dingdongrb

While in Taiwan years ago on a business trip and riding in a company van I witnessed a police checkpoint where a scooter driver tried to avoid by driving around it. I was shocked when I saw one of the officers at the checkpoint grab the back of the driver's jacket and literally yanked him off the scooter and onto the ground. As our van was slowly passing through the checkpoint I saw about four officers grab the guy, cuff him, and started taking him to a nearby patrol truck. That was one of my first visits to Taiwan and a business acquaintance there told me that the police took their checkpoints seriously.

Thanks for sharing, I'll be able to sleep better tonight.

I emailed the FBU last week and recently received the reply below. The reply is slightly different than what I remember reading on the Manila Embassy' website Q&A section: Thank you for contacting the Social Security Administration's Federal Benefits Unit at the U.S. Embassy in Manila. The Annual Report Form SSA-7162 is sent from Wilkes-Barre, PA and must be completed by all beneficiaries according to the schedule below. If a beneficiary has a representative payee, Form SSA-7161 will be sent to the representative payee for completion. Beneficiaries with addresses in Australia, Hong Kong, Japan, New Zealand, and APO/FPO/DPO receive the form every two years. Beneficiaries in countries not mentioned above receive the form every year. The form is mailed to beneficiaries in May/June and a follow-up letter is mailed in September/October. If the completed form is not received by the end of the year, benefits are suspended beginning with the February payment of the following year. To avoid the suspension of your benefits, please complete the form as soon as you receive it and send it back via regular postal mail using the enclosed business reply envelope. You do not have to send the form via courier service; however, if you wish to do so, you may use the following address for courier service: Social Security Administration Wilkes-Barre Direct Operations Center (WBDOC) Attention: FEQ Analyst – Courier Service 1150 E. Mountain Dr. Room 341 Wilkes Barre, PA 18702XXX7997 U.S.A. Do not submit the completed form to the Federal Benefits Unit in Manila or to a U.S. Embassy/Consulate.

Yeah, the schools in the USA do it for school shootings not war conflicts from other countries.

Nan a hell-hole? Now I'm wondering who the stupid one in the relationship is......maybe both!

Pics or she's just a figment of your imagination.

The rolling papers....... she prefers bong rips

Boulder is nothing but a bunch of granola heads..... Long live the Frozen Dead Guy of Nederland.....

Oooh, pick me....pick me..... and what do you think of me? Hmmmmmmm....

From the linked article: ".....paying for a service twice (once for the employer and once for the employee)." That's like the double tax system..... tax what is earned....then tax what is spent. As for tipping, I generally tip something all the time unless the service is poor (or the food is not good). Today for lunch it was bamee moo yum for two of us at one of my favorite 'go to' noodle shops.. Mine was the special so a slightly larger sized portion. The cost, 95 THB. I tossed them a 100 THB and told them to keep the change. While eating I noticed that the cleanup crew consisted of two young girls about the age of 10 or so..... On my way out I handed each a 20 THB note, told them in Thai that they were doing a good job, to take the money and treat themselves to some ice cream. So in total 45 THB tip on a 95 THB lunch.....that's more than a 50% tip..... but then again the soup was excellent as usual, service standard for the shop.... maybe a tip much more than many would leave but hey, we had our fill and for what, a total of less than 5 USD...... No issue for me, I won't be losing any sleep over it......matter of fact, seeing two young girls with bright smiles on their faces when I left the shop will make me sleep well.

WTH are you rambling about..... Driving in the west (for me, the USA), i feel much safer than anytime driving in Thailand....... Just think if Thailand had ice and snow..........

I don't consider my life to be a low cost.

I wear a helmet not only for my cranium protection but also use a visor to protect my eyes from dirt, dust, and bugs. Also my visor is tinted in order for those bright sunshine days. How many times have you seen a driver using one hand on the scooter while the other is being used as a visor to block the sunshine?

Also to add, how many times do you see someone wearing a helmet but it's not strapped on?

That cop apparently didn't get the memo or have the 2 years of training required to identify a helmet-less person on a scooter.

Is this similar to the campaign to crack down on phone usage while driving.....or driving in the wrong direction?

If you are like me and are not satisfied with the service received by the SSA at the Manila Embassy then blast some tweets at the Ambassador. I also put a tweet or two at the embassy when response to my emails are slow:

I treat these political posts just like I do the taxation posts....... (and pretty much the majority of the posts lately here on AN): IGNORE!!!!!!!

I pay a recurring 257 THB a month for my AIS service. Hardly a life-changing cost....

Most Thai drivers neglect the right of way to pedestrians and emergency vehicles.

".......driving without a licence." Now that's a real shocker!

Don't see all the street dogs and cats with Songkran occurring. Plus the water might wash away all the animal feces (dog, cat, bird) from the sidewalks. Are there any other noticeable Songkran benefits?

My apologies.... while the lights are not suspended by wires they are indeed suspended and placed in the middle of the intersections or just entering the intersections by a large extended pole. Such as in this pic where this question evolved. Who has the right of way here, me in my truck (with the dashcam) about to turn left, or the oncoming white truck which is about to turn right? NOTE: Both light directions were solid green, no arrows.

You should get out more often.

Duhhhh... do you know how to use Google Street View?