XtraFly

4 hours ago, cmarshall said:

You have to get over the fear of the cloud.  Everything is in the cloud.  I understand that the CIA keeps its information in Microsoft's cloud.  Probably the banks and brokers keep their information in a cloud, either their own or some vendor's.  Notice that you have no actual instances to report of theft of data from cloud storage to report.  So, it's a kind of superstition.

 

The other side of it is that it is naive to believe that your information is safer because it is physically closer to you.  Since your computer is on the internet and subject to attack through email, downloads, accessing websites, etc. it's not necessarily safer in your apartment.  Thumb drives fail, as you know, but at least you are using more than one of them.  

 

Our information would not necessarily be safer on a NAS, nor would it be as accessible.  In particular, I need to be sure that we can access our key apps remotely and individually.  As it happens having a vm in the cloud addresses those needs uniquely well.  Our sensitive information such as credentials to access bank and brokerage accounts is already in the cloud of the password manager app.  I am not at all worried about the safety of that information.  

What about the apps on my iPhone ? Hulu, Netflix, banks, etc. I use VPN still. Or you are saying the VM can also take care of my phone apps ? Thx. Very interesting topic.

9 hours ago, Will B Good said:

Are there any suggestions, any ideas how they would even begin to achieve this?

ThailandPlus App. That’s all what I can think of 

And I thought John McAfee was dead.

What I don’t understand here it’s very difficult to handle 1 GF at a time. How did he manage to handle all 3 GF’s, he’s a trooper for sure.

2 hours ago, DrJack54 said:

A METV is pretty useless at this time.

It allows for 60 day stay and can apply for 30 day extension. You then need to exit Thailand and reenter. Currently that's a world of pain and expense. 

Not suitable at this time. 

 

I agree with you, that's why I'm trying to understand if the non ED Visa or learning muay thai 1 year Visa is even a real thing or just a scam or even has a lot of hurdles and requirements.

6 hours ago, Petsma said:

METV are not being issued in the UK, which is where I'm from. Hopefully common sense will prevail and the STV will be extended.

Just a wild idea not based on any grounds. In the US we have the METV still, how about you come here or go to any EU that still offers it stay there for a lil bit and apply and get the METV hopefully maybe ? IDK dude. I’m 36 US passport and trying to figure out the same thing you are dealing with. I’m considering the study visa or the Muay Thai visa but sounds sketchy IDK.

7 hours ago, mikecha said:

it is not a mess i have done this 3 times now but all via embassy  ASQ covid test and there is no other way

i think it is pretty good organised when you arrive the paperwork the immergration the car waiting for you to take you to asq 

just the 14 days room is bad not out .

either you follow or not get in 

You are wrong my friend. There are options to get in, why I go through ASQ hotel solitary confinement for 14 days while I can roam Phuket or Samui freely on the SHA+ or Samui Plus programs and can even change hotels or/and islands after just 7 days. And they are also discussing adding Krabi to the sandbox. 
 

While you follow your ASQ 14 day solitary confinement. I’ll roam free around Phuket and Samui and enjoy the beach and my drinks and we will both “Follow the rules that makes sense to us and we will both also get in” ????

Just curious why you did it 3 times ? Sounds like you travel for business or family. Otherwise who would be okay with 14+14+14 days in a solitary confinement unless they really have to.

you had me at "Such as Soft loans"

Is it more interest for "Hard loans" ?

Call the Airline and ask them If they will let you on the plane without any of the things needed, before you rate your money. It sucks but we have to do all of that to let you land in Thailand and hopefully you pass the 3 required covid negative test in Thailand lmao, It's a mess overthere seems like it

Hey I’m from LA too.

I feel your anxiety dude.

Problem is most of the consulates I have dealt with here in LA are super slow and lazy compared to the rest of the nation.

I would email them your flight ticket scan and let them know when you need to departure although they know make it more clear and also call your airline ask about what happens if there’s delays with the COE to rebook you for free. When is your flight date ?

where are you headed also ?

Im planning mine in October to Samui and Phuket.

On 8/14/2021 at 7:01 AM, DrJack54 said:

Many do not need a visa to enter Thailand. They can enter visa exempt and obtain Non O at immigration if they want.

As a US citizen I know I can enter visa free for 30 days. Or get tourist visa for 60 days and extend for 30 days while I’m there. How can I change my tourist visa or get the Non O at the immigration office without being married to Thai ?

