Gold Star

Big busts and photo ops like this sure justify those new BMWs with high tech tablets and smartphones...

Best to part with that dysfunctional family, and move on to a happier life. They seem to love the laid back attitude and non pretentious people of west coast Canada, and feel very welcome there as a part of the community, not as celebrities. Canada is a perfect fit being similar to America in many ways, but with close ties to the old British Commonwealth in the days before Canada was stabbed in the back and sold out by Britain to join the EU. I think his mother would have agreed they are making the right choice. 

FWIW, I just got my income letter from my affidavit at the Canadian Embassy on Oct 23 last week, as my Visa renewal is in January 2019. I asked if there were plans for Canada to stop the service, and the lady said no, it is business as usual. At least there were no plans to scrap the service as of yet.

On 2018-05-01 at 3:02 PM, CaitlinHappyMeal said:

Thanks for this insight, I have posted a longer explanation of why I was asking. I think I’m gonna have to start washing my hair in bottled water lol 

Here is today’s water quality data in Pattaya from PEA office:

4 minutes ago, mogandave said:

We haven’t done anything to either of our tanks for 17 years and our water smells fine and no one has gotten sick from bathing in it.

I do open the drain-cock on the bottom of each tank once a month or so and drain off the sentiment.

Nice. Where do you live? Is your water supply chlorinated? More details please...

I'm trying to learn more about it too. I went to the PWA water authority office at Chiaporn Vitee to inquire about the bad smell in my city water and that we were getting sick, even when I bypass my tank and draw directly from the city source. In most parts of Pattaya, they put in a bit of chlorine, and The PWA posts the chlorine readings on a sign outside the office. I live in a house in Jomtien and was told by PWA that my water comes from Sattahip, and they will send out someone to check, who never showed up. I'm not sure if they use chlorine in the Sattahip plant, but if you ever see the inside of any a city supply pipe, it is caked thick with a green slime you can wipe with your finger.  The machines you see everywhere on the streets to fill your drinking water for 1 baht a litre just filter the city supply line water, and bottled water is the same but done in a plant.

As the water supply here is intermittent and at low pressure, every house and hotel needs to have a reservoir tank and a pump.  Flora and fauna live in the reservoirs. Do not expect anyone to ever clean the tank, lines, or the system, as the only time it gets serviced is when it breaks. I put in a cup of bleach into my 2000 litre tank every few days, just enough to start to smell it in the shower. I drain and clean my tank at least twice a year, as there ends up being about 5 mm of sludge at the bottom from the city lines. I also mix a strong solution of bleach and let sit in my house pipes for a few hours. When I turn on the taps, they run a brown red green goo for a minute or two as the slime is cleansed off the wall of the pipe, and the smell is better after that. If I forget to put in the bleach into the tank, sometimes one of us gets sick. Everyone in our household has had and gets amoebic dissentry once or twice a year, and we always have a couple cards of Metronidazole 400mg handy as you are laid up for 3 to 4 days, and recovering for a couple weeks to a month. Not good. 

Edit: We also do use a 3 stage 10" filter system for kitchen water to wash and prepare our food.

Would they accept the deposit about 300,000 baht cash into my account from a portion of my Thai girlfriend's lottery winnings as part of my 800,000 requirement? 

1 hour ago, steven100 said:

If buying a substantial amount as I did recently,   then just buy from a reputable / major gold shop on Sukhumvit or large shopping centre.

They are not there to sell you fake gold,   they know the consequences will be severe even if they tried ...       the bars are expensive but if I keep for 10 years I will make 5X the amount.

Curious as to your reasons for your prediction of a whopping 5x return on your gold investment in 10 years = 17.5% annual compounding rate of return over 10 years.

Gold pays no dividend, held physically or in an ETF. The cost of keeping physical gold (safety deposit box) has to be considered in your rate of return as well.

Over the past 35 years, the average annual real (inflation–adjusted) rate of return on gold was 1.56 percent. However, it has fluctuated over shorter time periods. For instance: The largest gain for gold in one year was from 1978 to 1979, when the price doubled from $208 to $459, for a return of 98 percent. Gold purchased in 1975 at $129 an ounce would have sold at the end of 2010 for $1,420.25 for an annual real rate of return of 1.56 percent.

By contrast, the real average annual rate of return for Standard & Poor’s 500 Composite Stock Index from 1975 to 2010 was nearly 8.4 percent.

It is not as much of a safe haven during times of economic crisis either.  As exhibited during the last financial crisis, gold did not experience the expected pop, as all asset classes dropped in the rush to exit a sinking market, covering margins, and losses from other losing positions.

As a former gold bug over the last 15 years or so, I have experienced severe disappointments with my gold investments, and now wince every time one of my financial advisors puts me into GLD or any gold mining stock to maintain diversity among asset classes. To me, it is dead money.

1 hour ago, soalbundy said:

one with a handle that the wife can lift. You live in Bangkok breathing in all that filthy air and are worried about getting cancer from a frying pan ?

Some might be lucky to live long enough to worry about cancer.

Depending on the person's  wife, either one light enough not to get hurt, or heavy enough that she can't lift/swing/throw easily.

Choose one with dull rounded edges so they don't leave a deep gash on your forehead, preferably kept safely wrapped tightly in a pillow, outside the house, with the knives...

I have been fighting forest fires in a remote part of Saskatchewan in Northern Canada during the fire season, and we take refuge in a log cabin that we keep as airtight as possible during our stay. The smoke outside is so thick sometimes that planes cannot land, and we have to take care of ourselves on our island as the fire rages around us. Although outdoors is unmanageable, we have found that you can minimize and reduce the smoke inside if you use any sort of fans to blow air through a filter cloth like a furnace filter or similar suitable material. White material shows how much particulate matter is trapped, and you can reuse it after a quick wash. You don't need expensive filtration equipment to make the air clear, as the particulates from smoke are quite large and are easy to remove. Don't wait to research and procure the ultimate hepa filter to get some relief, just blow some air through your filter cloth and recirculate in your closed-in area.

I have the same problem with inconsiderate neighbors. They scream obscenities, bang on the walls, on my doors, the floor, and the ceiling in the middle of the night. Sometimes it gets so loud, I can barely hear my bagpipes...

If you want to be happy for a day,.... drink.

If you want to be happy for a year, .... marry.

If you want to be happy for a lifetime,... ride a BMW motorcycle.