MeaMaximaCulpa

1 hour ago, rogerpattaya said:

I am on a retirement extension and have been for many years.

Jomtien is my local office and I do my own yearly extension and 90 day reports.

I have never had a problem with them, sure I have to go back the next day to pick up my passport, well boohoo.

I am retired and have all the time in the world to jump through the hoops once a year.

 

If you are from Europe, don't you wish your country  had done this to migrants 50 years ago.

Thailand is protecting it's own people, good for them.

 

Stop complaining and treat it as a day out...

 

What he said, my experience also.

If you have trouble with retirement extensions, it is mostly of your own doing. Yes some minor issues and friction can occur, but if you have your stuff in order, seldom a problem. I cannot comment on other types of extensions or visas.

Now I hear that things may be changing recently and going forward also with retirement, I cannot comment on that until I see the real fallout.

And finally, I also totally agree with OP that if Europe had done a similar border control pluss no handouts to immigrants, then we would not be in such bad shape.

Not magic really.

Is the reason we still are not allowed to use the AirPods Pro 2 as hearing aid in Thailand the obvious one, or is it for a good, legitimate reason?

Most other countries, both first and third world alike has approved this super feature, but of course not Thailand.

Any idea when (if ever?) we will see approval?

I fear the same problem will arise if/when Apple cracks the blood glucose monitor feature for the watch...

@LosLobo,

Please stop making so much sense, your last two posts just add insult to injury for the trolls.

You should probably be on a forum with a slightly higher level of discussions.

But again, thanks for the effort.

5 hours ago, Jingthing said:

Once in a blue moon, Trump is right about something.

But the bigger picture is that Trump has alienated long term allies and they feel correctly that the U.S. has ceased to be a stable reliable friend.

That's going to bite the USA permanently. 

The first sentence is a good beginning.

2nd: Yes, initially, but some have turned 180 degrees quite fast. And may turn again, nobody knows.

The last one: "Permanently" is a very long time. Why not say: "Too early to call"?

Nothing else even comes close to the mother of all problems facing the US: Slowing the growth of the national debt and eventually reducing it to a sustainable level.

Can and will Trump do that? I don't know. Probably not, but I hope I am wrong.

Can anyone else do it? Same answer as above.

Any other issue is just noise in comparison.

33 minutes ago, Digitalbanana said:

Sorry I couldn't get further than this in your post. Still pissing myself.

Your loss, I don't really care

9 hours ago, spidermike007 said:

Good post. My question would be just how many white farmers have been killed? Was it a dozen, or thousands, as the lying goon claims?

Thanks, I appreciate your response. I do not have any accurate figures, but having followed this situation for many years, my impression and opinion is that the number is huge, somewhere in the several of tens of thousands. During my time there (1990s), what was most in the news was the inter-tribal, black-on-black killings. They were horribly bestial, with bodies hacked to pieces or “necklaced”. I lost several of my factory workers to these senseless killings. There are 8 or 9 “officially recognized” tribes in South Africa, and many of them hate each others’ guts. So this goes far deeper than skin colour.

Take the time to watch the video I posted, also the one by Katie Hopkins posted by @merck (I know she may be too much for some with her flippant sarcasm, but in this one she is very serious and not out for cheap points). Better yet, find articles and videos from sources you trust, because it is in the nature of documentaries to only show one side of an issue, and they are usually very persuasive. My impression is that killings of white farmers happen on an “industrial scale” is not a controversial issue, but the South African government will of course tone down the seriousness and numbers to fit their narrative. And to add insult to injury, the moral underpinnings of the taking back white owned land and redistributing it to blacks have not exactly yielded stellar results. Neither in Zimbabwe nor in South Africa. In many cases the land was used as rewards for supporters of the government, people already wealthy who had no idea how to farm, and the end result being massively reduced output and starvation as a result. Sad but true. From breadbasket to basket case.

I came to this discussion mostly driven by my close connections to South Africa, and not so much to discuss Trump, but being an avid fanboy and proud of that, I will make a couple of comments around that too while I’m here anyway. Firstly I was impressed with your long post regarding tariffs and China, a bit off-topic as such in this particular thread, but with lots of facts, details and substance. More of this please! Now I cannot speak for Trump nor read his mind, but I would venture to guess he would mostly agree with your situational description of China having risen to dominate manufacturing and more and more also the science and technology underpinning this. How did this happen? With good help from US and other companies out to save money by moving their operations to China. And also by the CCPs policy of stealing intellectual property and copying. But that is water under the bridge now.

