Paulaew

Not every country has stands of fir trees that they can cut down for Christmas trees. So they have to be creative. A Christmas tree in Kenya:

Since you have a lot of experience with the ATK kits, how successful are they in detecting the omicron variant? Apparently the antigen test is less sensitive than the RT-PCR test, but omicron is said to have a large viral load in the upper respiratory tract. Thanks for any information. Paul Laew

Americans tend to have trouble with British English (students of Monty Python excepted). They've never been to a drinks party (purpose: drinking), only to to the more euphemistic cocktail party. But for us Canadians, it's a different story. We might not be able to speak French, but many of us are bilingual in American and British English. When the Americans were busy resisting King George III, we just said "Yes, sir" and went to a drinks party. Paul Laew

I have been trying to partake of Thailand's national heritage for years ... why are they making it so difficult? Paul Laew

It's really an excellent and entertaining post, thank you. I am a student of aging. It's good that it happens gradually; if it happened all of a sudden it would be too much of a shock. I'm in my late 60's, still rather vigorous, but I notice all the signs of imminent decline. Enjoy it while you can. Paul Laew

You have quoted my wife exactly. My current idea is to set up automatic withdrawals from my retirement funds so that my wife will receive a sizeable check twice a year. Then she doesn't need to do anything to manage the principle, just accept that this is how it works. If I'm lucky, I'll live long enough that my son can become the money manager. Even at 12 years old he understands how investing works. Maybe it's the Jewish blood. Paul Laew

As many have noted in this thread, the lack of any concept of personal finance planning in Thailand is just mind boggling. You would think this would be a useful topic in the schools, but in fact the teachers are often the worst culprits. Government teachers have access to loan programs, and they take advantage of them to the absolute hilt. My wife is a government teacher and has millions of baht of loans. She also went through a period of excessive credit card debt, and they also have "share" programs where teachers get together and put together their own loan programs. I now have my wife on a strict no-loan program while I try to pay off some of her debts. I now have family seminars where I try to explain how to manage my retirement funds when I'm gone. My 12 year old son can easily understand a simple spreadsheet that shows that a 5% annual draw on the retirement funds will give them a comfortable living while the principle will continue to grow. But my wife is completely at sea with it. I am genuinely worried that my life savings will be squandered when I'm gone. But properly managed, those funds should provide enough money to live for 30 years or more. So personal finance is an issue not just for people who are living day to day. Paul Laew

I've contacted the Canadian Embassy by email on a number of occasions concerning my son's citizenship application. I've always received a helpful reply in just a few days. To contact the Consular section at the Embassy use this email: [email protected] In their email to me they also provided several addresses, depending on your issue. They also have an email address for emergency inquiries. Here is the information: Your message has been received by the Consular Section, Embassy of Canada, Bangkok, Thailand. Routine passport and citizenship enquiries are responded to within three to five business days. For questions on immigration or visa to Canada please contact [email protected]. As a Canadian citizen, if you require assistance for an emergency outside regular business hours, please contact [email protected]. I hope this helps. Posting a message in the Covid section of this forum will likely get you some information on where to get a Covid booster. Paul Laew

Any Canadian citizens living in Thailand who are receiving US Social Security benefits? I have a few questions about it, particularly about child benefits. Thanks. Paul Laew

Pregabalin is kind of the poor man's benzo, but it's dangerous stuff if you take it on a regular basis. Tolerance is achieved very quickly and you can find yourself taking more and more of it. After a week, 600 mg was doing nothing for me. And the withdrawal is pretty awful. I can see why it's a controlled substance in most countries. If you take it with alcohol you'll get some major CNS depression; take enough and you might stop breathing altogether. It may be pleasantly numbing at first, but I really wouldn't recommend it. As far as the price goes, the cheapest I found was the Sandoz at about 35 baht per capsule for the 150 mg. Paul Laew

I'm not sure it quite compares to Paul Theroux's train travels in 1973, as recounted in his book The Great Railway Bazaar. As I remember, he went from London, across the channel by ferry, and then in France transferred to the Orient Express, and then went east to Iran and Afghanistan, India, Burma, Vietnam, China, and Japan, then home again across the Soviet Union. There might of been some bus trips to connect up some of the bits, I'll have to reread it. It was apparently a rather uncomfortable journey, but he got a book out of it that started his career. Paul Laew