What happens if I refuse at the airport to download the two tracking apps ? Or what happens if I have an old dumb phone no camera for QR code’s and no App Store or GPS or even internet just like the food old days ? Yes I have a phone but I’m actually smart enough that I don’t need a smart phone for you to snoop and track me big brother.

any ideas ? I’m going to ask what’s your source or how can I confirm your answer is accurate. Thanks

Let’s say one of those 3 PCR tests comes back positive and I’m moved to quarantine for two weeks at my own dime, what happens after I’m done with the 14 days of my forced solitary confinement I mean quarantine, They ship me back to my country or I’m free to walk around and travel domestically ?

also what happens if I refuse to download the tracking apps, or arrive to Thailand with non smart phone or leave my smart phone at my room in the hotel or turn off the GPS and bluetooth while I’m out, is there a punishment or consequences or government/ hotel repercussions?

10 hours ago, Eibot said:

Elite, Education, volounteer. If he finds a girl; Mariage and if he has kids; dependent. 

 

Seems pretty straight forwards.

Daaaaamn Eibot, you are on fire LOL, I love just how straight forward and direct your answers are, sounds like a normal place to me now, some answers from other members made the place sound very sketchy and didn't align with a lot of the articles online of course Pre-COVID. appreciate all the advices, I took notes ????

14 hours ago, crazykopite said:

With Covid I would be renting a car why do public transport 

Answering your question, Because I don't wanna Drive That's why ????

-so renting/buying car/motorcycle is not in my plans.

On 7/27/2021 at 9:17 PM, Tropicalevo said:

How about this thought for a cheaper way of life.

Stay in a hotel for a year?

Many smaller hotels are offering rooms at less than 1,000 baht per night. I have seen as low as 500 baht per night.

Your will get a good deal for a six month or one year rent.

Electricity, aircon, water, wifi, cleaning - all included and probably a pool as well. Not sure about laundry.

Yes, only one room but on your monthly budget, you could probably afford two rooms. One for work/chilling the other for sleeping.

I never really thought about it, but why not. Most likely I will have to try different islands, different areas, even different resorts to get a good gauge on where I'm really comfortable. I can get deals on hotels for 60 days at a time and move around to learn about the areas without being committed to a 1 year contract.

Here's my 2 cents.

regardless if things are amazing now or you see red flags, as someone replied women always surprise you with divorce papers (speaking from experience)

your best bet is crypto of course, but the other thing always have a safe deposit box in the motherland in a bank branch that you don't usually visit much for example if the motherland is the USA and you bank with Wells Fargo, your safe deposit box should be with Chase or Bank of America or even better idea. if you have PayPal make sure it's based of your motherland (address and other info) and keep some money there and have the PayPal debit card MasterCard on you, that way only you really knows how much is in this debit card from PayPal and it's still a virtual institution.

Always divide your money

-Paypal debit card

-Crypto (Coinbase and uphold, or at least 2 different wallets)

-Safe deposit box in the mother land

that way even if there's an over reach or a judgement or the wifey put 2 and 2 at most she can find out about about only one of the above and you minimized damages.

I also keep money in watches that appreciates over time and easy to transport from one location to another ????

I'm comparing the cost of owning a used 2012-2017 car (car payment + Insurance + Gas, etc.) Or even renting it by the week or month. VS using NaviGo and the new bus route that was introduced in 2019.

For NaviGO

The booking fee is 100 Baht and afterwards you will have to pay 30 Baht per kilometer on top of the booking fee. Partly it can be cheaper than bargaining for the price of a taxi.

Seems to me using NaviGO would cost less than a Taxi based on other user reports from 2019.

Airport to Fisherman’s Village 500 baht

Chaweng Noi to Airport 500

Bangrak to Maenam 400 baht

Bangrak to Lamai 700 baht

Chaweng to Bangrak 300 baht

Maenam to Fisherman’s Village 100 baht

Fisherman’s Village to Bangrak 300 baht

Fisherman’s Village to Bang Por 500

Fisherman’s Village to Choeng Mon 400

Choeng Mon to Bangrak 300

Choeng Mon to Lamai 600

Secret Garden, Bangrak to Big Buddha 200 baht

Chaweng to Lamai 400 baht

Chaweng to Bangrak 400

Bang por to Nathon 200 baht

Nathon to Chaweng Noi 500 baht

And for the new Tourist Bus (Which I don't like the idea much since it stops at every station it'll take forever)

a daily bus service from the Nathon Pier to the airport and vice versa. A ticket costs 140 Baht per person and the bus starts every hour from 7.30 A.M. to 9.30 P.M.

