expat_4_life

Not sure what to make of "our" new PM Lets look back (not too far) ... last week he was "setting the record straight" few days ago he was "denying he is a puppet" today he is such a mensch that he "scoffs at death threats" You be the judge

You say "no failure", despite ... NBCNEWS - U.S. and European officials have begun quietly talking to the Ukrainian government about what possible peace negotiations with Russia might entail to end the war, according to one current senior U.S. official and one former senior U.S. official. Lets review... For the past 2 years we've had NATO countries send hundreds of billions of dollars to Ukraine, a quantity of weapons so enormous it depleted their own reserves, a vast undisclosed amount of mercenary soldiers, and threw everything but the kitchen sink in terms of sanctions to cripple Russia. The result? It simply didn't work, NATO is now suing for peace and Ukraine will probably end up having lost at least a fifth of its country. All this after having been told during almost the entire duration of the war that Ukraine was winning... Of course people will be told that it's not a defeat, merely a "stalemate", that NATO comes out of it reinforced with additional members, that it's Ukraine or Zelensky's fault anyhow, bla bla bla... But the crux of the matter is NATO defined an extremely clear objective - which was to "drive Russians back to pre-invasion lines" to directly quote Anthony Blinken - and that failed miserably despite their unprecedented efforts. Which means that the West is much less powerful than they thought they were, they just couldn't collectively defeat Russia. This has immense implications. First of which being: if they can't defeat Russia, what hope do they have against China which is likely - just looking at metrics (number of people, production capacity, military budget, etc.) - at least 5 times more powerful? The answer is obvious. Another one is that all those places around the world who thought they were protected by the US will start (in fact are already starting) asking themselves: "wait a minute... That protection isn't worth much, is it?" And so we'll likely witness very significant shifts of alliances and protection arrangements. Lastly people in Western countries will at some point wake up from their propagandized haze and ask very simple questions like: why did we ruin ourselves for Ukraine with almost nothing to show for it? Wouldn't we and the Ukrainians have been better off if we'd respected Minsk 2 and if we hadn't tried to convert Ukraine into a Western bulwark against Russia? And so this will likely serve as a hard lesson domestically that we'd better be much more humble about our geopolitical ambitions (assuming the West still is capable of learning lessons, which is far from certain). All in all, this will undoubtedly be seen by history as the defining event that signified we moved from Western hegemony into a multipolar world. A very long chapter of our collective world history book has just been closed. Only time will tell for sure .....

I didn't actually express an opinion regards the necessity of a lawyer, rather just a retelling of my decades old story, Yes, a lawyer might well be required to simplify/facilitate the process and as you very likely correctly point out "especially if not currently living in home location" - depending on the OPs situation, some/many of these people may be deceased as well.

Yes, something something like this, my story is from decades ago - confusing information regards Date of Birth. The local PooYaiBahn, immediate family and other relatives did attest/witness and correct or otherwise rectify this at the local Amphur. Spoke almost no Thai at the time so only can say, this is how it went down in my story and a usable birth certificate was issued. There was no lawyer involved.

Good Post by the way IMO ... plenty of points are bang on. Zelensky is hanging on by a thread, everyone in his admin is starting to turn on him, finger pointing on the wars failure - notice I used the word failure, nobody currently in power is going to go quite that far, but the writing is on the wall. Russian military forces have increased by a factor of at least 2-3x, while Ukraine is struggling to recruit/conscript, Russian military production has increased accordingly. This war has transformed the old broken down Soviet military into a huge army (soon to eclipse 1 million men) and probably stronger than any force they have fielded since the 1980's. In a war of attrition I just don't see any way that Ukraine can win, they are out manned. Only question is how this will all end - I have the suspicion that the non-western US led part of the world (the global majority) will see this as a defeat. We're in for a global political realignment, going to be a tumultuous decade ahead.

@JessieDog I don't find this particularly unusual or unbelievable ... often trips originate from Bangkok to the provinces and are priced assuming that they return without a passenger. Any driver is happy to get someone returning to the Bangkok area at reduced fares. Also consider, that if u ask, drivers will quote you ~2000 for an 8 hour day.

