Etaoin Shrdlu

Received my payment yesterday, January 3rd. Haven't yet received the annual letter from the SSA advising of the new, inflation-adjusted amount, however.

Zolpidem. It's marketed here as Stillnox, in the US as Ambien. I ask my doctor for a few tablets during a visit if I'm planning to go to the US.

I remember watching the Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour as a teenager on the family's black and white television. For some reason, the routine that comes to mind when I think back is the one where Tommy goes on about the pumas in the cravices (crevasses). Tommy waged war with the censors at CBS over political content criticizing the war in Vietnam. Tame stuff by today's standards, but cutting edge back then. An icon of the late 1960s.

There are two major road conventions that different countries have entered into. The Geneva Convention on Road Traffic is the older of the two and an IDP is issued for a one-year period for use in the countries that have ratified. The US has ratified this convention. The Vienna Convention is newer and one gets a an IDP with a three-year validity. The US does not observe this convention but many European countries and others do. The DLT will ask which country or countries you plan to visit and will then issue the relevant IDP, either per Vienna or Geneva convention and your IDP will have either a one-year or three-year validity. I suppose it would be possible to need two IDPs in some situations for trips involving multiple countries.

Some states in the US require the IDP in addition to one's foreign drivers license. Not having an IDP could potentially void the insurance of the vehicle if driven in one of those states. For this reason some rental companies will insist on an IDP.

In the instructions for form 8833 there appears to be a carve-out of reporting requirements for individuals who claim relief under a tax treaty for, among other things, pensions. What is your take on this? Does this mean that form 8833 is not required if claiming tax credits under form 1116 for Thai taxes paid on remittances of private pensions or IRA/401k withdrawals?

I don't know about Simon going to the OIC. One can always take an insurer to court if the OIC does not give a satisfactory result, but I would first go to the OIC.

Filing a complaint with the OIC would likely resolve the issue more quickly than going to court and with much less expense.

If there isn't a policy condition that stipulates that the policyholder must obtain a blood alcohol test after an accident, then I would question how an error or omission of a hospital that is not a party to the contract of insurance could void coverage for the policyholder. I do see how an insurer might take this stance, but I'm not sure it would stand up if this were taken to the OIC. Is there something else in play here that isn't mentioned in the OP?

There is no evidence that Christ was born near the winter solstice. Christianity just arrogated a pagan festival to convert Germanic and Nordic tribes. I kind of like to think that all the lights, trees and other decorations are just celebrations of Yule, which is completely pagan and has nothing to do with any of the Abrahamic religions.

The information in the link is not correct. There is no annual reporting requirement for PR holders.

Yup!

Why not give gays the right to be just as miserable as the rest of us?

One of my children had an expired first-time 2 year license and wanted to renew it before returning to university in the US. Couldn't get an appointment at the local DLT office in Bangkok in time, so went to another province nearby and managed to get it done. It would therefore seem that the system is capable of doing so, however each individual DLT office may have a different policy. Good luck.

The typical time between having the implant inserted and the crown placed on it is usually between three and six months. My daughter had an implant and crown within the past year and the cost was around 75,000 baht.

One used to be able to find lawn bowls at the RBSC Polo Club. Might still be there, but don't know.

As far as I am aware, Thai insurers only offer annual cover for health insurance. I think you will find this to be the case for health insurance from almost any major international insurer as well, although there may be niche insurers that offer such cover. I would expect it to be expensive in any event.

With the Republicans in control of the house, especially with a religious zealot like Johnson holding the speaker's gavel, perhaps it's best that they aren't trying to make new laws.

The only mandatory "insurance" is the Por Ror Bor scheme which provides limited no-fault medical along with death and disability benefits to people injured or killed in motor vehicle accidents. The benefits are quite low by Western standards. Por Ror Bor isn't liability insurance, so there is no cover for damage to third party property or actual legal liability for bodily injury. Thailand does not require real third party liability insurance for motor vehicles.

PR holders aren't able to own land.

If you have an iPhone you can turn off data roaming in the settings menu. I'm sure Android phones have similar. I've never had a data bill from AIS while overseas while my phone's data roaming was turned off. Just make sure you turn it off before you get on the plane.

There are many ways to commit insurance fraud and I suppose insurers can't stop them all. Photos would probably prevent the less determined and inspections would stop even more. Nothing is perfect.

If you were to upgrade cover to include physical damage to the vehicle at renewal, you would almost certainly have to submit photos or let a surveyor take a look at your vehicle. Insurers aren't going to pay claims for damages that occurred before the relevant cover incepted. They make sure they aren't going to do so by requiring photos or an inspection if upgrading or if they are insuring a used vehicle for physical damage for the first time.

If you are renewing an existing policy with the same insurer with the same level of coverage, there shouldn't be a requirement to submit photos. It is only when you either switch insurers or upgrade the level of cover at renewal that photos may be needed.

Yes, good point. Remitting commingled funds that include income earned after December 31, 2023 does create a big problem under the new interpretation of the rules. We'll have to see how this plays out. I suspect eventually Thailand will move to taxation of global income, but that will require a re-write of existing tax law and may take some time.