Longwood50

1 hour ago, steven100 said:

This is Thailand ....  not the US.    You are asking for a Thai lawyer to prosecute a thai person who grabbed you in a meeting. 

Which is precisely the reason I would like a "thai" third party prosecutor to look at the video.  If the person said "no way" will this person be convicted then why go through the effort. 

1 hour ago, ezzra said:

I can ask my friend who is a lawyer in Pattaya but please explain what is "prosecuting attorney" you're referring to?...

In most countries the prosecuting attorney works for the government and brings charges against defendants for breaking the law.  In the USA the prosecuting attorneys will bring charges not only for criminal offenses but also when a party is guilty of violating some government law.  Example would be a person who fails to obtain a building permit, or discharges pollution into a river etc.  

In Thailand the prosecutors office handles criminal offenses.  So if you were charged with homicide, arson, theft etc. the police arrest you and the prosecuting attorney decides if he/she has sufficient cause to charge you with the offense and take you in front of the court to determine your guilt and determine your punishment. 

The prosecuting attorney in Thailand will generally not deal with minor offenses.  However one thing unusual in Thailand is unlike the USA a private citizen can bring a lawsuit charging another with a criminal and/or a civil offense.  

So an example might be your neighbor deliberately damages your home.  You are allowed to sue them civilly for damages and criminally for vandalism. 

In my case, I am seeking the opinion of a "neutral" party familiar with the courts system to view the videotape and see if it rises to the level of assault as defined in Thailand.  Yes I can go to a private attorney, show them the video but they will be biased in favor of bringing charges to earn a fee even if they know that realistically the Thai courts will not show the action to be assault. 

I have a situation where the entity here has not been legal for many years, never went to the land office, never has provided any income or expense statements, never had votes on the community fees etc. And pressed by us has submitted to the land office documents with false elections, signatures of people not in attendance etc.  The land office said, they had no way of ascertaining who attended etc and suggested taping the meetings to evidence them.  That led to the altercation when they realized that the videotapes would be proof certain of what really was occurring at the meetings and they could no longer fabricate the happenings at the meetings. 

1 hour ago, lopburi3 said:

Have you taken to the Land Office?  Would seem first port of call if they suggested doing it.

The Land Office in Thailand is an unusual agency.  They are charged with taking in documents and approving Juristic Entities.  However they do not investigate anything, nor do they take any enforcement action.  The documents submitted can be totally fabricated, or not turned in at all and the only recourse is a lawsuit.  

2 hours ago, Chelseafan said:

Point taken but if you get found out in the US, there are harsh penalties whilst in Asia it's just a way of life.

You are going to have to educate me on the "severe penalties" in the USA.  For certain, Hillary Clinton lied repeatedly to the FBI and destroyed evidence under subpoena,  James Comey who PS put Martha Stewart in jail for lying to the FBI also lied, plus leaked classified information a far worse offense.  I must have missed their harsh penalties, and certainly each of these politicians must have just exercised "good investment decisions" to gain the net worth shown. 

As said, the USA is just as corrupt, just more sophisticated in than using envelopes.  Plus you can't stuff the hundreds of millions into envelopes but you sure can get contributions in the tens of millions to your personal foundation. 

Gold has been considered a "safe haven"  A spot to buy when there is financial uncertainty.  As a former Trust Officer and Registered Broker with Merrill Lynch I can say that gold is problematic.  

First, what are you buying, from whom, and how do you authenticate it.  Now that you own it, if you hold it physically, where do you store in safely.  Now if you want to sell it where do you sell it, and what steps will the buyer demand to authenticate the gold's authenticity. 

There are plenty of ETF funds that invest in physical gold and they store the gold and have an exchange where you can purchase and liquidate easily.  I would never suggest owning golf and taking personal possession of it.  

Now gold may be a "safe haven" during times of financial uncertainty but as an investment it has never performed as well as a portfolio of stocks.  Stocks in companies, physically produce something while gold does not.  Companies pay dividends and often increase over time, while gold not only doesn't pay a dividend but has costs to safely house. Gold prices work inversely with currency.  When the value of the dollar or EU goes down, the price of gold goes up to compensate for the diminished value of the currency. 

Bottom line, if you want to own gold, do so through an ETF that physically holds the gold.  Limit your ownership to not more than 10% of your investments.  I have owned gold in the past, and have made money doing so.  However I have not owned any since 2008 when the financial crisis hit.  

It is far more prudent to have your money invested in companies like Apple, Microsoft, Pfizer, or JP Morgan Chase that pay you a dividend to hold on to them and physically produce something.  Really owning gold is not different than owning oil, soybeans, or pork belly's.  Gold is a commodity nothing more. 

On 1/13/2022 at 4:47 PM, snoop1130 said:

Krungsri Research Center has predicted that the new Omicron variant of COVID-19 will hinder Thailand’s economic recovery.

