3STTW

I have been in this situation and if it weren't for the defamation laws in TH, I could go into intricate detail about my dealings with UPS. So, without the profanities, UPS Thailand isn't UPS - they're a local handling agent. If you complain via their US headquarters, all your correspondence will be routed to UPS TH, so you end up at square one. In my case, I went to the receiving port customs office and registered myself as a temporary importer - all you need is the AWB along with your passport, proof of address, visa, as you would with any immigration dealings. The paperwork and so on took about 40 mins and I had to pay a fee at the cashiers desk. Once I had the paperwork, I scanned it and sent it to UPS TH and the shipment arrived a couple of days later. What confounds me is the fact that this was documentation. It may be that the customs have opened it and seen values in excess of $2,500 and deemed it to be a financial instrument - i.e. of value to the recipient and perhaps an attempt at nefarious naughtiness. The fees that you are being quoted seem to be vexatious and I would get your lawyer to contest them. In short, I will pay significant amounts of extra cash to avoid my imports getting into their hands. Their competitors in TH are bound by the same rules, but they are way more responsive and helpful.

I while ago I got interested in manufacturing LiFePo batteries for renewable storage, I got in touch with a distributor in CH and they quoted me prices for 3.2V cells and I was shocked how cheap they were. I'm talking about cells made by BYD, EVO, etc. Obviously I ended up on their mailing list, so now I get almost weekly sales alerts - and it's almost as if they can't get rid of them fast enough. For a couple of reasons at the time I gave up on the idea, now it seems like a real possibility.

I bought a Coleman Xtreme 5 66L from the Suzuki place at the marina. Awesome, keeps beers cold for a week outdoors. IIRC, I paid about Bht5k.

I would contact www.thaicarpenter.com or www.siamwoodworker.com and ask them for local contacts. They may be able to turn the spindles themselves. There are many DIY woodworkers in TH - but not many of them subscribe to this forum.

Internalising markets, whether in a sole country or a cartel, has been proven, many times, to be a disaster. Thanks to this policy, the EU is so far behind in terms of economic flexibility, energy production and technology, it can no longer catch up. The EU model was predicated on a "United States of Europe", in spite of the introduction of the Euro, the bloc has failed to introduce a common taxation framework and establish a bank of last resort. The ECB is basically a dead flogged horse that has no power to exert the fiscal controls necessary to moderate the EU's diverse economic structure. And that structure is literally falling apart, on the news, every day. Since Brexit, the UK economy has diversified and expanded into numerous global markets. The banking industry is regretting their move to Paris and Frankfurt and are moving back to London, there's British seafood products on sale in Japan at $100/kg and the "beleaguered" car industry is doing just fine. And so on. The only thing that will scupper this success is the Labour government and the incoherent net-zero ideology of the fu*kwit Ed Milliband. With UK energy prices approaching 4x it's neighbours, that genius has just denied the UK any chance of leveling the playing field by cancelling the UK's only energy safety net. With a net global emissions reduction of about 0.001%. Stupid c**t.

Back when I were a lad (groan), you could get an Interail ticket and travel free around Europe for a month for ~110 quid. I did it four times from age 15 - 18 and I leaned more in those 4 months than my entire school career. Travel broadens the mind isn't just a cliché. And this all happened before the Treaties for Maastricht, Lisbon, open borders and the introduction of the Euro. The EEC was just a price fixing coal and steel cartel. In terms of mobility, my youth was diametrically opposite to the youth of today who have suffered years in lockdown, resulting in a generation of meek, fragile daisies whose only salvation in life is government benefits. So, yes, youth mobility is important. As far as the UK rejoining the EU, it's not going to happen. The EU economic model has collapsed - in exactly the same way that economists were predicting 15 years ago. Germany's manufacturing core has imploded and the French are on an express train to bankruptcy. The only reason why the EU would accept the UK back into the fold would be it's deep pockets and, thanks to Covid, those days are gone. Any hope that the UK economy is going to regain it's foothold is being rapidly deconstructed by Starmer, Reeves and Milliband with their boneheaded Marxist whims and their penchant for ideological policy over fact-based economic sense.

What really grind my gears is the cost of really appalling food. I'm talking about hotel restaurants, buffets and 'seafood' places where the fare is supposed to be top quality. I'm talking about 5-star hotels where you would expect to get a gourmet meal. We went to one last new year and you could literally smell that the seafood was off. Another time was a Teppaniaki which was the worst and most expensive I've every experienced. And then there are the restaurants which claim to be 'haute cuisine' - where they serve steaks boiled in grease, rank smelling oysters and corked wine that tastes like paint. Don't get me started on the 'Italian' joints with their sh!tty pizzas and sloppy, vomit inducing pasta. Over the last 16 years, me and the missus have distilled our favorite restaurants down to 3, they're all Thai food and none of them are in Pattaya. Anyway, rant over.

