TroubleandGrumpy

The Trump hatred here on AN is strong - the sad lives of sad people. Feelings - all they have is feelings - reminds me of a song. Feelings, nothing more than feelings Trying to forget my feelings of hate Teardrops rolling down on my face Trying to forget my feelings of hate Feelings, for all my life I'll feel it I wish I had never met you But you came back again Feelings, whoa, oh, oh, feelings Whoa, oh, oh, feel it again in my head

Prolific? I would have used another word. Either way - he needs to get a life. Does he realise posting that on AN is like a teenager taking photos of their meals for facebook?

Agree. And what also astounds me is the total and utter ignorance of the Trump haters - in the media and in the democrat party and their supporters both in USA and worldwide. This was not a POTUS statement you Wallies - it was Trump answering a media question - look at the photo !! They are truly delusional and full of hatred and will respond to anything mentioned in the media - the sad lives of nasty people with no understanding of reality - they have no idea that they have been stirred up to feel the way they do for political reasons.

Not in Singapore - bargains are there to be had - well they were the last time we flew in and out in 2023 and all the years before that.

The Chinese have woken up to them, the Indians knew straight away, and the rest realised it was a scam quickly. AOT will hopefully open smaller shops and reduced rentals, who will actually offer products at a discount - like those in the Singapore Airport do. But being Thailand - they will screw up what should be a simple solution to an ongoing problem that has existed for many years.

IMO he has 2 choices. Go back to the Agent in the other Province and ask him/her to sort it out - and pay for that. Or as Jack said - leave the country and pay the fine and get a new passport and reapply for a new Visa. That he has no spare pages in his passport is a big concern to me. What has he been up to and where has he been and what has he been doing - and why would he not know the rules if he is that well travelled? I think you need to be careful mate. How good a friend is he really - I would stay away and not get too involved with this bloke - sounds like trouble to me. If he is internationally travelling a lot and cannot organise his Visa etc. then he is a problem - the type that will dump those problems on others - the type best avoided. Be careful mate.

The 'activists' who are against abortion are gaining traction and support - so they have to be shut down - that is the woke liberal feminist way. But they will only gain them more support - it is inevitable that this 'delicate' issue is resolved one day - and it will be one day. There is something clearly wrong with a law whereby a woman in her car on her way to legally terminate a baby's life then has an accident and the baby is killed - and the driver of the other car who made a mistake is charged with manslaughter for killing the baby. That is it right there - that is the problem. If a person can be charged for killing an unborn baby, then why can the baby's Mother or a doctor kill it without any legal problems. In one situation the baby has a legal right to live, and in the other one the baby has no legal right to live. IMO the only sensible way to deal with this matter is to either outlaw all abortions, or to make them legal in certain situations only - which is the obvious 'solution'. The Law should be made such that a baby has no legal rights until the baby is 12 weeks old - and then after that time it does and the Mother/Doctor should by law only be permitted to terminate the baby's life because of medical reasons (Mother will die or the baby is severely handicapped). 16 weeks? 20 weeks? Whatever is agreed by 'the experts' should be the cut off line for the baby to acquire legal rights to live. If that is not done, then one day a case will go to the High Court and the likely decision will be that the baby has legal rights when 'life commences' - being when a heartbeat and brain functions are started. That is the obvious time frame, because that is when death is officially determined - no heartbeat and no brain function.

Good call Don - if the Europeans do it, then maybe follow suit. It is their war not the USA's (under the current Administration) so why should USA go first?? It all sounds like anti-Trump media fake news to me.

IMO - the Thai population has no respect for the elite, police, bureaucracy, politicians and the rule of law - because they will be destroyed, jailed or 'disappear' if they raise any complaints against those with the power - and they are very very powerful here. Whether it is killing policemen, or burning to death 30 people in an illegal nightclub, or causing a building to collapse killing 100 people, and 100s of other things since I have been here - the guilty wealthy and elite never get truly 'punished'. Those near the top will never allow that 'precedent' to put at risk their illegally and corruptly gained generational power and wealth.

