cdemundo

19 hours ago, Keeps said:

Brit moves to Thailand - hold the front page!

Exactly, why hasn't the New York Time and CBS News picked this up?

57 minutes ago, newbee2022 said:

I'm sure you know Google???? Or YouTube??? All answers are there🤗

Unless you get specific recommendations for helpful videos.I would say don't waste your time with youtube; it is full of misinformation and stupidity about Thailand.

Pretty much impossible to separate the wheat from the chaff without some recommendations.

Also, as previously recommended, Lonely Planet and/or Rough Guide guidebooks are inexpensive and cover all the sightseeing and interesting attractions. They have them for Bangkok and Thailand as a whole, maybe other cities.

If you are keen a Rough Guide Thai phrase book will get you a lot of goodwill if you are good-natured about making errors when trying to learn.

If you buy a phrase book be sure and get one with the Thai words in Thai script as otherwise Thai people can't help much.

You may not learn a lot of Thai but making the effort provides humor and buys goodwill with a lot of Thai people.

But you have to be good humored about mistakes to get this effect, in other words can you laugh at yourself?.

At a minimum learn sawat dee krap/kaa and kap khun krap/kaa; hello and thank you.

For researching your hotel choices I would recommend Agoda for checking prices and amenities and use google maps to check location of where you want to stay. I usually make my reservations through Agoda, I wanted to extend my stay once and the front desk of my hotel told me to use Agoda as it was cheaper than what they could offer me.

Thailand is very accessible, you will do fine as you are obviously checking into what you need to know.

2 hours ago, TroubleandGrumpy said:

Pot calling the Kettle black 🤣

 

Recently (high season) our local golf club increased their prices for 'foreigners' and withdrew the bonus lunch vouncher. It costs me 450 Baht more than the wife, and she gets a 150 Baht voucher.  The wife questioned them saying I was not a tourist and that I lived here (with her) - but TiT and we all just have to accept it (legal or not).  Although I do accept it, this is just one of the many reasons why I will not pay income taxes in Thailand.

I can't hold back the tears.

The injustice... the unfairness.

So glad Groucho isn't alive to see this tragedy.

Makes me think of Monty Python when the women of the Batley Townswomens' Guild reenacted the attack on Pearl Harbor.

2 hours ago, Red Forever said:

Wow! Smug, snobby and supercilious in one post.

Got many friends?

I posted a laugh emoji, as I don't think I am smug, snobby or supercilious.

Of course you judged me to be smug, snobby, and supercilious based on one post, 

Matter of opinion of course.

What i said was in response the OP saying he felt criticized every time he posted, so that was the context.

I think I am realistic about the members of AN and nothing I said I (although obviously my opinions) is really very outrageous if you are familiar with AN.

If you find every poster here to be pleasant, intelligent and interesting.. well more power to you.

1 hour ago, connda said:

Perhaps the term "checking account" is a bit dated.  Who uses checks.  I haven't used one since I left the US 17 years ago.  Debit account?  Anyway, I place to deposit and withdraw money. 

Just curious. Will they send their debit card to Thailand or do you need to send it to your address of record in the US and have it forwarded? 

They do still call the account "Investor Checking".

Yes they will send to Thailand, my card stopped reading and I called and asked.

I cleaned it with hand sanitizer and it worked again so haven't had one sent yet.

5 hours ago, VinnieK said:

In my books, everyone is stupid except a tiny minority of ppl.

I have particular contempt for Academia.

Your statement speaks volumes as the expression goes.

I have had a Schwab investor checking account for many years, 20 years I guess.

Can use ATMs in Thailand and all ATM fees are refunded at end of month.

Recently SCB ATM stopped allowing withdrawal amounts over 5000THB so I  just do multiple withdrawals if needed.

That ATM is the one I use most, I don't know if that restriction has been placed by other banks.

I have never had a problem with the card being honored by the ATM of any bank in Thailand.

If you are going to write checks I have no info as I have not written checks on the account.

Maybe 10  years ago I had scammers get access to my account (2 withdrawals in several days), Schwab refunded my money never happened again.

I am happy with the account, I mean it does everything as expected.

Can't think of any cons.

That sounds like what in my youth was called "a ten buck show".

I would have liked to see a bit of it.

3 hours ago, Jingthing said:

It sounds like he deserves it but then again I'm not thrilled to hear about expats being deported as a general thing. I would have preferred some kind of plan where this man was forced to humiliate himself publicly in a super dramatic way. Lost face for life. I doubt he would reoffend.

I understand your thinking.

