Mike Teavee

Too true, but I am trying to mellow with old age ???? I feel your pain retiring just before the Global Financial crisis (2007/2008)... 1st time I retired (40) was in 2006 & I was lucky to get back into work (IT for Global Banks) just before the banks stopped hiring, the 2nd time (48) I was lucky to get back into work before Brexit & (again) the banks stopped hiring, 3rd (& final) time December 2019 just before Covid hit... Not the best 1st year of retirement as all of my dividend income for the 1st year were cancelled or cut... Some <deleted> just didn't want me to retire!

But I did post (as did you) so I guess that means I'm (we're) not poor... & just because I'm posting doesn't mean I'm not making money (Passive Income). TBH I think a lot of people focus solely on the financial side of retirement (which is obviously critical) & not what they'll do with their lives when they retire... First time I tried retirement (40), I was climbing the walls after 3 weeks so went back to work & focused on. building a life outside of work (Which for me was to travel, so I got a job in Singapore).

I guess most foreigners are rich compared to the average Thai. Can I ask which age bracket you fall into? Don't mean to be rude but I think if you're on the younger/older ends of the scale your "Net Worth" is probably less important than if you're in one of the middle age groups. By this I mean if you're young & still working then you're (obviously) still earning a salary & if you're old then you're probably getting a regular income from pension(s) but if you're in the middle (like me) & not working then you're likely to be living off of your assets. I retired at 53 (56 now so still a few years until I get my pension) & wouldn't have even considered doing so if I didn't think I had enough disposable assets to live comfortably on... But even now I'm still not sure I have enough. if they made this movie in Thailand I think it would be renamed to No country for poor men...

And all of that is very easy to say if you have money, if you don't then Philosophy (as much as I love it) is going to be a long way down your list of priorities. To put it simply.... Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs

The fact that it is an awkward turn which cannot be taken at speed should have given her more opportunity to see the guy in the road however it does look like he would be on her blind side as she's making the turn & if you watch the video you can see that the barrier is down when she starts to turn in & then raised (guessing by a Security Guard as she is nowhere near an automatic sensor) which presumably made her think it was OK to proceed straight ahead. https://thepattayanews.com/2023/01/12/australian-woman-runs-over-and-kills-street-painter-in-pattaya/ Tragic Accident...

Paternity tests can be done at around 8 weeks pregnant... https://www.healthline.com/health/pregnancy/paternity-testing-while-pregnant#Paternity-testing:-What-are-my-options?

Did a quick check for J Class BKK-MAN in May and the prices seem to be 20-25% lower on Qatar than I've seen recently (Which were 50% higher than I'm used to paying but a move in the right direction). I normally use ITASoftware / Google Flights but Momondo https://www.momondo.com/ seem to have the best prices for the dates I'm looking for...

Thanks... This is genuinely the only income I earn in Thailand as I'm too young to get a pension (3 years & 3.5 weeks until I hit 60 & can start getting my company pension... sometimes feel like I'm wishing my life away waiting for it!) & whilst I do get rental/dividend income in the UK it is all subject to tax (& reported on my annual tax return) there + I never bring into Thailand anything that was earned in the same calendar year.

I have Bangkok Bank Savings & Fixed Deposit accounts, registered my TIN against both, no tax withheld against the Savings account, but it was withheld against the Fixed Deposit so I guess I still need to go in to the Tax Office to file a tax refund claim ????... I believe I can also claim last year's tax (when I didn't have a TIN) back so will do so as compensation for the unnecessary hassle they're causing me by withholding tax on the Fixed Deposit account.

Try https://12ft.io/

29 years ago, my GP burnt my bridges for me whilst I was still living in the UK as he had only seen me 3 times in 27 years, the last one of those >5 years prior, & they were removing patients off of their list who hadn't been in to see them for a long time... I never bothered getting a new one which is something I may well come to regret in later years but at that age you just don't think about it (Especially when you're paying additional, "Benefits in Kind" tax to have Private Health Insurance).

Just started on Netflix... Madoff: Monster of Wall Street https://www.imdb.com/title/tt23732458/ Have also been watching lots of YouTube videos about Crypto Scams, lmao at the "Elon Goat" ("Greatest Of All Time") coin whos creator's built a $600,000 model rocket, put a statue of a Goat with Elon Musk's head on it's back, then drove it to the Tesla plant in Texas in the hope that Elon himself will come out to collect it & in the surrounding hype make themselves a fortune. https://edition.cnn.com/videos/business/2022/12/02/elon-goat-token-statue-elon-musk-cprog-orig-ht.cnn-business

Thanks for all the recommendation guys, one of the things that I should have mentioned is I also need the Dentist to do Invisalign as I want them to check if I'll need a new retainer with the new veneer (I'm concerned that it won't be exactly the same shape/size as the old one). Appreciate that most if not all of the Dentists recommended will do Invisalign but none* seem to mention it on their Websites so after searching for recommended Invisalign Dentists in Pattaya I've ended up going with https://orthosmiledental.com/ on North Pattaya Road. Prices seem to be the same as most of the Dentists (exception being Hollywood Smile who were 2K cheaper) but after spending 180K on Invisalign treatment (alone) 3 years back I thought it best to play it safe & go with a recommended provider. * @rvaviator recommendation of The Dental Design Center do promote Invisalign & were the other Dentist that I was considering, as it is, I hadn't seen his recommendation in time & Ortho Smile are in a more convenient location for me (I live in Wongamat) so they just edged it. Thanks again for all recommendations

Seconded... great service & highly recommended.

