Pib

OK...where you earlier said "...you tried the SSA site..." I thought you meant logging onto your MySSA acct versus trying to open one. I would recommend you accomplish ID.me identify verification and then you can create a MySSA acct. ID.me is flexible/not hard to get verified on....basically you just need a passport or state ID along with a few other docs you will have. You'll probably need to also do the online video chat with them....it pretty easy on their system. I know you said you tried ID.me before....but if you got to the point where they still needed to do a video chat after you had upload requested docs where they just want to see you real time, ask you a few questions and have them take a snapshot of your while you hold your passport next to your face but you never followed thru with the video chat then yes, that will result in failure with ID.me verification. Now Login.gov doesn't allow/accept passports yet to accomplish a full blown identify verification....and I don't think they do video chats/verification either like ID.me will do. Typical "government" organization that's behind the times/commercial companies in being able to do full identify verifications.

I fully expect the charger caught on fire due to faulty/poor installation or possible failure of its contactor/high power relay. All a home EV charger is is a fancy light switch/circuit breaker so to speak as it does "not" convert/rectify AC to DC voltage....all it does is control when it closes its internal contactor/high power relay to allow the line AC voltage thru to the EV where it's rectified to DC to charge the battery. All the AC to DC rectification is done within the EV. And the charger also communicates with the EV regarding charging safety protocols such as how much AC current is allowed to flow to the EV...the charger just tells the EV how many amps the charger can allow thru it and then the EV does not ask for more than that nor is the charger to allow more than that thru those communications...both the charger and EV are to monitor each other to ensure max current/amps draw of the charger circuit is not exceeded. The charger also checks for ground faults, leakage current, etc., (kinda acting like a fancy circuit breaker).

When did you last log onto your MySSA acct (whether the original way, ID.me, or Login.gov) to see if you can now update you address online? Apparently the ability to update your address and other personal details on your MySSA acct for those of us with an international/Thailand address onfile has "recently" changed. Before only those with a U.S. address onfile with SSA could do an online update. Like I mentioned in my post I was surprised when I logged on 30 minutes ago to see if I could now update my address with MySSA acct and I could...I would get the prompt/image like ThailandJ showed. "Before"...for years now....I would just get a message that I needed to contact my regional/local SSA office. Now I logged on thru Login.gov since I transitioned from using the original SSA User ID method that is going away soon....SSA telling people to transition to using Login.gov or ID.Me portals. You are still logging into your MySSA acct it just you first go thru the Login.gov or ID.me portal to verify you MySSA logon credentials. Maybe if you logged on via the original SSA User ID method that prevents you from updating your address. Or maybe SSA just hasn't got around to updating "all" MySSA acct to allow address and other updates for those of us with an international address already onfile. Try via Login.gov or ID.me. As talked in the related SSA thread about the SSA soon to shutdown the original SSA User ID method and people will need to use Login.gov or ID.me portals instead. They still start the logon at the MySSA website but click Login.gov or ID.me to enter their login credentials. If a person does not have a Login.gov acct they can easily/quickly transition to having a basic Login.gov acct for MySSA logon "without" going thru the full blown identity verification....instead, just follow the transition to Login.gov instructions that is now presented at the tail end of anyone still using the original SSA User ID logon method.

More and more ICEV models now days are transitioning from ICEV to HEV by installing an electric motor and small traction battery to assist the internal combustion engine. This has the effect of making Hybrid sales increase at the expense of ICEV (i.e. pure combustion engine vehicles). Heck, even the Toyota Fortuner SUV is beginning the transition to HEV by installing a small 48V traction battery and drive motor....the drive motor can not move/power the Fortuner on its own; all it can do is "assist" the ICE. Basically this 48V mild hybrid system replaces the alternator and starter with an electric drive motor. Even Toyota Hilux trucks are beginning the transition to HEV. And then there are HEVs that have fair size traction batteries that can totally power the vehicle for a few kilometers....switch back and forth between ICE and electric power as it drives along. So many different varieties of HEVs....some with small traction batteries and some with medium sized traction batteries. Toyota will probably continue down the road of converting more and more of its ICEV to HEVs and then eventually get around to getting serious about producing good BEVs.