I p!ss myself laughing when I here Americans talking about the far left Democrats. If you want to see left wing, look at what the UK just voted into power.

One of the interesting characteristics of Thai people is their incapacity to plan for the future. But why bother planning when every new day presents another opportunity to tear up some perfectly good paving and ruin peoples lives all over again. Mark my words, once the paving is reinstated it will be sh!t workmanship, so they'll have to repave the entire street all over again. Cynics might say it's just another ruse to top up those naughty secret bank accounts - don't believe a word of it, guv!

I've been dealing guitars for 30+ years so here are some tips... 1. Don't sell it on Ebay. I would repeat this the next five points, but for the sake of brevity... 2. You can't have PayPal in TH unless you have a registered company. 3. Invest some time figuring out the market, especially in AP. 4. Figure out who the best dealers are who can connect you with a buyer. 5. Your guitar is only worth what someone is willing to pay for it so forget that imaginary figure in your head. Obvious maybe, but if it really is a true vintage, the collectors will eventually start circling and the private buyers are the best. 6. Unless you have irrefutable provenance, your guitar is essentially firewood. Otherwise, independent evaluation is an absolute necessity.

I have a buddy coming over from SGP and he wants to know where he can see live rock, blues rock, etc in a pub environment (as opposed to generic Filipino pop cover acts). Any ideas?

Hmm. Barriers are clearly in the upright position - maybe someone's going to get their nuts roasted tomorrow?

Send me a PM and I can get this sorted for you.

I can't figure out the tactical necessity or where they intend to operate these subs. The Gulf of Thailand is <80m deep (mostly 0-60m) so they would be sitting ducks for any half-decent frigate/destroyer/ASW plane. There's deeper water out in the South China Sea where their only potential enemy would be... guess who. Nope. Paperweight. All I see is a lot of small dick energy, just like those expats in their Raptors.

Yep, I get "Payee not recognized" or suchlike. Talked to PWA & PEA they say it's the bank's problem. Talked to UOB and they say "solly".

US healthcare prices are not a good comparison. What is worrying is that Thai private healthcare is getting up to EU/UK prices - and this is pushing insurance premiums beyond many expats' budgets. I was getting treatment the other day and there were at least four of the patients in that department bitching about their bills.

Aren't they just the pits. I have a UOB credit card and they send me a reminder every month - a day or so after payment is due. I have a alert on my phone now. If you forget, the interest is horrendous. And don't get me started on the annual ~Bht4300 'membership' fee. The app is less worse than it used to be but you still can't pay PWA or PEA bills with a QR scan - you'd think that would be a prerequisite in this day and age.

Thanks for the replies. I don't hold the address from the original license, but my sister has agreed to let me use hers as postal address. I still have a UK bank account so payment will be local. I was wondering if the DVLA actually require proof of address? The other issue is I don't have the paper version anymore - but I'm pretty sure they don't care about that these days. Basically I want to get my ducks in a row before I start entering all online details.

Is it possible to renew a UK driving license from abroad if you don't have a permanent UK address? The vibe seems to be no you can't, and yes you can. So what's the deal?

I’ve imported sh!t loads of gear into TH and I would say DHL are one of the best of the bunch, UPS on the other hand… All of them will charge VAT and duty applicable to the goods being imported. Anything additional is admin fees, these arise because they are actually Thai businesses acting as agents for the shipping company, ergo it’s against their religion for an end user to get something without paying.

Do it yourself and save yourself a bunch of money. I did mine a couple of months ago and it's a breeze. https://www.gov.uk/overseas-passports Download the form, follow the instructions and then it's a couple of trips to BKK. You can keep your original passport for the duration. The only thing to add is take proof of address with you (bank statement, utility bill, etc). This isn't made apparent in the instructions but they will ask for it.

Update on my case. I went to BPH today and had a retinal scan, this revealed a small retinal rupture which happened to be across a capillary which was seeping blood. I was pretty much straight into laser surgery and had it zapped shut. Right now there's a small improvement but the Doc reckons about 2 weeks until the leaked blood cells get mopped up. Total cost Bht 19.2k. The Doc reckoned if I'd left it any longer it would have been a full-blown detachment and Bht 200k+ to get it fixed. So, again, thanks to everyone for your help and advice.

Yeah, as per my 4th post on this thread. It was kind of half-a$$ed but they gave me the impression that it wasn't a big deal, it's only since asking the forum that I realized that it is a very big deal. Anyhoo, after a lot of calling around and typing details into futile web questionnaires, I have an earlier appointment on Wednesday as the BPH. The earliest appointment I could get in BKK was on the same day so BPH it is.

Thanks for all the really great advice everyone. I'm trying to get this sorted ASAP.

@Sheryl Noted and thanks for the advice. Given that the retinal exam requires iris dilation - which means I will not be able to drive for 12-24 hrs - I'll try to get an earlier appointment at BPH Pattaya. Failing that, I'll get in touch with Rutnin.