Other major predictions by Krungsri include:

Thailand roads will become wet more often during the rainy season
Closing bars throughout Thailand will lower their expected profitability

Fewer tourists will result in lower occupancy rates in Thailand hotels
Banning alcohol sales will diminish the amount sold by breweries
Having a curfew will result in fewer people on the streets during curfew

Stay tuned for more ground breaking predictions from the experts. 

18 hours ago, snoop1130 said:

The Ministry of Commerce has imposed a six-month price freeze on chicken products

Why don't they just impose a price decrease or better yet impose that the farmers give them away free. 

Imposing price restrictions on any product is a sure way to make sure that those who are producing the product stop producing it if the price they can sell it at is not sufficient for them to raise or make it. 

 

Now this practice will come to an end, assuming the man who fell off the truck and died was found to have Covid. 

1 hour ago, tsk3009 said:

Can a foreign-owned business get a fair shot in a lawsuit against a Thai PCL? 

I would think it would be difficult to determine exactly when and where the chemical contamination occurred.  

I would "think" that there should have been insurance to cover the shipment in the event of loss or damage.  

One thing is always true and that is even those winning lawsuits and being awarded damages are still left trying to find a way to collect the damages.  

I worked for Merrill Lynch for a period of time.  The favorite answer as to why stock prices were going up was  " More buyers than sellers"  The same is true here.  

When supplies are limited and demand either remains constant or goes up then prices rise.  When supplies are plentiful or demand declines the price goes down.  

5 hours ago, Bangkok Basha said:

Chanya's test result comes with a doctor's certificate, signed and stamped, for what that's worth.

With the doctors certificate singed and stamped you can go to almost any restaurant in Thailand along with approximately 50 baht and get a cup of coffee. 

5 hours ago, doctormann said:

The promotion is still running.  I went to Jomtien Hospital last Friday, 07 Jan, and the cost for single lens replacement was quoted at 39,000 Baht per eye - and I have this in writing.  I fully expect there to be additional charges for medication or whatever.

 

The eye examination was free but I felt was not particularly thorough - no check for glaucoma, for instance

I also went to Jomtien last week but went on Thursday.  There were two doctors I saw that made appointments.  The doctor on Thursday is Dr. Santa Methasiri.  I checked before making the appointment and this man's education and training were excellent. That is why I chose to go on Thursday. 

Now though the examination was not as extensive as what I got at Queen Sirikit, I was there mostly to ask about what lens he recommended and if there was any reason not to do the surgery. 

He said exactly the same thing as 4 other ophthalmologists have told me.   Stay away from multi focal IOL lenses.  They all say it is difficult to get the power of the lens correctly and if the fitting is not perfect that because the lens has several focal points that the vision might actually be worse than before the surgery.  Also, that light refraction at night can often by worse because of the different focal points. 

For me, he said simple single vision lenses or single vision lens with Toric correction for astigmatism was the best route.  He said to go with clear lens rather than yellow for clearer vision and better color vision.  

Overall, I was very pleased with my visit.  I am scheduled on Tuesday to go to Bangkok Hospital Pattaya to get the machine reading to determine if I do or do not need Toric lens and to calculate the power of correction for the surgery.  I am scheduled for the 20th at Jomtien for the surgery.  

39,000 baht for single vision lens, 56,000 baht for single vision/Toric lens.  So I will know Tuesday which of these I need. 

 

Just now, Mac Mickmanus said:

And you can buy a ATK yourself for 49 Baht from 7/11 and do the test yourself 

Exactly, 

No, I would need the PCR test.  I may however test myself with the ATK before getting the PCR to make sure I don't test positive.  

The worst thing would be to test positive and then have the authorities throw me into a hospital for 15 days. 

3 hours ago, Bangkok Basha said:

Chanya does not do PCR tests. Only ATK ones at 790 bahts. 

I wondered about that.  I thought the price of 799 was too good to be true. 

I am wondering if anyone has found a location to do a PCR test in Pattaya other than Bangkok Hospital that wants 3,800 baht or Pattaya International that is 3,500 baht.  Both of those are substantially higher than the tests available in Bangkok.  

3 hours ago, MJCM said:

Does she by any chance uses the Pink bottle one? That has a different scent as stated in my post!

She has both.  One is used for white clothes and one is used for colored clothing.  

 

4 minutes ago, lopburi3 said:

Every store shelf in Thailand - Haiter is name as above. 

I have seen Haier but did not realize it was a chlorine bleach  My GF uses that brand but it sure does not smell like chlorine.  I thought perhaps you had to get at a pool supply store.  Apparently chlorine bleach can be used to make some form of chemical bomb.  I thought that bleach might be the reason you don't see things like nitrate fertilizer's here the way you do in the USA. 

2 hours ago, sometimewoodworker said:

An occasional cup or 2 of chlorine bleach

Where can you even find chlorine bleach?  You sure can't find it in any of the supermarkets or hardware stores. 

This is not a huge problem but I have as many do an above ground water storage tank for those times that the municipal water supply runs out.  About every 6 to 9 months it is required to clean the inside of the tank.  This is not a very fun or easy job.  Are there systems or products that others use to maintain their tank and keep the inside of the tank clean.