Lacessit

Sir bought a used one here, which was a massive financial mistake. I thought by spending on restoration I could return it to its former glory. I can't say if I bought it for cachet, more so I could go fast in it on wide highways. It did stick to the road like glue, and felt very solid. IMO buying a new Benz here would have been an even bigger mistake, due to the huge tariffs levied, and the fact the brand has deteriorated in reliability. The Japanese and Korean makes have the Germans whipped in that attribute. I am still driving a 16 yo Toyota Vios, which has been driven all over northern Thailand, has never let me down, and is still going strong. I bought it before the Benz. My mechanic loves it because it is simple to work on, and what he charges is a pittance compared to what I had to shell out for the Benz. In addition, he does a lot better job of maintaining it than the Benz dealership I went to ever did. Call it an old man's toy/folly.

Wanted a refund from Air Asia about ten years ago, IIRC 2000 baht. Never got it, so I never flew with them again. Pre Covid, I was flying back to Melbourne business class every six months. Airfare one way 16,000 - 20,000. I was also using them for the Bangkok-Chiang Mai leg when I came back. I figure their decision to avoid making the refund lost them at least 150,000 baht in airfares that went to a competitor. Cheat your customers, and it won't be long before you have none, no matter how many glitzy advertising campaigns you run.

I owned a Benz here a few years ago. After breaking down in traffic twice, and having to be towed, I got shot of it. Bloody thing was a money pit. I suppose there are people that think owning a Benz or a Beemer is a kind of cachet for their success in life. TBH, owning a modern Japanese or Korean car is much less stressful on the wallet in terms of maintenance. IMO the engineering is just as good, and they are much better value for money in terms of capital outlay. Last time I looked a couple of years ago, the Kia Stinger was about AUD 20K less than the corresponding Mercedes 200 SLK,and the turbo delivered 30% more power. I don't know what the situation is in Thailand, but in Australia, when it comes to problems under warranty, Mercedes has acquired the reputation of throwing its customers under a bus. The only reason I can think of for owning one of the Germans is masochism.

IIRC, while there were riots, water cannon and shootings in Bangkok a year or so ago, the only form of protest I saw in Chiang Rai were convoys of vehicles all honking their horns at about 5 pm.

Buy a helmet with adjustable strapping.

Fair enough, I'm just recounting my experiences. Have you had him neutered? IME, male dogs will travel from miles around if there is a bitch on heat.

Unfortunately, soi dogs are not a good emotional investment. They can be run over by vehicles, killed by other dogs in a pack, or get infected with STD's that are passed around freely. I've had two, I've given up. One disappeared, the other had to be euthanased after acquiring an STD that morphed into cancer. Dogs are social animals. Keeping them from other dogs is virtually impossible, ours was jumping six foot fences. And I'm not into chaining them up 24/7. Sorry for your loss, but it is what it is.

IIRC, last extension about 30 minutes at CR. I was 10 days late with my last 90 day report. All ready to pay the 2000 baht fine, was never mentioned. You wouldn't want to move here though. Not all that many young bar/massage girls. Most in their forties.

I was using an agent at CM Immigration years ago, until I figured out all it did was save me some waiting time, as I still had to assemble all the paperwork for the agent. It was general knowledge the wife of the agent was related to one of the more senior immigration officers. One time, I had a choice of paying 1000 baht for a residence certificate, and getting it the next day, or getting it free with a wait of one month. If that's not corruption, I don't know what it is. I paid the 1000 baht. I can remember one white-haired IO at CM whose treatment of people was so rude I was surprised nobody fronted up to the counter with a machete or gun. I only had to deal with him once, fortunately. When Big Joke "cleaned up" CM Immigration, the change I noted was wait times were longer, even for people using agents. 25 minutes became 2 hours for me, which was when I decided to go it alone. My wait time after was 3 hours, which made my time worth 2500 baht/hour in terms of the money I saved on the agent. I must say dealing with Chiang Rai Immigration in the two years I have been here has been a breeze in comparison. As long as one has the paperwork correct, in and out very quickly. Of course, they have far fewer people to deal with than in CM.

Trivomimobiles? Upchuckarts?

Find out what her expectations are in terms of support for her and the child. See a lawyer.