As I understand it, tariffs is Trump’s preferred tool to break this vicious circle and bring manufacturing and R&D back to the US. And that is why he initially goes very hard and deep, to get attention, scare and sometimes (economically) force companies back to the US. And also to level out very unfair trade protections from trading partners. During negotiations positions will be adjusted and an equilibrium will usually be found, hopefully with very few/low tariffs, to let market forces decide. It is a very risky game to play, and only time will tell if it will work. And will it be enough to counter China going forward, who knows? Perhaps the US has already fallen too far, much like Europe, the latter really is a basket case at this stage, beyond saving in my opinion. Very sad indeed.

Finally in closing, I am really shocked to see the abject hatred of Trump coming from many posters here, totally dominating their opinions and blocking for a constructive discussion. Often based on nothing but emotions. I do not agree with all Trump does or says, and of course he also lies. Allow me a bit of "whataboutism": Show me any politician who doesn’t lie. But I will go out on a limb and say that in my opinion Trump engages mostly in hyperbole (and ad hominem and other not-so-nice tactics as well), but more often than not is he not outright lying, but actually “directionally correct”. No, I cannot give stats or evidence of this, just my “informed fanboy opinion”. So there!
 

You can either ask the local revenue office for a tax ID like @mahjongguy stated, or if you have the pink ID card and not already have a tax ID, your ID number from the pink crd is your tax ID number.

More and more banks are asking for these things now, my bank in Norway pesters me annually about FATCA/CRS (look it up), and my Thai banks asks for my Norwegian tax ID/social security number.

So like it or not, soon they will know everything about you, and exchange that information across international borders.

FWIW I still use a TM-30 from 2017 at Jomtien Immigration, and it is always accepted without comment. I live at the same address and I am on a retirement extension. I have been abroad many times over the years, and also travelled locally and stayed in several hotels here. Never a problem. But as always, YMMW...

Never?

Nobody on here can diagnose your memory issues, but I believe as a general rule, a low carb/keto diet will be helpful for brain health and memory/dementia issues. Many now call Alzheimer's for diabetes type 3, claiming it is (among other possible causes) a metabolic disease. Insulin resistance in the brain causes poor uptake of glucose to fuel the brain, but on a keto diet ketones are produced from fat to take over glucose's role in the body and brain (well ±30% of the brain must have glucose, but the rest thrives on ketones). Ketones do not require insulin, so one can bypass the insulin resistance. You can also bypass insulin if you do some intense workouts, look it up (non-insulin dependent uptake of glucose).

As for diet specifics others have given you some (mostly) good ideas already. But general rule is Fat 75%, protein 20% and carbs 5%. Then you can adjust to taste. Just be aware that there is a phenomenon called "physiological insulin resistance" or glucose sparing state, as opposed to pathological insulin resistance. The former is not dangerous, but it usually happens on a very low carb diet, where you rely on the liver to make the small amount of glucose the body never can do without (parts of the brain, optic nerve, red blood cells plus some more areas). So the cells are made temporarily insulin resistant to give the vital parts the glucose they need. Eating some carbs for a day or two will quickly turn off this mechanism, so it may be a good idea to cycle in some carbs now and then.

How will you know you have succeeded? Two ways: 1) Get a ketone meter, similar to a glucose meter. This may be difficult to buy in Thailand, also via the internet (e.g. Amazon will not ship it here), so you will have to have a friend ship it to you or trans-ship it via a third party (FDA approval rules I believe). I have one (Keto-Mojo) and it works very well. Together with a glucose meter (I use Accdu-Chek Guide, very good) one can track accurately the progression to keto nirvana, also nice to have if you do some prolonged fasts (3-4 days) every now and then.

2) You will just know! After a "fat-adaptation phase" of 2-4 weeks you will not be hungry much, cravings go away, energy returns, brain fog lifts and mood is much better than on a carb heavy diet. Weight loss should also be quite easy. The adaptation phase may be hard, and there you will need some self control. Many give up just before they arrive in fat-burning mode, so stick with it!

6 hours ago, thecyclist said:

Composite fillings lasting 5 to 10 years? Rarely that long in my case. But my cavities are huge, they usually fall out after a year or two. 

Perhaps talk with your dentist if ceramic inlays may be a better option for big fillings?

I had my amalgam fillings removed around 30 years ago, and replaced with polymer fillings and in some cases ceramic inlays (for bigger areas on the chewing surfaces).

