John Drake

The cost for medical procedures is paid upfront. No money, no procedure. Otherwise, when I've been checked out of the hospital here I am always put in a wheelchair and accompanied by one or two big beefy orderlies to they payment desk. Retirees in Thailand pay one way or another. They don't skip out on what they can't get unless they pay first. It is the young tourists who come here and dive off balconies, run their scooters into utility poles, and get hit up on motorcycles wearing no protective gear and then don't pay. Or sit in a hospital bill waiting for GoFundMe accounts to get them back home.

Chuwit is almost always correct. Most trustworthy news source in Thailand.

PTP has always maintained connections with the establishment. I remember the Red Shirt demonstration on Aksa Road back in 2014. I had to drive through them on the service road every day going back and forth to work. Much of the support infrastructure, such as portable toilets, tents, and trailers were marked (in English) as belonging to the Royal Thai Air Force. Who do people suppose arranged that?

Question: Would the people currently grandfathered in to the present system also be grandfathered into any new one. If so, how do they justify grandfathering one group and not another? Proposed alternative: why not raise the age of the retirement extensions to match the age of retirement in Thailand?

If Immigration is going to require us to deposit 1.2 or 1.6 million baht, shouldn't the law also require banks to insure deposits for that amount. Aren't deposits only insured to 800,000 currently?

One thing to factor in is when the 800K was deposited. I put mine in 8 years ago. Some have had it in their accounts for an even longer time. That's pre-inflation dollars converted to Tbaht.

Well, you asked. The point is that once inside the US border, any Thai would be home free. Nobody is going to deport him, nobody is going to stop him from working, and he'll probably be eligible for benefits in some states (such as free medical care), which will also give him sanctuary status. Those of us in Thailand, OTOH, who are on retirement extensions receive no benefits other than the privilege to reside here. I'm not complaining about it either. I just want Thai immigration to stick to their extension requirements as is. Grandfathering things in is fine. But even there they should give a one year's notice for new deposit requirements.

Well, he can just walk across the border and claim asylum (actually doesn't need to cross the border because the government runs busses into Mexico to pick up asylee applicants). They'll be given more in cash than I get in social security, a work permit, housing benefits, training benefits, and a court appointment to hear their case sometime in the next 15 years. Can I do this in Thailand?

I'm aware that there is controversy about the mask statement. But one thing is clear, when there was a choice between China and the US during Covid and the vaccine use, Anutin and the government met the Chinese plane on the airport tarmac with a red carpet (I used to have photos but I have long deleted them), the US vaccines arrived in the middle of the night and were met by a guy on a forklift. Anutin likes China. I haven't seen any heartwarming words by him for Westerners. If you can prove me wrong, please do, it would make me rest easier about his attitude towards immigration "reform."

Yes, through family reunification. Entire third world villages have been relocated to the US through US immigration's family reunification policy, which is given priority by immigration.

How receptive will the new government be to making extensions costlier and more difficult? Anutin hates Westerners Thaksin doesn't like them either. As I said several weeks ago, some things were better with go along, get along Prayuth.

What benefits do Thai retirees on a permanent green card get in the US? What benefits do US retirees on a one year extension get in thailand?

I believe you received every emoji possible. First time I've seen that.

Or Srettha is about to stab Thaksin in the back.

52 baht is what I paid, too. In fact, I mailed mine twice. Both times, 52 baht at two different post offices.

What the heck does that mean?

Hong Kong (Beijing) approved meeting.

If they're all so elite and everything, why don't they go for the Thailand Elite Visa, especially since they're so rich?

That's not a Ruski. That's Jeff Bezos.

Don't see anything about refunds, just apologies.

Together, PTP and MFP can call the tune. Chicken out and they'll both end up broken and ineffective. Intransigence should be their strategy. Anutin has said he will not be part of a minority government. Let's see if that holds true. If so, the opposition would end up even more rickety and vulnerable than it already appears to be.

The dominoes all fell. Southeast Asia, except Malaysia, is part of the Communist Chinese Bloc, which includes China's ally, Russia.

Musk has a bigger vision than most. He wants to turn the Twitter platform into a Free World version of WeChat. It's not something I would want to use, just like I don't want a Tesla. But Musk is willing to roll the dice on big financial bets. They usually pay off, or he wouldn't be the world's richest man. Twitter as a brand was too constricting for what Musk has in mind. And in this day and age, brands don't mean as much as they once did. Otherwise, we'd all still be shopping at Sears, K-Mart, Toys R Us, and Blockbuster, while using a Compaq computer.

It's a nice afternoon here in Bangkok. About 33 degrees, a few clouds, and a nice breeze. Some of you old guys need to step outside, maybe sit in wicker chair on a veranda, sip some ice tea, and enjoy life, instead of dropping into constant paranoia about the weather.

A relatively large portion, it seems, are criminal gangs, human traffickers, and people flouting Thailand's work laws.