CaptHaddock

Seems like Shingrix is worth the money:

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/11/10/health/shingrix-shingles-vaccine.html

If you post your question on

fairmark.com

you will get a well-informed answer, probably from a certified public accountant.

36 minutes ago, TKDfella said:

 There were many 'offshoots' from this and I learned a lot. (I didn't brake the work permit law by the way as most of the time I did it for free.). I still do so, to a lesser degree of course.

But you have since learned that, according to the Thai Dept. of Labor that the definition of work that requires a work permit in Thailand includes unpaid volunteer work, right?

Biggs went through the four-year program in Thai language at Ramkhamhaeng U. at a time when very few foreigners attempted such a thing and speaks Thai very fluently.  He deserves a lot of credit for that.  I have come across some of his think pieces in the Bangkok Post, which were not very interesting. 

My wife and I use about 15 units per month on average.

23 hours ago, ubonjoe said:

Including the 20th in the count tomorrow is 15 day before that day.

What did you mean when you wrote it did not accept it. I assume you may gotten the check with your local office message when trying to submit the first page.

I suggest you double check that you entered all the required fields correctly and only those with the * beside them.

 

I did the application again today and it worked, so the problem must have been my faulty date count.

Thanks for the help.

9 minutes ago, ubonjoe said:

Including the 20th in the count tomorrow is 15 day before that day.

What did you mean when you wrote it did not accept it. I assume you may gotten the check with your local office message when trying to submit the first page.

I suggest you double check that you entered all the required fields correctly and only those with the * beside them.

 

Yes, I got the contact the local office message.  I tried again double-checking all the entries, which are correct.

Will try it again tomorrow.  Since getting the new passport last year I have done several 90-day reports in person.

I just tried to do an online report, but it didn't accept it.  The situation is I got a new passport last year and this would be my first online report since then.  I exited Thailand and returned on July 23, 2017.  So, counting 90 days from that date (really 89 days since we count including July 23) gives Oct. 20.  Counting back 15 days from Oct. 20 gives today, Oct. 5.

Now did the system reject my application because I am making a mistake in counting the days or does it still not recognize my new passport number for some reason?  Is it likely to go through tomorrow?

20 minutes ago, The manic said:

Find something more useful to do

 

Never try to teach a pig to sing.  You waste your time and it annoys the pig.

3 minutes ago, The manic said:

There is no burden of truth required except in your mind.

I hope your amulet works for you when you need it.

18 minutes ago, mikebike said:

Hahaha... like we are in a court of law. Its a debate mon ami. "When two parties are in a discussion and one makes a claim that the other disputes, the one who makes the claim typically has a burden of proof to justify or substantiate that claim..." Standard debating procedure. Since you claimed first that the devices do not work, "I notice that no one reports any actual experience using these devices successfully, just unsubstantiated opinion.  Well, they don't work.", the burden of evidence is on you.

 

Just for my own pleasure, what makes you think your unsubstantiated opinion is of any more value than anyone else's?

 

I haven't encountered any vicious pit bulls eager to rip my throat out as of yet but I would hazard an opinion that you would need a machete or gun in your ridiculous analogy.

 

Ultrasonic chasers are fine for normal situations (80-85%) like the OP's though.

It is not a legal question; it is a scientific question.  In science, the burden of proof is on those who claim effectiveness.  If ultrasonic dog repellent devices with regulated by the FDA, like human medical devices, the burden of proof would be on the manufacturer who claims effectiveness.  I am unable to find studies of any kind that demonstrate the effectiveness of these devices, from which I conclude that it is unlikely that they work or else the manufacturers would publish such studies.

I note that the subscriber to the effectiveness theory of the dog repellent devices here mentions only two specific instances of conflict with vicious dogs and in both of those cases the device was completely ineffective.  So the summary of his claim is that the devices do work, except when you really need them to.

So, this discussion sounds like those with other superstitious people who have a deep emotional commitment to their belief in the absence of actual evidence.

Some people are unacquainted with the concept of "evidence," the burden of which falls entirely on those who assert effectiveness. 

  At least tell me a personal story about a vicious pit bull eager to rip your throat out who scurried off with his tail between his legs when you pressed the magic button. 

No one has.  I am still waiting.

13 minutes ago, mikebike said:

Same evidence you supplied that it does not work.

 

The answer to your question is yes, many times.

I did supply evidence of two kinds: my own experiment on dogs and the abstract of a study on cats, which showed no effect.

Your "evidence" continues to lack verisimilitude.  Maybe you think we should just take your word for it?  Seems like superstition to me.

