BumGun

SO, he decided to do it naked, beats way to swim but that aside, lets say he made it over to the island, what then ?

whats the basis of that accusation ? Maybe he was involve din some weird drug deal that went sideways ?

That's a much trotted out myth. Foreigners make up about 1% of property transactions in Australia, a percentage of them also go on to be permanent residents or citizens anyway. But foreigners still make up about only 1 per cent of all purchases in Australia That said, I would like to see some reciprocity, though I can sort of understanding why they don't.

Read this story today of this lady having a go to unfreeze the UK Pensions https://www.theguardian.com/money/2024/nov/30/war-veteran-frozen-pensions-no-10

I use Nord VPN and it does, you can check here, just go to the Asia Pacific server drop down list part way down the page https://nordvpn.com/servers/?nv_tri=TC_6732955512908604_1728387972943&nv_trs=1728387972944_1728388018127_1_22 I have a link to sign up below, if you want to use it I get 3 free months and you get 3 free months if not no problems https://refer-nordvpn.com/BRLteLmeJlM

Lease the land, build the house, can be fraught with issues, go in eyes wide open. You do not own the land

True but he can draw down on his super, but bit odd that its that high Most 60 yr olds don't have too much super as in came in part way through their life, unless wealthy, if so, then why ? the average for a 60yr old is about $350- 400K form memory ? I am assuming they paid $1.2Mil AUD cash for the house in Phuket (sans land) , so none of this story makes much sense. Hope it works out though. Love to hear a follow up in a few years

Well, here I am 53, I haven't let any of my family know where I am, last month I was in Thailand, this month The Philippines, I didnt let them know where i was , month before that in Laos, same same but you can sue bet immigration authorities know which country I am in. At some random time when I think of it ill message my mother and ask her show she is', i never tell her where I am because who gives a sh&t? He didn't do anything wrong at all, the authorises knew he had left, but presumably that''s private information that 'shoudn't be released to just any busybody who asks, i can imagine couples who have split using this to nefariously track exe's etc. I don;t think anyone did anything wrong, his hysterical sister filed a missing persons report... and ? she surely has every right to. He has every right to not contact anyone if he doesn't want to. That's the way it supposed to work. Maybe he wanted a digital detox who in hell knows and it's none of our business.

is medical aid predicated on your legal status ?

What ? Thai ? In the US something like 2 mass shooting a DAY https://edition.cnn.com/us/mass-shootings-fast-facts/index.html https://www.kidsandcars.org/backovers/facts Every week 52 kids are reversed over by fools in cars, no move to change that just accept it and keep backing over kids. Meanwhile here in Australia https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-11-01/women-murder-spike-sparks-calls-for-domestic-violence-register/103048644 and https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-02-24/air-pollution-modelling-university-of-melbourne-traffic/102015778 As though driving to Maccas gives you the inalienable right to kill your neighbor. My long winded point ? I'll let Professor David Boyd expand on that https://www.theguardian.com/world/article/2024/may/07/un-expert-human-rights-climate-crisis-economy?ref=theissue.io

Expats angry for many that seems to be any day of the week ending in Y ? but still they stay ?

This is not true, most OS systems let you change you mac address, here's an option for Linux, which I use. Many can even change the MAC address randomly each time you start your PC. See here (for a different OS just search for changing your mac address with he OS you use as a qualifier. Do make a not of your original MAC address though in case you wan to to change it back. (eg yo may have rules on your router to treat your PC differently based on the MAC address) https://itsfoss.com/change-mac-address-linux/

Are you an American or where you dropped on your head as a child, or both ? Half your talking points are made up, so it's hard to take this post seriously ? I don't know any country I'd considered even closely aligned with my values, including my home country of Australia, which I consider an everlasting embarrassment, so where I am is mostly irrelevant in that respect. PS I am not in Thailand and haven't lived there for a decade but I was there a month ago for 4 days ... if that counts ?