Garbage? Fallacy? Are you living in a parallel universe? Perhaps you just dont understand? My point is that TAT overinflate the figures - both in numbers of tourists and money they spend in Thailand. If you think that these TAT tourist arrivals figures from 2019 are real and that they each spent 52K Baht while in Thailand, then I and most cannot help you - because that is what TAT reported - and still claims today. Cambodia 925,437 Laos 1,856,762 Malaysia 4,274,458 Myanmar 389,301 Total = 7,445,958 = 387,189,816,000 Baht. Freely available on Google is the following quote - " The Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) tracks tourist numbers primarily through immigration data collected at border checkpoints and airports. They also gather data from various sources like airlines, hotels, and tour operators to refine their statistics and gain a more comprehensive understanding of tourist activity." TAT are paid bonuses and are assessed based upon their 'success' in delivering tourists into Thailand, and their economic benefits are used for the Govt's budget calculations. TAT calculates the number of tourists and their economic value using their own unpublished and unscientific estimates of arrivals (see above) - there is no independent oversight of their claims - and they claim all arrivals as tourists and estimate how much they spend. And just like any school student that marks their own homework - they get A+ every time. TAT's end of year assessments and bonuses are always very 'positive' because the Govt wants them to say there are far more Tourists than there really is. This justifies them spending more than they have or will get on things with kickbacks to themselves, their relatives and their mates. The TAT numbers are easily faked to claim the economy is going great - unlike trade exports which are very difficult to fake. Mate - this place is corrupted top to bottom - if you dont know that, then you need to get out and about and take a good look see. While you are out there you will see an economy that is crashing again after a post-Covid boost - and they are desperate to hide it for as long as possible - but stories like this one (and reality) are showing more and more the true state of the Thai economy - and it aint good. And despite opening their doors and offering free Visas to anyone and everyone (even the Russians which most countries banned), they cannot hide the tourism failures of Thailand and the associated economic collapse. Nor can they hide the growing social and criminal problems that allowing everyone/anyone into the country has caused.

More clear evidence that Democrat supporters are violent and driven by rhetoric spewed out by Dem politicians, and that Trump is right - the National Guard needs to take over and shut down the riots - violently if needed. This could be the moment when USA changes for the good and there is a nationwide clampdown to stops riots and insurrections pretending to be protests. It appears that a Democrat politician was killed by a Democrat supporter because (probably) she voted with the Republicans to remove healthcare for illegal immigrants. Hopefully all the Dems politicians screaming for their supporters to resist and fight are charged with insurrection - like they did to the protestors who stupidly walked into the Capitol and were outside protesting peacefully. This could be it - the game is over - time to take out those that play the race card and agitator role to stir up violence, all to protect illegals who vote for them. If they dont do it now - when will they do it.

I would not be surprised by what number TAT conjures out of thin air. They currently count all entries as tourists - including land border entries from Malaysia and Laos and Cambodia and Myanmar. I used to wonder why the Thai Govt does not force TAT to only count international arrivals via airports and on ships, and only those that are designated as a 'tourist' for Visa purposes - not business, workers, family, diplomats and Thais. But then I realised what I already knew - Thailand is corrupt top to bottom - of course they want the numbers to be as high as possible - to keep up the illusion that Thailand is very popular for tourists. They will never admit that they never had 39 million tourists in 2019 and it was more like 20-24 million - if you take out the 9 million border walkers and then assume that 20% of the rest (6 million) were non-tourists on business, workers, family, etc (probably more like 25%). TAT is struggling to find new ways to keep the fake numbers up - but if they only counted international arrivals with a 'tourist' visa (or approval) it would be much much less. Plus for those that do not know, Thailand only has Tourist Visas - there are no Immigrant or any other Visa into Thailand. Every Visa is a non-immigrant (tourist) visa - with many sub-categories - from tourism to working to family to diplomat - but they are all technically a non-immigrant tourist visa. That explanation was given by an IO during a presentation years ago but most people just ignore that reality - which in this case matters. TAT is not lying (technically) because all foreign arrivals are technically tourists - but as with all things in this country - the truth is not what it seems to be - until it all falls down on their/our heads.

I have both Krungsri and Bangkok Bank. I used to have Siam too, but when they cancelled online banking I went to Krungsri for my 2nd account. Bangkok Bank has been my bank since 2012 - only problem with then is when I moved to a new Province I always had to cancel it and open a new one - or pay the extra inter-Provincial charges. BKK is always easier to deal with and hopefully they will never stop their online banking services. But if they do, then I will be using the BKK ATM only for transfers and payments and mobile top-ups if needed - but with an annual data plan I rarely top up (I dont call anyone on mobiles - I use Line etc - or the wife does the call). PS - I only use the ATMs inside Malls, Makro, BigC etc - those outside ATMs open 24/7 are an easy hacker target.

