CygnusX1

In my experience, taxis from Suv airport usually use the meter, comes to about 400 baht to Phrom Pong, and I leave a 100 baht tip. Couple of weeks ago driver wanted 600 baht, no meter, and I had no problem with that, peanuts compared to what I’d be paying in Australia for the same time and distance (although he didn’t get a tip). Bangkok taxis are a huge bargain. .

With its juristic fee of 20% of my Australian equivalent, my Thai condo’s building and grounds are beautifully maintained, and with very thorough accounts. The swimming pool area was recently completely renovated, with no special levy needed, unlike in Australia, where a special levy is raised for any minor fix.

You can also add council rates (council tax) - around 100 times higher than Thailand’s annual property tax, electricity (bill for my Oz flat for a month in which I’ve used zero electricity is higher than for my Thai condo when I’ve been using the AC 16 hours a day), body corporate charge (5 times higher for my Oz flat - juristic fee for my Thai condo covers maintenance of 3/4 Olympic length pool, lifts, gardeners, 24 hour security guards etc, whereas for my Oz flat a couple of blokes with leaf blowers come around for half an hour each fortnight).

I have a condo in Jomtien, and I’ve never noticed this, either on my balcony or on beach road. I’m in Bangkok right now, and have never noticed any smell of cannabis, even while walking past the numerous cannabis shops on Sukhumvit road. I certainly notice the smell of cigarette smoke and diesel exhaust though, so there seems to be nothing too wrong with my sense of smell. Maybe there’s a genetic component here, with some people being way more sensitive than others.

The most widespread scam of all is dynamic currency conversion. You have to be so careful when getting money from ATMs. Don’t rush, and read every screen thoroughly. Just this morning, I saved around $70 by not agreeing to the bank’s “‘helpful” automatic conversion to my card’s home currency - had to select “‘don’t proceed with conversion”, which was at the bottom left of the screen, and easily missed. Even some supermarkets are trying it on now, always pay in Thai baht.

Do you mean that only that portion of global income that’s remitted to Thailand will be taxable?

Also from the Thai Examiner article - “A Finance Ministry source, speaking on condition of anonymity, explained that Thailand operates a residency-based tax system. Anyone living in Thailand for at least half the year is subject to tax on global income. That rule has not changed.” That tax on global income is the key point for me, not the tax on money brought into Thailand. Until it’s clear that I won’t be paying tax on money I earn outside Thailand, I’ll continue to very carefully track my stays in Thailand on a spreadsheet to ensure I’m there less than 180 days per calendar year.

Well, I suppose it means that a bad actor could send anything else of any nature whatsoever to my tablet, even with the tablet having no SIM card and no active internet connection. I’ve never elected to receive disaster alerts.

I’ve had my electricity bills auto paid from my Bangkok Bank account for the last 5 years with zero problems. No guarantee that will continue of course. Had to do it as I’m in Thailand less than 6 months a year, and the electricity authority wouldn’t accept advance payments. A very helpful bank teller spent over half an hour completing a fearsomely complicated form to set up the auto transfer.

No idea how I managed to do it, just wish I could figure out how to turn it off. Feels a little as if I’m in an Orwellian state in which I can’t escape the mobile phone network and internet. My ipad, iphone and android phone all received the alert, but unlike my Samsung tablet, they all have SIM cards.

My Samsung tablet received the test alert even though there’s no SIM card in it and WiFi was off. Creepy.

Someone with a shady past, who values anonymity, and wants to keep as low a profile as possible.

Enough to supply 2.6 million homes, except when the wind’s too light or too strong. Weather dependent power’s a much better term for wind and solar than renewables.

Search for “the fat electrician iran praying mantis” on youtube. Wonderful video explaining what happened when the US delivered a “‘proportional response” after a US warship was severely damaged by an Iranian mine.

It’s a bit humiliating that at age 67 I’m considered incapable of controlling a dangerous dog, unlike a 10 year child. More seriously, strict enforcement of compulsory (and I hope free) rabies shots for dogs is essential.