I've always assumed the policy has nothing to do with perceptions of fairness. if you're living in the UK you're spending in the UK, if you're living in Thailand you're spending in Thailand and that's why they don't want you to do. Regardless, those in the OP have choices; go back to ol' blighty, go somewhere else like The Philippines, endure ,or endure and complain 🙂 The immigrant/refugee blaming in here is depressing, it's the very wealthy that have corrupted the system not refugees or immigrants, they're typically the ones emptying the bedpans at the hospitals and picking the fruit and veg. As David Cameron pointed out, when he was PM he could return illegal refugees to France but then the UK decided to leave the EU and that option was no longer possible . Many are there legally and everyone is entitled to show up and ask for refuge and have their case looked at. Ukraine. Afghan, & Syrian War refugees aren't there for the hell of it. Tax is not paid as a savings scheme you can later draw down on and as the original article states the pension system has been this way for 70 years.

How did it go ? I am arriving with my partner flying int L P, and assumed the VoA would be a long queue and I should just get an evisa. As an Australian, that kinda sucks about the bridge 😞

same same Thailand ? different year same shenanaigans. I can see Cambodia eventually devolving into Civil War eventually.

Some of us don't lack the imagination you seem to lack ? The vast majority in the developed world when educated. reasonably well off and are free to choose, have no, or maybe only a child and thank goodness, or the 8 billion we do have would be many, many more.

This is a thing apparently that's common after doing some reading on behavioral "science". If you've been frugal (as in spent less then you earned) and constrained your spending ,worked towards building up a nest egg that's taken decades, it can be quite confronting to seemingly "destroy" all that progress. I am 58 and am similar, have no kids to leave anything too (deliberate choice as a world of 8 Billion and growing surely doesn't need more) so just gifted in an a will to reputable charities. I retired at 35. Only thing that would worry me would be having to go back to work again, so I am still "frugal" but content, just in case.

If he wasn't wearing a helmet as seemingly stated in the article (his partner was) (i.e breaking the law ) his insurance would be invalid anyway, similarly riding drunk and crashing, invalid insurance, unlicensed, invalid insirance . More insurance wont; solve the problem. One possible suggestion, you could set up a no fault system similar to NZ and treat people for their injuries regardless of poor decision making. Commiserations to him and his family though, a terrible time ahead

We met some once (my parter and I) at the waterpark near Jomtien once, they spoke English well enough for us to converse, so perhaps they were wider traveled ? We stayed in Jomtein for a couple months and at the end of the hallway in VT 5 and the guy at the end was an older Russian guy (mid 40s ?)with a young kid, we used to leave the door open when it was hot and she'd come in and interact with my partner, bored for friends I assume ? Dad wandered down the first few times to shew'd her back but we assured him she was was no problems and came down a few times a week after that. He was polite and friendly. a couple young Russians on their honeymoon having foot massages another time, sitting beside me. Got to chatting, in very broken English, so I shouted them their massage as a wedding present. Wonder if he's now fighting in Ukraine <sigh> I remember a thread years ago saying its mostly the boorish Russian types that travel to Thailand from an older Russian guy, I pointed out same same with us Australian's 🙂

Well, there the military didn't endorse the coup (as General Milley stated) and the military stepped back from it, which is the difference to Thailand... Same thing happened in Myanmar except the people there are pushing back. Her being thrown out by a military coup should see Generals being tried for treason.

A visa isn't entitled right, so what happens if they don't renew ? How long do you have to leave he country if you can only renew the day before ?

Short of offering a bribe (ie use an agent"" to get around the rules) I have never been able to do that. I am just not ok with offering bribes so I never pursued it. The three trips I have been on where I tired to open an account across multiple banks in multiple locations I was always refused and was informed I needed a Non O retirement visa BEFORE they would open an account. How ? I needed to get the correct Visa in my home country (Australia) then arrive and open an account. perhaps things have changed ?

Which is always the Catch 22 for me, the banks wont open an account until I have the "Retirement VIsa", I can't get said visa because I don't have a bank account to put the Baht in... ( i tried this several times when I visited pre covid running around to banks people said would open an account with a 30 Day visa waiver who when in there would not open an account) I am fine with some paperwork and back and forth but after 5 banks I gave up. Of course I can apply in my home country (Australia) and get the visa that way and arrive and open a bank account presumably...but when I get back to Aus that never seems of interest ????

He had insurance they're just not paying up because he didn't wear a helmet apparently. Insurance rarely pays when you are breaking the law eg fleeing the scene of a crime on your scooter and crash, insurance won't be paying up. You'd have to change it to a no fault system and that would need to be funded by a tax on entry for all tourist visas or VOAs presumably, if you want that to change but even then, people taking the p!ss on overstays would likely not be covered... so...