Lacessit

I hear them talking in Thai. There's one bird that says "Por Lao" ( Enough already) . The big lizards at night are not as polite, they call out "<deleted> you".

I think it is pretty well known Trump is in Putin's pocket, I wasn't aware Cruz was cut from the same cloth. Just imagine what would have happened if Trump had got a second term, he'd probably be cheering Putin on in Ukraine, and refusing any support for the Ukrainians and NATO. What a narrow escape the world has had.

Whatever works, exactly. When I was living in Chiang Mai, and my GF was in her village, she would stay with me for a week, we would be apart for a week. When I went back to Australia, it would be a month. If needed, either of us are a 30 minutes drive away. I've been in a couple of long-term relationships where we were together 24/7, both ended disastrously. I actually think being apart at intervals refreshes the relationship.

Does miss the point if you take away the guns from the good guys and the bad guys, leaving them only in the hands of law enforcement and criminals, there is a statistically significant reduction in the number of gun-related homicides and suicides. That's the way it has panned out in civilized countries, where gun ownership is a privilege, not a right.

I'm not sure what's dysfunctional about both of us having preferences for where we live. She likes gardening at the house, playing cards with the neighbors. I like swimming at the condo pool, and being close to a golf course where I am a member. It's always entertaining to find yet another poster who enjoys jumping to conclusions about other people on the flimsiest fact base, thanks for stopping by.

Please quote my entire post, as you are taking my post out of context. I agree you are talking about the current situation. I am saying the proposed change, if implemented, will reduce the criteria to just one - the 183 day rule.

IMO they are popular because everyone can pick and choose whether to participate or simply observe. They are also popular because anyone can get informed advice on a range of issues to do with living in Thailand. It's difficult to disengage from boors and idiots in person, here it is easy.

AFAIK it's not a new bill at present, it's a recommendation from some committee to simplify determination of tax residency status. As I understand it, if you are in Australia for less than 183 days in a year, you are no longer a tax resident there.

You've been in Thailand all this time, and you STILL have not learned a Thai will usually tell you what he/she thinks you want to hear?

Your experience is different to mine. I made the declaration I was an Australian tax resident about a month ago. My credit union responded as a seemed to be spending a lot of time in Thailand, how I justified that. In my response, I said: I do not own any property in Thailand, and have no source of income here. I have an Australian residential address, and a financial interest in that address. I have an OAP, and income-producing assets in Australia. Those answers appear to have satisfied them, although if the 183 day rule becomes the only one, all bets are off. Whether they are envisaging shutting the account down is a different question.

I really question the need for hunters and target shooters to have semi-automatic weapons, they have no precision, it's just a spray of bullets. Very effective at killing people, useless in a hunting situation unless one enjoys spitting out bullets with every mouthful. I have been out at night in Australia with professional shooters, it was an education watching them harvest 100 - 200 feral pests, all head-shot, in about 8 hours of spotlighting. All they needed was a bolt-action rifle with a 5-shot magazine. They would regard semi-automatics as too expensive in terms of ammunition cost, and the users as butchers. So do I.

Quite correct, and irrelevant. These guys are killing each other using illegal firearms, which are not the semi-automatics favored by mass shooters in the US, and certainly not freely available at a gun shop to any 18 yo. Help me out here, please point me towards an armed invasion and mass shooting in any Australian school. Hint: You'll have to go back quite a few decades.

I have 800K in a Bangkok Bank account in Chiang Mai. Twice now, I have done my retirement extension at Chiang Rai Immigration, using a letter I got from the Bangkok Bank branch in Chiang Rai. I trust that answers your question.

Here you go, knock yourself out, stud muffin.

Quite possible. I am not Thai. However, I have very little of the problems mentioned in the OP. I pay my PEA bills at 7/11. I only shop online for items where I can afford to kiss the money goodbye if the goods turn out to be a dud. I have trusted mechanics for my car and scooter, and I only buy food at restaurants and in the markets from suppliers who I know are reliable. Anyone who gives me bad service or bad goods only gets one chance at it. Perhaps you need to think about doing things differently. BTW, congratulations on your command of English. I wish my Thai was as good.

I've always thought if one chopped off the hands of Italians, they'd be at a loss for words.

As the OP has said he has no income or assets in Australia, as far as tax goes there is nothing to tax. Or report. It's just the bank doing its thing in respect of money laundering regulations, one size fits all.

Zany? How about this, the latest container for iced tea?

I was brought up in an era where there was no "try before you buy", unfortunately. Also an era where divorce was frowned upon. Ah, if I had known then what I know now.

Australia. Be aware there is a proposed change that will result in only one criteria being applied, that of 183 days actually in Australia out of the year. Not sure if that's the calendar year,or the financial year.

Already there, have the weekdays in the condo, go to my GF's house in the village over the weekend.

Four wives? What did you do with the first three, wear them out?

I've had Sinovac, AZ, and Pfizer. I've also had COVID. IMO that's enough, my next jab will be similar to a flu jab, one year down the track. IMO people ignore the aspects of physical fitness and diet, especially when one is older. If one is a couch potato stuffing themselves with junk food, they are not helping their immune systems to resist COVID, irrespective of how many vaccines they have.

Testosterone is overrated.

79/55. We've slowed down a fair bit from when I first met her.