CrunchWrapSupreme

I heard there's no money in the bank used for this method at all.

I heard you pay off your agent, who in turn pays off the IO, and according to how the law is written they have the power to approve you based on money in the bank, OR any other criteria they see fit. Heh.

40 minutes ago, webfact said:

may run into opposition from the current Minister of Digital Economy

Hehe. So now you know who'll be getting a few hundred million baht in convincing.

Glory and praise to our good Thai-Chinese friend Mr. CP. May his grandchildren's Lambos continue screaming down Sukhumvit, may his empire continue to grow, until it encompasses the entire country. Hey, why not. He couldn't be any worse than Mr. P.

On 3/24/2022 at 10:23 PM, SamSanuk said:

I notice lots of restaurants that serve western food have $8 to $12 ranges.

I used to think those were to snag naive tourists who dropped in seeing the familiar prices, unaware things are supposed to be much cheaper here in the LOS. But we haven't had many tourists for the past two years.

It's all about image and status for the hi-so Thais. If it's expensive and imported, it raises their social credit score or whatever. We went to this Japanese place outside of Mega Bangna in BKK, we couldn't believe the prices. 200-300 baht for appetizers like a small plate of shrimp tempura. Full meals would empty your wallet. Yet we saw the hi-sos keep streaming in, bleached skin, plastic surgery, BMW keys on the table. Hah.

Anyway, burgers. 349 baht's a decent price for the OP's burger set. My go-to was the Sunrise Tacos inside Mega Bangna. Their All American Southwest Burger, "a fresh ½ lb (220g) premium ground sirloin burger, onions, lettuce, tomato, dill slices and chipotle sauce served with French fries." is 275 baht. Cheese 20 baht extra, drink extra. Very friendly, unpretentious Filipino staff.

3 hours ago, BangkokReady said:

How's that going?  Are you teaching in China now, or has that evaporated?

Yeah. The Chinese govt has locked them out. I've had a few moms trying to sneak in their 5-7 yr olds, though my service only does adults. IMHO, that age group is barely grasping how to deal with real people in front of them, let alone on a screen. I block em.

I heard the services who used to deal with them like VIPKid, Magic Ears are all gone. Those people did nursery rhymes and flash cards or whatever with em. That's all beyond me. Heh. My adults are from Japan, Taiwan, Turkey, Brazil. We've been talking about Omicron, Ukraine, and Elon Musk.

On 3/19/2022 at 1:05 PM, FridgeMagnet1 said:

why are some people here absolutely demanding the COVID extensions are ended

We gotta go home to make room for that absolute DELUGE of QUALITY TOURISTS right on the way! ????????????

On 3/23/2022 at 11:46 PM, Lolothai said:

indeed it's a pain in the ass to read

Thank you very much for sharing it. This sort of thing is mandatory reading material for all those dealing with Thailand.

There's a post right now on Quora about some rich guy who sold his business and everything in California for his dream with the fam in Thailand. Heaven help him.

13 hours ago, Iamfalang said:

Great news!!! Just texted my friend, and it will save him a stressful trip outside of Thailand for an employment visa.  It will make his weekend.  

Same here. Just sent this to someone quoted 20k under the table by an officer because no more extensions. Pity that officer's mia noi's gold or car payment will now have to wait.

This Songkran looks like it will be the turning point. They're gonna have to throw in the towel. Everyone's fed up, it's been too long.

Look at the recent Pattaya vids on YT. Nearly all the bars have reopened. Oh yeah, they're following the Covid "safety measures", all have alcohol gel in front, signs reminding you to social distance, and have now become "restaurants" since Covid is less contagious around food or something. Heh.

Yet from what I can tell we're back to the good ol' Amazing Thailand with hands on gyrating waists and behinds in skimpy mini dresses, the same older blokes in their Chang tank tops, and nowhere to be seen is that new wave of high rolling five-star quality tourists talked much about.

So lucky there's no young men in my family. My wife even says it too. Only got her uncles all 50+ who drop by on the holidays, and they're great. They bring some food and booze, offer to help prepare, make an effort at convo with my limited Thai.

