TroubleandGrumpy

It is part of the problem - Yes. The wealthy elite are taking a cut from all laundered money going through Thailand, and the higher the Baht the bigger their cut.

In time the corruption of the illegal Ukraine that took over after the 2014 Coup will come to light, and the USA will do one of two things. Investigate and seek to charge those involved - Ignore the issues raised and deflect any criticism. If the Republicans are in power - it will be like the current investigations of the Dems corruption ion Minnesota and other States. If the Dems are in power - it will be deny and deflect.

What a great idea - lock them away until they can pay, and then deport them. Brilliant. Not as good a deterrent as shooting them on sight if they scale a wall/fence, but a good idea in enforcing the Law as the People of USA voted for in the 2024 election.

I just noticed you have now said you are in UK - that would have been useful to people trying to help. The list from Google you gave is not the 'official' Immigration List - which I provided. Dont worry I wont read your posts again.

Get all the documents you have been advised and then go to the Immigration Office with the Wife and ask them what you need to provide to get a CoR or Letter of Residence so you can open a bank account. It varies from Province to Province so take everything. Passport: Original + photocopies (photo page, visa, latest entry stamp). TM30 Receipt: Proof your landlord notified Immigration of your address. 90-Day Report: Receipt for your last report. Proof of Address: Lease, utility bill, or landlord's letter. Application Form: Available at Immigration (online?). Photos: 2 passport-sized photos. Fee: Around 200-500 THB cash.

I also use the Aldi network - costs $15 a year and all I use it for is for texts from banks and Govt organisations. @Mason45 Do you have a relative or friend in Australia that will get and send you a SIM card using their name? I think you need an Australian ID and address to get a SIM. You can top it up online each year from any bank account - easy as.

The Thai Baht is high because the wealthy elite here want the Baht high - then their imports and their loan payments and their other financial 'investments' cost a lot less than they otherwise would. The BOT has been doing as their masters have bid, including not lowering interest rates anywhere near enough, but also in their trading activities, and their other financial decisions. Unlike in the West they do not report any of their financial transactions (buying the Baht etc.). The fact that they have encouraged the gold to be sold in Baht by hitting sales in USD with more taxes, shows the sort of things that have been going on. Singapore as an example, forces gold traders to use the USDS as much as possible - they do not want the Sing. Dollar (SGD) increasing as it will negatively affect their economy. Gold sales are not affected as much by the high Baht, because of the increasing demand since the Ukraine war and Covid. But Thailand in terms of generating production and jobs, is mainly a trade export and tourism based economy - and the Baht has been too high for almost 10 years (since the Junta). The high Baht is the single biggest reason why the Thai economy is crashing - and it is crashing - they can't sell real estate or cars - very few people are buying - everything is slowing down. It could end in a severe catastrophic crash like in the 90s when they were warned not to play speculation games with their currency for short term profits - but they were too greedy to listen - and they are still not listening.

3 Baht of gold is worth almost 200,000 Baht today - are you serious?? At that rate using your logic of several months bonus, that means their annual salary is over 1 Million Baht. You need to think before you leap.

I think you have to be retarded to not understand that was what drove up prices in the west - huge increases in salaries and thus costs to businesses which was passed on to customers. Likewise, only a retard thinks that having a career or a business and working for 30-40 years is a bad thing. Please note the definition of the use of the word retard - it does not mean someone is handicapped - it means they should be mentally capable for understand basic things but they don't - and they think silly irrational things.

Their economy is not reliant on tourism like Thailand. I recall many incidents where the police/govt downplayed negative issues - the most blatant was when they demanded the press stop reporting about some fake bombs planted on Phuket as it was affecting tourism.

23rd - Thailand is just above Albania.

Seam Reap - couple of days in and out. What else??

There was enough time for the driver to react and hit the brakes. It is obvious she did not do that because she was looking at her phone or something else. Clearly at one point in time the pedestrian did not see the white vehicle because when she looked it was blocked from her view by the black vehicle that had slowed down. The driver of the vehicle at that same moment did not see her because she was blocked from her view. Thais have a poor metal approach to driving, and she would not have had the thought - 'I wonder why that black vehicle is slowing down'. She would then have looked down at her phone (whatever) as she accelerated forward and did not see the pedestrian at all - she felt the car hit her and then reacted. Culpable driving causing death - 20+ years in jail (I hope).

There is another Key Takeaway - they all went to the USA legally - mostly as a family. America and Australia and New Zealand and South Africa etc etc was built on legal immigration. There is a difference between legal and illegal - it is in the people - most illegals are 'fighting age' males and many have criminal past/present - that is why all the legal immigrants from Norway were vetted before approval.

Serious?? Try Google or Youtube first mate.

Only outrage is coming from the woke liberal media - the majority of Americans agree with Trump.

Many years ago I was 'debating' with a lefty about how the ABC (Australia's publicly funded equivalent to BBC) was totally biased and that it should be defunded. Besides so many points of proof, I pointed out that of all the people employed at the ABC who went into politics, 100% of them went to the left-wing Labor Party. I also pointed out that of all the ex-politicians employed by the ABC, 100% were from the Labor Party. I was astounded that he could still try to argue that the staff and management at ABC was not overwhelmingly biased towards left wing politics. He was losing badly - so one of his hive-minded mates tried to help out by admitting that they were 'a bit' biased, but that was OK because it counter acted all the right wing media like Sky News. I pointed out that Sky News was a business and could support who they wanted, but ABC was funded by all taxpayers (not just left wing taxpayers). Their brains literally exploded in front of me, and they did what all pigeons (and wokes) do when they lose a game of chess - knock down all the pieces, khrapp on the board, and fly away.

