Pib

Let me guess....your US Postal System Tracking (not to be confused with Thai Postal System tracking) shows the item arriving and possibly leaving one of the U.S. international mail entry points on the east or west coast of the U.S.....like maybe New York City. But then the registered mail item goes MIA. Well, that's because around 15 years ago the USPS changed its policy regarding the handling/tracking of inbound international registered mail....not just from Thailand but from any country. See USPOS policy snapshot at bottom. International registered mail is "not", repeat, not tracked/handled like say you were using USPS registered mail to send somethinkg from say LA to NY. What happens is generally inbound international registered mail is handled as a normal first class mail once it enters/exits the U.S. entry point where addtional tracking & scanning of the tracking number may cease. I say "generally" because registred mail from certain countries meet certain standards that complies with what the USPS requires for tracking of inbound international registered mail. While your international/Thailand registered mail item probably arrived its intended address such as Wilkes Barre PA it may not show any tracking/delivery once it exits the U.S. entry point ike say it entered the US at the New York City international mail entry point. Now "sometimes" scanning of the international registered mail item does occur once it's in the US first class mail system.....and sometimes (maybe most of the time) scanning does not occur. While paying for registered mail from Thailand to the US might give the mailer a warm fuzzy it will be tracked and specially handled the whole way to its final address in actuality the tracking/special handling only realiablity occurs up to the point of entry in the U.S......then it's pretty much treated as plain ol' 1st Class Mail which where mail is handled differently from registered mail (registered mail is handled in a more secure manner which also sometimes slows down final delivery due to special handling}. Any scanning in the 1st class mail system for tracking purposes will be hit and miss....any scanning that does occur probably occurred because an automated mail sorting machine scanned the item vs the postman doing a scan at final delivery. For mailing 7162s back to Wilkes Barre you are probably just as good off mailing it "regular airmail" at around Bt50 vs paying aorund Bt330 for "registered airmail." I say that from personal mailing tests. In a series of personal mailing tests from Bangkok to Texas/California (5 tests over several months...a total of 10 envelopes) I did in 2019 where I mailed envelopes at the same time and from the same Bankgok post office to the same US address the envelopes that I mailed via "regular airmail" arrived 2 to 3 times faster than the envelopes I mailed via "registered airmail." The envelopes sent via regular airmail arrived in approx two weeks but the registed airmail took 4 to 6 weeks and only only one of the five registered mails showed tracking the entire way...the other four registered envelopes didn't show full tracking or simply stopped after they exited the NY City or Los Angeles international mail entry points. They all arrived but simply didn't show tracking the whole way. Now back in 2019 registered mail from Thailand to the US was a LOT cheaper....right around Bt100 per envelope....but now days it around three times more expensive. https://about.usps.com/postal-bulletin/2009/pb22259/html/updt_004.htm

There will be a battery depreciation schedule for the battery under the new rule....however, the insurance company is suppose to also offer a rider (i.e., pay an extra premium) to where the owner can still continue to ensure for 100%. https://insightplus.bakermckenzie.com/bm/financial-institutions_1/thailand-first-official-battery-electric-vehicles-insurance-policy

And here was the AXA's earlier annoucment regarding the soon to occur changes in EV policy coverage based on the government Office of Insureance (OIC) directive from 1 June 2024. And be sure to read the last paragraph in AXA's annoucment telling how great this change is for customers, safety, and society. https://www.axa.co.th/important-update-ev We would like to inform you about an important update concerning Directive No. 47/2566 issued by the Office of the Insurance Commission (OIC). Effective from June 1, 2024, a new Electric Vehicle (EV) insurance policy will be implemented for EVs of passenger cars with less than 7 seats of Type 1 and Type 3 insurance. For New and Renewing Customers Prior to June 1, 2024: Customers who confirm their purchase or renewal of insurance by May 31, 2024, will remain covered under the terms of current motor insurance policy until it expires. For New and Renewing Customers From June 1, 2024 Onwards: Customers will be subject to the terms of the new EV insurance policy in accordance with the OIC Directive. Under this new policy, it will be mandatory to list a minimum of 1 and a maximum of 5 named drivers per vehicle for personal use. Should an accident occur with a driver who is not a named driver, an excess of 6,000 THB will be payable by the customer. Full name, date of birth, identification number and valid driving license number are information required to name a driver. (A copy of the driving license is required for new applications and renewals through offline channels.) This policy change is established to comply with the OIC's Directive, aiming to develop EV insurance policies that align with customer needs, enhance road safety standards, and provide benefits to both customers and society.

