SteveBull

All foreign reserves are US dollars, many many countries wish that wasn't so but it won't be changing in our lifetimes. Cryptos are an example of an assault on the dollar, but if it got even close to competing then the US would just regulate it out of existence. Don't gamble on balloons bursting, the FED are being overly cautious imo, and some believe the inflation peak can already be seen, UK inflation which is already in double figures is predicted to be sub 2% end 2023, though a fair bit of pain to come between now and then. However yes your last paragraph we totally agree on, last time I looked Thailand were about 7th on the planet in terms of dollar reserves, an incredible position when you see some of the huge economies beneath them, so it is a shame to put it mildly, there's not more help for the folk down on their luck. NB Thailand now in 15th place but still ahead of the UK (17th)

I can vouch for HH immigration (go to the new big building) - they've always been super helpful to me. The staff downstairs when you arrive will ask you what the issue is, and if they can't do it themselves, then prep you for when you go upstairs to the movers and the shakers ????

Covid certainly made a lot of people rich, incl eight new billionaires I read. Moderna has now just launched legal action against Pfizer for nicking their ideas incl how the vaccine works to stop the bodies immune system attacking the antidote when it enters the body, something many of the vaccine providers could not replicate, which makes you wonder, if true, how much pfizer helped at all in the whole thing. The numbers Moderna are mentioning re compensation are to say the least 'large' !

I guess that's my English degree trashed then.

I'm here to counsel you again ???? - China has seen the devastation sanctions have delivered to Russia, (though sadly not enough), if you were the Chinese PM, fond of your position, and are about to see your Russian counterpart taken out, and knew the economic consequences, would you invade ? OK try melatonin ???? (I've no idea why that switched to block writing?)

Yep agreed - Thailand seems to produce incredible engineers/architects etc all skills that can benefit Thailand and then go out of their way to keep those skills within, and I've seen the maths and physics stuff they give to 14 year olds and it would blow your mind, it's easily UK A level stuff if not more, yet the overall common sense factor and depressingly the woeful lack of awareness of the world outside Thailand, Geography and History etc is so poor. Infact when I was researching schools for my daughter, I don't think I even saw a school with Geography on their curriculum. So currently my daughter is days away from splitting the atom but can't give me 3 European capitals !!

If you live your life in a state of perpetual paranoia, possibly. (Your first mistake was listening to the 'old, bitter' guys)

Everything in life has the potential to go wrong if your glass is half empty so whats the solution ? everyone do nothing ?

Perhaps word has got around how little he respects them. I see green shoots in various industries here as Covid recedes so perhaps there's hope yet - don't know where you're from but I'm sure properties will become available, now probably being a good time to barter with a landlord ? I would offer to be a customer, but all she'll be doing is painting my head !! ????

I use to do the Myanmar border run, people use to say to me it must be a real pain but I loved it. Easy trip (from PKK), initially I used an agent, but it's so easy there's no need, mostly drive there wait and return, the last two I did you didn't even physically cross the border, they would just take your passport in bulk and bring them back. If you do cross the few hundred metres to the other side. there's a couple of wine 'shops' cheaper than Thai side

Have you just cracked open another bottle ?

If you live in rural Thailand how can you not 'need' a phone (if you're sick) or a motorbike (to get to your job/get food) - you're not thinking this through too well.

If your kids were hungry what would you do ? Give us an alternative that is open to your average rural thai family .....we're all ears.... As for the govt to help, the irony is amazing, here they get next to nothing from the thai govt, no safety nets here if you're on your <deleted>, whereas in the west you're pampered from cradle to grave and paid not to work, paid to have kids, paid to stay at home to take care of your babies - so where are you from ?

You were doing so well (love the broken arms comment) but then you had to ruin it by prioritising ballet over football ! I'm gonna file that under an unintended slip as the rest was good ????

Are you really suggesting give a 17 year old an ATM card to an account with a million baht (so far) in it - seriously ? Do you think she will have the life experience to spot a scammer or a fraud once they know a vulnerable young girl has access to a million baht ? Most girls of that age would be straight to the makeup/clothes shops. Think about it

With a weary acceptance wasn't it always likely that given a fantastic story such as this, the tone of the thread would be negative! (sigh). Most of the negativity on this just reinforces the deserved perception of the online expat. I know two thai teachers and they both work their <deleted> off well beyond their contractual hours to do the best for their students, often having to act as a social worker for the poorer students too, so why does anyone suppose that AseanNow staff are anymore trustworthy (I'm sure they are) than a teacher ?

