Banana7

14 hours ago, champers said:

BBC reporting that Wuhan has closed all public transport including planes and trains in and out of the city. Wuhan has a population of 8.9 million so is about the same size as London. They note there is no announcement about private transport so how do you stop those travelling in private cars? Impose martial law?

BBC is now reporting Huanggang a city of six million will also be locked down.

BBC also reports  a third city Ezhou, with a million people, will close its train stations.

In Wuhan, all hospitals are full, flooded with suspected cases, people have to wait up to 5 hours to see a doctor. Doctors are quoted as saying "The virus is now spreading at an alarming rate".

The Chinese government is doing very little to stop the virus from spreading to other countries. Even Chinese hospitals in Wuhan, the epicenter, are unable to detect the virus according to reports from the World Health Organization.

A Chinese female had developed fever, chill, and muscle pain on 18 January while in Wuhan. She visited a local hospital in Wuhan and was diagnosed with a cold. On 19 January she flew to Korea and was detected with a fever (38.3 °C) upon arrival at the Incheon International Airport. She has the virus!

The virus is proving to easily move human to human, even to primary care givers. The virus may also be mutating making it more difficult to detect and more deadly. It hasn't yet been defined as airborne.

Don't expose yourself to potential sources. Direct contact with door handles, escalator handrails, elevator push buttons, fresh fruit and vegetables in markets are common locations for transmission. Most viruses can last up to 2 hours on a surface. Touch a contaminated surface and then touch an orifice on your body, and you'll be infected.

This is a very serious matter, far more serious than is being reported in the press.

The Chinese government is allowing the virus to spread and even their hospitals are unable to diagnose the virus in an infected person. Here is an excerpt from WHO website.

The case-patient had developed fever, chill, and muscle pain on 18 January while in Wuhan. She visited a local hospital in Wuhan and was initially diagnosed with a cold. On 19 January , the case-patient was detected with fever (38.3 °C) upon arrival at the Incheon International Airport.

A popular news agency has reported the following on January 15, 2020 / 2:28 PM

A Chinese woman from Wuhan has been quarantined in Thailand, the first case of the mystery strain of coronavirus to be detected outside of China. This virus is a killer. WHO has said there has been human-to-human transmission. [L8N29J2O2]

With Chinese New Year here, beware of Chinese tourists!

The BOT has many many restrictions on baht outflows from Thailand. BOT has too many rules and regulations for currency flows.

Can anyone recommend up to 3 reliable trustworthy law firms in the Pattaya area for a foreigner's Will? They need to prepare a simple, (1 or 2 beneficiaries) legal, easily enforceable Last Will and testament, be the executor of the Will, including probate, and distribute the Thai assets as stated in the Will.

US AQI in Pattaya is now 122 at 15:00 December 28. Chiang Mai is 165!

The air quality index (AQI) (US standards) in Pattaya is being reported as 116 unhealthy for sensitive groups. Up in Chiang Mai, 162 AQI unhealthy.

IQAir AirVisual app is the reporting entity. Where is all the pollution coming from?

What are the legal obligations in Thailand if a foreign man and a Thai women live together for 7 years? They are not married legally, no papers or ceremonies. There are no children, none during or prior to the relationship. They live in the foreigner's condo, in his sole name. Foreigner is retired, Thai works earns a salary.

If foreigner asks the Thai to leave the condo and terminate their relationship, are there any financial consequences?

One issue at BKK is that aircraft size, by an airline, is not optimized to reduce air traffic landings at BKK. For example EVA, has 2 flights into BKK within 2 hours, both originating at TPE. 

Another issue is that 3 flights from the same departure city (HKT), by 3 different airlines, all  arrive within 15 minutes. Definitely not optimized for runway use at BKK.

On 12/20/2019 at 6:53 PM, DrJack54 said:

Hell's bells...was not aware of that. Guess for folk living central Pattaya not a Biggie, but for some a pain in the....

 

The guy beside me said he drove 1 hour to come to the Jomtien office. He lives on the dark side of Pattaya - traffic was very heavy 7-8am.

On 12/20/2019 at 4:58 PM, DrJack54 said:

OP, which imm office do you apply for extensions? Return next day?

As Steve pointed out some things can be done online. In 7 years of extensions I have been to CW 7 times. Most recent one io did not want copy of my tm30. Anyway can be done online or via mail.

Reentry permits I don't even bother to obtain at CW as it's 10 minutes at airport.

You must love your golf to be that busy for this huge impact on life in order to live ongoing in a foreign country.

I go to Jomtien. Returning next to pickup passport is standard procedure at Jomtien.

Last year, one Austrian complained about not getting same day service. Next day he returned to get his passport, and then he really started to complain - he only got a 30 day extension.

Can anyone recommend a good place to have Christmas lunch or dinner in Pattaya? Some place reasonably priced with a varied menu, both Thai and traditional Christmas turkey.

This week, while applying for a non-immigrant "o" retirement extension, the attached document had to be signed. It explains financial requirements for a retirement visa extension and exactly what is required subsequent to the extension being granted.

Comments?

Selective enforcement by Police happens many times even in front of the police station on Beach Road. Thais without a helmet ride by but every foreigner without a helmet gets caught. Also 3 Thais on bike ride by, no action by the police.

19 hours ago, Jingthing said:

Argentina has been mentioned numerous times before on the thread. I did a fairly long stay in Buenos Aires myself and loved it but for various reasons which I've posted about before, Argentina doesn't interest me as a retirement destination. If you're interested you may want to do your own current research and post about it here.

 

To add, if you're interested in Argentina you might want to look into neighboring Uruguay. It has middle level retirement status requirements which I am unfortunately a tad under but if I wasn't it would be up there on my list. 

I'll do more research. However, ARS currency is plummeting which reminds me of Thailand's currency issues back in 1997-1998.

In May 2019 USD=44.3 ARS, today 15 Dec. 2019 USD= 59.63 ARS, and ARS will probably continue to devalue.

Thailand wanted Pattaya to become a family resort town. As it becomes one, families don't spend money in go-go bars, beer bars, small mom and pop restaurants. Also they don't stay in one area for a long time. So it should come as no surprise that these establishments have less patrons.

Also, the Bank of Thailand restricting outflows of Thai baht will continue the appreciation of Baht against most other currencies, making Thailand very expensive!

With global warming, there are loser and winners.

The nations near the Poles will get warmer and will benefit from longer growing seasons and less fuel used to heat homes and business.

Planet Earth, in its lifetime, has undergone numerous climate natural phenomena. We'll all survive and adapt.

Apparently the guy was video taping the dancers, and when caught, he was thrown out. In his opinion, the dancers were too young and he was gathering evidence to file a complaint. Wow!

Video taping in a go-go bar - you got to be on drugs or an idiot.

So many foreigners come to Thailand and try impose their own standards and values and that is just plain stupid.

What about Argentina? Anybody have any recommendations or experience in Argentina?

Argentina has about USD$200 billion of debt due in 2020, and they are hungry for USD. There maybe be some good deals for renting/buying if done in USD. Their main source of foreign currency is exports, mostly food exports. Now they are planning to increase the export tax on food.

Buenos Aires has beautiful women. Maybe Cordoba is suitable too? 

What's the immigration requirements?

Found them here: