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mtls2005

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Everything posted by mtls2005

  1. Was this gentleman, the "he" then "they" is confusing, unable to get a second COVID extension? If so, why?
  2. His "The Lincoln Lawyer" comes to Netflix this week as a 10-ep series. He's an Exec. Producer. I liked the 2011 movie, hopefully this one is good.
  3. Interesting that his mother needs to shepherd him around. Not unusual though. A lot of the entry/sub-entry level jobs are for trainees/interns, who may still be in school, trade-school or "university". What is his education level? Does he have any interests or hobbies? What are his friends doing for employment? Does your thai family have any connections, with someone who needs workers? Maybe consider an incentive paid to him to find and maintain steady employment? And limit internet/PC usage? Marry him off, then he goes to live with his wife's family.
  4. You're using some sort of step up transformer or converter?
  5. Phone make and model? Android version? 9, 10, 11, 12? https://support.google.com/phoneapp/answer/6325463?hl=en https://support.google.com/phoneapp/answer/3459196?hl=en I'm on Android 12, the SMS spam filter works well, 95% hit rate. My in-bound voice call spam filter is still "learning" but is now flagging calls. For all other calls I let them ring through to voicemail. thais freak out with voicemail, for some reason. Based on the voicemails, most are wrong numbers.
  6. I am, I now realize, using the term "Mid-market" incorrectly. I should have stuck with "the Visa or MC rate". The exchange rate is determined by Visa or Mastercard. Your home bank may charge additional fees. Check their terms and conditions for your ATM Debit card or your credit card. I think your initial response is typical. Most of us had the same reaction when we first heard about this method years ago. Definitely strikes one as too good to be true, at first anyway. They don't charge YOU a fee, you do not pay a fee (assuming your home bank does not charge a fee). The bank(s) here have relationships with Visa and Mastercard, so they need to honor those when dealing with all customers, unless they negotiated a carve-out. I'll admit that I only did this once (many years ago when this option was first raised here), at my Bangkok Bank branch (a larger one, with foreign remittance desk), just to see if it worked. I obtained 30,000 baht, my limit is $2,500, using my U.S.-based Visa-embossed ATM Debit Card. I paid no fees, and obtained the Visa rate for that day. I took the cash, then redeposited it at the branch's CDM. I didn't want to confuse the bank employee. But there have been gazillions of other, more detailed first-hand reports here over the years, and a search will yield those details. I'd encourage you to seek those out where they are explained way better than I could ever do.
  7. My last guess is that while receiving international SMSs with MINT are free - the sender pays - you still need an UpRoam balance in order to register on the network. But that's just a guess based on what little scraps of info you provide. I'm sure you'll get it sorted out.
  8. Are you renting? If yes, contact the landlord to see what options currently exist. And talk to others, neighbors, to the extent you can prior to arrival, to see what service they use. Can you describe the building? Free-standing, shop-house, single-digit storey condo, very large condo. As with most things here, there is a variability in experiences, and thus no definitive answer to most of your questions. Given your short-stay, a need for basic internet, it might be that mobile data, i.e. 4G/LTE will be sufficient. How many devices do you have? You could use your mobile as a hot-spot or get a n inexpensive 4G modem. Mobile data packages run from 150 baht up. The least expensive options include 1 year SIMs with unlimited data/fixed bandwidth and limited data/unlimited bandwidth (300 Mbps in reality). I think you will be challenged, as a foreigner/non-immigrant in getting fixed broadband service, more so for only 6 months.
  9. What is your current UpRoam balance? Can you send a SMS to your son? Can you call your son - just ask him to let it ring, don't answer. Can your son call you, again let it ring don't answer? I think your phone supports WiFi right? I see that symbol in your screen shot. Do you use WiFi calling? Do you use WiFi at all? You have a roaming signal, and the MINT network ID, so unclear why you can't receive a TEXT. It looks like you had a missed call? Can you elaborate on that at all? Do you know anyone with a real phone? Maybe ask if they can help you. Swap your MINT SIM in and see what might work. And you've received no reply? How do you manage your MINT Mobile account? Via the web interface, right? (You can't run the app on your phone of course.) I don't think your recent travails are down to any 3G network shutdown, as that is now extended to July 1.