Yep, it's highly unlikely in my experience a respected hospital is going to rip you off and that kind of scenario is usually dreamt up on expat forums. The price is the price, if there are small nuances, like your PCR then that's something that has to be sucked up. At the end of the day you go to hospital hoping for the best, and if they do that for you that's all that counts. Plus of course there has to be some benefit of being a local right ? It happens in all western countries so I don't see the problem really. Infact when my UK doctor found out I had moved to Thailand (and to this day I still have no idea how he found out), I was sent a letter saying I had been removed from his surgeries list, and all future treatment could be chargeable.

Errrrr yep - you think the hospital lies in wait for single falangs ? - then quickly get out their single falang spreadsheet ? lol. Actually no once I had an eye infection pre wife days so went alone - all morning in hospital, full eye examination, consultant called in on a day off as it looked nastier than it turned out to be, an arm full of meds to take away - around 1,500 baht I think it was. Expensive ?

Wow - quite a few generic misconceptions there in my opinion. Why would it not be 'normal' to choose a bargirl as your partner ? Does a degree preclude women from having affairs, turn to become escorts (posh bar girls) or use their looks to gain an advantage ? They're everywhere. So a bar girl by default is not intelligent ? I know several who are, one of whom bought a bar, now has several bars and restaurants, went onto to buy 12 rai of land and built high end houses. She's now on her 9th project. Another one has found a husband and I've never seen a more devoted couple. Absolutely perfect together for years now. Now compare that to your 'well educated' girls who need a degree to work in a mobile phone shop for 500 baht a day and they are there in the hundreds, dead behind the eyes with zero ambition and it does make you wonder who is the smarter. A degree is frequently not worth the paper it's written on, especially so in Thailand. 'Media studies' anyone ? Expanding it a little further, Thailand hasn't got a single university in the top 500 in the world last time I looked, so just how 'well educated' are these well educated thai girls ? Finally there was a report in the UK which exposed hundreds of British university girls selling their bodies to make extra cash during their courses/degrees. So just think the next time you get treated by a British doctor she could well have earnt a few quid on her back to get there. (Harold Shipman one of UK's most prolific murderers, highly intelligent doctor, should he be looked up to?) and I've worked with graduates who were a walking disaster that I wouldn't put in charge of my shoelaces. Personally I've never had time for people who look down their nose at people who either choose or are forced down the path they are treading. Most, but certainly not all, bargirls will be doing their job out of a fierce loyalty towards their family, loyalty you will rarely find in the west, and if they don't the family will go under. I admire that hugely. Everyone's human at the end of the day, everyone has their reasons for their choices and will do what's best for them, it's no-one elses business.

Half the weight of the western alternative ?

lol how many times has that picture been used by the outraged double pricing people. Have you been there or just googled it ? I'm never in the house, still never been 'double priced to my knowledge, trust me the wife would pick it up. Perhaps I don't go looking for it, or the amounts are so trivial it doesn't set off my stress levels ? Accept it or take your business elsewhere and miss out on some great experiences for the sake of a few coins. (which at the end of the day also go to the running costs of those areas)

But surely that happens everywhere right ? Hospital competition is the US is cut throat with a massive range of prices and in the UK, if you wish to go private you will be gouged to death before you've got anywhere near a surgical gown. I don't know if it ever got off the ground but the UK were looking at foreigner surcharges due to the amount of foreigners using the NHS for free having paid nothing into the system (all the expensive stuff such as HIV treatment, births etc etc) so I guess, and it's only a guess that the Thais are going down the same route of setting fees commensurate with how much you've paid into the system. In Hua Hin's main hospital they have a VIP option 250 baht I think it is - if you don't pay it you've got a hefty wait in the busiest hospital in stifling conditions, if you do pay it you are taken to a different area and seen within the hour. They could put another zero on the end of that and given the options I would still pay it personally.

Just walk up - I have got a Thai ID card and married to a Thai but the only thing they've ever asked me for is my passport. I thought I had broken my foot a few months back, they x-rayed it (not broken), strapped it up, consultation with a bone doctor, few painkillers etc - 400 baht !

Played Nikanti a few weeks ago - world class but you have to buy the golf/meal package at I think 5,500 but very highly recommended - as for Amata Spring, forget it, there is no way a mere mortal can walk up and play on the Japanese billionaires playground at any price !

I think you can rest easy - I've lived there for years and to date I haven't come across a single case of 'double pricing' and being married to a Thai I'm pretty sure I would have spotted one by now