Pib

Don't be surprised if yours stays in "In Transit" status forever although it was probably delivered to Wilkes Barre SSA...but failure of the USPS to properly accomplish/missing some tracking scans the tracking still shows "In Transit" after it left the Scranton mail center which is only about 20 miles from Wilkes Barre. But if it didn't arrive then sometime in September is when the SSA is suppose to send out a follow-up notification basically saying we didn't get a response from you on our 1st mailing so this is a 2nd mailing. Now assuming they don't send that 2nd notice until the very end of September and considering at least a couple weeks mailing time to Thailand, then mid October is probably the earliest any of us would start receiving a 2nd notice if our Are You Dead or Alive form didn't make it back to Wilkes Barre in time from the first mailing. https://secure.ssa.gov/poms.nsf/lnx/0302655010

Any further update on your MIA 7162 like the USPS couldn't find it, assumed it actually got delivered, abducted by aliens, found as part of seized docs from Mar-a-Lago, etc? Curious as to if the missing mail search resulted in anything tangible.

Yea....who knows....walking into an immigration office can often result in surprises. In the immortal words of Gomer Pyle:

TG, In late June 2022 I went to CW to transfer stamps to my new/renewed U.S. passport. I'm on an OA based "marriage" vs retirement extension...I use the bank deposit method which only has to be up to Bt400K at least two months before extension renewal application....after extension approval the deposit balance amount can go to zero if desired. All they required was the items listed in your post above which is really just the Transfer form, a few pages from the old and new passports (every page not req'd; just the relevant pages), TM Arrival/Departure card, and the letter the U.S. embassy includes with the new passport. It took about 20 minutes to get done. No fee...didn't want to see anything regarding bank info....didn't ask to look at bank book....didn't require copies of any bank book info.

This type of sidewalk, bricks laid on sand, is very, very common in Thailand. And then within a few years max they will start to become uneven, sink, etc., requiring repair/replacement of the side. I don't know construction of this nature is due to: 1. Considered good construction "but" a lower cost than a more sturdy/costly construction like solid concrete 2. Easier access to water/sewer/electrical lines possibly under the sidewalk takes priority over a more sturdy construction 3. No desire for the construction to be sturdy/long lasting so new contract money can be spent year after year after year to repair/replace the sidewalk with "new stuffed envelopes" flowing year after year after year. Ditto to above when it comes to road landscaping where a new road/intersection is built along with some very nice landscaping....and that landscaping seems to be well kept for only around one year and then care-and-feeding of the landscaping seems to vanish....the landscaping then dies or turns into a jungle. It seems the "construction" contract for that new road/intersection only included landscaping maintenance for one year and unless a new landscaping maintenance contract is awarded that landscaping just dies/turns into jungle. So, the govt "intentionally" does not award a new landscaping maintenance contract allowing the landscaping to die/the jungle to return which drives the need for a new contract which comes with new stuffed envelopes. The corruption cycle continues.

Or, the contractor runs out of money at the 80-90% completing point and claims unforeseen/Force Majeure costs overruns....need another 10-20% of money to complete the project. The contract is written so weak (intentionally) to not absolutely bind the contractor to the contracted price the government will give the contractor more money to finish the project versus cancelling the contract. Then some of this money finds its way back to key government officials who approved the initial contract and/or the amended (extra money) contract.....all part of corruption that makes government contracts and working in certain government positions so lucrative. Construction projects--especially sidewalks, roads, street lights, and landscaping--are great money makers for corrupt contractors/government officials.

