CM Dad

The agent does not need your passport to do a 90-day report.

I agree. I have been here for more than thirty years, have a Thai family, speak Thai, have a yellow house book and a pink ID card, yet I know that I will always be considered a foreigner.

Bangkok is famous for horrible traffic and sidewalks so crowded with vendors that walking on them is almost impossible.

When I was shopping at my favorite Thai grocery store two days ago I noticed that one of the Australian boxed wines that I used to buy regularly was back in stock. I used to pay 1,095 baht for a 5L box. It has not been available for two months after the old stock was allowed to sell out. I picked up a box expecting the price to have gone down under the new tax system, but when I looked at the shelf tag I saw that the opposite had happened. The new price had increased by 300 baht and was now 1,395 baht! Needless to say, I did not purchase any.

I vote for etc.

I'm not surprised that you can only last 30 seconds.

I quit drinking coffee three months ago. I was never a heavy drinker - one or two in the morning. I have found that I don't miss it at all.

I also bought land and built a house for my Thai family - all in my wife's name - investing several million baht in the country. However, if my wife dies before I do, I will not be allowed to continue living there.

International practices also allow the foreign spouses - both male and female - of a country's citizens to be treated equally. In Thailand they are not. As the husband of a Thai female citizen I must show a minimum monthly income or keep a minimum of 400,000 baht in the bank to be allowed to continue staying in Thailand with my Thai family. However, my foreign female friend (We are from the same country) who is married to a Thai male citizen does not have any financial requirements regarding her ability to stay in Thailand with her Thai family. Now that same-sex marriage is going to be allowed, perhaps I should divorce my wife and marry her brother or uncle then perhaps I would be treated equally "aligned with international practices".

Legalized casinos for sure!

Cheap alcohol? Not in Thailand!

Wrong! US beggars set up Go Fund Me pages.

I do whenever I go out. I do wear shorts at home and if I go to the beach, but I haven't been to the beach in eighteen years.

Perhaps tall hotels should simply not have balconies or windows that open.

If the money coming to your BB account is from US Social Security then you need to withdraw it at the bank with a teller. An easy option is to just go to the bank and open a second account then visit the bank once each month and withdraw ALL but a few hundred baht of your SS money and put it in the second BB account then you can use that account with bank cards. The rule about withdrawing SS money in person at the bank is one that comes from the US.

Immigration to Canada is done on a points basis. You need to visit a Canadian Government Immigration web site to get details.

I began using an agent, who has now also become a close friend, several years ago when Big Joke was in charge of Immigration and the US Consulate here in Chiang Mai refused to issue income verifications demanded by Immigration. Prior to that, I had always done all of the paperwork myself for more than two decades. I simply got tired of dealing will the whole process. My friend, the agent, knew how I felt and so she just said "let me take care of all this for you". She has been doing everything for me for several years now. I only go to Immigration one a year with my wife for fifteen or twenty minutes. I pay just under 10,000 baht for everything. She also does all my 90-day reports and any other things I might need done for no additional fees. In August of last year I had her handle getting a new US passport for me. My passport didn't expire until about four months later, but I wanted to give myself lots of time in case any problems came up. She took my new passport photos herself as I stood against the wall outside of her office building. I gave her the passport fee and the mailing costs, along with my old passport, and three weeks later I had a new passport and she had the required stamps transferred to it at Immigration. I have never understood why so many posters on the site have issues with using agents. My experience has been wonderful and the service has been great. In fact, I have been so pleased with all she does for me that I am taking her out for a nice dinner this weekend to celebrate her birthday. By the way, I have lived here for more than thirty years and the first thing I did when I came was to begin learning the Thai language. Now, whenever I deal with Thai government offices, banks, or any other Thai businesses I always speak to Thai people using their language. Even if my wife is with me, I do most of the speaking, and I have always been treated politely. My advice to all of those who have chosen to live here is to learn Thai and never show impatience or anger when dealing with those from whom you are seeking assistance.

I don't miss anything about living in my "home" country. In fact, I have not even visited there in 18 years. I have lived here in Thailand for more than 30 years and now consider it to be my home country.

I think it depends on whether you are a female or male "freelancer" Jackie, but either way I think your choices should be between BKK and Pattaya where there are more men who might be interested in your services.

A gold shop owner has her transport two million baht of gold and is two cheap to provide her with a car and driver...som nahm na!

Thailand desperately needs zoning rules that are strictly enforced. Businesses such as this should never be allowed in areas zoned as residential.

The last sentence is the most important one.

Some people live to eat while others eat to live. The former are often quite obese. I tend to identify more with the latter.

Thankfully, my son graduated last February after spending twelve years in a small, very expensive, private school. While he did get a better education than he would have at one of the many overcrowded government schools in town, I am extremely grateful that he is now finished with it and was able to get into an international program at Chiang Mai University. I chose to send him to a small private school because I could afford it. He did get a better education than he would have at one of the very large private schools or government schools, but the cost was exorbitant and the quality was still subpar. CMU is the top-rated university in Chiang Mai, yet I am still skeptical as to the quality. I am trying to remain optimistic.

An even better solution is to make sure you always have smaller denomination bills.