Well, actually the Bangkok Post article helped to clear things up somewhat and Tokio Marine tried to clarify things. Basically Tokio Marince is saying new and renewal policies will be subject to the new EV insurance polices the Thai govt approved effective 1 July 2024 (or maybe it was 1 June) where rates will be based on driving records vs just a standard rate of a good driver, drivers "must" be be named on the policy (up to 5 drivers), driving records of those named driver can affect rates, etc. Just stricter rules comparied to govt rules regarding ICEV vehicle policies. Yes, all Thai insurance companies will adjust their EV policies to the new Thai govt rules....and actually the new rules give insurance more lattide in how they can write vehicle policies for EV. No doubt in my mind EV policy rates will go up somewhat with the Thai govt's blessing. It really gives insurance companies the government go-ahead/blessig to institute some changes in vehicle insurance coverage and rates that insurance companies have long lobbied for. And in some earlier articles/crossfeed on the subject of EV policies changes it was said some of these EV policy changes (like the requirement to name all drivers on a policy) may find their way into ICEV policies in the near future because you know companies love to raise policy rates whenever they get the chance.

Well, be sure to watch all the other videos on the channel...Chase Car....see their video list below...almost every one is negative on EVs. And many of the videos---like the one we are talking about---are simply reruns with minor variations made to make it appear like late breaking news....click bait. It just one of those youtube channels that is dedicated to negative/anti-EV videos....makes Mr Toyota grin ear to ear. https://www.youtube.com/@the_best_car_content/videos

Ain't getting older great....happens to everyone. https://www.essilor.com/sas-en/blog/your-life-and-your-eyes/what-to-do-if-your-eyesight-is-getting-worse/

Never hear of them. And I can't find a Tokyo Marine Insurance (Thailand) on the interet.....when googling I only come across a company named Tokio Marine Insurance (Thailand). Maybe a translation error/typo? Anyway, I don't see anything on the Tokio website about them scaling back on EV insurance...but hey, as company I expect they want to keep that as low key as possible as it can show weakness to potential/new customers...plus not making customers too happy either. https://www.tokiomarine.com/th/en/non-life/products/retail/motor.html https://www.tokiomarine.com/th/en/non-life/products/retail/motor/auto-smile.html