Well, this is a change. Before if you had an "international" address onfile with SSA you could "not" change if via your MySSA online acct. But if you had a U.S. address you could change/update your address. Ditto for changing other things like your bank acct. And I'm not talking years ago...I'm talking like well within 1 year ago. I logged onto MySSA acct just now to see if I could change/update my Thailand address "now"....and sure enough I could get to the screen like you show above. Before I would just get a notice to contact my regional/local SSA office to make the change. Now I have no need to update my address....but I just wanted to confirm I could get to where you are now getting to....and I could.

That Seal video showed poor thermal management of the traction battery even in very cool weather. Gosh knows if it would have been worst or maybe better in hot tropical weather like Thailand. Poor thermal management from the standpoint of the big difference between the the lowest and highest temperature of the cells (shows the cooling system/plate does not cool evenly). I expect the cells with the lowest temperature was in the front part of the battery and cells with the highest temperature at the back of the battery since the cooling fluid running thru the cooling plate in the battery pack is coolest when the fluid first enters the battery pack and then not as cool once it reaches the back of the battery pack. The blade batteries used in BYD vehicles like the Seal, Atto, and Dolphin have a recommended Working Temperature of up to +50C while charging and up to +55C while discharging (i.e., while driving). When you get above these temperatures it's putting stress on the battery.....and it's the OBD2 data being shown on his phone reflects how the Seal thermal and battery management system would try to get the battery back below maximum working temperature by increasing the active cooling, reducing maximum discharge allowed while driving, and/or reducing the KWH allowed when charging (a.k.a., all different forms of rapid-gating). I have an OBD2 adapter installed on my Atto all the time and I also use the Car Scanner Pro app shown in the video. Back several months ago during the hottest part of the year (i.e., March and April) I saw the temperature "differential" between the the lowest temp and highest temp battery cell reach 12 degrees just for a few minutes....the lowest temp cell was 29C and highest temp cell 41C. The ambient temp was around 40 to 41C. The highest temp cell only stayed at that 41C for a few minutes because the Atto active cooling starts doing some serious active cooling at around 40C (i.e.., cooling down the battery cooling plate more actively). It also starts to do some moderately active cooling at around 35C. Over the next 30 minutes or so of driving the cell that was at 41C came down to around 37C and would have continued to drop if I had driven more/longer But the great, great, great majority of the time the "average" temperature of the battery pack stays right around the ambient temperature with the temperature difference between the lowest and highest temp cells being less that five degrees "if I've been driving the car constantly for at least an hour." But for a typical trip of say 30Km round trip between home and the grocery store the battery temperate will heat-up very little as the battery "mass" is so great it takes a while for the battery to heat-up or cool-off if no active cooling is underway. Yeap, the mass of the battery pack is so great it takes a while for it to change temperature while driving/charging. Too bad the Seal video does not show the cell temperatures in more detail. Maybe he did not have an app menu/screen setup to look at more details like the one I made below. This snapshot is after a 30km grocery store round trip and it was taken while idling in my home carport at the end of the run....that's why the E"V Battery Power" being used is so low at 1.17Kw which was the car idling with only the air con running.....if I had turned off the A/C the EV Battery Power would have dropped to around 0.3KW which is just powering the car electronics and running lights. Notice how even the temperature of the battery packs/all 126 blade batteries is...only varied from 32 to 33C during the whole grocery store run. The Atto 60.4KW battery pack has 126 blade batteries with the BMS's and temperature sensors setup in 3 x 14 batteries and 7 x 12 batteries configuration which totals up to 126 blade batteries in 10 groups/packs with pack 1 at the front of the battery closest to the motor and pack 10 at the rear closest to the rear wheels. Now it's "not" like the individual packs are completely separate like a separate module you could change as they are not...it's just BMS and temperature probes set-up that BYD uses for the Atto and Dolphin 60.4KW extended range battery. After the grocery store run/trip of approx 30Km roundtrip here in Bangkok.

