Banana7

An alternative view is: Truck had right-of-way to turn right since it was on the correct side of the roadway and traveling in the legal direction. Traffic going the opposite way on his side of the road, shouldn't be traveling in an illegal direction and at a minimum, it should yield to right-of-way to vehicles traveling legally. Also, the MC crashed into the rear of the truck indicating most of the truck had passed in front of the MC already, which the MC driver would/should have seen, and should have slammed on the brakes and normally would have avoided the accident, but if its speed was excessive, the time may have been insufficient to brake. Finally, the driver was 14 and didn't have drivers license and shouldn't have been driving a MC. The only potential violation, the truck driver may have committed, was that he didn't signal or signal light wasn't working, but there 's no mention of this matter.

This post is about Jomtien not CM. Different locations have different service levels, and it is usually dependent on IO staffing levels and number of foreigners requiring service. So yes, it was smooth for Pattaya/Jomtien. I have a friend who uses a reliable seasoned agent for retirement visa extensions at Jomtien. He went to his agent on Wednesday, had to return to the agent on Thursday, passport was returned on Monday. So the agent route usually takes 3-5 business days. In the last 5 years, I've never heard of same day passport return for retirement visa extensions at Jomtien, using an agent or doing it personally. Numerous years ago, Jomtien, did provide same day service.

Went to Jomtien to extend retirement visa for another year. Arrived about 2pm to get a queue ticket from the info desk. All 3 administrators at the desk were occupied, I was first in line. Desk 8 queue ticket received in 3 minutes. No issues or deficiencies were identified in the required application documents. Queue ticket showed there were 20 people in front of me. My ticket number was called at about 3:45pm. Application was accepted and I was out the door in 5 minutes. Passport will be returned next business day, as usual. The processing seemed to be much slower than previous years. Many times, the queue number only advanced after about 15 minutes. Two IO were accepting applications. One IO was accepting applications from people who didn't have a queue ticket. Numerous people held long discussions with IOs about the required documents. See here for required documents at Jomtien: www.pattayacityexpatsclub.com/Retirement

Internet bill has been accepted by immigration.

For the OP, I recommend you go for a reconnaissance trip for a month or 2, to see if you like it. We can speculate if it is better, but it comes down to what you want and your most important critical success factors for a permanent move. Try it, it doesn't have to be a one way ticket. If you don't completely trust your friend, do some research on youtube. I've been to Panama numerous times and considered retiring there. Places and environments change over time but I can say it was a pleasant experience. For me, I just like the abundance of slim build friendly Thai ladies better. The chicas tend to get heavier as they age. Also, you can pop up to Costa Rica or down to Columbia for some variety. Costa Rica is getting expensive!

If you are Canadian and have a Canadian bank account, some banks are now asking their customers to sign a form which includes foreign tax identification numbers (TIN), TD is one such bank. The form also says, that if in the future, you obtain a foreign TIN, the Canadian bank needs to be notified of the foreign TIN, within 30 days. There have been reports that some Canadian banks are closing accounts/freezing accounts that fail to comply. So if you get a Thai tax TIN, even if you don't pay taxes or file a Thai return, you are obligated to notify your Canadian bank and of course that bank will notify Revenue Canada, and it may become the start of a tax nightmare. Little details like this, which are conveniently omitted by the tax expert, can screw you in the future. I highly recommend to avoid obtaining a Thai TIN until it is required by law.

First, stop eating anything and everything that contains sugar, including sweet fruit. Do not eat anything fried in seed oils. Acceptable cooking oils are cold extracted extra virgin olive oil, avocado oil, butter and lard. Do not eat processed foods/snacks or anything containing wheat or starch, like pasta, potatoes and baked goods. Confine your eating window to 4 hours per day or less. Search youtube.com, lots of good advice from Dr. Ekberg and others on one meal a day (OMAD), intermittent fasting and extended water fasting. Doing the preceding, I lost 32 lbs, waist reduced from 36 to 31 inches in 6 months.

South Korea should its troops to Ukraine to counter the North Korean troops who went to the Russian front-line in Ukraine

Confiscate the car. Also there is government insurance and probably private insurance. Compensation should be 10 times more than what was offered. I am amazed the cops did not lay the obvious charge of 'failing to stop for a red light'.

To answer the OP's question: Basically USA attracted lots of investments because of high interest rates compared to Thailand and other countries. Investment funds in Thailand stock market dumped Thai stocks, converted baht to USD and sent $ to USA. Thai baht plunges to the 36-38 level. Now the funds are returning to Thailand, returning with USD and buying baht to buy Thai stocks. USA interests rates have started to decline. They also anticipate Thailand will sell lots of goods to China because of China's new bold economic stimulus package announced in the last 2 weeks. Also the funds expect Thai economy to improve due to an influx of Chinese tourists because the Chinese will have more money to spend because of the package. That package is worth about 3-4 trillion yuan.

