Rob Browder

They "learned" it was very profitable for Raytheon, Bechtel, Halliburton, etc. It's wrecking OUR future with massive-debt and lost / broken lives, but they don't care about us lowly types.

Folks love to make these pronouncements - but always leave out AT WHAT WAGE? They "forget" that when America was booming, a construction-worker made the equivalent of ~$40/hr, in today's dollars. Factory workers made significantly more. Even food-packers were sold middle-class, in the Great America days, before illegal-alien employment laws stopped being enforced on employers. Labor-cost is a TINY FRACTION of the Retail-Cost of most manufactured-goods. it only "adds up" at-scale - to create board-room bonus money - not significantly cheaper products. Technology advancements are the primary reason why TVs and such are cheaper now - not "labor cost savings." Lastly, Trump wants CHEAP imported workers - not well-paid Americans - and has said this clearly - along with his buddies Musk and Vivek. Musk fired American Tesla workers to hire cheaper foreign workers. Trump uses H1Bs, etc - and has a history of hiring Illegal-Aliens for his golf resorts.

What is that? How is it calculated - and, more importantly, by WHOM? If you mean making sure our tariffs cover the "cost savings" of being able to dump toxic crap in other countries, to eliminate that perverse "comparative advantage," then I agree. If you are buying the "global warming" nonsense, then I don't.

1) Use our own rare-earths - stopped mining-processing them, but are still there. Russia is another huge source, if we can pry the Neocons out of power, who are still angry their oligarch-buddies were removed from power in Russia. 2) We had no problem paying for products "Made in America" when tariffs kept out cheap products, before - and when wages were much higher than they are, today. Back then, one paycheck supported a family of 5, easily - plus vacations, higher-ed for the kids, and a retirement fund. 3) Re-establishing the supply lines and restoring our factories will take time. This is why it would have been better to raise the tariffs incrementally, over a longer time. 4) Those products will be produced domestically, if people want them, and a local product can be sold at a lower cost than an imported product + tariff. You globalists really think no one remembers how great things were in the USA before, when we had tariffs to protect domestic-production - When America Was Great? That said, I emphasize AGAIN, I do not trust Trump to do what he is saying. It is probably all a lying sales-pitch for some ulterior motive(s). At best, some manufacturing returns, but with 99% foreign-hires on visas, to make darn sure the Great American Middle-Class never returns. I don't see him EVER facilitating a tight labor-market, which would make Trump, Musk, Lutnick and their buddies pay Americans a decent wage.

Immigration's favorite type - a rich source of the brown-envelope money they crave. He will probably need to pay them "safe entry" money via their agent - which is a much better guarantee of no-hassle entry than a TR Visa.

Yes - having to put over a year's Thai living expenses "in the bank" for 3-months can be difficult, unless one has a work-history and life-luck which allowed for savings. But, if you have 40K/mo income, maybe the Japanese embassy still provides "income letters," which Thai-immigration will accept - so would not need the 400K "cash in the bank" for ~3 months. If not possible, I would do what others have suggested - Non-O Visas from the Thai consulate in Japan, depending on their financial requirements - or tourist-type entries (TR Visa or Visa-Exempt).

I did this before. It is far superior to a work-based permitted-stay, because your job ending doesn't effect / immediately-end your permitted-stay. BUT, use the 400K seasoned method - not the "salary" method - or it is a huge PITA, essentially combining the work-based AND marriage-based paperwork.

Online, you have 1-week, officially, 14-days to 8 days before the report is "due" - though some report success up until the due-date. By mail, it should be mailed (registered mail) 7 days before the due-date. In person, you are "allowed" to report up to 2 weeks before it is due - no earlier - plus a "grace period" of 7 more days after the report-date. I have read reports where IOs refused to honor the "in person" 7-days-after grace-period, but this is rare, as it is a published rule.

There is no guide. They keep it ambiguous, so people pay for their "safe entry" program via their agent-partners, out of fear of denied-entry - versus knowing published-rules, and simply following those. I would say it is very unlikely you would be denied, if you only had 2 60-day stays in 2024, and this is your first trip in 2025 (under 60-days), and the 2nd trip/entry this year is 2+ months after you leave from this visit. Just in case, have 20K baht worth of cash (can be in another currency), a flight out within 60-days to show (or 30, if they change-back to 30-days before that trip), and proof of where you will stay in Thailand. They are unlikely to ask for any of this, but good to have as backup.

I carried 20K Baht in Travelers Checks (from Bangkok Bank) until I stopped using Non-O-ME (marriage) Visas. I also carried proof of the reason for my visa (in my case, marriage-cert copies - KR2 and KR3, but DTV folks would use related-docs for their visa-type), and a copy of my condo-contract to show I had accommodation. I was never asked for any of this upon-entry, but i only ever used known-friendly land-borders, and it's RANDOM when IOs mess with people, so why take chances?

