Lacessit

You may be right, as a parent I am grateful I have never had that problem or choice to make.

Putin has been a hero to the majority of Russians for many years, as a fairly tribal culture Russians have always respected strong leaders. So yes, they are partly responsible for the current mess. Granted, they are not responsible for Putin losing the plot.

I suggest you try telling that to the oligarchs, whose assets outside Russia are now frozen. The central bank, who can't support the ruble with forex transactions. The ruble is now worth less than one US cent. Foreign companies in Russia are stampeding for the exits, what's the point of making a profit if you can't move it? The official interest rate in Russia has been doubled to 20%. In Australia, it's 0.1%. If that doesn't tell you what damage sanctions are wreaking on the Russian economy, I give up.

The Thai government does not do a great job of assisting its own citizens, the age pension is 600 baht/month at age 60. 800 if they live to 80. What makes you think they will be more generous with foreigners?

Email is not the same as speaking to someone. As I have said before, my credit union transactions are routed through ANZ via a telegraphic transfer. So there does seem to be an anomaly between your limit of 10K, and my ability to transfer larger amounts through the SAME bank. Feel free to ask them why.

Have you contacted them by phone? I remember having a limit on my debit card increased that way.

IME common sense is not all that common, especially when dealing with any bureaucracy.

I am with Australian Unity, a credit union. I do remember one snippy woman asking what I wanted the money for. I explained it was for living expenses, and asked in turn what business it was of hers. Ironically, Australian Unity does the transfer through an ANZ branch. Go figure.

I guess I was lucky, I got out of a bad marriage, traveled, and finished up in Thailand with the cutest GF imaginable. That big word IF. I knew another guy in Australia who has done very well, has a good wife. Unfortunately, his two sons are both drug addicts who will steal anything that is not nailed down to feed their habit, and are headed for a dumpster unless they can get straight. He has spent a fortune on rehab, none of it has taken.

I accumulate my Australian pension in a bank account there, usually make transfers of $20K - $30K when I think the exchange rate is acceptable. The state of your girlfriend's pants is an interesting analogy; however, I would point out you are leading with your chin.

I was not trying to be discourteous; however, your post did imply the 183 day rule was the sine qua non of ATO residency rules. I'm not sure it is. As I said, a grey area. My policy is I am not going to say anything if they don't say anything to me. I suspect they have bigger fish to fry than pensioners. Thanks for the case link, cheers.

It's not necessarily unintelligent people who reject travel. When I was a trainee chemist, I worked with another trainee I'll call JW. It was obvious he was going to rise in the corporate world, smart and a driving personality. His ambitions were to marry his childhood sweetheart, have six kids, and barrack for his beloved Essendon football team for the rest of his life. When I expressed the desire to travel and see the world, he called me a fool. When JW got married while still a trainee, his wife certainly gave him a head start on the kids, presenting him with twins. Staunch Roman Catholics. I've traveled the world with my own money and on the company dime. I've seen many interesting cultures, eaten the local food, and talked with the locals as best I can. I've seen abject poverty and obscene affluence. I've tried to absorb the history of each place I have been. I feel enriched by those experiences. I occasionally wonder what happened to JW, and if he stuck to his guns about staying put. If he did, I feel a bit sorry for him, irrespective of what he achieved in life.

I am wondering about the availability of legal medications in Laos. If the hospital system is poor, perhaps medical supplies are poor too. Laos would not interest me unless I decided on a life of celibacy, hooking up with women sounds too difficult. OTOH, in Thailand it is all too easy.

Know any lawyers? I'm pretty sure there's a lot of people who got dudded just like me. It's not the first time, either. When the Bangkok floods were in full swing about a decade ago, I was offered a $200 travel voucher to compensate me for the inconvenience of a flight change. When I presented it, I was informed it was reduced to $100, presumably by some four-eyed bean counter in an office fortress. <deleted> thieves.

I have an expired travel voucher for $840 with them after they cancelled my flight in August 2020 due to COVID. I have kept every exchange of correspondence with them, which will be attached to the complaint I make to the ACCC. No other way to put it, Jetstar are thieves committing business fraud with many customers. I'll never be flying with them again.

The oligarchs are seeing their ruble wealth trashed, and their funds outside Russia frozen. In their shoes, I'd be thinking assassination. Putin opened that door himself by tasking 400 special forces to kill Zelensky.

Russia doubles interest rates as rouble hits record low Interest rate is now 20%. Source: ABC News Australia.

This information is misleading, there is more than one test for residency status in Australia. https://www.ato.gov.au/Individuals/coming-to-australia-or-going-overseas/Your-tax-residency/#Residencytests I still have a domicile in Australia, as I have a financial interest in the house my son owns, and that is my address as far as the ATO is concerned. I will continue to claim Australian residency until the ATO tells me otherwise. It is not up to me to hang myself with whatever rope the ATO has prepared. The other option is to stop putting in the yearly tax return. I know a guy on a full Australian OAP here who has not put in a tax return for the ten years he has been here. His pension has not been taxed at the 32% rate you mention. It seems to be a grey area, my advice would be don't poke the bear.

As I have no further interest in Western women, I would not care whether they were nice to me. Women world-wide want support, it is hardwired into them. The trick for men is to stay in control of the purse strings. It's a double standard, Western women are all for equality until they resort to the legal system to get what they want, but have not earned.

The Russian Central Bank has been interdicted by Western sanctions. It can't sell gold or forex through legal channels to prop up the ruble, Maintaining the stability of a country's currency is the role of all central banks, and they are normally sacrosanct in the world financial system. Blocking one of them out is unprecedented. I expect the ruble to fall further, wars cost money.

My son would give me a place to stay if I went back to Australia, which is increasingly unlikely. I sold my house because it was a major PITA in terms of maintenance and costs. It freed up enough capital to enable me to live in Thailand very comfortably. In the very unlikely event my Thai GF and I were to split, she would have a house which she is welcome to keep. Her income would stop. I suppose that keeps her motivated. I still keep 70% of my assets in Australia, the 30% I have here is mostly cash. I don't "own" property here either, why would I do that in a country where I can be kicked out on a whim? Thai family law is much more sensible and equitable than Australian family law, which is so heavily biased towards women I wonder why any men there still maintain a relationship beyond one year. In hindsight, I would not have.

Models are based on assumptions, sometimes from fact, sometimes not. I'm a model sceptic, it only takes one assumption to be incorrect, and the whole model collapses like a house of cards. Prove me wrong, show me in the history of modelling there are more accurate models than inaccurate ones.

I did read one headline that claimed Putin had tasked 400 special forces soldiers to assassinate the Ukrainian PM. I'd say returning the favor would be quite in order. I remember the British dented German morale quite badly when they bombed Berlin, trashing Goering's boast it would never happen. Perhaps the Ukrainians should start thinking along those lines, remember when Mathias Rust landed in Red Square?

That's a statistical sample of one, I would need a bigger sample size. Only time will tell if BTC is a Ponzi or not. It took the American SEC over 40 years to catch up with Madoff. Saying older people are wrong because they reject a form of "investment" they don't understand is wrong in itself. What is your evidence cryptocurrencies are NOT a scam?

Not strange at all. I understood it, and I'm an old fart.