Jingthing

You educated yourself. What is Russia, really?

That's nice. In any case, the Russian economy (now crippled by the war) is heavily dominated by oil and gas, followed by mining. Tech comprises only a small percentage of Russian GDP. As you posted, Nginx was acquired by an American company in 2019. I don't know the current situation as far as the impact on Russian Nginx workers under western sanctions.

I don't agree at all. Biden is beatable by a non maga candidate but the republicans can't nominate a non maga candidate because they are dominated by maga. Take Chris Christie. He openly attacks Trump so he has no chance of being nominated. Most others either openly support Trump, possibly going for a VP slot on the ticket, or they dance gingerly around the issue being careful not to offend the magas. All are waiting / hoping that Trump blows out because of being a criminal.

Another adorable Magadonian at Trump's recent Erie PA rally. "Kill them all" -- toxic enough for y'all?

So he lost to a dumb guy then.

SDFCU will open accounts with passport as ID and no US address. That's generally unheard of otherwise. But they're rather a quirky outfit to deal with. Swift transfers online for 35.

OK, but US credit reports always list your current and previous addresses. Plenty of places they could get that. Credit card applications, mortgages, etc. I assume if you tell your U.S. credit card issuer that you now live in Thailand that they would put your Thai address in the U.S. report.

I assume non-Thais that do have Thai based credit cards would be in that system as well.

Interesting. Well as you know U.S. credit reports list your current and previous addresses. A debit card comes with a bank account. I'm talking about getting an actual credit cards. I still don't quite get how if you get a credit card in Thailand that it wouldn't end up being picked up on your U.S. credit report. What's the situation for Thais and credit cards? Do they have some kind of credit reporting / scoring system here?

Maybe use your imagination a little bit about why many older people eventually do go back even though they never planned to.

Well currently it's about 170. It's about the permanent penalties IF you repatriate.

Yeah, understood. Which is why when I read that advice not to worry about it if you're older kind of odd. I think they were making assumptions about what older people's lives are like that may or may not be true. Of course, obviously if you can keep a high score, why not? The point of the advice was don't worry about it.

Well I have sometimes needed a credit card of some kind. For examples, paying for an online tax service and a VPN.

I think the answer to that is too obvious to bother answering.

Seems apt for a cruel and unusual ex-president.

Maybe you would have felt differently if you got quality gelato. I like to watch men's gymnastics and diving. Plus the World Cup. Your father sounds more typical than mine was. My Dad didn't follow sports at all. If someone said how about those whatevers, he would reply referencing a different sport. That shut them up.

Never say never. Plans are plans. Predicting the future is something else. Paying the Part B doesn't really change my quality of life in Thailand. I know it will probably end up being a massive waste of money. That's an individual choice expats need to make. I don't think there is a right or wrong answer for all on that.

I don't really have political reasons for this, but I also don't intend to repatriate. But I realize that push come to shove many expats that don't plan to end up going back anyway. Because of that I pay for Medicare Part B. As far as usefulness of a good credit score going back, my income wouldn't qualify to rent an apartment back there anyway regardless of the score. So where would I live? I really don't know.

Well you can buy dry herb vapes in Thailand but you won't have the full choice of brands and models.

It's for everyone who joins one of their affiliated organizations. It cost me 5 dollars one time to do that. Their main focus of course is State Department employees in the D.C. area and embassy employess abroad. But again, it's really open to everyone with a little tweak.

I have another "fun" sort of related question. Many of us with U.S. credit cards do so while posing as U.S. residents and not revealing that we live abroad. Suppose you get a Thai credit card either a regular one or secured by a bank account deposit. In that case, you would of course be giving them your Thai address. Couldn't that cause a problem with your U.S. credit report as you're telling Visa or Mastercard that your residence is in the U.S. in one case, and abroad in another?

Yeah I'm sure similar issues would apply to other nationalities, but as I only know about the U.S. system, I limited it to that.

I have a rather specific question. Many expats including me opened an account at State Department Credit Union while living in Thailand. Generally you can't open a new bank account while living abroad. I've heard a number of people being rejected for a new account by SDFCU. I wonder if they check credit scores as part of their screening process.

That's true if they can but I suppose many are still more comfortable speaking Russian. I don't have much an ear for Ukrainian except that it does sound quite different from Russian.

You replied to the wrong person. I never said I don't know about it.