Etaoin Shrdlu

Here is an article for you: https://www.nytimes.com/2024/10/28/business/economy/inflation-wages-pay-salaries.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share&referringSource=articleShare

Do you think billionnaires have the working man's best interest at heart? They're already going after Medicaid and are making noises about Social Security.

If one has 60% more dollars, but each dollar is worth 21% less, do you think one is better or worse off?

The S&P 500 gained almost 60% between January 20, 2021 and January 20, 2025. Lots of people made lots of money under Joe Biden. Trump seems to be taking the markets in the other direction.

This regulation was put in place in 2019. I don't think it has formally been rescinded, but perhaps the perceived need to monitor people's online activity so closely has passed, or authorities are able to collect the necessary identifiers by other means. One large, international coffee shop chain still requires ID/passport and name to log into their free wifi.

Lutnick describing his boss.

Microsoft is killing Skype. Get the correct info from Microsoft's own website: https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-365/blog/2025/02/28/the-next-chapter-moving-from-skype-to-microsoft-teams/ Microsoft Teams is not a replacement for Skype for the individual user as many of the most-needed features will not be available in Teams once any existing Skype subscriptions expire.

One always has to remember that an insurance company's first loyalty is to its shareholders, not its policyholders.

Good point. Let's hope that the TRD does indeed use this approach.

It is not clear, at least in my opinion, whether the basis used for determining the amount of capital gains for Thai tax purposes is the original cost of the asset when purchased, as would be the case under US tax regulations, or the value of the asset on 31 December 2023. In other words, are unrealized capital gains at 31 December 2023 added to the actual cost of the asset in order to determine the basis for calculating capital gains? I think it is a bit of a stretch to consider unrealized capital gains as income earned in years prior to 2024. My gut tells me that the capital gains are earned in the year the asset is sold and the basis is the cost of the asset when purchased. It would certainly be nice if the TRD would clearly state that the basis for capital gains is the value of the asset at 31 December 2023, but I'm not going to hold my breath.

Actually, April International is an insurance broker and not an insurance company. April does not seem to have an insurance broker's license in Thailand. Instead, it looks like it has an assistance company here for the purpose of coordinating claims with hospitals. April International's website directs inquiries for quotes for Thailand to a page that states that policies are issued by LMG Public Company Ltd. If the OP has had an LMG Thailand policy for the past five years, then he may benefit from the 5-year time bar. The OP may have engaged April International in France, or perhaps somewhere else outside Thailand, and gotten an offshore policy, but he does not state that in his post. Lacking that specificity, I would suspect that April International routed his request to LMG and his policy is actually issued by LMG Thailand. And as an aside, LMG has just this month announced that they are selling their operations in Thailand and Vietnam to Chubb.

If your policy is with April Thailand, then there is another benefit you have if you stay with April. After five uninterrupted years of renewing the same policy, the insurer is barred by the Thai Civil and Commercial Code from digging into your past medical history looking for undisclosed pre-existing conditions for the purpose of denying a claim and voiding your policy. The five year limit may not apply to cases of fraud, but that's a higher bar for the insurer to clear.

Liability insurers aren't keen to pay claims arising out of the intentional acts of their insureds, and as a result policies have exclusions with respect to intentional acts. This includes motor policies. Not to have this exclusion would invite a moral hazard.

NHI does not have a presence in Thailand. If you use a particular hospital, you might wish to ask the hospital how they would work with NHI with respect to billing and payment. The hospital may accept a letter of guarantee in lieu of having a direct payment agreement if you were to be admitted or otherwise expect to incur large expenses.

Now Health International carries an S&P rating of AA- and an AM Best rating of A+. indicating good financial strength, so you probably wouldn't have to worry about NHI's financial ability to pay a claim. NHI's head office is domiciled in Hong Kong, which is a well-developed insurance market where regulatory oversight is good. Check with your broker to determine if your policy would be issued by the Hong Kong parent company. If not, ask which subsidiary would issue the policy and what the subsidiary's S&P or AM Best rating is. I don't have any personal or professional experience with this company, so you may wish to ask your broker why they are recommending NHI and what their specific experience is with them.