Really sorry to hear about your problem, a mere 22 baht, geez. Here is my advice to you: I think it's a very high probability that the immigration officers will detect the shortfall, and they may refuse your extension as a result. If you can give them some Covid-related excuse they might have mercy on you. Do not offer a bribe to the immigration officer. I say it with some reason, because I use that particular immigration office, and my regular officer contacted me a while back requesting that I be a character witness for him since his senior officer was doing a general review of bribery issues among his staff. If you can leave the country prior to your extension, it's really not that big of a deal to apply for a new retirement visa when you return, the paperwork is about the same. That would be the safest course of action, but you might get lucky with your current extension. My recent experience with that office is that there are signs of leniency during the Covid period. In September I was 2 weeks late with a 90 day report and they didn't fine me, much to my surprise. Good luck and let us know how you make out. Paul Laew

For Thai people, it would really be considered a joke name.

I asked my wife the Thai word for "investment." She said "lottery." Paul Laew

Sorry, it wasn't me, I'm in Bangkok. But as far as the name goes, it's just a stage name. Cheers! Paul Laew

For the benefit of science, could the OP give us an idea of what quantity of Thai beer was required to produce this result? You could round off to the nearest decaliter. Hope you're feeling better. Paul Laew

Assuming you're in Thailand, can you share some information on who's giving free Moderna shots? Originally, it was only private hospitals who were part of the deal to acquire Moderna vaccines. But the situation may have changed since that deal got signed. Paul Laew

Don't you hate it when people tell you your post has nothing to do with the OP's question? Sorry to do that. Paul Laew

For the Phuket Sandbox program, you have to fly directly to Phuket. Transit in Bangkok is not allowed. https://www.thaiembassy.com/travel-to-thailand/no-quarantine-phuket-sandbox-plan Paul Laew

There is a Facebook page where people are selling their Moderna jabs for cut-rate prices. I've just got my Moderna booster last week, but now I've got an extra Moderna dose, and like your Thai friend, I'm unsure what do with it. But I just read that the Israelis are now giving 4th doses to the immunocompromised and over 60's. So it might be worth keeping an extra dose as a super-booster in case you need some more antibodies later. Paul Laew

I've bought MS Office license keys for cheap from eBay sellers before, and they worked as advertised, and continued to work years later. These license keys appeared to be part of a Microsoft site license to an organization such as a university. It seems like Microsoft isn't trying very hard to stop this gray market activity, since they could probably put pressure on eBay to stop these sellers from listing these license keys. But now I use LIbre Office on Linux. You can run it on Windows as well. Free AND legal. Paul Laew

it's important to understand the dynamics of the situation at an immigration office when applying for an extension. It often seems like the officer is inflexible, but the reality is that he is trying to make sure he satisfies his senior officer in that office. In the case of a marriage extension application submitted upcountry, I believe the application has to go back to Bangkok for approval (retirement extensions, I know, can be approved in the local office, since they are simpler). The officer doesn't want to lose face by having the application bounced back to him. I always make sure I'm up on the latest requirements when I show up at immigration with my application. I'm often surprised at how much English the immigration officers can speak when they actually have to deal with a farang directly. I can speak some Thai, but I'm not particularly good. Paul Laew

There are always possible snags. But my guess is that there are more questions raised about potentially fraudulent marriages then there are about rental contacts and TM 30's. One of the other advantages of the retirement extension is that your visa is only depending on you. If your wife passes away or you decide to move on to someone else, you've got a visa status which is free and clear. I usually do my visa extensions upcountry, a lot faster than in Bangkok. I always have my paperwork in order and the last 2 years I was in and out in about 20 mins. Paul Laew

After holding a so-called marriage visa (Non-O by reason of marriage, for you sticklers) for many years, the annual inconvenience of dragging Mrs. Laew to the immigration office just became too much to bear. She always had a legitimate excuse -- her work, pregnancy, family illness, a trip upcountry, etc. Just imagine if she had been in prison for 25 years! So finally I threw in the towel and switched to a so-called retirement visa. Best thing I ever did. Less paperwork and less inconvenience for the wife, and the immigration officers appreciated it too, since less work for them. I realize this option is not open to everyone, but if you're of a relatively ripe age and have the money in the bank, it reduces the pain of annual extensions to a dull ache. Paul Laew

Some threads deserve to die eventually ... we all must have something else to do. Paul Laew