Down the soi the teenage boys all lie about playing games while there should be studying and final exams. I see girls busy writing in their notebooks. The boys never do. Then comes a motorbike delivery, mom has ordered them lunch. There is no helping them.

On 3/16/2022 at 8:39 AM, Bohemianfish said:

There's a lot of good places and I'm sure a lot of people have been watching YT to see that places like Mexico, Spain, Viet Nam, even Cambodia, are looking better every day. Or as good.

 

My Thai wife and I were looking at moving to Thailand this year, but after the last couple of years, we are delaying our plans for quite awhile and we are not sure if Thailand is in the cards now. We've really gotten comfortable with living where we are now in the States.

 

My wife was just talking about how much she likes a lot of things here: consumer protection, invariably safe food, no bugs to speak of, no mosquitoes, no snakes, no blistering heat...and its very quiet.

 

We have everything we need within minutes and we have snow in the mountains, sometimes at home, the ocean, moderate weather...

 

I feel people are rethinking their plans now. And some of that has to do with how some countries have dealt with the pandemic. People are rethinking everything.

I'll be signing my new teaching contract soon. The next school year should be my last here. Younger folks like my wife and I (45) still have the rest of our careers to consider. In the States I could get $5k a month rather than barely $2k here. My wife could get $20 an hour rather than $10 a day here. Also retirement benefits we'd never get here. Yeah there's the higher cost of living in the US, but we'll be going to the Midwest and not the crazy coasts, and we'll have the family home to stay at.

Despite Thailand's benefits, lower cost of living, lovely country, they're not compelling enough to spend too much more time here. There's also losing the many drawbacks, visa hassles, 90 day reports, mosquitoes and heat. Wife's been to Japan before, and is looking forward to seeing snow again.

My wife likes the Premier League. Sometimes I've tried putting on Thai football. She goes no, no! I say why, you don't like your own countrymen? She says too much fighting and cheating.

I thought it was an exaggeration, until I saw a news clip the other day. In a Thai league match one evening, one player went up to another he had a disagreement with, and straight up sucker punched him in the face. Laid him out cold. Real class acts.

9 hours ago, grego49 said:

The test and go scam continues,Bali,Vietnam and the Phillipines are all open and enjoying the tourist dollars that used to be spent in Thailand,

Don't worry, they got a plan. Fresh from today's Sydney Morning Herald:

"Thailand, once the backpackers’ paradise, now looks for five-star tourists"

10 hours ago, EVENKEEL said:

It's astounding how stupid and backwards these people are. 

I'm a teacher, on the front lines...

A semester of lesson planning, making assignments, presentations, videos, given that much of it has been online. We just got done with final exams this week. M6, the final year before university, barely took a look at any of it. Low attendance, almost no homework. Took my final exam by giving random answers. Many didn't show up.

Now they're begging, can I do the exam late? Could I have another exam? Why? You didn't study, didn't do any assignments. Then they say oh, but I've been so busy preparing for university. Haha, really? You sure could've fooled me. With what work ethic? What if anything have you been learning? How to beg, cheat, make excuses? And if you're an attractive young lady, well, you know.

Some of these people then wind up in this wonderful govt.

10 hours ago, ThailandRyan said:

when folks take Lao Khao shots before they head out to work or drive the kids to school

The worst drivers on the road are those in the รถรับส่งนักเรียน minivans (car to get and send students), packed full of kids, before and after school. Driving too fast, swerving around the other cars. Wife and I say they're definitely on the lao khao. I'd say they're a far greater danger to the kids than them drinking alcohol directly.

I've also got an expired motorbike license. Any chance of a fixer converting this to a car license for me?

I had to sit through a day of videos, and another day of exams, both of which included car and motorbike material. Don't see why I should do it all over again.

Just saw the advert on YouTube. Pages of comments of glowing praise. So powerful, so brave. Girl power, sure. Go follow your dreams. With a drink in your hand I guess.

No one's addressed the elephant in the room. Aren't most of her fans not of drinking age?