Here's another reason why these products are bullshit.  It's not possible to produce a sound that is loud enough in the human hearing range to intimidate people using a couple of AA batteries.  You can, however, buy an aerosol can that will give a horn blast the equivalent of a semi truck's horn, that will scare the bejesus out of you if you are not expecting it.  Significantly, those products use compressed gas, not low voltage electricity, to produce the sound.  That's because there is not enough energy in batteries to produce the high decibels.  That's also true in the canine hearing range even though producing high-frequency sounds takes a little less energy than lower frequencies.

So, you'd be better off with the amulet.

Ultrasonic repellent devices do not work on cats.  Here's an abstract of a study on cat responses.  In some cases, some cats did "flick" their ears.

http://veterinaryrecord.bmj.com/content/147/24/678

My advice is buying an amulet is likely to protect you better. 

1 hour ago, mikebike said:

Ultrasonic chasers do work. Not on all dogs in all situations but in using them for about six years I would say the success rate for me has been 80%.

 

Purchase online in Thailand. COD.

 

http://www.lazada.co.th/catalog/?q=Ultrasonic dog

You have failed to provide any evidence at all.  Were you ever under attack or threatened by a dog and then drove him off by pressing the little button? 

I notice that no one reports any actual experience using these devices successfully, just unsubstantiated opinion.  Well, they don't work.  The batteries in these devices are far too small to be able to produce a blast of sound loud enough to intimidate a dog, particularly an angry dog.  Years ago I tested one while running.  I would get up as close as possible behind some unsuspecting mutt and let him have.  With one exception, there was never any reaction.  The dogs weren't startled, much less frightened.  There was one small terrier who, after getting "blasted" by my sonic device, did kind of look around with a worried expression.  If he had been intent on ripping my throat out, I doubt that it would have given him pause.

I have had at least one only-in-Thailand experience so far.  A while ago I was looking for an apartment to rent.  The rental agent from a well-known RE firm took me to a high-end building.  When the landlord arrived, we went up to see the apartment.  It looked ok, but I make a point of scrutinizing all the fixtures, for instance, those attached to the ceiling. On the living room ceiling I saw a standard red glass bubble attached to the ceiling like the kind you see in a bank, which obviously enclosed a video camera.  When I demanded an explanation in a loud voice the landlord strenuously denied that it was a video camera, but she had no answer when I asked what it was.  So, then I was able to practice insulting a person in Thai.

1 hour ago, Odysseus123 said:

Herbert Blix?No-but he is on my must read list.

 

I have been trying to approach things from more of an "Asian" angle rather than a "Pacific" one for ,as Dower points out,because the US were the primary victors this gave them that particular historical/geographical viewpoint.

 

So I have been studying,

 

S C M Paine-"The Wars for Asia 1911-1949"

Rana Mitter "Forgotten Ally-China's World War II 1937-1945."

 

and Christopher Bailey and Tim Harper's

 

"Forgotten Armies-the fall of British Asia-1941-1945"

"Forgotten Wars-Freedom and Revolution in Southeast Asia."

 

If it is at all possible,I would like to continue to discuss this interesting topic upon my return from Bangkok in three days time.
 

It's "Bix," not "Blix" actually. Essential for understanding WWII from the Japanese perspective with particular attention to the deficiencies in decision-making that led the leadership to expand the war at every point of failure.

My own focus is on interaction between the West and Asia on the one hand and the economic development of Asian countries, but the wars are quite relevant, to wit, the Opium War, the Taiping Rebellion, (cf. "God's Chinese Son: The Taiping Heavenly Kingdom of Hong Xiuquan" by Jonathan Spence), but also "The Empire of Cotton: A Global History" by Sven Beckert which explains the economic base of the British Empire as its global control of the first globally produced commodity, cotton, and the role of war capitalism in creating the first modern, industrial economy.

The key book I find for understanding the economic structure and the underperformance of SE Asian countries is Joe Studwell's "Asian Godfathers: Money and Power in Hong Kong and SE Asia."  The short story is that unlike the countries of NE Asia, S. Korea, Japan, and Taiwan, the Asean countries do not face any serious military threat and therefore lack the urgency behind economic development of the kind that drove Park Chung-Hee to enable S. Korea to join the rich nations in only a couple of generations, starting from an economic and educational base below Thailand's, by the way.  Meiji Japan is the same story.

2 minutes ago, Odysseus123 said:

Alperowitz?

 

Yes-a very thought provoking book indeed and one that I read in conjunction with Richard B. Frank's "Operation Downfall" which tends to stick closer to the official line.

 

On another related issue;what do you think of Dower's argument that the Tokyo War Crimes Tribunal's treatment of the Class A "Accused" was-due to the rigid SCAP exclusion of any negative mention of the emperor -all but a hollow legal mockery?

