statman78

As others have mentioned, the pool pump uses a lot of electricity. Our pool pump is on a time and we run it for a couple of hours in the morning and a couple in the afternoon and that is enough for us. We also added a solar panel system for our entire house. Our bills during the hot months were close to 6000 baht. Last month our bill was only 2100 baht. Well worth the money. Based on the savings we are seeing the system will pay for itself in about 7 years.

Thanks for the info. I’ll talk to them and see what type of visa they originally had when they entered Thailand. ballpoint, very good information. I did not know that a non-imm b could be extended but your experience proves that it can.

There is an American couple renting a house from us here in Thailand. Both currently have valid work permits. They would like to retire and stay in Thailand. I am thinking that they need to cancel their work permits and obtain a non-o visa here in Thailand. Then near the end of the 90 days they could apply for retirement extensions. They meet the age requirement. Since they have work permits now there is no problem for them to open bank accounts and deposit 800,000 baht. They told me that if each one needed an account with 800,000 they can do it. A couple of questions. 1. Do they need to leave Thailand and enter visa exempt or can they switch from the work permit to a non-o while staying in Thailand? 2. Does each person need an account with 800,000 baht or can one of them get the retirement extension and the other stay in Thailand as a spouse of a retiree? 3. Are there other options? Thanks in advance for your help

I’m not sure about Thailand but most countries only allow you to have one valid visa. Once your O-A is approved your O visa would most likely be cancelled.

I was told by my doctor that I will not need surgery again. Cataracts grow on the natural lens. During cataract surgery the original lens is removed and an artificial one is put in its place. The cataract does not grow on the artificial lens. If your vision is not perfect you can use glasses or I was told it is possible to do some reshaping of the new artificial lens to improve vision.

I fly Thai Smile every month from Chiang Rai to Bangkok and return. Reasonable prices along with good service. I hope it continues. The flights usually only have a few empty seats.

My left eye sight was perfect before the cataract took over. I did not need glasses. After surgery it is back to where it was. Before surgery my right eye was useless. I could only tell light from dark and could see movement. This was due to a combination of the cataract and nerve damage due to glaucoma. I still had the cataract removed and my sight in the right eye is at about 50% due to the nerve damage.

I had a follow up exam the following day after surgery and was told that my vision was at 90%. After the first day I did get some more improvement but my vision was almost perfect on the day after.

MJCM, your procedure sounds exactly like what I experienced last year. The only discomfort was during the injection which you also mentioned. My procedure was around 99k per eye at Rutnin Eye Hospital. It was the best thing I ever did.

This should come as no surprise. When the coup leaders developed the constitution they gave these unelected senators, which they appointed, the power to vote for the prime minister. At the time I remember comments suggesting that this was needed because the general population might not elect the “right” people.

From what I read, the vote for PM will take place in July

This past December in arrived back in Thailand from a holiday in Egypt. I have a retirement extension and used my re-entry permit. I submitted my 90 day report online in March and it was accepted.

In Thailand we have used a number of shipping services. We found the most reliable to be Thai Post EMS.

Sad news. RIP Joe. You helped me a number of times. You will be missed by many of us.

If the government wasn’t so self centered they would look at what other countries are doing to collect fees online. The USA has ESTA which is a $21 fee collected online from those travelers arriving visa exempt. Next year the EU is planning to charge 7 euro from non EU citizens for a ETIAS. While I believe there is no charge, Australia has ETA for travelers arriving visa exempt which needs to be applied for online. Since the airlines already said they cannot selectively charge the traveler, they could collect the fee from everyone and those who are except from paying can get a refund upon arrival. But of course this option will not happen since the government doesn’t want to inconvenience its own people. Unfortunately, they will probably set up a system that makes it harder to get through immigration upon arrival.

It’s on the agenda for next month. Of course the issue may be gone by then if the rains come.

I would love to to see red or yellow. This is what we have this morning. It’s better than it has been the last couple of weeks. We’ve had days where we approached 600.

Here in the north we’ve been living in worse smog for weeks!

Typical way of addressing problems here. Wait until the problem hits the critical stage, start discussing how to handle it then wait until it goes away. Of course nothing gets done and the cycle will be repeated next year. This happens with the annual smoke issue here in the north and the annual flooding issue around Bangkok.

Definite vote buying but not much different than what happens in other countries where politicians promise money to certain groups. Looking up the information, Thailand has approximately 58 million people over the age of 16. This would cost 580 billion baht. According to the big Bangkok newspaper, the fiscal 2024 Thai budget is 3.35 trillion baht with a deficit of 593 billion baht with the deficit being about 3% of GDP. This giveaway almost doubles the deficit.

I agree with the recommendation of Bangkok Bank. For my retirement extension I transfer money every month using Wise. The transfer shows up as a foreign transfer which is needed when I go in for my annual extension.

It is vary reliable. I’ve used them many times. Like cnx1204 mentions, I immediately go to the both to reserve a car then get my luggage if I have checked bags. Sometimes if you also reserve the return from the hotel to the airport you may get a discount. I doesn’t make sense to me but the SUV tends to be the cheapest.