I live (With my long term partner) in Wongamat which is considered to be part of Pattaya... If you can tell me a better place to live in Thailand, then I'm all ears... People who don't live in Pattaya think the whole city is like Soi 6 / Walking Street & all of the "Farangs" here are Mongers, but the reality is most of us expats live on the outskirts & live a pretty normal day-2-day life with little to no exposure to that side of things. Seriously, I'm very interested to hear where you live that is so much better than where I choose to.

Broken Veneer isn't the best start to the New Year ???? & whilst my Dentist (S Clinic) in Bangkok is awesome, I really don't fancy having to traipse over there 3-4 times over the next few weeks to get a new one so was hoping somebody could recommend a good dentist in Pattaya... Or at least tell me why I shouldn't just go to see Dr Cherry at Dentist @the Beach, Central Festival. Not too concerned about them being the cheapest, just want them to do a good job & maybe I could stop having to go to Bangkok for check-ups / cleaning etc... TIA MTV

As they say... "Up to You"... 2 of my mates also tell me they'll never use an agent but spend >150b on cigarettes... Guess what, I'll never pay for cigarettes (Did that for 20 years, 22 years ago). I simply pay for convenience, so let me ask... If it cost nothing, but meant they completed all the paperwork, made sure it was all in order & went to Immigration for you, would you still do it all yourself? If it cost 100b but they completed all the paperwork, made sure it was all in order & went to Immigration for you, would you still do it all yourself? If it cost 1Million baht but they completed all the paperwork, made sure it was all in order & went to Immigration for you, would you still do it all yourself? None of us would do it if it cost 1Million baht but I'm comfortable at the 8,000b level, clearly you're not, doesn't make either of us Right or Wrong

Apologies if this breaks the rules (Mods please delete if it does) but when visiting my mate for Xmas we got into a debate about things & he recommended a couple of documentaries that I can't get on my Android Box so would appreciate any tips for streaming sites/apps... The Real Anthony Fauci Died Suddenly Don't want to debate the relative merits of either documentary, just would appreciate a recommendation for (ideally) an Android App that has it or a site where I can stream it (I watch on a ChromeBook so Downloading isn't really an option) TIA

Have just watched what I'm assuming is the last Episode (Episode 6) of Season 2 & it ends with a trailer for a new storyline... Looking forward to it already

Because it's the right thing to do? Besides, didn't you say India is an ally of US so why wouldn't they? 5:15am is a bit early to start engaging in geo-political debates so I'll leave it here.

China's sanctions have nothing to do with them buying Russian oil & clearly India isn't an ally when it comes to the Russia/Ukraine war. Have either China or India even come out & condemned Russia's actions yet?

Am sure India & China will lap up as much “Cheap” Oil as Russia can produce. Maybe time to start hitting these with some sanctions for taking advantage of Western Nations not buying Russian Oil… Effectively they are supporting the Russian war effort.

Thanks, I had it in my head that London wouldn't issue a Non-Imm O unless you were off State Pension age & when I did a quick check on the eVisa site it seemed to suggest the Non-IMM O's were for visiting family/marriage etc... No mention of Retirement/being over 50 but clearly it's possible. I ended up getting mine in Penang (I was working in Singapore at the time) & actually got the 1 Year Non-IMM O (Retirement) Multi-Entry visa as the agency I used saw that I was in & out of Thailand for weekend breaks every couple of weeks so just got the Multi-Entry.

Have things changed at the London Embassy then as I thought you had to be in receipt of State Pension to get the 90 day Non-IMM O visa (on the basis of being over 50) there but could get the 1 year multi-entry Non-IMM OA visa if you were over 50 and met the requirements? If you do want to get the 90 Day Non-IMM O (And this is the easier of the 2 when it comes to extending) the easiest way to arrive in Thailand on a Visa Exempt and convert over to it. most people use an agent to assist with the process, costs approx. 25K but you'll get the 90 day Visa + 1 year's extension so will be set for 15 months).

You should be able to check your "Permission to Stay until Date" on the Immigration Mobile App (Search for IMM EServices on your App/Play store). At least that way you'll know whether she's done your extension or not.