Etaoin Shrdlu

If you are a US citizen, the consular official will want to know about your status in Thailand and whether you have strong enough ties here to make it certain that you and your wife will return after a visit to the US and not stay and try to change her immigration status there. Your wife should take along your passport to show your immigration status and be prepared to answer questions as to where you work, how long you have been living in Thailand and similar. The stronger your ties to Thailand are, the better her chances of getting a tourist visa.

This isn't correct. Insurance follows the vehicle, not the driver. If the vehicle was insured for voluntary third party liability cover, that insurance should respond unless other exclusions apply. This would be true even if the driver passed away as a result of the accident. But that said, it may not be worth pursuing the issue. It's only a couple of fence posts and some chainlink fence.

When you wrote "bike", did you mean bicycle or did you mean motorbike? Based upon the description of the damages, I assume you mean motorbike. The primary source of third party liability cover for damage to your property would be the insurance covering the motorbike, not the tourist's travel insurance. If the motorbike is only covered by the government-mandated Por Ror Bor scheme, there is no third party liability cover for damage to your property. But It is quite possible that the motorbike is covered for third party liability under a voluntary policy, so the tourist or owner of the motorbike needs to provide you with details of any insurance that may cover the motorbike and the owner should notify the insurance company of the incident. Travel insurance policies often don't provide third party liability cover for damages arising out of the use of motor vehicles by the policyholder. Still, you should also ask the tourist for details of his travel insurance, but it may not provide thitd party liability cover.

He would fade if the Evangelicals figure out that the blizzard and frigid cold weather being sent to Iowa by God during the Republican caucuses is a sign of His displeasure at their choice of political party.

Kiatnakin Bank may be smaller than the large Thai banks, but it does carry a decent credit rating by TRIS: https://ir.kkpfg.com/storage/updates/credit-ratings/20230418-kkp-tris-59-2023-en.pdf. But bear in mind that TRIS ratings reflect a company's comparative strength relative to other Thai companies and is not an absolute rating of financial strength. It specializes in auto loans, which is possibly reflective of its history as a non-bank finance company going back several decades. Here's the company's account of its history: https://bank.kkpfg.com/en/aboutus/our-history. You can see that the bank isn't afraid to disclose that Kiatnakin Finance, one of the companies that combined to become today's Kiatnakin Phatra Bank, was one of the 57 finance companies that "discontinued" business operations in 1997 due to the financial crisis that started in Thailand that year. I don't think that Kiatnakin Phatra presents an inordinate amount of risk, but don't know how consumer-friendly it may be or if it offers high interest rates for relatively small FCD accounts. Foreign currency deposit accounts are not protected by the Thai government's deposit protection scheme.

My read of article 20 of the US-Thai DTA that specifically deals with social security, leads me to believe that anyone who is a US citizen cannot be taxed by Thailand for social security payments even if they also have Thai citizenship.There is no carve-back for Thailand to tax US citizens who also hold Thai citizenship in article 20. Article 21 of the DTA deals with pension payments made by other governmental jurisdictions (federal, state, county city, etc) in consideration of past employment by those government entities. These pension payments are not social security payments, so I think that the carve-back in article 21 enabling Thai taxation on these payments to those who hold Thai citizenship is solely for these non-social security payments. But that's just my opinion and I'm not a tax expert. Take a look at the DTA yourself and in particular articles 20 and 21.

Yes, It could be either. Or perhaps there really isn't a restriction. But other functions within the Paotang app are probably restricted to Thai nationals. I'm thinking of the purchase of securities or mutual funds, taking out personal loans and the like, so perhaps this would also apply to lottery tickets. But I don't know. Let's see if a foreigner who has purchased lottery tickets with the Paotang app will advise.

Ok. From what I can gather, the online tickets are only available via Krungthai Bank's Paotang app. If there are restrictions on foreigners purchasing online lottery tickets, and I am not saying that there are, it would seem that such restriction likely would come from KTB and not the GLO. I do not know whether KTB imposes such restrictions, but apparently the person whose post I quoted originally must have been told this was the case. So perhaps the issue isn't whether foreigners are not allowed to purchase lottery tickets by the GLO, but whether KTB imposes limitations as their policy. Or perhaps the poster I responded to was given incorrect information. Perhaps a foreigner who has registered with KTB's Paotang app and purchased online lottery tickets with it could advise.