Yea, there are no laws I know of....either in Thailand or my home country of the U.S....that governs whether a person has the right by law "to open a package before paying the delivery/post man"....be that delivery man a govt postal employee, FedEx, DHL, Lazada Express, Flash Express, or just whatever delivery companies of which there are MANY! Delivery companies only delivery a person's package....they are only an intermediary between the seller and buyer...their only job is deliver a package as addressed....they don't get involved in waiting for a person to open a package in front of them and checking out the contents before paying COD. I can just see the numerous arguments/complaints that would occur during the daily deliveries. The delivery person's ability to deliver say a 100 packages per day to a 100 different addresses reduced to almost half of that because I read that around 40-50% of Lazada/Shopee deliveries are paid via CODs. This would cause delivery delays, higher delivery costs, and a host of other issues. These folks that casually say say "just give the delivery person a tip so you can open and check the contents before deciding to accept or pay" have probably never done that in their life although they give out such advice.

Good luck in calling the Manila office....a hard bunch of folks to get on the phone. You might want to submit an online inquiry at below U.S. Embassy-Manila SSA FBU weblink....the inquiry form even has a reason for the inquiry being "Applying for Social Security Benefits." I know you have already applied and just wanting for Manila to contact you....maybe you should go knocking on their door with an online Inquiry to them...do it now...probably better than an email to them.....and good luck with the call. https://ph.usembassy.gov/services/fbu-inquiry-form/ Partial Snapshot from above weblink

Good luck in calling the Manila office....a hard bunch of folks to get on the phone. You might want to submit an online inquiry at below U.S. Embassy-Manila SSA FBU weblink....the inquiry form even has a reason for the inquiry being "Applying for Social Security Benefits." I know you have already applied and just wanting for Manila to contact you....maybe you should go knocking on their door with an online Inquiry to them...do it now...probably better than an email to them.....and good luck with the call. https://ph.usembassy.gov/services/fbu-inquiry-form/ Partial Snapshot from above weblink

OK....my total passport renewal time was 18 days....TallGuy's 18 days also...CMBob's 11 days. 18+`18+11 = 47 divided by 3 gives an average 16 day turn around time. Pretty good. But I will have to say that around 10 years ago when the wife and I renewed at the same time the total turnaround time for both of us was around 12 days....for some reason some archived brain cells are saying the wife got her's in 9 days and me around 14 days. So, a little slower than a decade ago...but getting a total turnaround time of 2 to 3 weeks is good service considering after the embassy receives your package they upload it to a U.S. Passport Center....back in the U.S. a Passport Center prints and mails the new passport to your embassy...and then the embassy remails to you. The embassy getting the passport from the Passport Center is the longest pole in the tent which occurs thru the U.S. mail system to the embassy Diplomatic Post Office (DPO), but fortunately it's not too long.

That response would make me feel very uneasy because some countries are on a biennial (every 2 years) schedule and some every year---Thailand is on the every year schedule per SSA regulation. https://secure.ssa.gov/poms.nsf/lnx/0302655005 But if it was me and didn't get a form from the first mailing in late June or the second mailing to occur in September (a person should receive before the end of October I would manually fill-out a 7162 and scan/email to Manila AND also mail it to Wilkes Barre via Regular Airmail which costs Bt49. Both the wife and I got 7162's this year here in Thailand....received in early-mid July. Going with Registered Airmail which costs Bt325 does not make it arrive any faster and in fact may slow delivery somewhat (or a LOT) since Registered Airmail must travel by more secure means/undergo tracking scans which can slow things down in comparison to un-registered/regular mail. And so far this thread has shown that using Registered Airmail will result in arrival at Wilkes Barre within about two weeks OR end up in MIA/In Transit status at some point of it's trek. A throw of the dice when it comes to registered mail tracking from Thailand to the U.S. with the tracking problem being on the U.S. end.

