John Drake

Srettha sold out. He's nothing but a figurehead.

Since Big Joke has made it an issue, we need to know what type visa and/or extension they are on. This should be included in every Foreigner Acting Bad story from now on.

Srettha making the investor class happy, along with Big Business, the mega project backers in government, and the military. The man has sold out totally.

Medicare doesn't cover you anywhere outside the US. Dual citizens of Mexico in Mexico, however, would have Mexican medical coverage. And I believe that foreigners who are resident in Mexico can get Mexican government issued insurance for less than $100/month.

Plus it might be that the grandfathering doesn't go back so far. A lot of people left Thailand during Covid and either were unable to return and extend their visas or simply opted out of doing so. All Immigration needs to do to trim away a lot of people on current extensions and their financial requirements is to make "grandfathering" go back to right before Covid in late 2019. Anyone not on consecutive extensions since 2019 would not be included.

Doesn't look like de-dollarization is working so well for Russia and India. https://uk.finance.yahoo.com/news/russia-says-theres-problem-billions-014447565.html

Everyone's free to use whatever term they like to describe their nationality.

Khaosod has it a bit differently. Srettha sounds like a figurehead for a much more hardline government in key cabinet posts. With the news that Prayuth, as part of a deal with PTP, got to select the heads of the new military leadership, it seems as if Srettha will pretty much be told what to do. If you're a reformer, you may actually have been better off with Prayuth. The new group don't seem much inclined to compromise on anything. https://twitter.com/KhaosodEnglish/status/1695320278107373986

And that's very true for many people. Another factor, btw, is medical care. For those of us getting SSA in Thailand, we must pay our own way for medical costs. No Medicare coverage here. And when you're in your seventies, you're probably going to be seeing a lot more physicians and hospitals than in your sixties. Might be easier to just go to Mexico, although I think Mexico has higher financial requirements than does Thailand currently. Sill, a lot of people in the US are also Mexican citizens or second generation immigrants. They'll not need to worry over immigration and visa requirements. And SSA operates three Federal Benefit Units in Mexico, compared to zero in Thailand.

Because they will be unable to meet Thai immigration's financial requirements. Too, if they are 70 or more in order to receive SSA benefits, it's simply going to be more difficult to get up and move to another country in their seventies than in their sixties. Now, you draw early SSA at age 62. Will the age for that go up?

And Americans think the same way.

Expatriation as we knew it in the twentieth century is close to dying off. Western arrivals will mostly consist of corporate nomads. I doubt digital nomads will still have a standing, as the locals will be able to handle things for themselves. That leaves retirees. Once the age for getting Social Security in the US goes to 70 or above in a few years, you can cross Americans off the list. Will Euros follow the same path? Already seems as if the British are being squeezed out of sufficient retirement money. BTW with Thailand's crashing birthrate (in another topic) it looks like the demand for English teachers is going to drop with it.

Where does he buy his underwear?

Wonder if she gave any aging tips to Yingluck.

watches.

My wife goes along as well. Her summation after this trip: they certainly are unfriendly. As I said, I prefer the all business approach. I raced through things faster than ever this time. Where having my wife along did come in handy, btw, was when I went downstairs to Bangkok Bank's passbook update machine. Somebody from the bank along with three technicians had closed them down. My wife got the man in charge to open things up long enough for the update. Saved me having to go in and wait who knows how long inside.

My TM6 is from 2016. It was practically disintegrating. Now I keep it in a plastic slip except for those days I go to immigration.

Yes, I included a copy of my 90 day receipt as well as the TM30. Both, like the TM6, were accepted without comment. As I said above, my immigration officer didn't say a word.

I went to Chaengwattana last week for my retirement extension. I included the TM6 and both the document check desk and the Counter L-35 officer took it. They said nothing about not needing it. BTW, the L-35 officer was all business. She didn't say a word the entire time I was there, just nodded at a couple of places for me to sign I had missed. Frankly, I think I like this attitude. I had an appointment, was let in 40 minutes ahead of time, and had my stamped passport in hand walking out the door 15 minutes before my scheduled appointment. Very efficient. The entire process took just 25 minutes.

Xi is becoming Mao 2.0. The good times for Thai tourism from China are not coming back. Travel outside of China for Chinese is becoming much more difficult and will become even more difficult in the future.

Both PTP and the military are already de facto Chinese/Russian allies.

Obviously, true.

The man couldn't go a day without aircon.

The man is a two-timer.

At this stage, does he care?