My experience in Australia with my friends is the men envy me, and their wives fear and hate me. I'm not surprised by the US attitude, many Americans think kangaroos are hopping down the streets in our capital cities.

Quite true. I'm going on past experience. I've lost money on shares and property investment. Made some as well. Over the past 40 years, I have yet to lose money on precious metals.

I'm not a high-end user, a PC loaded with a Linux OS is all I need. I jettisoned the Microsoft abortions almost a decade ago. To me, the Mac mystique seems to be centred around computers as a fashion statement. And fashions change.

Pedestrian crossings with traffic lights are SOMETIMES obeyed by traffic. If the crossing has no lights, I don't know why they bother spending money on paint and signs.

The only thing propping up the USD is its status as a reserve currency. I suspect other nations are going to tire of financing US debt, which is now in the trillions, and the pandemic is not helping. China and India are importers of gold, as well as being quite substantial miners of it within their borders. They are hoarding gold for a reason.

Only have one income producing stock now, almost entirely out of the sharemarket. Only about 5% of my assets there now. I've shifted quite substantially into gold and silver. I figure if governments want to debase their currencies by piling up debt, I am not coming along for the ride. The rest of my funds are in peer-to-peer lending, earning income. I have a pension, trying to stay capital stable. The pandemic has actually helped me. Crypto? Rule number one in investing is never put your money into something you don't understand. I don't understand how a stream of electrons that can be stolen by North Koreans or knocked into a loop by an EMP can have any intrinsic value. It's a belief system.

I had multiple good reasons to be in Thailand, which still apply.

I lived in Chiang Mai for 10 years, before moving to Chiang Rai early 2020. I now prefer it to CM, which I visit occasionally. More laidback, the traffic is a lot easier to negotiate. Cold is relative. I enjoy snuggling under a doona with my GF in the winter months. It's nothing like Melbourne, where the windchill can drop a 12 degree day down to 3 degrees. Some people are beach-oriented, I prefer countryside. I could not live in Bangkok, too polluted, noisy, crowded, expensive.......

IMO it is impossible to reconcile vaccinated and wilfully unvaccinated. It is exactly the same as the topic of global warming/climate change, a matter of scientific fact against belief. Changing belief is a Sisyphean undertaking. 50% of Americans still believe in angels, and 1.4 billion Muslims believe their religion supersedes all others that preceded it. Anti-vaxxers are very lucky coronavirus has a low death rate. They seem to be oblivious to the danger of long COVID, which affects the unvaccinated disproportionately. It would be interesting to see what would happen to beliefs if a variant with a 40% death rate stopped by.

English is a language of combined consonants, most Thais have difficulty with it, as theirs is a language of complex vowels. My favorite example was when we were in the car, and my GF said she wanted to go Wat Ching. Wat Ching? Where the hell is that? Took about 5 minutes for me to work out she wanted to get back to the house, so she could do the washing.

IMO the only really accurate way to measure BP is with a sphygmomanometer. The machines are only as good their last calibration, or not even that. I can remember going to RAM Hospital in Chiang Mai for some dental work. On my first visit, I was checked with one of the portable machines, 170/100. I knew from my own recently calibrated machine I was about 110/60. When I looked at the back of the RAM machine, the most recent calibration sticker was 5 years old.

It's a grey area. Defacto relationships are registered by Centrelink in Australia. They are not recognised under Thai law. It's an anomaly, because if I was married to an Australian citizen and we lived in Thailand, we would both get the couples' pension or part pension, depending on asset level. A foreigner gets nothing, but Centrelink still cuts the single pension because they can. I've never asked about the defacto situation, and I don't intend to.

Noted. As my GF prays to Buddha for a long life for me, I'm not concerned. The other factor is her steady monthly allowance, and I pay regular bills such as power and internet. She would be living off the capital I leave her when I die, so it is in her interest to keep me alive for as long as possible. "The punters know that the horse named Morality rarely gets past the post, whereas the nag named Self-interest always runs a good race" ( Gough Whitlam )

I am not married to my GF. She proposed to me quite some years ago. Under Australian Centrelink's cockeyed rules, if we got married, I would lose about 10,000 baht per month in pension income. If I did not report the marriage, and they found out, they would be able to give me a world of pain. I explained this to her at the time, and she is on board with it. She will be well taken care of when I die, that's enough.