Good info. But note - when BKB were mass-closing branches, they "moved" my account to different branches 2x. My account number stayed the same.

This can still be done via-agent. Usually, this requires one use the agent's services for the retirement extension. The "money fix" agents will offer some discount on their service, if you use your own 800K. In what area is your friend living? Availability of this varies by area. Hopefully, someone with recent (last few months) experience can recommend an agent who can do it. There was a recent / further "tightening" of obtaining bank-accounts, so older reports are useless.

Where this will potentially be a problem, is if you try to get another visa-extension from immigration. It will not prevent coming back visa-exempt or with a visa from a Thai consulate. Some report managing a new extension without the issue "coming up," but others report having to pay overstay-fines, even when they weren't in the country on a work-based stay during the "overstay" time - max-fine 20K Baht. Best advice to anyone whose work ends, while on a work-based extension-of-stay: First, try to get the termination letter immediately. But, if that fails, leave that day or ASAP. Then, work on getting that letter, dated to the day you left, so you can fix things with immigration after-the-fact.

Would you classify the tariffs we had until the 1980s/90s in the same way? Our middle-class was a heck of a lot better off, in those times. Regardless, there are other questions at-hand: 1) National Security and self-reliance of the nation - especially for critical industries. 2) Reliable employment for the citizens of the nation, producing for their fellow citizens. 3) Related to #2 - keeping the wealth of the nation flowing WITHIN its borders - between citizens / local-businesses - vs being siphoned-away via mercantilism. 4) "Financialization" (playing tricks with money) replacing tangible production of goods and services as the driving-force of the nation's economy. That said, the MANNER in which this policy is being implemented is insane - and I have my doubts it is well-motivated, to address the above concerns. Especially regarding #2, "work visas" are being utilized to PREVENT benefit to Americans from new jobs - almost all net-jobs-created post-covid going to the foreign-born.

If you are not familiar, do some digging into what happened when Sam Walton (greatest generation) died. He had insisted on a "Made in America" section for appliances, etc - because that generation's propaganda included teaching this as "patriotic." Upon his death, his spoiled (boomer) kids ripped that out, given they were taught "globalization / free-trade" propaganda. They FORCED suppliers to move operations to Chinese factories, or lose their access to Wal Mart shelf-space. Given the size of their operation - a massive % of domestic retail - companies would be ruined if they did not agree. A proper trial and punishment is too good for such people - but I guess we would need to follow the Constitution, vs dusting-off the thumb-screws, rack, etc. Next-up for trial - those who made billions off of the covid "lockdown" psychological-operation / terrorism. One oft-missed lesson here, is that "propaganda" and "conditioning" is not always "bad." Most people don't "think things through" to an extent they can make "good" decisions with regard to national-policy. The dumbing-down of education has only made this worse - no "civics," and not even solid math, physics, chemistry, and biology required for a HS Diploma - or, even many "college degrees" (= why they could get-away with their scientifically-insane Covid policy). So, it boils-down to a question of who the rulers are, and their intentions. Do they care about the well-being of your people and future - or just money, or some other group's interests?

HK was a different situation. The Brit-lease ran out after 99 years. The CCP then "got it back," unless Britain decided to violate their agreement, and go to war for it. But, the CCP didn't want to stop it making money (for them), so we got the "two systems" compromise. But, after the CIA/USAID started running "freedom" (sic) operations there, the CCP said to hell with "two systems" - in the context of the judiciary - and started rounding-up and disappearing HK "color revolution" protesters. Two things can be true at the same time - sometimes many related and seemingly-opposing things. The USA's foreign-policy is a force for evil in the world (coups, death-squads, etc), and so is the CCP's ("dash-line" territorial-robbery of its neighbors) - as was the USSR's. See also, the European colonial powers' actions in their former colonies, which was evil (note: Patrice Lumumba) - but so were the communists who opposed them. Both "sides" pretend they support freedom, regularly kill anyone "good" - those who care about the interests of their own people/nation - when they won't "play ball" with them. Picking one or the other "side" usually means you have to ignore 1/2 of the lies and atrocities.

Note that China does not have the ability to project military power to USA shores - so there is no justification for the USA to take a war-footing with China. Nukes? Sure, but that is a 2-way street and mutual-suicide, so not part of the equation. That said, we also should NOT be financing a dictatorship's military - as we have since the 1990s - with anti-American trade-policy. As to Taiwan - which is at the focal-point (though not the whole picture) - we should try to get the same thing needed for Ukraine - a neutral country solution. This would involve removing it as a pawn for USA-power in the region, in exchange for China agreeing they may remain independent, indefinitely.

