Longwood50

Probably as soon as your wounds heal from the first 4

Back in 2009 I purchased a Lexus RX 400H Hybrid SUV which was about $10,000 USD more expensive than the comparable gasoline version of the same SUV.  The car was fine, it was a little bit bothersome to hear the engine ignition turn on the engine when it shifted from electric to gas but not terribly so.  With that said, it got no better gasoline mileage than the comparable gas only model, and upon selling, the resale value was virtually the same as the gas model. So it summary I was not a big fan. 

Just purchased a Toyota Cross that is a hybrid.  Given my experience with the hybrid I would have purchased the gas only version but that came only in the stripped down base model, so I bought the hybrid. 

Different result from the same company, Toyota.  The transition back and forth between gas and electric is totally seamless.  You feel nothing as it migrates back and forth. Additionally I am averaging about 19.65 KM per litre.  So I am very pleased with the fuel economy. 

I can't foresee myself ever going 100% electric.  Too much hassle with charging, worrying about where the next charging station might be, and as the vehicle ages, I suspect the value will drop like a rock with the new owner knowing they will face a large expense to replace the entire battery in an all electric car. 

28 minutes ago, Srikcir said:

My experience is that if done by Zoom (not acceptable in all counties as well as e-file), witnesses and testor must be in the same video frame and witnesses must provide proof of US identity with a US Government ID card (ie., driver's license, passport, green card, etc.). 

I believe you are correct.  Though it appears that Covid has caused a number of states to permit online notarization.  Doing some additional checking I found that the State of Michigan where these are to be filed, did authorize online notary services with specific services.  

That will unquestionably be the way for me to go.  They arrange a video conference, verify identity, I email them the PDF files with my signature, they notarize, and then forward to the state email site. 

Less work, and much cheaper. $25 first signature, $10 each additional. 

14 minutes ago, transam said:

They had an incredibly thin tempered glass cover exactly same colour and shape with curved sides that has adhesive on it, it is expertly positioned on the existing screen/phone edges. You cannot see any difference and the screen is incredibly clear with no visible cracks. Highly recommended...

These sell on shopee for between 9 and 25 baht.  They are really screen protectors. 

First, are you sure that it was your screen that was cracked on the edges and not a screen protector?  That is typically where the screen protectors start to chip.  Second, expect that the thin tempered lens will eventually crack and will need to be replaced.  I have an iphone 8 and I have probably changed mine 4 times.  Tiny chips in the tempered glass will start from keeping in my pocket.  You just peel off the old lens, wipe with alcohol wipe, or microfiber cloth.  Peel off the sticker on the new tempered lens, position it, at the top and slowly place it downwards on the phone.  Then smooth with finger, or plastic scraper, credit card etc, to remove any air bubbles. 

5 minutes ago, david_je said:

s this a good time to buy? Do you have recommendations for specific funds? Where would I find expert opinions of good buys?

Thanks.

I am a former financial consultant with both Merrill Lynch and UBS.  Plus a former head of trust division for a major U.S. bank. 

There is zero chance I would ever invest in any fund here in Thailand.  I don't even keep much in the local Thai banks transferring only my social security each month. 

You have the country run by a group after a coup and there is next to zero in terms of accountability in the way of financial oversight.  Look at the USA where you have accounting standards, the Securities & Exchange commission, the office of the Comptroller of the Currency, the Financial Services Regulatory Authority, The Securities Investor Protection Corporation all monitoring and regulating the securities sold in the USA. 

Despite that, you still end up with the Bernie Madoff Ponzi scheme, Enron, and most recently Theranos.  And you really believe that somehow that investors in Thailand do not risk a huge chance of being fleeced.   

Inspector Clouseau has found it. 

I have two Moderna vaccine shots available immediately.  I purchased for my Thai GF last fall but she finally was able to get vaccine as a foreigner quicker using her foreign passport.  These are at Princ Hospital Suvarnabhumi.  I have registration form to change name to purchaser and allows to pick the date and time for the shots.  Can be full dose or 1/2 booster dose.  1,000 baht each for shots.  PM me if you are interested. 