This below is the graph that is more relevant - since 2020 the Baht was declining in value - and then in mid-2024 the Thai Govt decided to step in and stop the decline. As the new PM at the time said - 'we over did it'.

I LOVE the fact that I dont have to drive constantly on the lookout for the cops and one eye on the speedo. I HATE the fact that the OP is dead right AND that Thais cannot do U-Turns to save their lives. Near us is one that has its own lane to turn into, but the numpties still wait until all 3 lanes are clear before slowly slowly going ahead straight across all 3 lanes.

OK. Krungsri Bank for ATM only. Bangkok Bank for all online payments and transfers. How anyone can say a phone app is more secure than a properly setup laptop and browser connection is ridiculous - it is about the costs. For apps they only need to cover 2 'interfaces' IOS and Android - for computers they have to cover a lot of different interfaces. The claims phone apps are safer, because there is less chance of downloading malware is total khrapp and fake news spewed out by the banking industry (to save costs). Phones are being hacked more and more because they are inherently less secure - sms links, extensions, rogue apps, sim swapping, etc etc etc. Plus phones are stolen and lost everyday - not laptops. I guarantee that all security and defence agencies only use 'real' computers to do what they do because of one reason - security - they dont use effin phones - and phones are not allowed in most 'secure buildings'. MAC Codes and IP Addresses are one thing, but IMEI Codes and IMSI Catchers and Wifi Pings and Bluetooth Hackers is a no brainer in terms of less secure. This aint gonna end well - make sure you phone has wifi and bluetooth disabled - never click on an email or sms if you do not know who it is - and even then not of you do not expect it (such as verification process). If you lose it or have it stolen the ASAP get into the branch or call centre and have the account locked ASAP. Plus - have a second backup bank account with another bank just in case for needed cash while the other one is sorted out. Dont think that if you find it hours later somewhere or it is returned by police that it has not been 'seriously hacked'.

Iran is about to find out what Saddam Hussein and the Iraq military discovered. When USA attacked Iraq it was not the 'War of all Wars' as Hussein said it would be - USA destroyed the bulk of the Iraq military in 2 days. They only took 2 weeks to take over the country, because they did not want to kill too many civilians. Iran has been supporting terrorism against Israel for decades, and the prospect of them gaining nuclear weapons and their allies using them against Israel was too high. IMO Israel waited until Eid al-Adha was over, and the expected UN report of Iran non-compliance. Going forward I think the 'end state' will no longer be Israel compliance with international requests and no more attempts at appeasement or peace settlements. It will be - 'Leave us alone or we will blow you to Hell'. And if Iran or its allies attack the USA assets in the Region - they will be blown back to the stone age by a combined USA and Israel 'Armageddon'. Hiding behind civilians and under hospitals is no longer a strategy that will stop retaliation or annihilation - despite all the protests by the woke liberals in the West.

Who would travel to a country that has been swamped by the Russians and the Chinese. Cheap Charlies from India and short hop-overs from Malaysia - that is who. Thailand never cared about who their tourist customers were - they still don't care - all they think and care about is themselves. There was a senior public servant in Rayong that publicly stated last year that Thailand needs to solve the 'corrupt Chinese problem' in the Region. There was a growing number of illegal factories with Chinese owned businesses using illegal workers. He stated that Thailand needs to change to attract the 'western' businesses (Japan, Korea, West, Europe, etc.) and that beaches and girls and sun and cheaper labour costs (Thais), was not enough these days. He also added that threatening to hit working Expats with income taxes on their money made overseas would make it even more unattractive to invest in Thailand, and he said the same for the push to increase the Thai minimum wages too high. He claimed that all those things and more, and locals turning a blind eye to irregularities, are making it attractive for corrupt people to setup and employ illegals, and very unattractive for genuine overseas investors and workers. Because being critical about Thailand is totally unacceptable, I believe he was 'demoted' or 'retired' - and therein lies the problem - they refuse to accept criticism - justified or not.