I know with certainty that the gain-of-function research was funded by NIAID - paid in a contract to "Eco Health Alliance" - after the DOD declined fund the SAME research project, due to their involvement vis-a-vis the biological-weapons convention. This is all from declassified records. I also know that the spike-protein found on the Covid virus (original strain), with the tell-tale "furin cleavage site," was an exact-match for one developed for gene-therapy purposes by Moderna - patented in 2016. The paper showing that is here: https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fviro.2022.834808/full Are you suggesting US-Gov "didn't know" about the quality of the lab - or Chinese building practices in general, until after Covid? The lab's poor-quality was noted by the French who helped build it - warning the US State-Dept years before covid. https://dailycaller.com/2021/07/26/france-wuhan-lab-david-asher-state-department/ The USA decided to do the research there, anyway, because Obama had banned the research in the USA (for the most part - some limited-exceptions). AND, they didn't even use the highest-rated facilities in the lab for that work, per some reports (level 2 was used, vs level 3 or 4). Corruption leads to all sorts of things, which both separately, and sometimes in a "bi-partisan" fashion, implicate both halves of the Uniparty. What happened with Covid is firmly in the bi-partisan - and global corruption - category.

The Outsourcing should never have begun. Any justification ala the "Sino-Soviet split" strategy ended with the fall of the USSR. Yet, our factories continued to be dismantled and sent to China - at rapid-speed, after Bill Clinton and Gingrich tag-teamed them MFN (now NTR) in the WTO. Why? Because they could pay lower overhead/labor costs, by wrecking the American middle-class. This was traitorous behavior - completely the fault of OUR govt, which took down the tariffs in the first place, AND the Wall-St types for carrying out the Outsourcing. There would be trials and firing-squads, if I were emperor of the USA As far as how Trump is trying to "fix" things - a steady, annual-incremental tariff-increase policy would have made life a lot easier on everyone, vs what he is doing. Remember, in his 1st Term-campaign he promised a 35% tariff on Mexico to reverse NAFTA and bring home those lost-factories - but then, as POTUS, he stabbed us in the back with his NAFTA-II treaty, instead. One would be a fool to trust his motives. I hope they are not doing these tariffs "rapid speed" now, because they are planning for a war - but that would be my best-guess. Also, see how much in T-Bills must be re-financed this year - is another factor. Yet, the war-machine is blowing MORE deficit-spending - again - Trump says he wants $1 Trillion for the MIC this year. This leads back to my theoretical reason - war with China. Americans just voted AGAINST war, but we are getting it in spades, thus far.

If you are referring to the lab in Wuhan, the "gain of function" work was funded by the USA - so "the pot calling the kettle black" to blame China. As well, the USA played right along with the entire pandemic-narrative, even though they knew only very old and/or sick people were ever at risk from that virus. We can speculate as to the agenda behind every part of what transpired, but clearly, the USA created and pushed what happened, as much as China did.

Also @ujayujay The term "proper" is a joke, while agent-schemes are run by immigration. ~360 days/year on visa-exemptions are quite acceptable to immigration, with agent-facilitated entries. They do not set a fixed limit time out of country between visa-exempt / tourist entries, so they can run their greedy little schemes on the edges of some unknown variable - using the fear of arbitrary enforcement as the sales-pitch. Clearly, agent-service is their preferred method of interaction. They make a joke of themselves by how they run their operations - might as well dress-up in clown suits. I do everything "by the book" with them - and yet, I am the one who has often felt be-clowned, by doing so.

Exactly. Why comply with all the rules, only to go through a rigamarole to which those using agents - who may have only a pittance in a Thai bank-account - are not subjected? In this case, they seem to think he might have used an agent before, and don't want the gravy-train to stop. "We suspect your previous immigration office committed fraud?" "OK, so why don't you take it up with THEM?" Perhaps, because they'd laugh, since the Bangkok office runs the same scheme for ~15K Baht? So far, my retirement-based extensions have been no-issues. But if that changes, I am investing my 800K in something useful. Immigration clearly would prefer it this way. I'll take the hint, when the day comes ("when" not "if" - IMO - I'm expecting it). It's their country, and if they want to run their Immigration 3rd World style - up to them.

As long as your "permitted stay" is from a Non-O Visa Entry, you are able to apply for a 12-month extension for the same reason as the visa was issued ("married to a Thai" in your case). The "enter before" date on the visa-sticker does not matter. That is VERY good news, if you can use them for your 12-mo extension(s) - could be done in July, per what I outlined above.

It really depends on what you want to get at Jomtien. For retirement, it is one of the easiest places to get it done. For a tourist-extension, also no problem, if you have a TM-30. But, for a 90-Day Non-O visa (from exempt or tourist status), or for Marriage-based extensions, they are absolutely horrendous. Not because of the organization of the office-space (recently improved) or seating, etc - but because of the nature of the people who handle those "desks" at Jomtien. I look forward to hearing the heads of those have been replaced, some day.

Yes, my thoughts exactly ... except 90-day reports if the "7-day grace period" expires over the weekend/holidays - but this does not apply to the OP.