@bamboozled You are experiencing what almost everyone experiences as they age. First the near vision gets worst but your far vision is still good....so people start wearing reading/cheater glasses. If you don't have any or much astimgmatisn or any other eye problems then just buying some cheap 100 baht reading glasses that's sold everywhere will usually work. But probably every year or so you'll need to replace those reading glasses with a slight stronger pair....no biggie, most anybody can afford Bt100. But as you continue to age you now start to notice more and more the far vision is not as good as it use to be....maybe as you drive your car you notice you have to be a lot close to that sign before you can clearing read the text on the sign to turn right to go to whereever. Or maybe you can't read small text on your big screen TV so good anymore....that's your intermeidiate and far vision also beginning to go downhill along with your near vision that you use to look at things close up like reading a book. So, maybe now you get another pair of Bt100 glasses geared to correct "far" vision....and then switch to the Bt100 glasses for the "near" vision stuff. Have two pairs of glasses hanging on your shirt, in your pocket, etc. If you are like me (which I think you are when it comes to the desire of wearing glasses) you just "hate" that....although you could deal with using some cheapie glasses for reading you hate having to switch to your other glasses for seeing clearing at distance. And although you could surely buy some expensive glasses (like bifocal, trifocal, progessive) for MANY baht from your local glasses shop the fact remaings you just dont' want to wear glasses whether cheap or expensive. So what choice do you have now? Well, there is the possibility of LASIK surgery where they cut a small flap in your cornea, pull the flap back (kinda like a trap door), then they use a laser to slightly reshape the "cornea", and then you should bel be good to go for "a while." Notice I said "for a while" because that LASIK surgery did not treat/fix the root cause of your near and/or far vision problem....the root problem is probably the "lens" of the eye which is behind the cornea. As you age your eye lens will become "not as flexible" as it use to be (i.e., it hardens) which prevents it from being able to focus like you use to when you were younger...and the lens may even start developing "cataracts" which furhter impacts the ability of the lens to focus like it use to in its younger days. Also, with LASIK surgery the eye doc may recommend against it depending on your age (unless the doc is really money hungry)....like if your are 60-65 or older. Maybe that's because they know the lens' focusing abllity is going downhill as you get older (that's just life) and LASIK would merely make vision better for a couple of years before it would be time to do another expensive LASIK surgery (or get new cheater glasses)...and the customer is NOT happy about doing this surgery again. And it's not like a person can do LASIK surgeries over and over even if they are a billionaire. So, what to do. Well, it probably "Inter Ocular Lens (IOL)" surgery time which is where the root cause is fixed...that is, your aging eye natural lens that may also have the beginning of cateracts which just makes your vision even worst is removed (a simple and quick process) and replaced with a man-made IOL. Once doing that the lens of your eye (now a man-made lens vs natural lens from birth) will not further harden/lose flexibility/abiltiy to focus as you continue to age...even if your live to the ripe old age of 125. Now other parts of your eye may get worst as you age, like your retina (back of your eye) but your eye "lens" is good to go for many decades/a lifetime. IOLs come in all varieties...from single focus, bifocal, trifocal, etc., and many price ranges. Single focus (set for near, intermediate, or far) is the cheapest....been around for many decades. Many people go the "monovision" IOL route of having one eye outfitted with a near vision IOL and the other eye with a far vision IOL....and then the brain picks which eye to use when looking at something. Many people get along fine with monovison and some don't. Definitely best to try monovision with some contact lens which simulates monovision before taking the permament just of monovision IOL surgery. But monovision is from the earlier days before new & improved IOLs were developed like Bifocal and Trifocal IOLs which cost more than single distance IOLs. Bifocal IOLs (can set to two distances usually intermediate and far) but you may still need reading glasses. Trifoal IOLs are good at all distances (near, intermediate, and far)...glasses shouldn't be needed at any distance. I went the Trifocal IOL route....first in one eye...and about 6 weeks later in the other eye....this was almost 4 years ago....and my vision in both eyes is excellent....pretty much like having young adult vision again....zero need for glasses. With "both" eyes I can see clearly at near, intermediate, and far. I could put an eye patch over either eye and the other eye can see clearly at near, intermediate, and far....something that folks who went the monovision route can not say. The particular IOL I went with was the Panoptix Trifocal IOL. Had it done in late 2020 at a Thai govt hosptial, specifically Mettapracharak Hospital in Nakhon Pathon province....just outside of western Bangkok where my home is. My total cost for "both" eyes was $4,600 USD (approx Bt165K) for both eyes which included a total of 7 visits....2 of 7 being the days of surgery...the other 5 days just pre-op and post-op checks. That $4,600/Bt165K is approx half the price of what you'll pay for a Trifocal IOL (probably a Panoptix Tricfoca) at a major eye clinic in Bangkok like Rutnin. No overnight stays....just visit of a couple hours each of those 7 days. Now on the day of each operation that's about a 4 hour visit. This hospital has a whole floor dedicated to eye surgery/vision problems...really first class. Thais know it as one of the best places in Thailand to have eye surgery....almost like how Thais consider Siriraj Hospital in Bangkok as the gold standard for Thai hospitals. I expect Thais also like it it due to their prices being about half of high end Bangkok eye clinics. Mettapracharak Hosptial also has a eye clinic right in Bankgok called the Metta International Eye Center although I've never been to it...and I don't know if their prices are the same as at the govt hosptial. Good luck...be sure to study up on the various IOL choices....and I can vouch for the Panoptix trifocal IOL after having two of them in my head for almost 4 years now. . Mettapracharak Hospital in Nakorn Pathom province....just oustide of western Bangkok Metta International Eye Center in Bangok

It's the BYD app servers regardless of owning a Seal, Atto, Dolphin, etc. I got the same notice this morning...I own an Atto.

Yeap...both my and the wife's return envelopes were pretty sealed also.....I tore one pretty bad in trying to unstick the sealed part and the other one I got opened will some damage but not a lot. After inserting the 7162s I sealed both using scotch tape....had to as the envelope sealing was no longer in good shape. Yeap....they must have got pretty damp somewhere along the way from Wilkes Barre to Thailand. We live in Bangkok.

That's an aspirational company target and also serves as good advertising/hype to make some folks think the Zeekr is going to sell like hotcakes....I better get in line now to get mine. And it also puts pressure on Zeekr sales people/dealerships to sell, sell, sell in trying to meet the company a company target. Now while they might get lucky and meet that 500/month target for a few months which is often typical for brand new, highly hyped/promoted models "when just released" and bought by those who "just gotta have" the latest-and-greatest model, after that spike in sales rolls way off....the fade has fissled. Buy hey, time will tell....preaching to the choir I know.

