DrDave

A big part of the problem is that so many people don't know the difference between "nationality" and "race". I always get a chuckle when someone claims "racism" when it's clearly a simple case of nationalism.

No license, no rental. I believe this was the plan a couple of years ago, but it looks like it was never implemented.

I'd be concerned if they removed the expiration date. Also, I think @Lemsta69 was referring to and opthamologist (real doctor) as opposed to an optometrist.

As was mentioned above, most banks assess a flat fee for doing an outbound wire transfer, while Wise's fee is a percentage of the amount transferred. While Wise is almost always cheaper for smaller transactions, it becomes very expensive when sending larger amounts. It's fairly simple to work out at what transaction amount a wire transfer is cheaper.

I think that's true, provided that your home country license is in English. An IDP is nothing more than an English translation of your driver's license. Not sure about the length of time, though.

In addition, tourists need to read the fine print of their insurance policy - many won't cover if riding on a motorcycle or scooter regardless of having the appropriate license.

I noticed that most of the posters who thing there's nothing wrong with this behavior don't actually live in Phuket, and have never experienced it first-hand, or long-term. It's much more than the noise of their rented T-Maxes. It's the reckless driving that endangers other motorists as well as their generally boorish behavior.

In high school, we were taught that term by our French language teacher.

People we tip: taxi, massage, hotel room cleaner and bellman. Basically, anyone who performs a personal service or gives us their undivided attention for more than 60 seconds. In Bangkok, we normally stay 3-4 days and give the room cleaner a tip the first time we see her in the hallway. The bellman gets a small tip for bringing our bags to the room and checking to make sure everything's in working order. Taxis in Bangkok usually get a tip rounding up to the next 50 or 100 baht unless their driving was crazy. No tip for taxis in Phuket though, due to their outrageous fares. Foot massage always gets a 100 baht tip for a 1 hour massage. I refuse to tip at places like Starbucks however, where the person at the counter does nothing more for me than spending 20 seconds in front of a coffee machine. Tipping in the US has gotten out of hand over the years. One very large, well-known restaurant chain offered only carry-out service during the pandemic, and added a mandatory 18% gratuity to all orders placed online. Not sure what the gratuity was for since there was no table service.

Yes, I think that's the one he was thinking of. 3m wide hallway is about right - very cramped considering the food stalls and dining tables had to share that small space. I remember being incredibly hot and uncomfortable while eating in there. Haven't been to Patong since pre-covid days, so I don't know if it's still in operation.

Nothing unusual, retail prices fluctuate daily in step with with the global crude market.

If you have a Rakuten account, you can usually get a 40% rebate on the cost of Nord VPN. BTW, I've found that Nord VPN hasn't worked for the applications I need it most for: Bank of America and Netflix.

Hopefully Genting Dream's new owners will manage the business better than Genting H.K. did. Genting's Symphony and a sister ship were foreclosed upon for non-payment of fuel bills about a year ago while sailing with passengers onboard. The new owner bought them for literally pennies on the dollar a few months back.

The general format for houses I've always used is: [House Number] [Soi and/or Thanon], [Moo Baan] [T.Tambon] [A.Amphoe], [Chiangwat] [Postal Code] In some areas (as in cities), the Moo Baan isn't required, while in rural areas it's an important part of the address. For a condo, you would probably want to include the building name.

I think I've mentioned this before, but I was watching the news on the TV in the US some years ago when Blacks were rioting in Paris. The US newscaster was reading the copy and said "African-Americans are rioting in Paris...", and you could immediately see the look of horror on her face, as if to say "what idiot wrote this copy?".

That's what I was thinking as well. The value of the business, and what someone will be willing to pay for it will be based mostly upon two things, net profits and goodwill. If there are sufficient profits, they could hire someone to run the business for a salary or percent of revenue, and be free of the day to day operation. If the net profit is small and nobody is interested in paying for the intangible goodwill, then it might be best to sell off remaining stock and close the business.

California charges 53.9 cents per gallon in taxes. Federal tax adds another 18.4 cents, bringing the total taxes to 72.3 cents per gallon. Assuming the average new ICE car is driven 15,000 miles per year and averages 30 MPG, an ICE driver pays about $360 per year in fuel taxes, while an EV driver pays only a $100 EV registration fee in lieu of fuel taxes. That's quite a shortfall.

Can you provide any examples of models that facilitate the funding of road transportation infrastructure (streets, highways and bridges) by those that actually use these resources? Fuel taxes are obvious, but that revenue will decline sharply in the future as California shifts to EVs. Sales and use taxes on vehicles could help fill that void, as excise taxes on new cars and tires did many years ago. Attempts to spread these costs over the general population via increased taxes has historically been met with resistance in the US.

Getting back to the question of taxation and how to fund infrastructure maintenance and improvements. These are currently funded via gasoline and diesel taxes paid at the pump. It'll be interesting to see how California addresses this issue, with their mandate to completely phase out ICE vehicle sales by 2035. The phase-out will begin in 2026 with 35% required to be zero-emission or hybrid, ramping up to 100% by 2035. My guess is that the lost tax revenue will be recovered in two components: an excise tax levied on the sale of a new EV, and an additional tax added to the annual registration fee (road tax) on EVs.

I don't know about the ships in SE Asia, but in North America and Europe, generally no since about 6 months ago. As of about a week ago, most lines have dropped the requirement for staff to wear masks, although many still do.

That's the largest ship I can recall mooring in Patong Bay. Only 800 pax came ashore?

Really hard to narrow down to just three, but here's a try: Nam Ngiew (Northern-style pork soup) Khao Na Phet Moo Nam Tok There are quite a few uncommon, northern-style Thai dishes my wife makes, but I don't know their correct names. My wife is a great cook - I'm a lucky guy!

Right!!! It's far more profitable to follow this script: "I'm going to use YOUR money to build this project, and make a tidy profit off of the sale. Then, I'll rent out the unit YOU paid for while paying myself and a staff an ongoing salary from the rental proceeds. I'll also pocket charges for any *cough, cough* 'expenses' as I see fit. Whatever crumbs that may be left, I'll give to YOU. To sweeten the deal, I'll let you use the unit YOU paid for 5% of the time." Near-zero capital investment and risk for the developer, with a very significant upside. You are basically financing the developer's business. Oh, and any "guaranteed ROI", is in reality not guaranteed.

These type of arrangements are generally a horrible investment. The investor (you) who puts up all of the money is the last to be paid, that is if there's any money left after the management company or developer take their cut. The only ones making any money on these arrangements are the developers and their management companies who sell over-priced condos and then skim most of the ongoing revenue off the back end. Many, many condos in Phuket were sold pre-covid using this 6% ROI scheme. You might ask those who bought them how their investment is paying off. I wouldn't be surprised if most would be too embarrassed to respond.

I recall taking my daughter to Mission Hospital some years back. We arrived at the time of her appointment, and the waiting area was completely full. She got to see the doctor 4 hours later.