I disagree on one point - the BBC passed the tipping point - that occurred during Covid.

The evidence is overwhelming - the do good woke liberals have let into USA millions of people who are not a good thing for the country - and they vehemently and violently disagree with the Trump Admin removing them. The evidence is also overwhelming that the People of USA (meaning Citizens) are also very pleased that Trump's Admin has closed the border (Canada a work in progress) and is doing what they are doing, and they also support his ban on migration from 3rd world countries. In 2022 El Salvador had enough, and they instigated a severe crackdown. People were arrested and thrown in jails for being a member of or just associated with a gang. El Salvador now has the highest rate of imprisonment in the world with almost 2% of the population - and they are in their for life - no parole. Summary trial only - arrested and jailed for life - no appeals. Human Rights groups have protested loud and have been ignored and thrown out of the country. The vast majority of El Salvadorians support this move - only those who are Mothers/Wives/Relatives of gang members have a problem with it. The net result of what El Salvador did? Murders have dropped from 39 per 100,000 to 1.9 per 100,000, and are still falling year on year. All other violent crimes have seen similar declines - and deaths from drugs has massively declined (which is how most criminals make money). El Salvador is now one of the safest countries in the world. It works. As Trump has said - most of the crimes are being committed by a small percentage of the population, and the only solution is to either throw them out of the country or put them in jail - permanently. Sure that means a few innocents will be jailed - but that is a massively small number of innocents jailed, compared to those being killed by criminals every year in USA. The problems have been caused by woke liberal delusional policy of appeasement and rehabilitation - the time has come in the western world to clamp down hard on criminals - and a lot of them in USA are illegals.

Liar Liar pants on fire. 1st - In Australia the term 'mate' is used when addressing all other people - including women. As in ***** off mate. 2nd - Obviously your mind is clouded and confused - perhaps too many drugs back in the day?? 3rd - You are more like old smithy - woke liberal nutter 4th - My IQ is way above yours mate - that is very clear. But having said all that - I do agree that we should just agree to disagree and go our own way. Bye.

The 3 Baht gold bonus was done way back when gold prices did not increase a great deal. In the early 2000s gold was around $400 an ounce, but today it is $4200. It seems to me that greedy Thai workers are doing exactly what the greedy workers in the West started doing in the 80s - demanding more money - which increase costs - which increases prices - which make workers demand increased wages - and on and on the cycle goes. That is why not much manufacturing business exists in the west - far cheaper to make stuff overseas. Thailand is heading in that direction - and Vietnam, Malaysia and Indonesia are smiling as they welcome more and more global companies to build factories and facilities in their countries. What we have ben seeing since Covid is the beginning to middle stages of the inevitable decline in Thailand. As per Google AI - prosperity leads to decline. Periods of wealth and success often sow the seeds for future problems, manifesting as complacency, greed, wealth concentration, apathy and economic instability (cyclical booms/busts), all leading to societal breakdown. This concept highlights the fragility of fortune and the potential for abundance to foster negative traits or conditions that ultimately cause downfall, creating a cyclical pattern in civilizations, economies, and individual lives. China is the only surviving Ancient Civilisation (5000 years) and they have achieved that by avoiding the decline that has occurred in all other great and small civilisations. But they are certainly greedy people, so the question is how did they do it? IMO it is because of an extremely strict control of the People - starting with a 'Royal' class which would change Dynasty to Dynasty, and most recently by a centralised Communist Government.

Sensible - anyone paying with an electronic device (especially a phone) to a massage person in a knocked together shop which was not there 3 months ago and might not be there next week, is taking a big risk. And the people that do that and take that risk, do so all the time - they think it is 'cool' and 'modern' to use their phone to pay for things - until that one day when reality comes a calling.

ROFLOL - amazing how ignorant some people are - until reality bites them on their big fat lazy butts - and then they 'understand'. There is no way anyone can send me a link, SMS, message to my cash card, that if I accidently click on will result in some/all of my money disappearing after they gain the details of my account PIN etc etc. There is no way anyone can access my cash or card, and then drain my bank account. They can steal my cash I am carrying, but nothing more. If they steal my card they need the PIN and every ATM has a camera, plus many nearby. Phones are so much easier - hence $1.3 Billion last year - estimated because many people are embarrassed and say nothing. Did you know if your phone is stolen/scanned, or someone phones the carrier and gets an eSIM etc., they can obtain all the passwords and details in your phone. You are carrying around a device that has access to your bank account but unlike a card it is extremely visible, easily lost or stolen, and is inherently unsecure - because it is a phone! It was not designed to be safe and secure (like a card). It is a phone. And in a 3rd world country things are much much worse - both in terms of IT management and security, and in enforcement and policing if anything goes wrong. As the Thais say - Up To You.

Dont worry mate - have another beer or two and enjoy today's bar girl. Gen Zs and Millennials just have no common sense or understanding about things. I blame the schools myself - too focussed on emotional issues like equity inclusion and diversity, rather than facts and logical thinking.