nigelforbes

I don't know either, if you figure it out will you please PM me? ????

Every time I go out, I have several in the truck, some at home, some sown into the lining of my jacket (for emergency use), we can't be too careful.

If it makes you feel more comfortable, you must do so. Knee and elbow pads also perhaps and maybe even a kevlar vest. And if we see you walking around dressed thusly, we wont judge.

"is the mask for covid protection or smog protection", if it serves to filter both, so much the better, it's merely a bonus.

I can only tell you what I see and what Kasikorn shows me, according to them it jumped this AM.

I fail to see the problem if people here wish to try and protect themselves and feel more comfortable wearing a mask, I do even if Californian's don't.

Western markets are not open yet but if GBP/THB is anything to go by, the value of the Pound has increased this morning, against THB it's up to 42.61 at Kasi. in Thailand. It appears the market may have fallen back in love with Sterling, aww, how sweet.

Let me wrap up this explanation with some misc. FOREX market trivia: Daily turnover of the global FOREX is about USD 6.6 trill and is increasing at about 40% per decade. As of 2019, the most traded currency was USD which amounted to over 88% of all traded volume, GBP amounted to about 13% whilst THB amounted to 0.5%. Note: total volume must equal 200%. The Spot price is the market price, the Bid Price is the highest price a buyer will pay, the Ask Price is the lowest Price a seller will sell. The rules of the FOREX Wholesale market are set out in the FX Global Code. The FX Global Code is a set of principles of good practice for foreign exchange market participants. It aims to promote the integrity and effective functioning of the wholesale foreign exchange market. The founder of Forex trading is typically credited to be a man by the name of Richard D. Wyckoff, who created the Wyckoff Stock Market Institute. The FOREX software uses a proprietary scripting language, MQL4/MQL5, which enables traders to develop Expert Advisors, custom indicators and scripts. The software used in the FOREX is called MetaTrader 4, also known as MT4, is an electronic trading platform widely used by online retail foreign exchange speculative traders. The software is owned by Metaquotes Software Co. As the bankers' bank, the Bank of International Settlements (BIS) serves the financial needs of member central banks. It provides gold and foreign exchange transactions for them and holds central bank reserves. The BIS is also a banker and fund manager for other international financial institutions. The BIS is the mechanism used to settle claims between Central Banks for related FOREX activity which are netted daily. One of the key roles of BIS in the FOREX market is to monitor the risk assumed by member banks and to ensure FOREX market quotes are balanced globally. The following note from the BIS website explains: “The purpose of this note is to consider the prudential aspects of banks' foreign exchange activities. It is not directly concerned with the restrictions that countries may place on their banks' foreign exchange business for exchange control, monetary or other macro-economic reasons. In exercising prudential control over this area of banks' activities, however, supervisory authorities need to take into account the role of the banks as "market-makers" in foreign exchange. This role has two aspects. Firstly, banks have to quote rates to their customers (including other banks) at which they stand ready to buy and sell currencies. Secondly, by themselves taking open positions in currencies, banks (as well as non-banks) help to ensure that the foreign exchange markets are balanced at any point of time without excessive and erratic exchange rate fluctuations. In other words, supervisors have to weigh prudential considerations against the need to enable the banks to play their part in the smooth and efficient functioning of the exchange markets. Whatever may be the exact balance struck between these considerations, supervisory authorities must seek to ensure that the risks assumed by banks in their foreign exchange operations are never so large as to constitute a significant threat either to the solvency and liquidity of individual banks, or to the health and stability of the banking system as a whole”. https://www.bis.org/publ/bcbs00e.htm

I agree with what you wrote about oil prices, but not in the case of Thailand where the vast majority of the country comprises rural poor. It's one thing to have temporarily high oil prices that cause problems for much of the population getting into the office but something quite different when it's low paid agricultural workers who can't even survive. I think the oil stabilization fund here in Thailand has proved to be a stroke of genius in helping prevent inflation but also in helping the rural poor keep their heads above water.

Poor quality health care in Cambodia. Too many guns in the PI. Both lacking in infrastructure

Put simply, you are quite wrong, everyone reports to somebody and everyone has a job description. What do you think the purpose of the NACC is.