I've bought around 250 items off Lazada and have needed to do around a half dozen refunds---all refunds were without incident...and all refunds occurred over the last year or so. For the first 50 or so of those 250 total orders I played the COD game, but that can get painful in needing to be around to receive/pay at our house. Heck, for around 20 or those 50 COD orders (each less than a Bt1,000) I started leaving the money in an envelope just inside the gate where the delivery guy could reach and get it....we (the wife or I) would tell the delivery man this when he called in advance about the delivery sometime during the day. But for the last 200 or so orders they have all been paid in advance from my Lazada Wallet or bank transfer at time of order. As it turns out the half dozen or so refunds have all been within the last year and everything went smoothly. I used the Lazada refund system...none of this playing ping-pong via chat with the seller....all refunds processed efficiently, zero return shipping fees, and all refund received within approx one week of shipping the item back to the seller. The Lazada return/refund process is pretty efficient and you are kept well informed of the return/refund status which usually takes about 5 to7 days with the great majority of that time being the return shipping time and seller review time. And for one refund just a few weeks ago for a Bt500 pair of jeans as soon as I dropped it off at Kerry (I choose Kerry for the return shipment) I got my refund "immediately" after drop off with Kerry...refund immediately to my Lazada Wallet....didn't have to wait until it got back to the Seller for review...the Lazada SMS called it an Early Refund. I figure this was authorized by the Seller....a good Seller. I've also had a few cases of an order for multiple different items where one item may be completely missing. I apply for a refund....simply say it was not in the package received....upload a picture showing what "was" in the package making it clear in the words an item was completely missing....and Lazada refunded the amount within about 3 days. All of these cases was for small items only costing around Bt100. Yea, knock on wood (my head)....the Lazada refund process has worked well for me...and playing the COD can be a pain and offer less scam protection....paying Lazada in advance is a better way I think for both ease of delivery/receipt and refund purposes.

Well, after a couple years of the SSA not mailing "Are You Dead or Alive" forms due to the COVID pandemic both the wife and I received a SSA-7162 today/8 July 2022. We live in Bangkok. Apparently the SSA is back to mailing the forms on a regular annual basis for us Thailand-based old folks. Will complete and mail the forms back today.

For those of you who use a Mitsubishi "EP" Series water pump, repeat, "EP" series, like the one pictured in the attachment, Do you get constant/steady water pressure? I currently have a Mitsubishi "WP" Series water pump (came with the house). The WP series is where the pump motor sets on top of a small booster tank, but the design/operation of the WP Series pump is for the water pump to turn off and on as the pressure in its tank reaches approx 30 psi (pump turns on) and 40 psi (pump turns off). The specific psi pressures vary by tank model. While I get an "average" 35 psi water pressure, the pressure is always pulsating every second or two due to pump turning off and on which causes the water from shower heads, taps, hoses, filling up the commodes, etc., to pulsate. And with the commode tank refill you can clearly hear the pulsating. This is normal operation for Mitsubishi WP series pumps, and in fact, other manufacturers pumps based on the same design...a very common design used in Thailand. Yes, I know I could also switch to jet-line type pump that feeds into a large pressure tank which would help reduce pulsating; instead of one or two second pulses I would have pressure changes/pulses which go up and down much slower. However, I would like to get a pump setup that gives me "constant/steady" pressure. The Mitsubishi "CP" series appears it might provide constant pressure (and looks very similar to a EP model), but it appears the CP series is designed to fill up tanks on top of a building where a separate sensor switch is needed to tell the CP pump to turn off....this really wouldn't work for my home setup...plus, I want a pump that is more self controlling. The Mitsubishi "EP" series seems to fit that bill of steady pressure/flow with its built in "flow sensor" but since I see it also has a pressure switch build-in also which is designed to kick-in at at approx 30 to 40 psi (varies slightly by model), I'm concerned the EP may also provide pulsating water, but to a lower degree. This pressure switch may just be used as a safety feature or used under certain circumstances and the flow sensor does all the real controlling. Due to the language barrier and knowledge of the sales assistances in stores, I can't get an answer that confirms to me the pressure/volume from the EP series pump is constant/steady. So, it would be greatly appreciated from you Mitsubishi "EP" Series pump owners/users as to if your EP series pump provides "non-pulsating/steady/constant" pressure/flow. Big thanks.