creative1000

With Black Friday sales just starting in the States, its a shame we can't have similar pricing here in Thailand. Like a $600/pr on sale for $350 in the USA is still priced $600 (or more) in Thailand year round. While theres many brands that are double/triple the MSRP price here.. are there any great sounding speakers that somehow manage to have normal pricing and be considered a great price-to-performance ratio?

@georgegeorgia The Youtube algorithm will show you videos that will make you upset, because they have enough of your data now, they know how to maximize your watching minutes each day in order to maximize advertising revenue. You can count on someone who is the complete opposite of you being shown the opposite videos, and them equally reacting in the same way as you did just now. Who wins? Well, youtube and advertisers. BTW: Its been proven that videos that make you happy keep viewers watching less. Videos that make negative emotions keep viewers watching more. This is all to maximize youtube / advertiser revenue

@cgros Thanks! Appreciate the lead with aliexpress. Reminds me of a post I just read about the blackest black fabric - Musou Black Fabric KIWAMI. In this video they sprayed a car with musou black paint: So good, I'm not going out of my mind. Literally spent 6 hours searching in Thai, Chinese, Korean, Japanese (with Google Translate and VPN's for each country to appear local). I'll probably do just what you suggested, Amazon delivery to my family in the USA who will visit Thailand early next year. The crazy thing is the plush velvet fabrics are probably made in asia. lol why is it so difficult to source! grrrr Thanks again.

I already bought a few velvets from shopee/lazada, but they're not the correct type - stretchy and thin, like the kind made for dresses. According to the AV Forums, theres a soft thick plush version called triple black velvet that is ideal for covering the wall, ceiling, black border around screen often found in Hobby Lobby or Amazon in the USA. Anyone have any leads here in Thailand?

Thanks. So at the very least, Thai-American child (or children) while under-18 could file paperwork at the US embassy, and would qualify for my SS survivorship benefits.

I'm a few decades away from retiring, so just curious about A) Retirement income and B) Survivors income... If my wife and child do nothing, and remain as full Thai citizens only with Thai Passport with no connection to the USA, will they automatically qualify for SS retirement and survivors income? Or is a green card, visa, citizenship required to make this happen? Will it be difficult for them to sign up themselves, or is there something I can do to register them in the SS system to make sure they're 100% taken care of? Is this a quick standard process, or a many years process (like a green card) requiring interviews, lawyers and agents? Also, is this understanding of the benefits correct? In the event of my tragic accident, both my wife AND my child (under 18) would each collect a survivors income immediately? (according to the SS benefits portal it looks like $2197 /mo each, or $4,394 /mo?) When my wife turns retirement age (62-70) she will automatically qualify for SS benefits (looks like its nearly 50% of mine?) And if I die AND she is 67 full retirement age, her benefit is both survivor + retirement? And I guess she'll have to pay USA taxes and Thai taxes on this? Or USA exempt if personal income is under $100K rule applies? Thanks in advance

I’m making a computer office desk. Is there any difference between using teak, acacia, rubberwood or other for the table top? Is one more smelly or unpleasant? I see they’re all for sale on shopee at reasonable prices (attached photo examples of what I’ve found)

Insurance Company Suggestions & Estimated yearly cost for Thai health insurance for a perfectly healthy newborn thai/farang baby (10-weeks) living in Chiang Mai

Similar situation as you. Girlfriend denied twice in 2018. She mentioned the interviewers were extremely rude even before she began to talk. It makes me believe that she was pre-denied based on the online application or the imbecile orange president mandates. The "Interview" was probably a required formality for show. During the interview, girlfriend had a stack of suggested evidence documents to bring, but the interviewer wouldn't look at them. She had documents that showed she owned her own house, had a decent bank account, was fully employed for many years, had a boyfriend with substantial finances saved up, had letters of recommendation from an employed medical doctor (my sister), They interviewer said something along the lines as: "How do we know you will come back to Thailand" GF: "I own my own house, and have worked at my employer more than 5 years, Here take a look at these documents that are proof" Interviewer: "don't give me those documents, I don't want to see them. Like I said before, how do I know you will come back?" GF: "I have no reason to stay in the USA, my whole life is in Thailand, take a look at these documents" Interviewer: "Don't pass me those documents, I don't care." GF: "When I am in the USA, I will stay at my boyfriend's sister's house. Here is her letter of support." Interviewer: "I don't want to see it, don't pass any documents through the window please." Honestly, I was really upset when I heard this. If we were back in the states, if this was any other government agency, we'd probably be allowed to talk with supervisors, examine the employee's style of interview professionalism & fairness, and hopefully get someone that cared. But the US embassy here is a black box by design with no recourse. They could probably huck a loogie right into your face, and there'd be no way to report it. ...sorry for the rant. it's still a sore spot. btw we're married now with a child, so maybe we will get lucky and apply again to showoff the grandchild to the western family. Best of luck! Sorry I couldn't give any help, lol