"Paetongtarn’s rise gives birth to some strange theories" There might be some strange "theorys" ... but seriously, anyone with 2 brain cells to rub together can see what is afoot. Influential and powerful 💪 people always manage to push/pull the levers of power well beyond any useful time-frame - rather simply because they can and it's profitable. I don't see how the Thaksin political dynasty does any specific good for the country. - not a phenomenon unique to Thailand.

Ken was certainly an inquisitive guy ... much like Homer Simpson

@farrolDon't see why this would be a problem, they issued new notes since King Rama 9 passed away, and they have new "plastic" versions of the 20 and 50. All the old notes are still in circulation, except for the very old (20+ years) 10 baht note.

I propose new hotel regulations to accompany the bars open late, if they are open until 4am legally a lot of "tourists" won't get home until sunrise. Hotels should change checkout times accordingly allowing them to sleep it off. Regulate new checkout times of 3pm. 😎

Be sure to check any other properties he lived in 😁

Next time someone says to me "more likely to get struck by lightning" ... going to think of this story. Never would have thought one could be struck by lightning "inside" their home.

I would say my order of preference is something more suburban than CBD. By this I mean, any location that has not been totally upended by gentrification. I like the ability to get out onto the street and find food vendors, a local fresh market and restaurant/entertainment options. This is becoming increasingly difficult along the Sukhumvit corridor, condos, hotels, malls, and municipal policy have pretty much destroyed the local neighborhoods. We do a lot more cooking at home and spend less time out for an evening than in the past, as so many "local" options have vanished. Mind you, the Mrs loves her close proximity to the skytrain - always tradeoffs.

I'm thinking I look young for my modest 71 years. However, in recent years I'm starting to feel older than I am. 👨‍🦯

I see her in front of the EMquartier, Emporium and soon to open Emsphere sign. Suhhumvit already a mess even with Emsphere not as yet open. For purely selfish reasons I hope they don't extend shopping hours, it already 10pm. Also wouldn't hurt my feelings if they don't open any more of them.

From the full article (NOTE: not exactly formally approved yet) "The extension will undergo a final review at the next Cabinet meeting. Subsequently, the Minister of Interior will endorse the initiative before it is published in the Royal Gazette. Some members of Thai Parliament have urged stricter laws and more study before any extensions take place, however."

@mavrik Buy one, don't, opinions differ. Good advice regards helmet/kit, and insurance. The rent before you buy advice is solid gold, replies should help you narrow the choices.

I have direct debit, set it up over a decade ago. At the time I think it was a trip to the MEA to obtain a form requesting to pay by direct debit, then a trip to my bank to authorize it. Deductions started a month or two later, never a worry since. Well worth the "inconvience" to set it up.

This is the way I do it too, never a chance to forget, no concern about delayed receipt of the bill, no need to go pay, and you can be away from home without a care or thought. 👍

@TPDHThis is 100% correct, at least at CW (as the attached image illustrates). Friend of mine went through the same process less than a year ago, when I inquired at the time, they informed him that they would affix a "90 day reporting notification" when he successfully got his annual extension - it played out as they said and he got the same thing stapled into his passport. No need to be concerned. Good luck on your extension.

Horrifying crime ... nobody knows the personal circumstances that led up to this murder. Seems like the accused will get his "day in court", then the justice he deserves.

@Keirachiangmaitry searching in google with the thai name for example "buy african gray chiang Mai" - ซื้อ นกแอฟริกันเกรย์ เชียงใหม่ Here is one result, translated to english (says they have what you're looking for) https://petz--world--chiang--mai-business-site.translate.goog/?_x_tr_sl=en&_x_tr_tl=th&_x_tr_hl=en&_x_tr_pto=wapp good luck

You seem very confused, it's President Putin, Chairman Xi, and Crown Prince MBS.

Not sure what you're on about, no mention of anyone paying for anything in the article - yet you're mumbling about Thai billionaires.

I applaud the 90 day visa exempt (if I read it right) entry for Russians. Don't let politics cloud your vision/opinion. It sets the precedent for the same treatment for other foreigners to come.