They use to use lead to boost the octane in gasoline.  After that was banned they juiced the gas with alcohol to push the octane up plus give a boost to the farmers to grow the crops that ethanol is made from.  

Ethanol is less fuel efficient than gasoline so you burn more litters to go the same distance.  Ethanol is also harder on engines.  They have made the newer engines more tolerant of ethanol but if I had my choice I would pick gasoline and if I was forced to use one with ethanol I would use the least possible usually a 90%/10% blend. 

Thailand is wise not to lift restrictions too quickly

Yes the economy still has a pulse.  Far better to completely render it lifeless before trying to resuscitate it. 

3 hours ago, lopburi3 said:

Wise does not use ACH to send money - they have local accounts at banks in destination country and pay from those.

I may have used the wrong terminology.  Yes Wise uses local banks and for transfers other than long term stay, they merely show as electronic transfers the equivalent of ACH in the USA.  If the transfer is listed as for long term expenses in Thailand it comes through with the FTT coding which indicates it is a foreign money transfer.  

I had some of my Wise transfers not coded properly a couple of years ago.  Fortunately the immigration officer didn't care as he saw my Transferwise transfer slips.  However, i understand that some immigration personnel will not accept those coded with something other than FTT.  Since then, I have been very careful to list the reason as long term stay. 

3 hours ago, ubonjoe said:

I think you meant satong not baht. The exchange rate yesterday was around 33 baht to the dollar

You are correct.  Thanks for the correction.  In Bangkok Bank the rate was 32.50 to buy USD.  On Wise it was about 33 on the same day. So you lost 1/2 baht per dollar for each dollar converted.  

I use Wise every month to transfer my social security.  To date, I have found it to be the best exchange rate versus the local banks.  Thursday I was in Bangkok Bank and the exchange rate there was 50 baht per dollar less than Transferwise.  

I do know you have to select the reason for the transfer and select for long term stay and expenses.  If you select any of the others Wise uses local ACH and it does not get recorded in the bank as a foreign transfer.  

I am not certain with the 800,000 baht method it matters if it is a local source or foreign but I would opt for the long term stay coding. 

You could check with your bank as to their buy rate for USD before you make the transfer.  I have a dual currency account with Wise.  I transfer the USD to Wise and then wait until I see a good exchange rate then convert to baht and then have Wise send it to my Bangkok bank account. 

1 hour ago, Srikcir said:

I would caution you about being too public with your criticism/complaint. Especially posting on social media like Facebook. Review Thailand's civil and criminal defamation laws. You might find the government prosecutor more interested in you than the Juristic Entity.

That is sage advise.  No, I am aware of Thailand's defamation laws.  That is why I am making no assertions of misdeeds, no names, nor even giving the Juristic Entity involved.  I only asked if anyone knew of how to contact a prosecuting attorney to review the video tape and other information and advise if it was worth pursuing or a lost cause. 

 

2 minutes ago, GrandPapillon said:

This is why it's a lost cause, there is no damage, there is no case

Honestly, the next time I want to have recommendations from someone who knows nothing about the Thai Law nor someone who has not seen the video tape or entire body of evidence I will go to the local market and ask the person who sells fish.  They know as much about the Thai law as you do. 

13 minutes ago, Resident Alien said:

Just think about that defamation is a possibility against you when things go not as you want it to go.

In Thailand, defamation is a criminal offense.

Yes aware of that.  However at this point there have been no accusations, only requests for financial reporting and audits.  

1 hour ago, ClaySmc said:

Since the Land Office suggested you videotape the meetings, why not go back to ask them:

 

1. What evidence the videos provide that you can act on?

2. What actions you can take against the guy who got ballistic at the meeting?

Yours is a reasoned questioned.  We have asked the land office.  They respond that since they were not in attendance at any of the meetings, they have no idea what is true or false and have no obligation to investigate.  Even with the videotapes showing who attended the meeting and it conflicts with who was said to be at the meeting, their response and very accurately so is they too have no idea who these people are nor would they have any way of identifying them. 