The bus serves two routes around Koh Samui, the Pink Route and the Blue Route, which are taking different ways from the airport to Nathon and back. If you take the Pink Route from the airport to Nathon Pier it will take about 1 hour and if you take the Blue Route it takes about 1 hour and 45 minutes from one end to another.

The Pink Route serves the following stops: Airport, Bangrak Pier, Bangrak Temple, Bophut Fisherman’s Village, Bophut PTT Gas station, Maenam Mini Tesco Lotus, Baan Tai, Bang Por and the Nathon Pier. The Blue Route goes the other way around Koh Samui and serves the following: Airport, Chaweng, Chaweng Rajabhat University, Chaweng Noi Bangkok Airways Office, Chaweng Noi The Sarann Hotel, Lamai Tesco Lotus, Hin Ta & Hin Yai, Hua Thanon, Namuang CPD Samui, Baan Saket, Baan Lipa Noi, Baan Lipa Yai and the Nathon Pier.

You guys still think owning/renting a car/motorbike is still better considering your safety and the peace of mind ?

On 7/24/2021 at 6:48 PM, Tropicalevo said:

Good spreadsheet. I have assumed THB and not USD for the currency.

Just observations from my side.

One can eat out on less than 200 baht per day but not many westerners want two Thai meals (lunch and dinner) every day.

Good quality, reasonably priced western food can be from 200 to 800 baht per meal. French steaks - 600 baht. US steak up to 1,300 baht. Hotel restaurants - more. expensive (and always ++).

Alcohol can make a mockery of your eating-out budget.

Your electricity budget could work if you are on the local PEA supply. (3.5 to 4.5 baht per unit.) If you are in a private development, then the unit price varies from 5 baht to 29 baht per unit.

Private swimming pool and/or aircon usage could kill the electricity budget. Especially older a/c units.

The massage ladies that we use (in villa) would give you 20 Thai massages a month for that monthly budget. (Unless you are on the happy ending massages.)

so I'm taking your advice as well as KhunPer advise and revising my budget.

For the food I'll leave it where it's at so when it fluctuates I won't be concerned till I find out where I'm gonna be eating most of the time.

In regards to the Electricity budget if it's a private development and my space is 85-110 meters, without any pools and with new A/C unit, with connected laptop 24/7 and a TV on most of the time, how much you think the electricity bill would be ? a ballpark ?

On 7/25/2021 at 2:20 AM, khunPer said:

Looks fair enough, but I would count 3,000 baht for maid's cleaning - the less hours, the more expensive per hour - and add some for laundry and ironing, you should count 40 baht to 50 baht per kilo; perhaps you can make a deal with the maid.

 

For massage you should count 600 baht for two hours, unless you wish two hours traditional Thai massage. I have for example a personal masseuse coming that gives me combined two hours custom program with oil massage and foot massage for 600 baht, normal price for oil massage is 300 baht an hour, and same for foot massage most places; however, if you aim for a hi-so place you can pay 3,000+ baht for two hours (spa and massage only, no kinky extras, it's just in hi-so 5-star environment)...????

 

Renting a small car, which could be a fun-to-drive Suzuki Caribbean Jeep, or a small Toyota or the like, would on long term basis cost you from about 15,000 baht to 25,000 baht a month, the lower sum for an old jeep. Buying a similar new small car is around 500k baht (cars are high taxed). A small motorbike/scooter costs between 3,000 baht and 4,500 baht a month to rent for a newer one, buying a new small Honda or Yamaha is about 50,000 baht. Insurance and vehicle tax are included when renting, but it might only be mandatory insurance - especially for motorbikes/scooters - which covers next to nothing. Bear in mind that Samui probably has the highest traffic fatality rate in Thailand, perhaps in the whole World, so if you are not used to drive two-wheeler think twice; and we are furthermore supposed to mainly drive in the left hand side of the roads.

 

Counting the official "retirement rate" of 65k baht month as a base for a single person's budget makes sense, and then adjust for personal needs and life style. Some can live fine on the half, others can hardly survive on the double.

 

The joker in a single's budget is spirits cost and especially accompany-expenses, which can easily add another 75,000 baht to 100,000+ baht a month - I know from experience, and even that I'm not a drinker, others will kindly help me not to get disappointed, by suddenly have a budget in the too low end...????