I would leave the address alone now. If SSA says you are good to go then leave it alone. Just watch your account over the next few months to confirm the next payment is on schedule....like the upcoming July payment, then the August payment, etc. If something is askew it will show there. I expect the IDD payment is using the address that SSA says they have for you...and SSA says it's Thailand although your benefit letter shows a US address. I fully expect the address loaded for your IDD payment matches what is in your SSA profile address. Yeap....just check for the next few months that your next monthly payment scheduled....like the upcoming 3 Jul payment that we may get a little early or a little late due to the 4 july holiday period.

Thanks....yeap that sentence surely does imply to create an acct to use Login.gov. After some googing on How to Create a MySSA online acct I found below SSA article that explains the MySSA acct creation and/or logon process used now to include receipt of the activation code that KhunLA is waiting for via snail mail....apparently that code could have been sent via text or voice call if the person was able to receive a text/call. Apparently if you want to create a MySSA online acct and have a foreign address then you must use ID.me to start the process/accomplish the identity verification process. Then after completing that identify verification process with ID.me and want to create a MySSA acct even if then somewhere during that process you will be redirected to Login.gov to finalize the account creating process....BUT I doubt you must start from scratch with a full login.gov identity verification but just need to create a basic login.gov acct where no identity verificaiton occurs like what is happening to people who already have a MySSA acct but have been using the riginal MySSA User ID login method that's going away in the near future. For those folks using the Original MySSA User ID login method below snapshot implies to me since you already have a MySSA acct which means SSA did an identity verificaiton on you in the past then the process "SSA has setup with Login.gov" will not require a full blown Login.gov identity verification because SSA has already verifiied you and a simplied/quick method will be used instead. Yeap...depending on whether a persion is creating a MySSA acct or already has a MySSA acct makes a differeence. And also in creating a MySSA acct the process will be different depending on whether you have a US address or a foreign address. See below SSA weblink for full 2 page article....partial snapshot from article below. https://www.ssa.gov/pubs/EN-05-10540.pdf

@jimmyjam12 Can I confirm wit your that after you finished your MySSA registration and then could log into your MySSA that the address shown in your MySSA profile was your U.S. address? Repeat, the address showing in your MySSA online acct. OR, were you really talking the registration address that appeared in your "Login.gov or ID.me account" that was used to create your MySSA acct? And were you "creating" a MySSA acct (i.e, never had one before) or just trying to log on to your already established MySSA acct thru the Login.gov or ID.me portal? In closing, I think you were talking "creation" of your MySSA acct but just asking for clarification to cure my curiosity/clear my confusion/be sure (any maybe others listening in) especially since the SSA message your got said it "will not" update anything with SSA.gov (I guess that means on your MySSA online acct vs other SSA related info on you). Thanks.

Where you say "...When that letters comes to the USA address..." (your earlier post below) if you mean that letter SSA is supposedly sending you to complete activation of your SSA acct I would not ignore it. I assuming from your post below you have not completed the MySSA acct registration process and that income SSA letter will contain an weblink to go to to enter the activation code in the letter which will complete the registration and then you will be allow to login into MySSA. Additionally, I'm confused by the first two sentence below where you say you started off in ID.me but then had to got to Login.Gov. ID.me is not going to redirect you to a competitor like Login.gov. I would think you ended up at Login.gov because you clicked the Login.gov icon on the SSA page.

Other than maybe the Medicare Advantage thing that Jingthing identified and "if" you are using IDD method to a Thai/foreign bank vs the ACH method to a US bank with ACH routing number I'm not aware of anything else. If you are using IDD you need to have foreign address on-file because once a U.S. address appears on your record the IDD payment is suppose to stop...would need to identify a bank with US ACH routing number to have the payment sent to. Also, you are suppose to have your actual address on-file with the SSA per their rules/policies so they can ensure they can send payments to whatever country you live in (those countries on the U.S govt bad boy list such as N. Korea, Cuba, some of the "car-jack-stan" countries in the Middle East, etc.)...and also if you are drawing benefits although you are not a citizen where in some cases once leaving the US for six months the pension must stop. I'm sure SSA has more more reasons like talked in their booklet below....but it would be reasons that would apply to a very small percentage of all folks receiving SSA benefits. See below SSA booklet for more info as it focuses on Payments While You Are Out of the U.S. https://www.ssa.gov/pubs/EN-05-10137.pdf

@JimGant That's good news you were able to do your 1 year address report at your local immigration office vs needing to go to BOI Chamchuri Sq Immigration Office in Bangkok. Regarding whether a LTR person can do the 1 year address report online using the 90 day address online reporting system, I was told by BOI in some email exchanges AND me talking face-to-face to two Immigration Officer at BOI Immigration Chamchuri Square that an LTR visa holder can "not" use the online 90 day reporting system to accomplish their 1 year address report. And where the 90 days online reporting system mentions/implies BOI related visas address reporting can be done online (see partial snapshot below from the 90 day online system) that refers to those types of BOI visas that require address reporting every 90 days....does not apply to 1 year address reporting visas like LTR or SMART visas. But hey who really knows until someone tries it regardless of what BOI/immigration says. Partial Snapshot from 90 day address reporting system. And the circled part has shown in the online system even before the LTR visa became available in Sep 2022.

