wrassell

I watched these numskulls turn on to a main street from a side street for about a half hour one day. Only a half make an effort to even turn their head and look, the other half do not look at all. Seriously it is as though half of them have a severe stiff neck and also can't move their eyes either. The half that do look don't care if someone is coming or not anyhow. In fact it seems to me that they put effort into not looking at all.

The young man killed maybe could have anticipated the guy coming  out from the side street, that is an all too common maneuver here. When I see a situation ahead I go into full alert status and at that point I would have slowed a bit. Knowing that they don't even look half the time and often times pull out right in front of you. You really have to be on the defense for something just like that. Whether the kid that lost his life was driving defensively or not for such occurrences, the fault clearly lies with the person coming onto the main street from the left. I wish Thailand would put more effort into making their roads more safe. The kids that get a charge out of racing and passing in unsafe places are the worst. When caught racing the police should impound their motorbike until a hefty fine is paid out, within a week there would be no more street racing kids.

I feel deeply sorry for the young man and his family for their loss.

This in Pattaya, tell me it isn't true

Baan Amphur, Thailand   15K south of Pattaya

Canon EOS 6D    4s    f/22    31mm    ISO-100

White temple Huay Yai

Canon EOS 60D     1/1000s    f/5.6    ISO-100    50mm

Bang Saray Beach, Thailand

Canon Eos 6D     1/250s    f/5     ISO-100    209mm

Canon EOS 60D  Tamron 24-70      f/3.2   70mm   1/200 sec   ISO-800

Baan Amphur, Thailand

White Temple, Huay Yai, near Pattaya

12 hours ago, elnet1 said:

Not on any "program" but it seems with like the meager amount doled out that the only way to really live would be to go to a country with a lower cost of living. I mean if you can get rent for like $100 and eat for another $300 in SEA or South America, rather than living where rent is like $1200+ and food is another $500-600 a month, which is common in America, which is way more than SSI pays.

Which is the problem, with the small amount some people are awarded it is very hard to live in the US. There may be many reasons some people are awarded so little from SS. Some people may have worked construction where it is common to be paid under the table, it may have been at the time take it or hit the road and starve choice. I know a person that had to care for his mother for 15 years until she passed on, which significantly reduced his SS. I know a guy that lived the last 20 years of his life living in a 20 foot trailer as that was all he could afford on SS. I also know of 2 individuals that lost all of their life savings during the 2008 real estate melt down. Not bad people, just people that didn't have the right job for whatever reason. 

Lots of good feedback here I am sure it will be helpful to some that share the prospect of living in the US on a very small amount of money. Thanks

Do ya feel lucky, great analogy, love it. I would guess if you went to Mexico, US immigration doesn't even check who is leaving. many expats and retirees live down there. could be an option. Just exploring options I do qualify for social security benefits, but what SSI would kick in would be a great help. Thanks for the input thus far...

The Social Security administration in the US is ok with people living abroad and receiving regular social security benefits with no restrictions, but not with supplemental security income. They state that you must reside inside the US and may only be outside the US for less than 30 days at a time.  They say if you are outside the country for a longer period that they will not pay you for that month or months. My question is how would they ever know, do they share information with INS. So as soon as you fly out does the Social Security Administration instantly receive a red flag in their computers. Really do they even care unless someone drops a dime on you, and then they have to act on it, or you make it obvious to them. I would really like to just stay in Thailand for a few months at a time mostly in the winter months maybe even for as long as 6 months at a time. Flying over to stay less than a month at a time would almost not be worth it. It would also be really hard to get back to find they are going to deny you benefits for the six months that you stayed in Thailand.

My main question is does the Social Security Administration have access to or share immigration data wherein they know when you come and go. Then also my second question is do they really care that much as long as you stay under their radar.

Canon 6D    f/2.8     24mm    ISO 100     1/200s

Canon 60D   ISO-100   f/3.5    1/50s   18mm

Na Jomtien, Thailand

Canon 60D  ISO-100   f/4    1/160s   24mm

Nakluea, Thailand

Canon 6D   ISO-400     f/8     1/3200s    70mm

Canon 60D    ISO-100   f/4   1/800s  30mm

Canon EOS 60D  EF-S18-135mm f/3.5-5.6 IS  ƒ/9.0  53.0 mm   1/250  ISO-100    Flash did not fire 

Huay Yai near Pattaya      Canon 6D  ƒ/9.0  51.0mm  1/160  ISO100

Huay Yai area near Pattaya     Canon 6D  24-70       f/5    1/250    45mm   ISO-100

Bang Saray