However, if you run low on food budget, you can always eat "all you can" for 58 baht in BigC...????????

 

 

you cracked me up few times reading your post, but a lot of it makes complete sense, my understanding is If I really wanna live happy and stress free pay attention to those variable expenses before I make a mess

- Alcohol and drinking costs

- having a permanent dependent friend ????

- high end or VIP massages

- transportation cost (whether renting, buying, ride-sharing)

so it's wise to consider rent in an area where you don't need to drive far out for everything.

On 7/23/2021 at 6:37 AM, Maha Sarakham said:

Out of curiosity, what did your number breakdowns end up looking like across the board after considering the replies here?

Hi Maha,

What a great question, haha.  I'll share below of course, but I'm just afraid I can be way off or way too cheap if any of you guys think any of my calculations are wrong please guide me, it would be very beneficial.

a- I attached the screenshot from my csv file

b- Those numbers are in BHT so disregard the $ sign (my apologies don't know how to change it yet lol)

1- Rent I can get it for 15-17 and will be happy, I just over estimated for PRE-COVID prices and make my life easier If I can't find less prices.

(my estimates are based on 85-100 square meters)

2- Eating out and Groceries 13K is plenty for me, since I cook a lot and I eat 1-2 meals a day and I eat left overs, I usually just live on snakes and rarely a red meat eater (I drink Gallons of water though) I also don't drink alcohol unless I have a company and I really have to drink so I'm not the party pooper.

3- The Electricity /Water/Internet cost is basically based off of other people answers here and on numbeo.com and other cost of living websites and I calculated lower than Per since he mentioned it's him and his family living at the house as well as pool pump cost which here in the Us it accounts for a lot of electricity like the A/C units. (my estimates are based on 85-100 square meters)

4- Massage is based on 2hrs session three times a week and I get a deal (hopefully) to agree on monthly discounted rate so it comes down to 250bht per hour or 500bht per 2hr session (24hrs monthly) I know I know but I really love Massage and Yoga also. it's kinda my thing.

5- Maid Services based on twice weekly for 1-2hrs so a total of 8 monthly visits, and since it was mentioned it's around 325bht for full day minimum wage I'm assuming 250 for 2hrs simple cleaning and organizing work and agreed monthly schedule can be fair deal.

Concerns:

Still have my doubts about my calculations for maid and massage services, and will still look into do I wanna own a car or a Vespa or neither, I'll decide more when I get there and stay for 1-2 months and see what kind of limitations and struggle that will really affect me and my style of living.

keep in mind my budget is anywhere from 60K-80K BHT.

Maha how about you share with us your numbers or guesstimates as well ????

The rest of you all, I can't thank you enough for sharing with me such valuable info. based on your experience, you are making my planning much much easier and realistic. Thank you guys ????

13 hours ago, gearbox said:

1.  Between 500-1000 baht per month, government rate around 4 baht/kwh. Only one small aircon 9k BTU used around 12 hours per day, plus the usual - fridge,oven (rarely used), microwave,hot water, a few laptops powered on 24/7.

 

2. 200-300 baht per month

 

3. 640 baht/month AIS fibre broadband unlimited usage, I believe it is 500mbps link , but realistically 250mbps seems like the download ceiling. 

 

4. 1200 baht/month Dtac share package postpaid, 5 sim cards, 600 min calls, 30GB internet. Separately I have 1 year AIS 10mbps/100GB per month data sim for around 120 baht/month. The AIS works well sometimes inplaces where Dtac has limited coverage. I use 2 X Dtac sims and the AIS sim, my GF uses one Dtac sim, the remaining 2 Dtac sims are used by her business.

 

5. 12500 baht per year insurance for Toyota Hilux (my GF has no accidents and gets pretty good discount).  The insurance is the equivalent of what we call "comprehensive insurance" in Australia. Don't know the motorbikes insurance cost (we have 2), but they are much cheaper. I stay here on travel insurance, either free from my gold plated credit cards, or purchased. Travel insurance is around $100-120USD per month for my age bracket.

 

6. We don't use cleaner services, but one-off casual midsize villa cleaning (including washing/ironing) can be done for 300-500 baht per one service (2-4 hours)

Thank you for all that info. my understanding you are 50+ and those numbers are based on 2 people occupancy, I like the idea of the Credit Cards travel insurance it's very smart of you.