Lorry

Plenty of instructions how to build a DIY air purifier on the net, even on AN. I couldn't be bothered for 3-4000 B, but when I opened my Hatari I really thought "hm, I could do this myself". I also use Filtrate on my a/c, gf says it doesn't help at all (I cant tell you, I wasn't here the last smog season), see @Peterw42

I went to my 7 yesterday. I inserted my All-Member number into their machine. I then still got a nice printed receipt. Plus an extra piece of paper, dunno for what. They did remove the trash bin for the receipts, though. But they have a new staff: the most beautiful girl I have seen in years.

I can tell you quite a few countries in Europe or Asia where it's not easy for foreigners (who aren't working there) to open a bank account. Things have changed over the last 20 years. And in the US, even many Americans can't get a bank account. A friend once went to Germany as an exchange student for a year. Deutsche opened an account for her (necessary for her visa) and at the same time made her sign a building savings agreement (10 years). The privilege of having a EU bank account cost another friend 4000$. Thailand is cheap in comparison.

Quite the opposite. If an ordinary looking farang wants "to open an account" or an ordinary looking Thai ต้องการเปิดบัญชี, what they get is a savings account. Most Thais and farang don't even know what a current account is (nor do they know what a cheque is, sorry, my American friends) - as demonstrated by @Alexjkr Now, what happens if a master like Puccini with his gold plated Fellali drives up and enters the branch with his entourage, I don't know...

I have had Xiaomi for years and just bought their latest model for a new place. Very satsfied. They are much quieter than my (rather quiet, new Mitsu) a/c. I also have the standard Hatari, but they are much more noisy.

I don't know whether this is funny or ridiculous. So the letters "tip" in American English translate into "that part of the price that we don't write on the menu (but that you have to pay, of course, because it's part of our price)" They should correct the dictionaries accordingly.

And with a permission to stay of only 6 months, that's stamped in your passport and the bank won't like it, a bit short

Good point. This is something farang don't understand. For a Thai, it means: tipping is not routinely expected, not at all. And it is not these ridiculous amounts (20 Baht, 40 Baht - for heavens sake) farangs discuss endlessly about. Thais tip, if they are really happy, and I mean really happy. And then, they may tip a lot. Examples: hairdresser quoted 100B, customer gave 200. 2 nurse helpers who treated a well-off patient over months got 100,000 B each (they saved his leg) (in my home country, we would give 20$, 50$ would be considered a lot). Normally, Thais don't tip at all.

Rates have doubled. Flagfall didn't change.

Is my English so poor? There WAS (past tense) - not is - a time limit. In 2004 you were only grandfathered if you had already been on continuous extensions since 1998. (The numbers may be a bit off - but you were NOT grandfathered if you just got your first extension in 2003). Trust me, I was alive.

I never heard of a bank asking for a CoR. First, they want a WP. If you are lucky, they will consider you even without a WP. Then they will look at your visa ("DTV"??? what's that?) and how long you can stay. A year would be good. DTV gives you only a permission to stay 6 months, a bit short.

Yes, continuous for about 6 years (I think 1998-2004 iirc ). That's what I posted and what @zzzzzdoesn't know/ understand

"Need WP" is the first line of defense against a foreigner at many branches. People with retirement or marriage visa can get a bank account if they shop around a bit. It's more difficult for people with a DTV, probably because no bank staff has the slightest ideas what "DTV" means. So they revert to the default "need WP"

Easiest, if you have a Thai bank account: Ask to have the withholding tax on the interested refunded. Get a statement of the withholding tax at any bank branch (takes less than 20 minutes), and take it to the local revenue office (less than 1 hour). There is no minimum, but maybe they are not happy if you ask for a refund of 26 satang.

No, they didn't. Only those who at that time had had 6 (iirc) years continuous extensions were grandfathered. For example, all those who lost their extensions during covid would not be grandfathered.

No, it means right and left lung. Not practical for a frail 88 year old (you would have to sedate him and he would never wake up again) There is no such a thing as "puny pneumonia". BTW according to the Vatican, the cause of death was a stroke

"Always" is a big word. Do you (or does anyone else here) know since when tourism accounted for, let's say, 10% or more of Thai GDP? I guess, sometime between 1980 and 2010 ?

like, for example, the USA?

I am a bit speechless. How many times has @kwilcowritten: people make mistakes. That's really the most basic insight. Once you understand this, you can talk about traffic safety. But if you never make mistakes...

It depends from branch to branch and from customer to customer. A common requirement is WP, but it's doable without WP. It helps if you are a long- standing customer. BTW postpaid is often more expensive (prepaid is for the plebs, postpaid is for people with accountants, tax rebates, expense accounts etc) and cannot so easily be suspended if you are not in Thailand.

Ok, and how does this help anybody? I once had a traffic accident, and there last thing I was worried about was whose fault it was (BTW it was 100% the other person's fault and 50% my own fault :))

No, they are not. Many foreigners have postpaid SIM cards

I don't really understand w hat "oil comes up" means, but I am happy to hear that I am not an adult yet. Thx for making me several decades younger! Almost all fires can be avoided by smart fire protection measures. Almost all drownings can be avoided by experienced swimmers. Almost all accidents in the mountains can be avoided by experienced, safety-conscious climbers. Almost all plane crashes can be avoided by good pilots and engineers. One wonders why accidents happen at all.

Many posters have, through the years, reported that this is not so easy. Possible, yes. Easy, no.

PS further reading (long!): https://www.nytimes.com/2025/04/19/opinion/extinction-technology-culture.html " a sense that real-world life is fundamentally obsolete "