At the dealership which I drive by almost everyday here in Bangkok it not uncommon for me to see delivery of new BYD vehicles on 8 vehicle carrier trucks once or twice a week and for sure I don't see all deliveries since I drive by at random times. And this dealership probably keeps around 25 new vehicles inside and parked around the dealership at all times. EVs sell very well in the Bangkok metro area.

No. You do not need to send back the instructions page (page 3). But you seem very concerned about not sending back the instructions page so for your peace of mind include it....however, SSA will just discard/trashcan that instructions page when they open your envelope at Wilkes Barre.

Just send back pages 1&2 (i.e., the double side form that you mark and sign on); no need to send back the instructions page as that's purely to give you guidance on how to complete and return the form. But if you do send back the instructions page also I'm sure Wilkes Barre will have a big trashcan full of instructions pages sent back.

My understanding of your question was you were trying to get BOI to answer if unremitted income under the worldwide taxable income "what-if" would be taxable. Under the new & improved tax rule (whether you have an LTR visa or not) if the income such as cap gains is not remitted its not taxable. Now if the "what if" worldwide income taxing method is implemented whether remitted or not then there could be tax depending on any DTA between Thailand and your country. And even the new & improved tax rule still has a lot of unanswered questions which the Thai Revenue Dept will surely continue their vague to no answer information crossfeed methods.

And don't be near any laptop, tablet, phone, cordless drill, or the many other devices with lithium ion batteries. And below NBC News article gives more details on the fire such as the immigrant day labors who got killed. Seems this factory/warehouse was an accident waiting to happen and it finally did unfortunately. https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/fire-south-korea-lithium-battery-plant-kills-least-16-people-rcna158536

Yeah...I wouldn't bug BOI with "what if" scenarios...and I can understand why they don't reply to "what if" type questions such as future possible tax changes.

Yes...the "tesla.com" recall notice does not mention the root cause which was Tesla using soap (unauthorized) to assemble the pedal assembly. But the below CNN report and National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) does specify the root cause. https://edition.cnn.com/2024/04/19/business/tesla-cybertruck-recall/index.html#:~:text=Nearly 4%2C000 of the new,stuck in the down position.&text=Tesla has been ordered to,according to the regulator%3A soap. New YorkCNN — Tesla has been ordered to recall nearly 4,000 of its Cybertrucks due to an accelerator pedal that can stick in place when pressed down. The cause, according to the regulator: soap. “An unapproved change introduced lubricant (soap) to aid in the component assembly of the pad onto the accelerator pedal. Residual lubricant reduced the retention of the pad to the pedal,” the NHTSA wrote in the recall document. Tesla has yet to detail how many of the futuristic looking Cybertrucks it has produced. But it has said that it would be slow ramping up production of the vehicle, which had its first deliveries in late November. The NHTSA said the recall affects “all Model Year (‘MY’) 2024 Cybertruck vehicles manufactured from November 13, 2023, to April 4, 2024.” That means the 3,878 trucks being recalled are likely many, if not all, of the trucks now on US roads. Documents from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration about the recall say that “when high force is applied to the pad on the accelerator pedal, the pad may dislodge, which may cause the pedal to become trapped in the interior trim above the pedal.” The safety regulator said workers assembling the trucks at Tesla’s factory near Austin, Texas, improperly used soap to aid in the component assembly of the pad onto the accelerator pedal. The accelerator sticking issue was first raised in social media and online discussion group posts. On Monday, NHTSA told CNN it had reached out to Tesla requesting more information on the issue. Telsa did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The company this month told employees it would lay off roughly 10% of its global workforce. Unlike many Tesla recalls, this one cannot be fixed with a simple over-the-air software update. Tesla will have to have owners respond to letters and bring the Cybertrucks into its service centers for a repair at no charge. https://static.nhtsa.gov/odi/rcl/2024/RCLRPT-24V276-7026.PDF

Layman's version of above Tesla weblink is below.

