NoDisplayName

Never is a long time.

Majority in one survey that may or may not have selected wording and "random" voters to achieve the desired results. Irregardless, if the majority of Colorodians agree, they would never have voted for Trump, so the whole thing is pointless, except for an exercise in virtue signaling. But sure, let's block more people from the ballot. That's democracy in action, eh? And don't worry about the consequences. The Republicans would neeeeeeever use the same tactics to get Brandon removed from state ballots for corruption and/or senility.

deal killer

I take the pickup to a test station next to a Tesco. Drop off the truck, go shopping, eat lunch, then retrieve the truck. Within a couple hours, the test center has done the inspection, paid the annual tax and renewed the insurance.

It's expected. They see Xmas on the TeeVee, in the movies, in the western music, in the tikky-tokky videos. It's just a thing to copy, not just in Thailand.

Available for purchase at local government office:

What's that there RCD breaker in the down position? And what's the C25 breaker in position #2? Have you mapped out the breakers? Are the downstairs plugs run off the oven circuit?

Shirley, the bad cops use burner phones, not landlines assigned to their official capacity.

It doesn't matter. Exit/entry stamps can go on any valid page in the passport. You can request the immigration officer to fill up small blank spots in earlier pages, freeing up full pages for larger stamps. Prior to departure, I find a suitable blank spot in my passport, attach a post-it labeled "Exit Stamp Here ---->". I ask the IO to put the exit (or entry) stamp in that free space when I hand over my passport. Never been refused.

Wai not.

Problem was not the technique or how long he used it. It was that Chauvin prevented his subordinates from moving Floyd or starting CPR for several minutes after being informed he wasn't breathing and had no pulse. Kind of like he wanted to make sure he stayed dead.

How are those Chinese Baidu searches going for "Will I die if I vacation in Thailand?"

I filed my latest TM-47 online December 3rd at 2:03 PM for a 90-day report due December 18. (Approved December 7) An earlier TM-47 was filed online May 14th at 10:04 PM for a 90-day report due May 29. (Approved May 15) Submission accepted 15 days prior, in Korat, on these particular dates. Filings were on a Sunday, so perhaps the system accepted the filing for processing on the next business day. YKMV

i believe you have a 7-day grace period when submitting a 90-day report in person, but the cutoff for online submissions is the due date. Take a PDF of your TM-47 submission, and a screenshot of the status page showing the date and time of application. Maybe you can talk them out of a 2000 baht fine. Next time remember you can file online 15-days before due date.

O-visa and first extension (retirement) at CW last October, no home visit. Extension in Korat a couple months ago, no under consideration period, no home visit.

Unless those with experience live in your district and attend the same immigration office and happen to encounter the same immigration officer, their experience with using a non-passbook account will be nothing more than an interesting anecdote.

You might consider traveling outside of Thailand for lower cost and/or better quality care. I had a valve replaced in Chennai, India. Experienced, English-speaking surgeon, excellent conditions in the hospital. Cost for round-trip airfare from China, surgery, follow-ups, and ten days beach resort recuperation about 10% the cost of surgery in the USA. As for ENT, I had turbinate reduction surgery in Kunming, China to alleviate the same symptoms you now have. Life was a misery during allergy season. I am now cured, only need an antihistamine or shot of nasal spray when high winds pick up heavy loads of dust. Modern private hospital comparable to the best on offer in Thailand. My total cost was $1000, whereas my sister in the states the same year paid that much as insurance copay for the same treatment.

That's when you should have replied, "sorry, ma'am, but I don't work for less than 1000 baht per hour."

I lived in southern China for almost 15 years. If they had a retirement visa...............!

My guess is IO won't accept a change to income method without showing proof of monthly deposits for the prior 12 months. That's assuming the income affidavit confirms current and future income, so he would have to start monthly deposits now, then could apply for income method in January 2025. His only options, as I suspected last year, will be to continue with an agent, or leave the country letting his extension expire, then re-enter and apply for a new non-O visa. He has money in the bank and can prove foreign transfer if required.

As for me........ I had 800K in a Bangkok Bank fixed account in Bangkok from a prior visa that died when I was stuck in China during the covid years. I got a new O-visa mid-July at CW using that old money (no proof of foreign transfer required). I brought in some outside cash, and transferred some in country cash to a NEW fixed account in Korat with a balance of 800K mid-August. I got the first retirement extension at CW using the old account mid-October, after which I CLOSED the old fixed account. This this October I got my second retirement extension in Korat using the NEW fixed account. That account balance covered the entire first extension, but not the entire 90-day O-visa period before that. The Korat IO did not require any bank information prior to the current extension. Only needed updated passbook, guarantee letter showing current balance, and bank statement for prior two months.

***UPDATE*** So here we are, annual extension time. Current extension expires early January 2024. Friend (really! it's not me!) got the full 800K into a new bank about a month after getting his O-visa, which is 1-1/2 months before his first annual retirement extension started. 800K has been in the bank in an account he opened in the city where he resides since mid-November 2022. Then he moved to a different city and submitted a new TM-30, and has been doing his 90-day reports at the new location. He went to apply for an extension, had his passbook showing 800K in the bank since mid-November of last year (the entire period of the annual extension) and the bank guarantee statement. IO said he needed to provide a bank statement covering the 90-day period when the original visa was active, October-December of 2022. That he can do, as he still has the old bank account the agent opened. But other than for half a day when the O-visa application was submitted and the agent deposited/withdrew 800k for the guarantee letter, he rarely had more than a few thousand baht in the account. Why would the IO ask for a bank statement for a period prior to an already approved extension? I think the idea is to force the applicant to use a local agent. His plan now is to get an income affidavit from his embassy (he's not UK or US), and apply for an extension using the income method. I don't believe this will work. I doubt the IO will accept an income affidavit when documentation prior to the previous cash-balance extension has been demanded. Any thoughts?

That doesn't make any sense. The professional, efficient and polite border security officials in China are a welcome change to the harassment, corruption and incompetence seen in much of SE Asia. Not to mention a welcome change from the TSA thugs in the US.

One could. Minsk. Minsk-2 JCPOA "not one inch to the east" Ukraine Declaration of Sovereignty pledging "a permanently neutral state that does not participate in military blocs,"

Did I say that? I simply noted the actual text of the treaty, as opposed to the common perception. Of course, if Germany or France were to be attacked, we'd be there with boots on the ground. But the Baltic nations, or in a mad dream what may be left of Ukraine when this is over? Not a chance we'd risk our blood for the proxy war nations. It's their purpose in life to die for our interests.