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Renewed my 5 years Thai Driving Licence at Chatuchak – March 2026
According to published information, you can renew an expired license without taking a driving test if the license has been expired for less than 1 year. But it is not really wise to drive with an expired license. If you have an accident, your insurance company may deny a claim on the grounds of breach of contract (no valid license). Paul Laew
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Renewing a 5 year Thai DL with US new passport
I've just renewed my Thai drivers license with a new passport. It's not a problem, the DLT understands that passport numbers change. When I took the DLT eLearning test online, I just registered with my new passport number. Paul Laew
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How smart are AI large language models really?
"If you could answer just one question, what would it be?" I believe the correct answer has to be "This one" (or words to that effect). If the LLM gave a different answer, such as "What is the meaning of life?," the question it has answered is (obviously), "If you could answer just one question, what would it be?" Both ChatGPT and Gemini acknowledge that "This one" is the correct answer when I query the incorrectness of their responses. Paul Laew
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How smart are AI large language models really?
Actually the question I asked the LLM in starting this thread was a question involving self-reference and recursion. I assumed the LLM, as a computational processs, would be able to handle that. I was disappointed when it couldn't. Paul Laew
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How smart are AI large language models really?
Actually, it's why I said "Well, maybe."
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How smart are AI large language models really?
Well, maybe. But both ChatGPT and Gemini acknowledge that this is the correct answer when it is pointed out that their original answers were incorrect. Paul Laew
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How smart are AI large language models really?
Well, I tested it on my high school age son. He said the correct answer is: "This one." Paul Laew
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Trump is outsmarted once again
He does seem to revert to face-saving measures when his bluff is called and he has to back down. Recent cases: bailing on the Greenland takeover, and the shutting down of the Kennedy Center in the face of artist and audience boycotts. Paul Laew
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How smart are AI large language models really?
All of the well-known AI chatbots seem to fail on this simple question: "If you could answer just one question, what would it be?" The chatbots return some AI slop about the meaning of life, but any rational educated human would quickly see the correct answer. The reason is that LLM's use token prediction patterns rather than conceptual understanding. Often a convincing fake, but still a fake. Paul Laew
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Does A Woman's Love Actually Need to Be Real?
My Thai wife of 20 years occasionally says to me, "Pretend you love me." Still thinking about it ... Paul Laew
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Poll: How well do Pattaya restaurants satisfy your food desires?
Two suggestions: 1. Try any chinese restaurant on Christmas Day. You'll have plenty of company. 2. Look in the halal food section of your favorite food store. You probably won't be able to tell the difference. Paul Laew
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Bangkok Bank mobile banking transfer limits
Yes, I still have access to their internet banking service. I considered dumping the mobile app to get my original limits back on internet banking, but then Bangkok Bank finally upped my mobile limit to 500k after a wait of many weeks. Apparently the internet banking service is eventually going away, they no longer accept new customers for it. They are not an easy bank to deal with, and don't seem to value customer service.
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Did your child try the GED test for high school graduation?
I'm interested in hearing from anyone whose child tried the GED tests for high school graduation. My 16 year old son is going to give it a shot this week (he refers to it as his "get out of jail free card"). Did your child have a hard time passing the GED? Any problem using the GED as entrance to one of the better universities in Thailand? Thanks for any info. Paul Laew
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Bangkok Bank mobile banking transfer limits
Maybe I was subject to the 20k limit as a new mobile banking user (though I was a long time customer). Now I can adjust the daily limit in the app up to 500,000 baht, though I had to wait 7 weeks for action on my request. (No branch visit was required). Paul Laew
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Bangkok Bank mobile banking transfer limits
I'd been using Bangkok Bank's internet banking for about 20 years and always had adequate limits to pay my monthly bills, with occasional larger transfers for cars, hospital, travel, etc. Then I enabled BB's mobile banking -- since that's supposed to be the future -- and suddenly my internet banking was subject to the draconian 20k baht daily limit for mobile banking. I could no longer sit down at the beginning of the month and pay all my bills -- I had to stagger payments over several days, and some payments I had to make in installments. Very inconvenient. I called BB's call center on Oct 7 to request an increase in my transfer limits. As a long time customer I expected it to be a routine request that would take just a couple of days. A month later still no action. More calls and emails to Bangkok Bank, expressing my disappointment in their indifferent customer service. Finally today (Nov 24) the higher limit options appeared in my mobile banking app and I was able to raise them, though still no communication from Bangkok Bank. It seems like the Bank is eager for us to use electronic banking, but too scared to allow usable limits, even with face scan enabled. If you have a pending request to Bangkok Bank to raise your transfer limits, Jobian patience is required. They probably have a queue of tens of thousands of requests. Paul Laew