Most Thais have a 'farming' mentality when it comes to business. If it fails, they just start again with a new crop - easy peasy. In the west starting a business is difficult and expensive and requires complying with all the rules and regulations - especially when hiring people. In Thailand you just open a box/shed and away you go - way too easy so they just dont care.

critical juncture It is much worse than that - IMO it is a cliff - either they change direction (minimum 90 degrees) of they are going over. In a few weeks the BOT is meeting with their new CEO in place. Hopefully they will drop interest rates by 0.5 to 1 % and hopefully they will abandon their drive to keep the Baht at 30-35 to $USD and therefore stop buying it when it falls. Since July 2024 the BOT has been buying the Baht and keeping interest rates way too high. Many politicians have been calling for lower interest rates since mid-late 2024, saying that exports and manufacturing industries and tourism all need the Baht to be lower - and they were right. But we all know who wants the Baht to stay high - and it aint those working in exports, manufacturing or tourism.

Thanks - and Yes indeed - Abe are for whole jaw really. They can be used for the upper jaw too in older patients whose diet is suitable. Ask Dentists here about them (and Valplast) and most have not even heard of them - and I include the bigger Dental 'Hospitals' in Bangkok. I have tried many versions of crowns and bridges and partial dentures. Eventually I had all the teeth removed - they were 'genetically stuffed' - wish I had removed them all decades ago, instead of all the repairs and changes made, which were a waste of money in the end.

It all depends on your other teeth - if you get an implant then you are committed to getting implants for all the other teeth if/when they fail. At 76 you are unlikely not to have additional failures. If you were 50 or under I would say definitely get an implant. The best advice given to far is to get a small denture fitted - deal with it and you will adjust. Then after 2-4 weeks you can decide if you can live with it or not. Over the next 5-10 years you might need more work - and dentures are far better option than implants at your age. The problem with dentures in Thailand is that they are stuck in the 90s here - these days in Japan, Korea and the West there are much better and more modern dentures available - here they have old fashioned Acrylic or Metal and that is basically it - Valplast and Abe dentures are just not available here - that I could find. If you cannot 'handle' the denture, then again at your age get a bridge, and when other teeth fail you can get an extended bridge/s. Bridges are crowns with 1 or 2 false teeth between the mounting crowns - and these days they will last 15-20 years which is probably more than enough for you. Plus they just do not have the complications of implants or the related problems of bone deterioration. They are done in a few days are are extremely easy to manage. Whatever you do get done - make sure it is done in one of 3 places only - Bangkok, Chiang Mai or Phuket.

Are they now no longer being funded by USAID? I hope they are all unemployed and destitute - then they can go back to USA and re-start their gender studies degrees.

Yes it can and it will - see my post above. But IMO it will not be a problem for 99% Expats - probably - I think - I hope.

No. Check out Jeff Gunther's youtube channel - 2 months ago he interviewed a TRD Official who is working on the new global taxation system, and an Expat Tax 'consultant'. Well worth listening too all the way through - it makes it clear that 99% of Expats are OK. This was before the recent announcement - but she seemed to know it was coming. Note that the Expat consultant guy was still 'drumming up business' back then so ignore much of what he says and listen to the Thai TRD Official. Also note being Thai she never disagreed with some of the things he said - but her silence and lack of agreement said enough. Back to the point of the OP. It was disorganised, disjointed and incompetent, the way that TRD and the Thai Govt responded to all the Expat concerns about the change made in Sept 2023. That is one of the many reasons that Thailand is no longer the 'flavour on the decade' when it comes to Expat retirement locations. They still did not clarify or apologise - they just removed the TRD GM and then changed the rules for 2025 and 2026 after realising they had badly screwed up - both for Thais and Expats. One of the BIG reasons why places like The Philippines is so much more valued these days, is that they look after the Expat Retirees by having The Philippine Retirement Authority (PRA). This is the Philippine Government organisation that is responsible for managing the Special Resident Retiree's Visa (SRRV) program, which allows foreign nationals to reside in the Philippines indefinitely as retirees. They deal with all the complicated and conflicting Government Departments and Offices. If Thailand had something like that, then this income tax issue and so many others would be sorted out so much better. But No - Thailand creates a semi-business to sell all the Visas (BOI, Elite Visa, etc etc) and all they care about is making money - that is why it is all a total clusterf****** here in Thailand.