I am a resident of Canada for tax purposes, even though I stay in Canada less than 180 days per calendar year. I had to file this form with TD Waterhouse when I transferred an RRSP into an RRIF and updated my investor profile. Also I had to file a similar form when transferring a bank account from one branch to another. Even for Canadian citizens not living in Canada, Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) decides if you are a resident for tax purposes. There is a BIG form that has to filed to be classified as not having to pay CRA. Very difficult to escape from CRA. A Canadian, non-resident or resident tax payer, may also qualify their Canadian residential property for higher property taxes, basically if you rent your Canadian home while outside Canada. Certain cities like Ottawa and Toronto, maybe Vancouver, have an extra property tax if the owner doesn't live in it and classify it as their permanent residence.

In many countries that signed onto that new international tax treaty, like Canada, they are asking for certification of tax status. Canada has just started rolling out the process for everyone that has investment or bank accounts. Attached is one of the forms used in Canada. It collects tax ids in other countries so it will be easy to accumulate and share all income data with relevant countries.

I was diagnosed with hypertension when I went into Bang Lamung hospital with chest pains, BP 220/160. Since the hospital visit, I had been taking Anapril 20mg for about 3 years, which reduced bp into the 130/85 range. I changed my diet in April 2024 to a keto diet, cut out all sugars, starches, products with white flour, and seed oils. BP in June was averaging 105/68 with the Anapril. In June this year, doctor authorized to stop Anapril all together. Now I eat mostly very low net carb foods, meats, and whole foods. Now BP is: lowest 107/67, worst 134/83, most days 125/83, with no Anapril. Since April I have lost 22 lbs., BMI now is 21.5. Also cut out statins for high cholesterol. Diet can make a huge difference. With the initial keto diet, also reduce eating window to 5-6 hours per day. Now I eat only once a day, 4 course meal, and feel better than I have felt in decades. I also walk at least one hour per day.

Lots traffic violations on many streets West of Sukhumvit highway. Basically, Pattaya Police are not enforcing traffic laws all the time. Many times the traffic police sit in the intersection police boxes watching TV or playing on their phones. Sometimes Police will enforce for one or 2 days, followed by 3 months of nothing. Lots of examples on Beach Road, parking in red and yellow zones, and in red painted bus stop zones. Vendors, like restaurants, block off beach road parking for their customers. Then there are the motorcycle businesses that permanently park their rental vehicles on the street. Let's not forget the food vendors on the streets. Check around Beach Road Soi 13/1 to 13/4. Some restaurants (Hops) even have parking attendants on the street reserving parking for their customers. Also, many streets have inadequate sidewalks for pedestrians, so people have to walk on the vehicle part of the road, which narrows the vehicle pathway. Of course, Pattaya traffic management people turnoff the pedestrian crossing lights, so that vehicles have the right-of-way all the time. Amazing Thailand!

I learned a longtime ago, do not lend money to friends if you expect it to be returned. It's the fastest way to lose a friend. Just say I don't have money to lend/loan. If there is a good reason to borrow money, the bank has lots, and they will loan it, providing there is a good reason and a high probability of payback. They may also want some collateral. Re-direct to professional money lenders.

Thailand needs to add a huge steel tariff to imported Chinese steel products else all Thai steel production companies will go bankrupt. China is dumping steel into many countries. One of China's biggest steel company declared bankruptcy, debts of many billions of dollars. Most chinese steel have more finished steel inventory than their distributors. As these chinese steel companies continue going bankrupt, most certainly, their inventories will be sold at heavily discounted prices which no producer can compete with. See here for more details:

In 2 years, 2026 is the planned completion date, subject to change.

I also recommend that at least one rod is 1 meter long, solid copper, and driven down below ground surface, if possible, damp soil.

It's so dangerous and costly to have relationships with women in countries like canada and USA. One business man in Ontario has to pay his girlfriend $50K per month, initially for life, but later on appeal it was reduced to 10 years. They never married, and never had children, and kept separate residences. You can google it, but here is one link : https://nationalpost.com/news/canada/no-home-or-kids-together-but-couple-still-spouses-appeal-court-rules

You're right.

This guy in the video is probably the highest paid divorce lawyer in USA, most clients are billionaires and movie stars. It's worth listening to him for 2 hours for free, as he answers many questions about relationships, prenups, marriage and divorce.

At one point, getting cash in Thailand using a WISE card was possible by going to any bank that issues VISA cards. There was no fee for over the counter (OTC) transactions. The fee was only charged when using an ATM. I haven't tried OTC lately. Maybe someone in Thailand can try it and comment.

The line they used for me was my premium went up exactly the amount as the discount, each year. I asked why? They said because the parts cost more every year so they had to boost my premium, even though I made no claims.

Here is a video with one of best divorce lawyers in USA. He identifies many points and risks of marriage especially without a prenup agreement. Comments?

Here is a better video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IH0maa1MLV0