Nemises

Happens everywhere. I had valuables stolen by staff from my luggage at San Francisco international airport and a friend had the same happen to him at Honolulu international airport.

Actually yes! And the sister is a nurse at the same government hospital.

Sorry to disappoint, but it’s 100% true and can send you a photo of the happy couple (with her in uniform) to prove it. FYI 25 years age difference is not uncommon in Thailand. Your assumption of him being an “old man” is also incorrect. Care to elaborate on why “it’s a nightmare waiting to happen” or are you just jealous? I think the latter.

Disagree! My mate is/will be much better off for marrying a government worker for the huge health care cost benefits - will cost him something like 50 baht for any eventual operation, regardless of duration in hospital. She is also a nurse - perfect for his day to day care when required. She is also incredibly attractive, and oh, about 25 years younger. Good luck convincing him he is "much better off single".

1/ Yes. 2/ No, of course not! (Can’t believe so many people thought they would)

I parked my 800K in blue chip shares in my home country stock exchange. After 10 years of 10% pa return, the 800K is now valued at over 1.8M - and that includes paying a visa agent to do everything for me! ‘nuff said.

Wow! Maybe the water quality has changed “tremendously” also…

In other words nothing has changed. But thanks anyway!

It’s important to keep abreast of what’s happening back home. For example today’s major Australian news is about a man finding his hat.

Don’t bother. Simply use your phone for cardless ATM withdrawals and for all purchases.

Don’t forget to take the Mrs and kids to the SCG to watch the Test cricket! 🏏 Only $214 each day for the cheapest (unsheltered) family pass, $21.50 for a burger & chips and $13.60 for a beer 🤗

GFC perhaps? Google it. Hope this helps.

Absolutely correct - as I have found out firsthand already. Don’t expect to be paid out for any major prize if playing NZ (& various other countries) lottos from outside their country as you are in breach of their rules.

Attached video shows what happened at a traffic-light controlled Thai zebra crossing. The video opens showing that the pedestrian still has 23 seconds on the clock to “safely” cross the road. This video should be played to all Thai newbies. E5426DFB-36FA-4DF1-A1AC-C430B769C4FC.mov

No. The travel site converts the cheaper country’s currency into my currency for me. After confirming that the converted rate is still much cheaper (from the other “home country” browser that I also have open) I then book and pay the cheaper price from the cheaper overseas browser.

I use a VPN to book CHEAPER airfares from a “third world” country. Works every time, normally saving me around 12%.

I was also seriously thinking about going back to Aus at 67 to start my 2 years, but was worried about my "performance level" with the Thai girls when returning at aged... 69 So for me, it was go back at 65, exercise regularly like never before and hopefully still be fully functionable (without enhancers) when returning at age 67...which I am! Phew!!

You are wrong 100 %. Because as mentioned already, those screenshot reporting dates are nothing to do with “income reporting”, they are dates to report in person to your local Centrelink office in order to maintain your dole payments.

Here’s a screenshot showing the dates that I needed to report in person to my local Centrelink office. Strange that your mate doesn’t need to physically report and others do. I had just arrived back from living in Thailand for 6 years, so maybe that’s why…

One of the most ridiculous things in Australia are 65 year old’s being forced to apply for jobs in order to get the dole. From memory you must show evidence of about 12 applications per month even though you will rarely ever - correction: never! - get a single response from any application. In addition to the 12 applications I was also required to report in person to my local Centrelink office every 2 weeks :)) Something to look forward to (if wanting the dole) when you return for those 2 years…

It is a religion of peace! A piece over here, a piece over there …

Can't see a problem to continue using an agent providing you pay for it AFTER the extension has been done and you are holding your passport. If the agent is dodgy, or a previously reliable one goes rogue and they "lose" your passport, simply get a new passport. Will never put 800k baht in some Thai bank earning SFA.

Just finished speaking with the call centre. The guy spoke brilliant English, he was very helpful and the wait time was less than 5 minutes. The outcome: I will not be able to set up i-Banking or m-Banking again until I return to Thailand. I can however give my TGF authority to act on my behalf for any bank transactions until I return. This will first involve her obtaining/mailing/delivering to my home branch, the relevant form. He 100% agreed that BKK bank staff should not be suggesting to their foreign customers (who are about to head overseas for lengthy periods) to let their ATM card expire regardless if they use their phone for ATM transactions or not. Lesson learned! Hope this helps others on here who are planning on leaving the Kingdom for a lengthy time, who also use m-banking and who also no longer need/use an ATM card. Thanks again to those who tried to help.

Correct! But luckily for me the app login credentials for my other Thai bank (KTB) downloaded perfectly from the Cloud backup onto my new phone. Phew! If KTB m-banking also failed to reinstall like BKK then yes, good chance I’m going back to LoS for a quick holiday.

Correct! …and furthermore: even though you can use your phone these days for ATM transactions (essentially making ATM cards obsolete), never let your ATM card expire if you intend leaving the Kingdom for any length of time. I let mine expire on the advice of bank staff who ensured me I could do everything at the ATM on my phone. If only I knew I was going to lose my phone whilst abroad… For the record I had a backup of my phone data saved to the Cloud. Unfortunately the Restore onto my new phone did not bring back my BKK m-banking login credentials - possibly because the ATM card’s expiry date had elapsed. Correct.