Misty

But really there is no United Nations with Russia

Is my "current residency" Thailand at that point? Or is my temporary visit to my home country my residency? I wouldn't have any address, bills, or anything at all specifying that I reside there, maybe a 2 days hotel stay at best. Even official documents from our government states I am NOT a resident (address in official documents states: DEREGISTERED). What should I do? Thank you! Hi, I think I was in a similar situation about a year ago. I had lived and worked in Thailand for many years on NonB extensions/work permits. Post pandemic, I had to return unexpectedly to my home country, and had to let my NonB extension lapse. I still had my work permit, still owned my Thai company, and had no address or residency in my home country. To get the new NonB e-visa from my US consulate I had to list my "current residency" as a US address. The e-visa system wanted to route me to the correct Thai consulate for my place of residency. Listing my actual Thailand address wasn't an option, at least at that time. I had just one document (liability insurance used for car rentals) that listed a US address on it - my parents' address. This was acceptable for the e-visa. I don't know if the system may have been changed to accept Thai addresses since then, but that was the case about a year ago. I communicated with the Thai consulate (US NY) by FB message during my application. I've had the impression that the NY consulate is pretty with it, and so they may have understood the situation looking at the documents.

One of my younger relatives voted for him, in 2016, and wrote a long post on FB explaining her decision. She was convinced that he was a genius business man (not based on any actual record, but due to watching The Apprentice and listening to her favorite radio talk show on long commutes), also that he was an "outsider" and therefore not "corrupt". I think other of my relatives had similar views. But this is the state that elected Peter Thiel's toy as Senator. So maybe not high information types.

Look, this guys was never just "one of us." There are multiple books and articles going back to the 90s written on the subject. The only strange thing is how poorly he was vetted when running for office. I guess no one thought he'd win, and the media found covering him entertaining and profitable. But if you read his history - books and articles published going back decades, you'll find: Some think there's ample evidence that his family property business was involved in money laundering for the Italian mob at least as far back as the 80s. Some think there's ample evidence that he became a confidential informant (CI) for the FBI against the Italian mob, in the 80s or 90s Some think there's ample evidence that he merely used CI status for protection from crimes he did with the Italian mob. But once the Italian mob was vanquished, he just switched to money laundering for the Russian mob Some think there's ample evidence that he continued money laundering for the Russian mob through his casinos, property developments, hotels and golf courses from the late 80s onwards This guys was never just "one of us." The mistake he made was running for office. Likely he did it for publicity and money. He never dreamed (nor did anyone else it seems) that he would actually get elected.

if you're looking for other indictments, I'm pretty sure they are on the way. There are a number of other much more serious cases in process in different jurisdictions. I'd agree it would be great if one of those had been ready first, but they aren't related and involve entirely different judicial systems. I don't think there was any way to coordinate or time them unfortunately. But I think you will get your wish.

It's a good point. Lethality rate maybe not particularly relevant. But maybe overall numbers of cases treated could be a useful number to know, if only as an indicator of overall experience level. Even there, however, I'm finding that doctors and even teams of doctors in this particular specialty seem to have migrated between some of the major hospitals. So maybe you need to know how many patients an individual doctor or his team has treated. Also, there seems to be real changes made in treatment in this specialty in recent years. There are many choices of treatment, some possibly not yet available in Thailand. The Thai doctors seem to be leaving it up to the patient to decide which form of treatment is better, broadly surgery vs. radiology. Potentially different types of radiology too. Varying side effects, efficacy, short term results, long term results. Nothing is simple it seems.

Thanks very much, will take a look

Does anyone know if a patient advocacy group or database in Thailand that provides hospital statistics for treatment success for a specific ailment - for example # of cases treated, outcomes, etc? I was asked if I knew of a good doctor or hospital in Bangkok to treat prostate cancer. I know the major Bangkok hospitals do offer various types of treatment. But it's not clear how they compare, or if seeking treatment in a home country would be better (patient has insurance that would cover either option). If there isn't a database like this available, how could someone research how good a hospital is at treating a specific illness? Is it only word of mouth? Any suggestions are welcome.

Also says something about the current speaker of the house...

Jordan, as usual, is not thinking

Hi, are there any updates on when the forum software will be fixed?

Hi, the phone screenshots above indicated that you've been notified that you can now make an appointment for a visa stamp. If that's correct, I'd contact the BoI to do that asap. There were a lot of IT glitches when I'd applied (Sep 2022) and often the website notifications were not accurate. The only way to get resolution was for phone calls (for the visa) and in person meetings (for the work permit). Sometimes things got stuck in never never land, and the only way to get resolution was in person contact. Hopefully things have improved since then, but if you have any doubt definitely contact the BoI directly. If you are in Thailand, consider going to their office in person. For me, that turned out to be the best way to complete the process.

Beg to differ.

But whatabout Saudis giving Jared US$2bn?

Now do FauxNews

Best guess: the pimping wasn't about money, it was about information. Pimping provided the kompromat that was Epstein protection against his real racket. He was friends with and following in the footsteps of Robert Maxwell. He got up to the same activities that Maxwell got up to, and that's where the big money came in. Pimping just gave him dirt on important people, in case he needed protection.

And if he believes that, then I have a social media company to sell him. Oh, wait......

Yes, an obvious corruption story too.

Then there's peachy story, let's see, the Saudis give Jared Kushner, an actual member of the Trump administration and senior advisor to the former president, $2bn for his "investment" fund - why, because Kushner is such a talented investor? Yeah, right. "Kushner created his investment firm the day after Trump left the White House in January 2021 and the Saudi government gave it the $2 billion six months later." https://www.cnbc.com/2022/06/03/house-oversight-investigating-2b-saudi-investment-in-jared-kushners-firm.html

Sadly the Elite Visa is not an option for me, because it's meant to be a form of a tourist visa and working on an Elite visa is illegal. Since I own and run a Thai company, the LTR visa/ work permit combination is a better deal.

Always wondered what happened regarding this story, but perhaps it's just the tip of the ice berg Air Force says it sent crews to Trump’s Scottish resort up to 40 times https://www.politico.com/story/2019/09/12/air-force-trump-scottish-resort-1493624

Much of this unrealized loss seems to be simply longer dated US treasuries that have fallen in price in the open market due to rises in interest rates. Whether or not the bank can afford hold the treasuries until maturity (or interest rates falling) is really the issue. So if this is really a problem for any individual bank depends on the size of the unrealized treasury loss versus the rest of the bank's balance sheet. It would be good if financial analysts (and journalists) could look at balance sheets from that perspective. 1997 Thailand was actually a very different issue. In 1997 the BoT actually had net negative foreign currency reserves. The BoT had been reporting positive foreign reserves to the market. However to support the Thai baht, it had purchased futures agreements that weren't being reported publicly. That is until 2 July 1997 a day I won't forget and when the Thai baht floated and defacto devalued. Many Thai financial institutions and corporates had USD liabilities, but little to no USD income or assets. The Thai financial system was bankrupt - something like 58 financial companies disappeared, Thai banks ended up with large Non Performing Loans (NPLs) and their ownership changed dramatically as they were forced to recapitalize. I'd stress that holding US treasuries with unrealized losses is a very different thing. To quote the CNN article: "Most large US banks are in good financial condition and won’t find themselves in a situation where they’re forced to realize bond losses, said Gruenberg." I think this is true.

The LTR visa does seem to be targeted at a relatively smaller group of people than a tourist visa, or the NonO retirement visa. A better comparison might be Permanent Residency. I've applied for both PR and LTR. While PR should have been a good program, I think LTR is definitely better. With the LTR visa there's far less hoop jumping than PR, no "VIP service fees," no year long wait times or other nonsense. Plus you can easily get a 5 year digital work permit with it (renewable for 5 years) - this is a huge benefit for people who work. There's no 90 day reporting, and if you get stuck out of the country for more than a year you don't lose the LTR visa (as some lost PR status during COVID). It's early days for the LTR visa program. I think the BoI was heavily taxed in the initial roll out. But now that the program is in place, I hope things will be smoother and that it can be expanded to include more people. Last week's Cabinet meeting supporting expanding the categories of industries that qualify under "Highly Skilled Professionals" is a good sign. In any event, it's still a great option for people who qualify.

So true. A US broker must mark-to-market its investment portfolio on a daily basis, and report the loss in its financial statements (monthly, quarterly, yearly). But a bank can carry underwater bonds at cost, if it plans or claims it will hold those bonds to maturity. It's yet another difference between the financial reporting of different types of US institutions, and one that was previously probably not widely understood.

This could be a long shot, but I wonder if there's a possibility that you could qualify in the future under the LTR category "Highly Skilled Professional" instead. The targeted industries for this category are apparently being expanded to include "financial and market consulting services." An announcement came out last week was circulated by one of the foreign chambers of commerce: Cabinet Revises LTR Visa’ Targeted Industries The Cabinet supported revision to the qualifications, criteria, and benefits for Long-Term Resident Visas’, as proposed by Board of Investment (BOI), with the aim of attracting Highly Skilled Professionals, by revising the criteria of targeted industries. As a result: The following industries are newly added: Transport and Logistics, and Petrochemical and Chemical Industry. The following industries have been revised: Automotive Industry, Electronics Industry, Agricultural, Food, and Biotechnology Industry, Aviation, Airport, and Space Industry, International Business Center (IBC), among other revisions. Notably, the BOI will now consider other industries that are served by highly skilled professionals, using one of the following specialized skillsets: Research and development in targeted industries or targeted technology industries such as biotechnology, nanotechnology, and advanced materials technology. Human resource development in sciences and technology, at vocational or higher education levels. The application of Artificial Intelligence (AI) technologies, and/or using automated robotics system in businesses. The planning and development of digital system to elevate the products and services offered by businesses. Providing financial and market consulting services. The management of environment and energy. Managing or providing consultation on incubator and acceleration projects, and providing support to the innovation and ecosystems of startup businesses. Alternative dispute resolution services. Providing support and sponsoring the development of business economics, trade and investments, by foreign chambers of commerce and international trade organizations. Source: March 7 Cabinet Resolutions, Agenda Item no. 24