  10. The right-wing can make a wedge issue out whole cloth. They can make Incandescent light bulbs, and low water pressure wedge issues. Heck they could make a ham sandwich a wedge issue. They only care about dividing and not uniting. They are for nothing, and against everything. The LGBQT Tent is huge, inclusive and welcoming. To start tossing folks out of the tent whom you may not like or agree with, just to have a smoother path for your own specific situation would be a HUGE mistake. If you cave on this, the right wing won't just stand down. They'll keep coming until you or your children are in forced conversion therapy "camps". Unequivocally, NO! Fight every battle, for everyone. Any discussion with my daughter - I only have a son, and he does participate in one single D3 sport - would start off with the question: "Why do you participate in sport?" Is it to compete? To be part of a team? To reach/exceed your personal limits? Or is it only to "win"? And if you don't win are you a failure? I would hope she answered these questions as yes, yes, yes and no, no.
  11. CAMRA. There is a hot-bed of home/craft brewers here. Somewhat less well-organized than CAMRA. Plenty of local thai groups on FB. The biggest challenge is the ambient temperature.
  12. Not exactly. I was referring to the Sugar Tax, for drinks like Coca-Cola, which is set to rise every couple of years here. While there is residual sugar left in mass-produced beer, the amount is quite small and is untaxed here AFAIK.
  13. Another thanks. I watched S01E01, quite liked it. Solid police procedural, with requisite crashing waves.
  14. Tax thresholds tied to ABV, while trying to maintain price/ml. Same-same for sugar tax.
  15. Yeah, if you say so. The OP didn't mention much in the way of applications, other than internet access. The whole bridge mode thing was a thing ~ 10 years ago. Now? Meh.
  16. Which financial institution? And did your "friend" ask what policy change went into effect at these branches on Sunday May 1? Do these branches have foreign remittance desks?
  17. Let us know how you get on. Trip reports are one of the most valuable subjects here.
  18. Meh. Leave the primary (ISP) router as is. Use Access Point Mode on the secondary router. Plug and play. Zero configuration/maintenance/issues. This is the set-up we use for all installs. Now if you have more esoteric application requirements then maybe these call more unique solutions. Bin this trash.
  19. These price-control efforts are like a whack-a-mole game. Tomorrow? Eggs?
  20. 006 is a TrueMove low-cost prefix so that might not work with DTAC? For the most part, locally originated "standard" international mobile calls get routed onto trunks operated by the CAT/TOT now known as NT Telecom, a State Enterprise, and then get handed off in the U.K. There shouldn't be a lot of difference. But apparently, for you, there was.
  21. Which bank? Often there are two limits, one for ATM withdrawals, and one for Teller Withdrawals. For me one is $500, and the other is $2,500. And you may be able to request one or both limits be raised. You need the OP's friends. This method relies on either a teller advance using a Visa or MC-denoted ATM Debit Card associated with a bank account (usually a checking account, also usually in the U.S.) which is takes money from an account, converts it to THB (at the CC rate, mid-market), and dispenses it without any local bank fee, or originating bank fee. a credit card cash advance, also fee-free and at mid-market rates, but which people pay off immediately before it accrues a single-day's interest. Both/either are the most cost-efficient methods of accessing your funds elsewhere and getting THB.
  22. It's always a friend. Which financial service institution, and associated ATM debit card does your friend have? Which banks? Bangkok Bank and SCB? Banks, not branches, have a relationship with Visa and Mastercard, which relies on universal application of rules, features and benefits. Might some branches not offer this service? Sure. Have BBL and SCB stopped providing teller withdrawals and cash advances on foreign ATM debit and credit cards? I guess anything is possible.
  23. correction. There are others in the 98 page opinion, re: Stare Decisis, beginning on page 35 Section III.
  24. How do you know this? Can you send an SMS from your Google Voice account (use the web access: voice.google.com) to your Mint Mobile number? Can you reply? You have a roaming signal. That's good. You have MintMobile UpRoam and it is funded? Can you send a SMS to 6700, with "ROAM" - no quotes in the body? What is the reply? You should be able to send/receive SMSes and and make/receive calls. And you said you were receiving SMSes, when? As recently as this week? I don't think his phone is an Android smartphone, so he can't run the (Google) Voice app. It's a flip-phone running some proprietary SW. He'd have to rely on a browser for GV. He could forward GV message to his gmail account and read/reply to those in email format. No clue what this means...