or is it typically used for group chats? Is there an alternative for more secure group conferences? If so, why would they use Signal? It sounds to me like this journalist got added to the room somehow, but it wasn't by any member of the Administration, at least not deliberately. Can Signal be hacked? What makes "secure" communication secure?