Etaoin Shrdlu

What's the name of the insurance company that SBC places the coverage with?

I had the first hyaluronic acid injection in my knee about nine years ago and a second one about 18 months after the first, both at Bumrungrad with Dr. Panya. Since the second injection, my knee has remained in much better shape than it was prior to the first, although perhaps not as good as the first year after each injection. Back then the cost was somewhere in the 20,000+ baht range. My FiL received an injection in his knee at Soon Padpattana Clinic and had he not been insured, the could would have been about 7,000 baht.

It is almost always better to use an independent insurance broker who works with several different insurers. Informal intermediaries such as travel agents will very often add their own mark-up which is often a multiple of whatever the regular commission paid to a broker would be. Another sector that does this routinely is the removals business.

Is it possible to get "cheaper" medical insurance in Thailand compared to what you already have with Cigna Global? That depends upon what you mean by "cheaper". Cheaper can mean lower purchase price and it can also mean lower quality. Can you get a policy with a lower premium? Probably. Will it provide coverage that is as broad or broader than your Cigna policy with similar limits? Probably not. Thai policies will likely not transfer as much risk away from you as your Cigna policy. You will retain more risk via lower limits, broader exclusions and more unfavorable underwriting approaches. Then there is the issue of claims-paying attitude of Thai insurers and fewer consumer and regulatory protections here. In my opinion, taking into consideration of the total cost of risk and not just premium spend, Thai insurance policies are on balance more expensive than some offshore products offered by large multinational insurers.

While they last hundreds of years in a landfill before they degrade, the manufacturer seems to think they need to be replaced after three when stored in a kitchen cabinet. What could possibly be at work here?

The party's name in German was Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei or National Socialist German Workers' Party in English. Not much democratic about it.

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I made the mistake of forgetting to bring a mask when I was in a crowded area of a government hospital last month. I came down with Covid and was sick for almost a week, but not severely. Mrs. Shrdlu then promptly caught it from me. Her bout was more severe and she spent a couple of nights in hospital. It is still around and it is no hoax.

I just received my renewal debit card from Chase. Chase sent it via the US Postal Service. It probably cost about five dollars or less in postage and took about ten days to get here. It looks like it costs about $165 to shave off five or so days delivery time. But the USPS's hands aren't completely clean. They killed off international surface mail in 2007. Used to be good for sending books from the US to Thailand inexpensively.

The DLT office in Prakhanong/Bangchak accepts walk-ins at certain times of day. I obtained an IDP (1949 version for use in the US) there in May this year without an appointment.

Yes, and that’s true of life in Thailand as well.

Non-immigrant B visa is available for those who wish to work here. Salary level required isn't very high. One can also start one's own company. This is what some of the most successful expats have done. I know many who have either worked here or had their own companies, and some who have done both. A few came here in their twenties, many in their thirties and others older. I was in my mid-thirties when I came to work here. In my seventies now.

Given the GOP's love of conspiracy theories, I think it prudent to also present the Democrats' statement: https://oversightdemocrats.house.gov/news/press-releases/ranking-member-ruiz-leads-select-subcommittee-democrats-releasing-final-report

The threat is real. There was a serious attempt to blow us the Israeli embassy in 1994 that was interrupted by a minor traffic accident involving the truck that contained the C4/ANFO bomb. Then a plot in 2012. https://wapo.st/4gcpkgS https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2012_Bangkok_bombings

Won the game of life? Not yet. Still playing and I hope I have a few years left. My advice is to move to Thailand when you're in your twenties or thirties. Then it isn't necessary to try to think that you're forty-five.

I think the W-8BEN is used for non-US persons who have income from US sources and who may be subject to US withholding taxes. Those who do have US-sourced income and are not US persons, can either avoid US withholding taxes or have reduced US withholding taxes under tax treaties if they complete the W-8BEN. I am not sure why a Thai bank would request this form unless it sold investment products such as mutual funds that provided US-sourced income.

I suspect one complication is a large rural population and the difficulty of determining the number of people who may occasionally engage in gathering wood or performing similar tasks.

And losers: https://rollcall.com/2024/11/25/donald-trump-administration-losers-elections/

This paper is a few years old, but I think the description of how the unemployment rate is calculated remains valid. https://www.ilo.org/sites/default/files/wcmsp5/groups/public/@asia/@ro-bangkok/documents/publication/wcms_bk_pb_136_en.pdf Basically, it is a combination of a generous description of what constitutes employment and the exclusion of those not actively seeking same.

Still waiting.

Still waiting for an intelligent rebuttal of the OP's post.

Still waiting for an intelligent rebuttal to the OP's post. Are you up to it or not?

What do you think the salient points might be? Or did you not read the post?

Since DJT himself does not read, I guess it would be asking way too much for any of his cultists to. Instead of wasting time asking a question like this, why aren't you working on a fact-based rebuttal of the OP's points?

So far, responses from the MAGA crowd have mostly fallen into two categories: 1) Attacks on the author 2) Irrelevant culture war issues. I don't think any of them are capable of putting up a cogent argument that actually refutes the salient points of the OP's post.