The War Crimes trial was illegal, as Robert Taft believed, since the victorious powers had no legal jurisdiction nor was there any such thing as international law except to the extent of treaties such as the Geneva Convention, to which Japan was not a signatory.  Nevertheless, it is to be expected that the victors would punish the losers.  Certainly, the exculpation of the emperor was egregious.  (Have you read Herbert Bix's biography of Hirohito?)  I suppose you know that MacArthur and Hirohito had a secret joint bank account during the Occupation.  (But then MacArthur had previously profited from the war having agreed to ferry Philipine politician Carlos Romulo out of the country before the fall of Corregidor on the submarine for a price of $500,000 in gold.)

At any rate the Class A war criminals didn't stay in prison very long.  MacArthur later rehabilitated one of them, Nobusuke Kishi, grandfather of Shinzo Abe, to be prime minister.

It's all just power politics.  The veneer of legality or humanitarian principles is always quite thin.

Apropos of interesting, if not corroborated, speculation, have you read "Yamashita's Gold" by the Seagraves? 

1 hour ago, Odysseus123 said:

Currently reading,

 

John W.Dower

 

'War Without Mercy'-A startling study of both Japanese and U.S racial hatred in World War 2.

 

Which is an excellent companion volume to the author's

 

'Embracing Defeat-Japan in the wake of World War II'

 

Both good books.  On a related topic, if you haven't read it already, you might like "The Decision to Use the Atomic Bomb," by Gar Alperowitz.  Alperowitz has been among the leading revisionists of the official history of the bomb.

On 2/22/2017 at 3:09 PM, Odysseus123 said:

Referring to Grant's Memoirs..

 

Most definitely and written at a time when Grant had virtually lost everything due to stock market speculation.He basically wrote the Memoirs to save his family from penury and at a time when the cancer-which was to kill him-had already made its appearance.

 

Well worth a read even today and being a westerner Grant was never popular with the eastern establishment-and neither was Lincoln for that matter.

 

I have just finished L.A Carlyon's 'Gallipoli' and immediately purchased the sequel 'The Great War'.A superb book if one is looking for a fresh look at that campaign.

 

 

Grant wrote his memoirs at the suggestion of Mark Twain.  Grant was dying of throat cancer, probably brought on by smoking cigars.  He was indeed broke at the time, not because of stock speculation, but because his partner in the brokerage firm, Grant and Ward, founded by Grant's sone.  The partner Ferdinand Ward carried out a scam involving shares held as collateral for multiple loans that caused the firm to fail, but not before Grant put all his own plus borrowed money into the company to try to save it.

Grant's memoirs are so well written that rumors circulated at the time that Mark Twain had ghost written them, but that was not true.  Grant wrote daily for a year and finished the manuscript a week before he died.  His purpose, which he accomplished, was to provide for his wife after his death.  The memoirs hardly mention his scandal-ridden presidency and focus almost exclusively on the war.  For Grant fighting the war was a chess game especially in the latter period against Lee.  Grant never so much as mentions the vast human suffering which surrounded him.  What's striking about the memoirs is the clarity of Grant's writing style, which probably arose from his need as a commander to be fully understood by subordinates carrying out orders.

Sherman's memoirs by contrast are a complete snore.

1 minute ago, Suradit69 said:

" Probably you sent is International First Class."

 

Actually I don't send mail to myself.

 

The person who sends them to me has done so over the last 40 years while I've been living and working out of the US. During that time there was indeed international airmail service from the US. It only ended as a designation in 1995. So I have received credit cards sent to me by airmail from the US and, despite the change in USPS terminology, the cards are still sent in airmail envelopes and travel most of the distance by air.

And obsolete mailing options from twenty years ago are relevant to the OP's question how exactly?

7 minutes ago, Suradit69 said:

Yes, every time I've had a credit card sent from the US, it was sent by regular airmail. No problem. All have been received.

 

 

 

There is no international mail service from USPS called "airmail."  Probably you sent is International First Class.

https://www.usps.com/international/mail-shipping-services.htm

USPS International First Class mail should cost about $6. 

9 hours ago, dbrenn said:

There are many nice Thai men who are very devoted husbands and fathers. A minority do have problems with controlling their tempers, as do a minority of Thai women - take a look at how some of the bar girls behave to their husbands.

 

Then again, there are lots of violent people back home too.

Do you have any evidence to believe that domestic violence affects only "a minority" of Thai families or is that just wishful thinking that makes you feel better.  The one Thai research paper that I have read on the subject estimated that 40% of Thai families experience domestic violence.  While that would be a "minority" it is nevertheless a huge number by the standards of Western countries, about 25% higher than in the US, for example.

The Thai estimate accords with my awareness of the problem among Thai families of whom I have some direct knowledge.