The full sentence that sparked my post is "Digital ticket sales to foreigners are unavailable and of course prize winnings are not permitted to be paid to foreigners, from KTB." I know that there is no bar to foreigners purchasing physical lottery tickets from vendors or from redeeming winning tickets. I don't know whether foreigners are indeed barred from purchasing online tickets. Do you know?

The post that I was responding to stated that foreigners were not allowed to purchase online lottery tickets and I was speculating as to the possible reasons. Are foreigners allowed to purchase online tickets? Or is the post to which I was responding incorrect?

You're correct. I checked my SSA correspondence and 1099 form and I did not receive backdated payments. My mistake.

I have permanent residency, so I'm familiar with the process, although I received it about 25 years ago when it was slightly easier than it is now and wasn't as expensive. I think I spent less than 50,000 baht all in. Technically, I'm an immigrant (and resident) and not a tourist, but not being able to buy lottery tickets online does not bother me. And to correct an error on my part, the residency requirement on the lottery ticket I bought in the US years ago wasn't state residency, it was US residency.

At any given time, the majority of foreigners in Thailand are tourists who won't have tax ID numbers or bank accounts, so I suppose it might be to avoid issues with this if a tourist were to win. Easier to ban sales to all foreigners than to check to see if they are resident with tax ID and bank account. Perhaps the same issue would arise with printed tickets, but much more difficult to administer. Of course this is just speculation on my part. In a similar vein, I bought a lottery ticket in the US some years back and read the small print on the ticket. It stated that sales were only permitted to residents of the state where I bought it. Not too different, I guess.

The phone call from Manila SBU only takes about 10 minutes or so and they just ask questions to verify that it is really you. I was also instructed to fill out and submit an application for a new SS card although I still had the card I was issued some time back in the 1960s. My benefits started within a month or two and for some reason I also received about three months' backdated payments even though I did not request it. This was six years go.

Yes, it is fairly common for larger US companies and institutions to use mailing services in other countries when sending mail to non-US addressees. I also receive mailings from the US that are similarly franked.

Several insurers in Thailand offer outbound travel insurance. AIG Thailand's TravelGuard product will cover up to 85 years of age, however after 75 the medical benefit levels are reduced. AXA Thailand also offers travel insurance, but I don't have any information as to benefit levels or age restrictions. Ask a broker to help you find a product that most closely meets your needs.

Read your policy to see how the insurer applies the deductible.There are different ways that deductibles may be applied. Some policies have an annual aggregate deductible and all covered treatment incurred during a policy year contributes towards satisfying the aggregate deductible amount. You would not receive any claims payment for the small claims until the aggregate deductible is satisfied. After the aggregate deductible is satisfied, covered claims would be paid according to policy terms and conditions. If you have an annual deductible, you should be submitting all treatment charges as soon as they are incurred so that the insurance company has a record of them and so you don't run afoul of any time bars that may prevent them from being accepted and contributing towards the aggregate deductible. But first, read you policy so that you understand how the deductible applies. If you don't understand the policy, ask your broker to help you

This company imports Swedish snus. You can buy online or contact them and ask about a retailer in CM. https://swedishsnus.co.th/collections/snus-smokeless-tobacco

Wine will continue to attract a tax based upon volume and the alcohol content, although the rate of tax has been reduced. Under the old formula, wine was taxed at 1,500 baht per liter per 100 degrees of alcohol. Under the new tax regime, the rate will be reduced to 1,000 baht per liter per 100 degrees of alcohol. A 750 cl bottle of 14% alcohol wine will attract a tax of 105 baht. (.75 x 14/100)*1000. Under the old formula the tax would be 157 baht.

So far, I've only encountered its use by speakers of American English. It is a regional usage if the US is considered a region, but I don't think it reflects a regional usage within the US. I think it is often a marker of informal versus formal speech, or educational attainment/socio-economic status when used in a more formal setting. Same with "I didn't go there yet".

I'm aware that there are regional usages and informal speech which don't conform to generally accepted norms. But I've seen and heard "have went" in enough instances, including in situations in which I would expect the speaker to use more formal speech, that its use appears to have become quite widespread. I am not a grammar Nazi, but this one tests my patience.

I often see "have went" instead of "have gone" in written English as well hear it in spoken English. To me, this seems to be a recent development. I wonder where it came from.

Sight bills are used in international trade as a means of payment. In a sense, they're like a cashier's check. I don't know why they would attract a preferential rate.

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Phuket. https://edition.cnn.com/travel/2023-worst-destinations-overtourism-avoid-crowds/index.html