They have said the only recourse is to file suit and have the court investigate.  However, that is not my issue.  My issue is trying to determine if the chairperson's actions broke the threshold to file a criminal action against him.  If a knowledgeable prosecuting attorney said no, its a waste of time, then I would not pursue it.  If it did warrant criminal action, I would consider doing so in light of the other irregularities that are happening in the village.  Without financial records every being provided it is impossible to ascertain if the monies are being misspent.   A "rough" calculation by me of the homeowners shown to have outstanding balances gives me some idea of how much was collected.  If I then "estimate" how much is spent on the normal expenses I can not account for something in excess of 1 million baht. 

3 hours ago, tgw said:

because if all they did was to "make up" some statements and file them without monetary or other damages to owners / tenants / tax office

The attempt to grab my cell phone and in the process grab me even after being warned to not lay his hands on me is what I would like to discuss with a prosecuting attorney.  I would like someone who is knowledgeable about Thai law to view the tape and say that yes, this is something that is a violation of the law, or no, that no judge would view this as an infraction. 

Regarding the land office.  It can be documented that signatures shown to be in attendance at the meeting to reach a quorum were never in attendance with some even out of the country.  It can be documented that the person who the documents said conducted the meeting, was nominated, and elected as chairperson of the committee said nothing, was never nominated, and that another person was in fact nominated and elected.  The video tapes evidence that yet another person that it was reported to the land office as being in attendance, nominated, and elected to vice chairperson was not in attendance, never nominated, and never even voted on. 

These are just a few of the infractions.  Despite written requests for financial records, it has been ignored, even when the request came from an attorney.  There has been no audit, no filing with the land office, no balance sheet and no separate account for funds of the Juristic Entity rather the money has been deposited in the persons personal account with the majority of the fees being demanded to be paid in cash rather than transfer.  

This is just a small sample of the questionable activity.  The questioning it is what raised the rhetoric at the last minute with the chairperson attempting to secure my cell phone to stop the taping.  It can certainly be recognized that videotapes of the meeting can dispute what has been filed and attested to at the Land Office. 

 

22 minutes ago, digbeth said:

Normally the police is the front line that decides if they forward case to the prosecutor to charge for criminal case

What I have determined is that the police will pursue only cases they deem severe enough offenses.  So if you beat up someone, rob them, stab them, or shoot them, they will look into the matter.  

I recognize that this action would not rise to interest the police in taking action.  That is not to say that it would not constitute assault.  Those here can conjecture that it is a waste of time, or does not rise to an assault offense but none of us is familiar enough with the Thai legal system to determine that.  

That is why I have asked if someone knows if a person can seek a government prosecuting attorney to merely look at the video and say yes it does, or no it doesn't. 

Before anyone responds, no I am not looking for a Thai GF to learn to speak Thai.  I have one already and having her teach me Thai is probably second to me teaching her to drive a car in a way to break up the relationship.

I am looking for suggestions on a good way to learn to speak Thai.  Here again, before anyone suggests well just google it.  I already have and there are numerous choices but a person is blind to whether any of them are any good. 

For those of you who have learned to speak Thai do you have any recommendations on where to go, or online programs that are good and you have personally used. 

16 minutes ago, petermik said:

There`s a saying that goes....peeing into the wind....think about it and stop wasting your time...as many have quoted TIT...

I would give you a penny for your thoughts but seems overpriced. 

3 minutes ago, bbko said:

I doubt you get to speak with a prosecuting attorney before any charges are filed,

The police report has been filed.  Already know that they will not pursue the matter as it is regarded as not worth their time to pursue.  As I have repeatedly said, I can go to an attorney for an opinion but such an opinion will be biased given they will want to file the lawsuit and earn their fees.  I was hopeful that someone knew of a way to contact a prosecuting attorney to view the videotape.  That prosecuting attorney would not be expected to pursue the case, merely advise if the action met the standard under the Thai law as assault.