Etaoin Shrdlu

There seems to be something different about the plastic bags that 7-11 now provides its customers. The old ones seemed much thinner and for heavier things it was necessary to double-bag. The new ones are much sturdier and feel like they're made out of a different type or grade of plastic. I normally just re-use a cloth bag that I got at Villa Market a long time ago.

This is the first step being taken to attempt to gut Social Security. False claims of "waste and fraud" to try to de-legitimize the Social Security system and then collapse it. Anyone who believes that the current administration won't try to curtail Social Security benefits for the average retiree hasn't been paying attention. This has always been part of the Republicans' ideology. https://newrepublic.com/post/192579/elon-musk-social-security-medicare-entitlements

There are a few things I'd like to add to Charlie's analysis: 1) Consumer protection laws in other countries are often more favorable than Thailand's. This, to a certain extent, can negate the supposed advantage of being under the OIC's regulations and oversight. Being under the OIC is better than not being able to determine who regulates your offshore insurer or having an offshore insurer that is regulated in a small, remote tax haven with lax oversight. The OIC is relatively consumer-friendly and anyone with a complaint will get a fair hearing. 2) While it can be somewhat difficult to measure, there is the issue of underwriting and claims-paying attitudes. Sometimes these attitudes are influenced by the environment in which an insurer operates. Insurers in low-trust societies may see things differently than those operating in higher-trust ones. However, insurers are generally a cynical lot and a policyholder in Thailand may face more scrutiny from an offshore insurer than a policyholder in some other countries. 3) There are too many insurers in Thailand vying for what is still a fairly small market. Because of this, they tend not to get the full benefit of the law of large numbers and economies of scale, making their portfolio more volatile and operating costs a higher percentage of premiums written. As a result, they are more conservative in their approach to underwriting and claims and charge higher premiums for the cover they do provide. 4) Many large foreign insurers are rated by the major rating agencies such as Standard and Poor and AM Best, making it easier to determine their financial ability to pay claims. Few Thai insurers are rated by S&P or AM Best, although some are rated by Fitch Thailand. Fitch Thailand's ratings are valid to compare Thai companies with other Thai companies, but may be a less reliable measure of absolute financial security. If you think it is difficult to get a claim paid in full and promptly by a large, well-reserved insurer, just try to get one paid by a small one that is financially on the edge. 5) The OIC regulates both policy forms insurers may issue and premiums that they can charge. While this can benefit the policyholder in that it helps prevent some sharp practices, it also stifles competition and innovation. It could be suspected that part of the reason for this type of regulation is to prop up some of the smaller and weaker insurers who would struggle to compete if rates and forms had more flexibility. The consumer may be deprived of better coverage and lower premiums as a result.

Job is gone Medicaid is gone IRA/401k down the tubes Have to take out a loan to buy a dozen eggs Don't dare get on a plane because the FAA has been gutted The guy who mowed the lawn and shoveled the walks was deported Can't get the bank to give money back because there's no Consumer Financial Protection Bureau any longer I'm sure that MAGAs will agree that this is but a small price to pay for the sake of knowing there's no DEI at the university they don't attend and no trans people in the bathrooms they don't use.

I would think that his Thai citizenship has been established by the Thai consulate in the US when they issued the birth certificate and Thai passport. Why do you think that your son's Thai birth certificate and expired Thai passport don't establish his Thai citizenship? Has he tried to get a new Thai passport from the US consulate using the expired one and his birth certificate?

I think that the wifi-only iPads are able to provide some location info based upon public wifi networks' IP addresses. Perhaps this is what is meant as a communications feature. I don't think this would be very suitable for navigation purposes, however.

With respect to Apple iPads, I think the chips for the GPS are part of the cellular chipset, so only the iPads with wifi+cellular are fully GPS capable. I have had iPads for many years and have used them with Google Maps for navigation, but all of them have been wifi+cellular.

I just completed this quiz. My Score 90/100 My Time 57 seconds  

Here's a link to a reasonably credible source: https://thailand.go.th/issue-focus-detail/007_057

I think this is an example of even a broken clock telling the correct time twice a day. In my opinion, the greater harm accrues to the biological women who have to compete against biological men in sports where men hold a proven biological advantage. There are other endeavors where the trans community deserves protection from discrimination. This isn't one of them. Dems should let this one go and focus on something more worthy.

Some of them very expensive.

Silly hats? Shtreimel.

It depends. If your mother is not a tax resident in Thailand and she sends you money from abroad, then she is not subject to Thai income tax. If the money is hers and a legitimate gift to you, then you are not liable for income taxes. You would also not be liable for gift taxes unless the amount exceeds the threshold for gifts from parents of 20 million baht per year. If you transferred money to your mother that would be assessable income under Thai tax regulations and she then transmitted it to you in an effort to avoid Thai taxation my making it appear as a gift, then it may not stand up under scrutiny if it came to the attention of the RD. I'm not sure whether this would also technically be considered money laundering under Thai law. In the past there had to be an underlying specific illegal activity (drug and human trafficking, for example) for it to be money laundering and I don't think tax evasion was one of them. I'm not sure whether this has changed in recent years.

Those aren't bugs, they're features! But I'm surprised a cashed-up guy like you would have even noticed any of that, living in the cushy cocoon that mega-bucks buy.

Here's a good analysis of Trump's current state and motivations: https://www.nytimes.com/2025/03/05/opinion/trump-revenge-american-people.html?unlocked_article_code=1.104.hhP2.d9GJHusBXDEH&smid=url-share

I decided I needed a US phone number enough to justify the $99 lifetime subscription to Phone2. Since Viber can't provide a US number, I'll let my 59 baht per month subscription to Viber Out expire at the end of this month. Viber Out did work for outgoing calls, however. I was paying Skype a total of about $70 per year for a Skype Number together with an annual subscription for unlimited calls to US landlines and mobiles. I've tested Phone2 for both outgoing and incoming calls and it works just fine. I'll break even if Phone2 lasts for 18 months. I don't presently have a need for 2FA via SMS from financial institutions, so I can't say whether Phone2's claims that their incoming SMS service works for financial institutions' 2FA are valid.

Call THAI and tell them your situation and see what they say. If THAI can't offer a solution, get a new passport now. Don't put any bogus information into their reservation system.

Where is his crown? Shouldn't the sign say "I'm King Krasnov"? And then there's Hugo Drax, the Nazi with the rockets.

It does for Mac, so certainly should for MS Windows.

I'm afraid the worst is yet to come.

Normally I receive an email from the US Embassy when an alert of this nature is issued. I haven't received one for this.

No. Viber has Viber Out, which for 59 baht per month supports unlimited phone calls to US landlines and mobiles, just like Skype. World-wide calling costs a bit more. https://account.viber.com/en/ The major deficiency of Viber is the lack of an equivalent to the Skype Number for incoming calls.

Thanks. In the meantime, I've downloaded Viber and purchased a subscription that provides unlimited calls to the US for 59 baht per month. I've used Viber in the past, but haven't done so for a number of years now. I'll see how it works. Unfortunately, Viber does not seem have an option for providing a US phone number the way Skype does, at least as far as I can determine. But that's a minor issue compared to being able to make calls to landlines in the US.

Where did you find the option for the lifetime plan at $99? Their website seems to only offer a business plan at $15 per month.

I'm in the same situation. I need to find something to replace Skype that supports calling landlines inexpensively.