Etaoin Shrdlu

That certainly describes an interesting approach to insurance. I think this is the first time I've seen an insurance broker issue "shares" to its clients. I would still wish to see details of the insurance company that actually bears the risk of loss under the policies that WR Life issues to its clients.

That would lead me to believe that VUMI has some sort of agreement with Pacific Prime to act on their behalf for clients in Thailand. Nothing particularly unusual about that, but did you agree that VUMI could release your personal information to Pacific Prime when you filled in your info on VUMI's website? Perhaps there is wording when you submit your info that you agree that VUMI can release it to their business partners.

This is the registration number given by the ORIAS, the French registrar of insurance brokers, banks and other financial intermediaries. To me, this indicates that WR Life is registered in France with ORIAS as an insurance broker. https://www.orias.fr

When the pooch takes me for my walks, I carry a cane. It looks totally appropriate for someone my age. It has been useful a couple of times, but is probably not 100% effective in keeping dogs at bay.

I meant that if an investigation were to be undertaken regarding the issuance of Thai citizenship, the entity that would be investigated would be the Special Branch, not Immigration.

I think that would involve the Special Branch Bureau as they are the ones that handle naturalization.

That's right. April is an insurance broker, not an insurance company. One needs to drill down to see who is the insurer in order to determine claims-paying attitude and also insurer security.

From what I've been able to find on the internet, VUMI's distribution arm for Asia is located in the Dubai Outsource Free Zone in the UAE. Free zones in the UAE do not come under the jurisdiction of the UAE Insurance Authority, so I'm not sure what oversight body would be of assistance if you had an issue with VUMI's Dubai entity. The parent company appears to be located in Dallas, Texas, but I don't think that entity is actually the risk-bearing insurance company that would be responsible for paying claims. I think that the insurance company that VUMI possibly uses, VIP Universal Medical Insurance Group, Ltd, is actually based in the Turks and Caicos Islands. If so, it would therefore probably come under the oversight of the Turks and Caicos insurance regulator. Sometimes smaller insurance companies will incorporate in offshore jurisdictions due to low capital requirements and light regulatory oversight, but I do not know about Turks and Caicos or VUMI specifically. I have not been able to find a Standard and Poor or A.M. Best rating for this company, so I can't comment on its financial strength. If you do pursue a quote from VUMI, you might wish to ask them for the name and address of the insurance company that actually bears the financial risk of paying claims along with information on their financial status including any ratings from Standard and Poor, AM Best or other rating agency. My preference would be to go with a large, well-established insurer that is subject to regulation in a major financial center in places like the UK, the EU or even Singapore.

I thought I provided an example from 50 years ago when I mentioned the Baader-Meinhof Gang in my first comment. I think he did say "never" about threats from the left in his post. Perhaps I misunderstood.

Back in the 1970s the threat to democracy came mostly from the left. Today it comes mostly from the right. I did not intend to imply that the threat today comes from the left, but you mentioned in your post that it never came from the left.

Well, there was the Red Army Faction (Baader-Meinhof Gang) back in the day. Perhaps no coups d'etat, but certainly a leftist terrorist organization. But otherwise I agree that the threat to liberal democracy today comes primarily from the right.

Thaksin's greatest crime was appointing Purachai as Interior Minister.

I don't believe that any of the international bank branches here offer retail banking services. Citibank used to, but is in the process of transferring its retail accounts to UOB Thailand. It is possible to transfer funds out of Thailand, but from your post it seems that the funds are from trading on international exchanges which implies that the funds are already outside Thailand. I'm not sure what the issue is.

Some insurers will cover portable electronics under a homeowner's or renter's policy as long as they do not represent a large percentage of the total sum insured for property. In isolation, no.

I can remember listening to it in the '70s. It was around for a long time.

Used to be a panel discussion show on German TV and radio years ago called Frühschoppen. A group of journalists would discuss issues of the day. I think they were served drinks during the discussion.

Mrs. Shrdlu received a letter in the post with a photo of the family vehicle speeding while traveling on highway 24 in Buriram Province. The time lapse between the offense and the arrival of the letter was measured in months.

Mrs. Shrdlu and I make a similar pilgrimage on 24 several times a year and have also seen the checkpoints near Prasat and once in a while in other places. I keep the speed under 100 kph anyway and have not been ticketed. Mrs. Shrdlu after a solo trip once received a letter in the mail with a photo of our vehicle exceeding the limit. I think the fine was 500 baht. She wasn't stopped by the police at the time, so no checkpoint doesn't mean no citation!

I believe Luma is an insurance broker, not an insurance company. The actual coverage and claims service would be provided by whichever insurance company Luma placed your business with. A policyholder's satisfaction with breadth of coverage and claims paying attitude and ability would be dependent upon the insurance company, not Luma. You might wish to ask Luma which insurer or insurers they place their clients' travel insurance with and then ask about those insurers' cover and claims-paying attitude and ability.

It isn't always necessary to sue a Thai insurer to get them to pay third party liability claims under their auto policies and there is a way of dealing with recalcitrant insurers short of suing them: file a complaint with the Office of the Insurance Commissioner. Syn Mun Kong is one of the insurers that ran into difficulties as a result of their issuing Covid-19 policies: https://asia.nikkei.com/Spotlight/Coronavirus/Thai-insurers-sink-into-bankruptcy-due-to-COVID-claims. but I don't know if this is affecting their willingness or ability to pay auto third party liability claims. Do you know whether the driver or owner of the car has notified Syn Mun Kong of the accident and do you know of SMK's response? Regardless of whether a lawsuit against Syn Mun Kong becomes necessary, I think Mike and his family would probably benefit from some kind of expert help in navigating this. Travel insurers often engage assistance companies to help sort some of these issues. Has Mike's travel insurer gotten their assistance company involved?

I think that the recovering Thai economy will give the Bank of Thailand cover to increase interest rates while the expectation is that further US interest rate increases will be smaller than the recent 75 basis point increase. I think future rate changes get built into exchange rates in advance unless there are surprises.

I suspected it must have been something like this.

Have received both the first and second 7162 notices. Still no sign of any 7161 for daughter's benefits.

A good insurance broker can help you find a suitable policy for your needs. If you aren't using a reputable broker, I would suggest that you do so. I would avoid any broker that was not forthcoming as to the exact identity and financial strength of the insurance company or companies from which they obtained your quotes. My preference would be to have quotes from insurers that have a Standard and Poor financial strength rating of "A" or better or the AM Best equivalent. This would probably rule out Thailand-based insurers. Offshore insurers also usually offer broader coverage and have better claims-paying attitude than insurers based in Thailand. Even the Thailand-based operations of multinational insurers use more restrictive policy forms than their non-Thai operations. Not all Thailand-based insurance brokers are willing to work with offshore insurers as this is technically not permitted by Thai insurance regulations, but some will. Good luck.

I agree, but the foreign reserves belong to the Bank of Thailand, not the Thai Government. If the Thai Government wanted to use those reserves to pay down external debt, it would have to find the cash to buy them from the BoT, perhaps by issuing more local debt!