But i think reactive belligerents, and he seems to be one of these, don't really control their behavior based on consequences past or consequences anticipated.

Even, though it doesn't affect me directly, he being a person who reflects badly on expats here, I would be glad to see him go.

21 minutes ago, Pattaya57 said:

I was pretty average at school probably because my "poor uneducated" parents never made me do homework. I also cruised through my air force apprenticeship just doing what I had to because I didn't know better.

 

Then went to uni on engineering degree and recieved best student of the year, then got Golden Key Honours Society for supposedly best 15% of academic performance on the planet. Then got Masters degree and retired rich at 52

 

Now I'm posting on a forum that other posters continue to say my comments suck. I give up as to why so many people are supposedly now smarter than me?

 

Could be achohol related...

 

You are justly proud of your achievements.

Sincere congratulations.

But intelligent people can disagree with each other, of course the less intelligent and the uninformed also have opinions.

Disagreements of all kinds occur on AN and lot of posters here are pig ignorant and proud of it.

Hence the ignore function which I have used liberally.

I have found that one of the most useful functions of AN for me is to show me what kind of behavior and attitudes to avoid.

To many of the posters here the saying applies: "You're not completely useless, you can always serve as a bad example".

4 hours ago, Lee65 said:

IF BritManToo had scratched the guy's car, flipped him the bird, told him his mother wore army boots, was flying a British flag on his motorbike, and mooned him ... would that justify "attempted murder" or even vehicular assault?

 

Well, there's the mooning ... 

 

But the others?

No you are correct.

But BritManToo is playing the poor innocent.

Didn't even know he bumped him "apparently" he bumped him.

But then he admits he knew he bumped him, was there a confrontation that led to this?

6 hours ago, BritManToo said:

So October last year a Thai lecturer from my local university followed my m/c and ran me down in his pickup, hit and run.

Apparently I bumped his car that made him angry, my injuries 5 broken ribs, broken collar bone, collapsed lung, much lost skin and damaged muscles.

The police traced him from traffic light video, and he admitted the attempted murder.

4 months later ........ nothing ............

 

Why can Thais try to murder foreigners an nothing happens?

But insult a Thai and you will be arrested and deported?

 

Are we less important than dogs?

 

(evidence, police video of the hit and run, signed confession by perp, his insurance agreeing to pay all my costs)

Wow, extreme over reaction by the Thai professor.

But "Apparently I bumped his car that made him angry", ... apparently?

You were unaware?

Wow.

I see a lot of calls for deportation.

Why not? :

stoning, could have community participation.

or save up a group of offenders and have group crucifixions, could sell tickets.

Deportation is so boring.

(for the benefit of the thick and slow, JK).

5 hours ago, Olmate said:

I give up, do tell! 

It sounds like the start of a joke or a riddle.

What do you call an Englishman who throws a glass?

Why is a raven like writing des?.

Or something...

36 minutes ago, brianthainess said:

I have no objection to shooting rabbits if you eat them, my mum used to make a delicious rabbit stew. But to kill anything for fun is sad. 

People are funny about this.

Me too.

Is it the Sanctity of Life, is it a higher morality?

Kill bunnies or baby seals I am outraged.

Kill rats or snakes, not so much.

I think it is the Sanctity of Cute Cuddly Lifeforms.

1 hour ago, fredwiggy said:

You try and take Americans guns away you lose votes. Votes are what they're after. More than 40% are gun owners. No matter what, that's a lot of votes.

Agreed Fred.

But I was responding to the post that said:

"Obama took all the guns remember"

When he clearly did not.

22 hours ago, charleskerins said:

The bull<deleted> never ends       Obama took all the guns remember   or was that Hitler ?

"Obama took all the guns remember"

Actually I don't remember that.

"4 Years After Sandy Hook, Obama Leaves a Legacy of Little Progress on Gun Laws

No federal gun laws have been passed during his two terms, and gun sales are up...

Yet for all the words, Obama has made little federal progress toward what he has repeatedly described as "common-sense gun laws." It is, the outgoing president has acknowledged, one of the biggest regrets of his time in the White House."

https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/years-sandy-hook-obama-leaves-legacy-progress-gun/story?id=44163755

In the 1970s I had a job cleaning furnaces that involved going into people's basements.

We would routinely see ancient (1940s) Maytags still in use.

Some were just an open tub with an agitator, no lid or top, still working.

I came to understand why the Maytag repairman is the "loneliest man in town".

Here I have an LG, it works just fine.

1 hour ago, Dolf said:

Make IQ tests compulsory. Everyone under 80 gets killed by vets.

Careful what you wish for.