Thanks for the suggestions! Didn't realize Lazada & FB Marketplace would be full of options. I'll try contacting the resellers directly. At the moment just in planning stages before making any purchases. Thanks again @recom273 @fdsa

In the States it's possible to purchase large 2nd-hand computer server cabinets from companies upgrading, bankrupt, consolidating their data centers or server rooms. Sometimes good deals on other rackmount equipment for 10GB fiber networking, or NAS too. Does Thailand have any resellers like this?

I have a Non-O visa based on Thai marriage. We have a registered Thai Limited Company (3 years old now) that has barely been used, but paid taxes (on $0 revenue) yearly to keep it alive. When we officially open our business to the public how difficult to get a work permit? Weird, I can’t find a lot information on this (but theres a ton of info on having a 3rd party company issue me a work permit ????‍♂️). From what I remember, I will have to hire 4 Thais full time along with submit corporate documents? Is the paperwork submitted include paid employee social security taxes ie do employees have to have been employed for many months, with numerous tax payments to govt, before being used for the work permit paperwork? Or the same day I hire 4 Thais, I can use their contract as proof? How long is this whole process? Will they send an officer to verify my business location /employees like immigration does with marriage extensions? If an employee leaves the company, and I hire a new employee, does the work permit have to be updated constantly? If anyone has found a checklist or blog that outlines this process that might also be helpful thank you in advance

In the future, is it any easier to do this extension with my kid (half-thai half farang)? I'm sure my wife would prefer I take him out of school, rather than her out of work to go to immigration.

@ubonjoe Thanks! Didn't even know this document existed.

@JeffersLos hahaha I can already see the look on my wife's face with this same scenario... Is this required every single year? Or just the first time?

@billy54 I'm not familiar with this form. Could you clarify please?

Thanks everyone! Very helpful indeed. I'll find a peaceful day with the wife to go. @VocalNeal Thanks for that list. Just to double check, the marriage certificate is that document with flowery borders (see attached example) signed by the amphur @ wedding ceremony? Or is there a different one? cheers

Wife is 9-months pregnant, doctor says could give birth any day in the next 3 weeks and after-birth wife may need 1-2 weeks for recovery. During this 5-week window I need to switch my Smart Visa to an extension of 60-days by marriage. Can I do this by myself?

@BritTim wow, I didn't even realize that route was an option! That will make things even easier. I had wrongly assumed I must close out the old visa completely, to begin the new Non-O visa process. Thank you for sharing that update.

@steve187 Thanks for updating my knowledge about that. I was confusing the # of months with the BOI-Smart Visa Bank Account requirements (which is also my current visa which didn't get renewed unfortunately). Only 2 months will make things even easier.

@DrJack54 oh wow, I didn't know about the extra 60-days extension based on marriage. Thats excellent. 5 months of Non-o is more than enough time to sort out the loose ends

@DrJack54 ah ok! So if I switch to Non-O in mid August, that will give me another 90-days. The funds will have aged 4 months by then, just in time to file for the extension before 90-days are up. Perfect.

So I have the funds in a Thai Bank now, but they won't be aged 4-months in time for the Non-O application. Is this something a visa agent could help with? I'm trying to avoid border hopping if possible, as the Thai wife is pregnant. Thanks in advance.

Thanks everyone! That helps a lot. Yes a very sweet deal. Thanks for the rapid reply

Is leaving 400,000 THB in a Thai bank sufficient to get the Non-O extension based on Marriage, or do I have to show proof of income too? The requirements are ambiguous across tons of websites. Thanks in advance