After looking at the charger fire video at least a dozen times, especially the first 10 seconds where it shows the electrical short/fire just beginning, I'm still unsure if that was the actual charger or just some junction/breaker box in the general shape of a wall charge or an enclosure box the charger was mounted within just for some more physical protection or a circuit box leading to the charger...etc....etc. It's just the initial few seconds the short/fire is beginning that short/fire is "so visible like it "not" inside the charger itself but outside the charge." And I've never seen a wall charger with a transparent/clear cover that would allow seeing into the charger. It seems like if the short/fire started "inside" the charger the plastic case of the charger would visually block being able to see any short/fire" for X-amount of seconds/minutes but as I said during the first 10 seconds or so the very initial short/fire is very easy to see. But hey, the whole video is low resolution and gets washed/overexposed by the brightness of the fire....just hard to tell "visually" where the short exactly occurred....that is, in charger itself, a junction box leading to the charger, where the charging cable connects to the charger, etc. https://www.thairath.co.th/video/news/topnews/hotclip/795452

Just be sure that's the bandwagon you want to ride. Mid last year/2023 when I got the urge to buy a new car to replace/supplment my 2009 Toyota Fortuner and I started my research after a few months I decided against going Hybrid because it's nothing more than an ICEV with some electric thrown in...ranging from a little bit of electric (mild) to a fair amount of electric. But a Hybrid is also a more complicated vehicle than an ICEV or BEV since the Hybrid is an attempt to joint an ICEV and BEV at the hip. Now you have two different systems that can break down (i.e., combustion and electric). And if you are looking for fuel cost savings a Hybrid, especially a mild Hybrid, is just a baby step forward in better fuel mileage over a ICEV. Since I don't buy a new car often I didn't want to take a baby step towards much better fuel savings and don't like the idea of the vehicle being two system (ICE and electric) to be concerned about. So, in Oct 2023 I bought a BYD Atto BEV....and very pleased with it after 15,000Km and 8 months.

OK...thanks for the clarification. Good luck on the next try. Cheers.

Or simply many Thais along with many foreigners prefer white. Nothing wrong with that as everyone has different color preferences....and Thais predominately prefer while, silver, grey, and black.....conservative colors. Plus white is a good heat reflector in the tropics. Gosh, there are so, so many white vehicles on Thailand roads which is fine. I estimate approx half of personal/private cars on Thai roads is white....followed by silver/grey, and then black. After those conservative colors which makes up the great bulk of all cars in Thailand comes the reds, purples, yellows, etc., more flamboyant colors.

Well, they still may have received it because once "registered" international mail enters the U.S. further tracking updates may stop simply because the USPS is not always scanning the international registered mail tracking number as it moves thru the US Postal System. The mail still arrives the intended address but it's just tracking shows it going MIA...tracking updates just stop.

Where you say "....if they don't notice this one, I'll change it via Manila...", how are you going to determine if they notice? Going to wait to see if the 7162 for next year shows the address? Heck, I would just go to the Manila SSA website and update it now as talked earlier.....just takes a few minutes to enter you name, address, SSN, email, DOB, and some other bits of info.....hit Submit....and then 2 to 4 weeks later you'll get an email from Manila saying updated as requested....maybe sooner if you are lucky.

What do you mean by "failed to use"?

Absolutely totally agree. When I first looked at the video it appears the fire started at the bottom of the charger....right where the charger cable connects to the charger output terminals. If the cable wires and charger terminals are not making good electrical contact a tremendous amount of heat will be generated at that point....the point were the cable wires and charger terminal come into contact. Heat hot enough to melt plastic, wire insulation and even the copper wires. And of course start a fire. In any high current/amps circuit like an EV charger, clothes dryer, water heater, etc., it's critical wire and terminal block connections are good and tight otherwise where the wires and terminals come into contact a tremendous amount of heat will be generated at that point. But good and tight connections will result in little to no heat at that point.