My dentist back then in South Africa (RIP (the country, not the dentist)) did a very good job of preparation for safe removal both for him and me. In addition to things already mentioned in this thread, to avoid any drilling residue entering the throat and swallowed he put a rubber "coffer dam" tightly around the tooth and covering everything else.

I didn't have any specific symptoms of mercury poisoning, but did this as a precautionary measure, since it is usually old, partly broken or eroded fillings that can eventually leach out mercury. I also didn't have any adverse effects of the removal, nor did I feel any better for that matter. My blood mercury is stable and low now and back then.

Some will say "let sleeping dogs lie", since the risk of extraction vs the benefits may be hard to calculate. The mercury in amalgam is usually very tightly bonded, and unlikely to cause any harm (except to the dentist who used to work in this environment all day, every day).

I can see that side of things, same as with a root canal treatment. I would prefer extraction and implant before a root canal, but if you already have a root canal that has been done by a good dentist and is not causing problems, it may be better to let it stay. But there is a risk that anaerobic bacteria can build up, and eventually leach out and get into your bloodstream. And these bacteria can be very dangerous to the heart especially. But again, the very process of drilling into this "can of worms" may help to spread the bacteria. Like a biopsy for cancer detection. Very useful, but may in some cases help to spread the cancer. So doomed if you do, doomed if you don't...

2nd hand black Lotus Turbo Esprit, bought at Hendon Way Motors in London way back. I don't have a pic handy, but the one below looks the same. 2.2 liter turbo, double overhead cams, double Delorto carburetors, it felt like sitting in a go-cart with poor to no visibility other that straight ahead. <deleted>ty build quality, but fun to drive and it turned some heads.

It had KUW 777 in the reg. number and was registered first time 25 December. The dealer said it was a prince from Kuwait that bought it as a Christmas pressie to his g/f or wife. I dunno if that is true or not, but it is a good story nevertheless.

James Bond used a white version in a 007 movie in the Italian alps, and had a trendy ski-rack fitted. So James and I are buddies 🙂.

3 minutes ago, CallumWK said:

Would be appreciated if someone could give me a clear answer on my question, instead of some guesses, which are mostly wrong as well

OK, I am not answering your direct question, but you can get blood tests done also at clinics. I use N-Health in Pattaya, they have decent prices and there is no charge for seeing a doctor. So if you know how to interpret the results, it is a good deal.

3 hours ago, Presnock said:

Greek ogurt is higher in protein, look for probiotic yogurt.

I agree that Greek yogurt is the best, since it is usually full of good fats as well. Beware low fat yogurt, since they will replace the fat with sugar to keep the taste and mouth-feel. For plenty of good protein eat organic/free-range eggs, fatty fish and grassfed beef.

9 hours ago, saintdomingo said:

Point number 6 may answer one of my questions, following a throat problem I struggle to get two litres of water a day down me but I get though a lot of watermelon, dragon fruit and oranges.

Does the high water content in these fruits compensate for the missing water.?

 

Also  do the numbers 10 and 12 on  "High Protein" yoghurt indicate the number of grams of protein in each.? Hoping your answer to this is yes as l also need to eat a lot of protein to compensate for weight loss.

I will attempt to answer your first question. Water is water no matter what form it has, so yes fruit (or e.g. coffee or beer) will add to your water intake. Now the downside is that fruits are very sweet, and each gram of sugar will require around four grams of water to "process" in your body. This water is not part of your hydration as such, as it gets stored. This is also true for beer which contains a lot of sugar (carbs).

Coffee and beer also have the effect of being diuretics, so therefore drinking coffee and beer will dehydrate you, requiring you to drink even more water. Finally hydration has to do with salt as well ("water follows salt"), so if you drink too much pure water without enough salt (and electrolytes), the body cannot hold on to the water. But that doesn't mean it's a good idea to drink seawater, because that is another can of worms altogether!

1 hour ago, newbee2022 said:

Easy answer: As you probably know life expectancy did not exceed 40 years in general (even around 30). So cancer as we know it nowadays was unknown because the people died before.

And referring to my link: you can have more saying the same. (WHO eg) and other national ones. It's common sense that consuming red meat (as British breakfasts) including cold cuts as sausages is connected to a higher risk of cancer. 

OK, I have to bite one final time: Many lived much longer, but sure, falls, wild animals and infections culled quite a few. So way too simplistic for my liking.

No thanks, more of the same (bad studies) doesn't make bad science good.

And you keep talking about processed meats, which I agree are not good for you. My point was red, unprocessed meat (perhaps I was not clear enough earlier). Please let's leave it at that, I respect your right to have whatever opinion you like.