Unify

42 minutes ago, Guderian said:

I'd certainly agree with that, I've given up on mine altogether until the air quality improves and I'll stick to using the car, though I don't suppose the car's air con filter is much use at removing the PM2.5 particles, is it

I think there's probably some benefit from being surrounded by a car. It might take a while for the exhaust to work it's way in at a stop light.

You might be able to add some of the 3m filtrete sheets to the vents in your car, if it worries you. I added them to my AC until in Chiang Mai, and it brought down the AQI measurably, but not nearly as much as a dedicated air filter.

Here's what I've learned from looking at this issue over the past 3 years, and taking a meter to various places around the country.

The health risks of air pollution are not limited to lung cancer and emphysema. Air pollution also increases the risk of heart disease, stroke, and dementia. While there's an argument for just living life and not worrying too much, stroke and dementia would put a damper on that happy life. It makes sense to take reasonable precautions to prevent them.

You wouldn't notice some of these medical problems until it was too late. So, people saying "I don't have any problems, but it bothers some people", are clueless.

I lived in Chiang Mai for a year, and traveled extensively into the mountains up north. There is no area anywhere near CM with decent air during burning season.

In Chiang Mai, the air is not that good when it's not burning season. It's only decent immediately after a hard rain.

Don't trust anyone who says the air is good where they live, if they don't have a meter. And the meters in most of the air filters are not accurate.

In my condo in CM (modern construction, reasonably well sealed), I would run an air filter, turn it off and see how long it took the air quality to degrade. Within a couple of hours, the air quality would approach the level of pollution of the outside.

In other words, staying indoors offers limited protection.

Being on the coast or near the ocean is no guarantee of clean air. I was in Hua Hin in December of 2018 for a few days, and the aqi ranged between 100-160.

You have to be well south of Bangkok to have decent air most of the time. Krabi, Phuket, etc., suffer from occasional bouts of bad air (burning from nearby counties, I suspect), but in general the air quality is good to moderate.

A company called Woody Knows makes a 2.5 filter that goes in your nose and is much more comfortable than a face mask.

Riding on a motorcycle, in traffic is the worst, air wise. Protect yourself!

I am currently in Phuket, and don't worry about it much. If it starts to look hazy out, I check the readings from the nearby station. Today, it's about 80, so I run my air filter. Most days I don't think about it.

The equivalent of 20,000 baht in cash is required when entering, and you have to have it on you (they won't let you go to a bank machine). There chances of being asked for it are low, but it's a long flight back.

As others have stated, you might also be asked to show proof of onward travel.

To explain some of the terminology folks are using, as a Canadian citizen (I'm assuming), you can arrive at the airport with no visa and get in. It's called a visa exempt entry. It's not a visa. You don't have to apply. You can extend it at immigration, later.

There is a visa people from some countries (not Canada) can apply for when they arrive. It's called a visa on arrival, and it's a different thing. If say you will get a visa when you come, people will think you mean a visa on arrival. If you use the term 'visa exempt' people will understand you.

As stated previously, it's much better to get an international driver's permit before you come. If you have one, you won't need to get a license here for the length of time you're staying. The caveat is that you must have a Canadian motorcycle license to get an IDP that qualifies for motorcycles here.

I was down in HH December of last year, with a meter. It was, in fact, 161 on one of the days I was there. The few days I was there were quite bad, air quality wise. The beach was 140 one day.

From up on the hill (I forget the name of the place), you could easily see the haze. I was quite surprised as Hua Him is often touted as having fresh air.

1 hour ago, AsiaCheese said:

You may want to look here:

 

https://www.airvisual.com/air-quality-monitor

 

It's not exactly cheap, but it seems to me to be a serious/professional device. Moreover, you can link yours to a pretty large network of AirVisual devices all over the planet and contribute your locations values, which then can be seen by anyone using the free AirVisual app

I bought one, and accidentally dropped it out of a three-story building (I had set it on the window ledge to take a reading). It still worked for about a year after that.

4 hours ago, robblok said:

It is still a scam but I feel guys are also responsible. I mean if a girl so much younger and so pretty looking shows attention to someone who is a lot older and probably not that attractive then warning lights should turn on.

I know that when a pretty, younger woman takes an interest in me, it's because of my charm, intelligence, and good looks.

Stay away from Chiang Mai during the burning season.

Transferwise doesn't work the same way a wire transfer would. They have bank accounts all over the world. You transfer money into their account in your bank's home country (The UK, let's say). Transferwise then takes money out of their bank in Thailand, and sends it to your account in Thailand.

There is no transfer of funds across borders. The transfer would likely show up as a domestic transfer, for that reason, unless some special arrangement were made, or transferwise decided to code it that way.

21 minutes ago, royalmice said:

Do i need this insurance when i go renew my annual retirement visa next year April 2020

 

I guess by that time the law would have changed 20 times again about this

Do you have an O, or an OA? If O, no (at the current time). You get an OA on your home country, so if you got a visa in Thailand, you don't have an OA.

On 10/25/2019 at 7:48 PM, CGW said:

"mortal coil" I had never heard this term until two days ago when I got a mail telling me a former colleague had "shuffled of his mortal coil" I thought he had been taken to a "nut house" thinking now I may have got the meaning wrong! 

It's from Hamlet, the "To be, or not to be" bit.