Everybody has a job description, even the Thai Immi officers, especially the Thai Immi officers. EVERYONE reports to somebody, bribe shared or not, the person who decided to waive the visa fee can be called on to account for the reasons why. Maybe not to the immediate superior but to somebody in the line above him/her.

"An Immigration Officer has the authority to approval a RETIREMENT extension for whatever reason he chooses". You don't know that, you assume he does. There can be no doubt whatsoever that the officer has to account to his superiors for that reason which may or may not withstand scrutiny.

Two points: An officer of Immi cannot arbitrarily decide not to charge applicants visa fees, they must have a valid reason which must withstand scrutiny. And if a "valid reason" is found, how many times can it be used without attracting attention? If those reasons don't exist, the officer is derelict in his duties and is guilty of causing loss to the state. If subsequent scrutiny reveals the officer or his family has become unduly enriched, a charges will likely follow. If the visa applicant pays say 30k for a retirement visa, that person can be assumed to know that is not the market price for obtaining a 1,900 retirement visa and that other services are being provided......it just doesn't pass the test of reasonability.

Run forest run.

Beer o'clock, does it every time.

Just an observation, you guys are way past that point, some posters have set out chapter and verse on this whole business.......whatever were they thinking!

I care very much when other peoples fraudulent activity breaks the system that I operate in. I care when foreigners do a runner on unpaid hospital bills because that means the government then imposes medical insurance in order for me to get my visa. I care when expats obtain their visas using scam methods because that means Immigration imposes new requirements on my visa application as a result, requirements such as having to keep funds on deposit for X months per year. So yes, it is my business because it effects me personally.

You hope! There's hundreds of thousands of people in the crash helmet scenario, there's a couple hundred, maybe, in the visa scam scenario. The biggest difference is that 99.9% of the crash helmet cases are locals, ALL the visa cases are farangs hence targets of somebody. And of course the profit per case is very different, 200 baht vs many thousand, up to 30 or so I understand. Supporters of the scheme, mostly the guys who use it and who are trying to justify the legality of it to themselves and to the rest of us, place a lot of emphasis on the I/O's discretionary powers. Do you suppose that discretionary power is granted by the underlying law, or is it a discretion they've granted themselves by virtue of their position, or is perhaps office policy decided by the head of the branch? I don't know the answer, but I'd bet the farm that it is not granted by the underlying law. Put another way, that discretionary power to change things is nothing more than an IO who is capable of deciding his/her own version of the law, aka bent.

And that makes it right I suppose! Nothing more than chancers a sheep, all hoping for the best, quite sad really.

It does. It means that I only spend 5 minutes per year in Immigration, an appointment to get my photo taken and I'm very happy with that. I don't live in Pattaya, thankfully. The Immi office where I live required everyone to show up and get a queue number for an appointment with only a limited number being given each day. That meant showing up at Immi to begin queuing at 4am with no guarantee we wouldn't have to come back the following day to repeat the process. Using the agent solved that problem nicely. Using the agent also helped solve the covid issue because I am required to medically shield. Lastly, I'm over age 75 and wheel chair bound, agents for me are an essential service but they have to be legit.

I see that nerves have been struck, I'm not going back through the same set of arguments all over again, just because you haven't read or understood the thread and the points being made.....sorry, you'll have to find somebody else to be your entertainment....I'm out, byee.

Ah well, that settles it then, why ever didn't you say so in the first place. If you've never heard of one single report of anyone having any issues, there must be none and that must be the answer.......case closed, jury dismissed! Lou, it's no skin off my nose what you or anyone else choses to believe or not on this point, I have my visa etc so I'm alright Jack, er Lou. It's a little troubling however that some posters don't think there are serious penalties for this scam/fraud/tactic and demand proof before they are even willing to think about believing it. Oh well, mind how you go.

Why not read the thread, if you had you would know what one poster wrote, which I agree with: "There's actually no hard data AFAIK to say how many foreigners get booted out of Thailand on this basis, and I would doubt Immigration is going to publish it. IMO saying deportations of this nature have never happened is like denying climate change is man-made". Here's a thought, why not go ask an officer in Immi and see what he says, get it from the horses mouth as it were.

If you go back to the first page and about the third post, you'll see that the OP doesn't want to tie up money in Thailand. The agent may or may not be a known agent but the activity that he's referring to is not compliant with Immi. laws.