. . . To sleep: perchance to dream: ay, there’s the rub;
For in that sleep of death what dreams may come
When we have shuffled off this mortal coil,
Must give us pause: there’s the respect
That makes calamity of so long life; . . .
 

You might have to do what's called 'bake the tape', which is a process used on old magnetic tape reels that have say around for years, without being rewound.

You can look it up, it's not difficult, but it needs to be done correctly. It involves an oven.

After that, it's a process of finding someone who has a compatible reel to reel player, and some simple audio gear.

Do you already know what is required for opening a business in general?

17 minutes ago, rumak said:

I live in the North of Thailand.  Much of the burning comes from the Thai side.  Other nearby countries are

also burning .  I really don't know where to move as seems everywhere in Thailand has air pollution.

Where do you think the cleanest air would be ?

Also.  are you and your friends starting a campaign to stop all this destruction that is ruining Thailand (and many other neighboring countries) ?

The cleanest air is generally south of Bangkok a bit. Not now, though.

In March, Phuket Town immigration had a sign out front with a dress code. I witnessed a couple of fellows with muscle shirts and shorts getting the boot and told to come back when dressed appropriately.

A few days ago, at Patong immigration, I was the only one there with long pants, and no one had a problem with all the wearers of shorts.

25 minutes ago, fhickson said:

did not know the income method was obsolete for usa citizens. very unfortunate. will need to make other plans.

It's obsolete in CM. Not necessarily in other places. 

I took a little trip to three of Phuket's West coast beaches the other day. On two out of the three, people were completely ignoring the red flag warnings.

2 hours ago, Falconator said:

 

Checking in every 90 days for half a day at most when the queue is long - that's a breeze compared to what Americans have to go though every new calendar year even when you multiply that by 4.

 

In the US, every new calendar year, we are faced with the extreme stress of having to deal with a whole bunch of confusing forms and paperwork, and we have to choke up hundreds of dollars to get all that done just to figure out how much we owe to the government. The IRS basically thinks that it's your responsibility to figure out what you owe them, but if you don't, they'll garnish your wages and could even put you in jail. Thais face far less stress doing their taxes.

 

In the US, we have to keep popping into the local DMV offices for all-day waits and deal with very rude staff.

 

Thais are efficient, believe me. Have you ever seen how India and the Philippines function? Thailand is pretty darn efficient compared to them.

 

As Americans living in Thailand, we still have to confront those confusing tax forms. I would be happy to trade that for Thai bureaucracy. But I don't get to. I have to add the Thai paperwork to the American.

America is, in general, much more consistent with the rules, than here in Thailand. The recent thread on the combo method for a retirement extension being denied in CM, is evidence of that.

53 minutes ago, LivinLOS said:

 

But these successful people and talented remote employees would rather spend days travelling round asia begging the latest short stay visa, waste large parts of thier working week in ED classes or self defense, instead of paying a small fee to be legal.. 

 

See how that doesnt add up ??? Successful people have a value on thier time, they dont tolerate the nonsense of constant border hops and lies to obtain visas. They pay for a service using something thier time generates for them in short order. 

Your assumptions that digital nomads all hop around Asia begging for short stay visas, or having to do constant border hops, or ED visas are incorrect.

7 hours ago, LivinLOS said:

You dont get to define what they want, if they wanted it, they would make a visa class for it. 

The recently revamped the smart visa (and didnt include online freelancers) they recently added the elite 5 years, and didnt include online freelancers, they recently introduced a higher wealth 10 year retirement, and didnt include online freelancers.. 

The fact they are making these changes, and not including online workers, shows clearly that they are not opening this up like nomads want them to. 

By this logic, the fact that they require some travelers to carry ฿20,000 into the country shows clearly that they don't want people with credit cards to enter the country.

My guess is that some of the higher ups don't really understand online workers, and others don't know what to do about it.

Let'sface it. If you are a sales rep on vacation, and your colleague from back home emails and asks where you left the TPS report, if you answer, you're technically breaking the law, right?

Or what if you're on the beach working on the TPS report? Responding to a customer inquiry?

Does anyone really think the laws are in place to prevent people from doing these kinds of things? I don't.

Add to this, there are many people openly operating YouTube channels, in Thailand. They're shooting video in Thailand, and talking about Thailand. Some of them have even interacted with the police about various matters. No one from immigration seems interested in this, as obvious as it is.

And there was the incident in Chiang Mai where a co-working space was raided. The people in the space were sitting, working on computers. Everyone was detained and then let go, saying it was a big misunderstanding.

At this point there seems to be no immigration interest in people who are doing online work. Does anyone have a single, verified account of someone being in trouble with immigration for being a digital nomad?

11 hours ago, sunnyboy2018 said:

Nomad = freeloader / tax dodger. Unemployed or unemployable in their own country. Give us a break. Why would anybody who is a skilled on line worker choose Thailand? Except for the girlie scene. Work at home. Build a pension and come here on holiday. To me DMs are just above the rung of begpackers.

I ran a (mostly) online business for many years in the US. Your post shows your lack of understanding.

Why would I tether myself to a particular location in the US, where it's expensive to live, healthcare costs are outrageous, and it's cold and rainy a good part of the year?

Why choose Thailand? The same reasons anybody else would choose Thailand. Warm weather, cheap living compared to the US, tasty food, friendly people, and a lot of things to do and see. And most importantly, less expenses mean I'm free to do with my time, as I please.

How am I freeloading or tax dodging? I pay taxes according to the law.