Just as FYI, depending on your address, age, and type of benefit you may not receive a 7161/7162 "every" year as a person can be on a biennial (i.e., every 2 years) vs annual schedule. If on a biennial schedule the SSA only mails you a 7162 every other year depending on the last two digits of your SSN or the last two digits of the person's SSN the pension is earned from. Like for a person with a Thailand address receiving a "spousal retirement benefit" the SSA is only going to mail that person a 7162 every other year unless that person is 90 years old or older. A spousal retirement benefit is when that spouse did not work for 10 years to accumulate enough SSA credits (i.e., at least 40 credits) to earn a pension based on their own earning record...but instead receives a SSA pension based on the earning record of another person who is typically their spouse. Like my wife that falls into that category....she's receives a spousal pension and only receives a 7162 every other year....and this year was her year to receive one. If you or your spouse is receiving spousal retirement benefit then you may not received a 7162 this year....but you will next year. If unsure about if you are coded as receiving a spousal benefit and which year you'll receive a 7162 take a look at a past/current 7162 you received and in the right side of the address block you see a bunch of numbers and you see some labelled a BNC, BIC, and COC. Take a look at the letter under the BIC heading....if it's a "B" that means you are receiving a spousal benefit...if an "A" that means you are receiving a pension based on your own work record. Then review what the last two digits of your SSN to see which year applies. Now I'm not absolutely sure if the last two digits used is based on the person receiving the spousal benefit or the SSN of the person who earning record was used--but I'm fairly sure it's based on the SSN of the earning record's person. See below SSA regulation webpage and partial snapshot for more details. https://secure.ssa.gov/poms.nsf/lnx/0302655005

Based on all reports in this thread so far the "printing/mailing" date on this year's form was 6 June....then it takes around 10 days to 3 weeks to reach a person's Thailand address. Recommend you use the SSA Mania website to update your address---easy....Manila even has a category just for it...see snapshot/weblink below. Will probably take them a few weeks to respond that the address update has occurred. https://ph.usembassy.gov/services/fbu-inquiry-form/

EVs are EVERYWHERE in the greater Bangkok area...seeing more and more on the roads everyday as I drive and live in Bangkok....especially BYD Atto, Dolphin, and Seal. Also, plenty of ORA Good Cats and now seeing Changan Deepal's quite often. So many EV models now.

Regarding the ongoing BYD Dolphin promotion running thru 30 June, I got a LINE message today from BYD saying what Dolphin colors are still available under the promotion....see below.

Expect the article's author worked for TAT before. 😉

OTA Ver 1.8 installed in my BYD Atto today. I got the notice on the display this morning while driving...a few hours later I installed it. Installation took around 40 minutes although at the beginning of the install it said it would take 62 minutes. After the update and some googling on what OTA Ver 1.8 added was some improved A/C controls, a display icon to open/close the hatchback, updated Navigation, Voice Commands, Browser, Karaoke, & Car Manual, and Vehicle Position is now available on the BYD mobile app. By Vehicle Position I mean when I turn that function on in the app I can see where my Atto is in the world in via map/satellite view...or like I said, I can turn off that function. While playing with the BYD mobile App I noticeed when the doors were locked the app showed the doors as closed but not locked. Didn't have this glitch until I installed OTA Ver 1.8. So, for some reason the car and mobile app were misunderstanding each other as to whether the doors were locked or not. Cleared the app's cache, started and turned off the car a few times, locked and closed the doors with the key FOB (i.e., electronic key), manually opened, closed, and locked all doors but the app would still showed the doors as being unlocked when in fact they were locked. Then I did one more thing that cleared this glitch...and that was to push the lock and unlock buttons on the driver door arm rest to lock and unlock the car doors...this magically cleared the issue with the mobile app....or should I say communications between the car and the app. I've found when experiencing any glitch after some update with the car infotainment system or app that exercising the controls/icons that control a certain function (i.e., from on to off, deactivate to activate, etc.) has cleared the glitch. From some googling it appears OTA Ver 1.8 started arriving Thailand Atto's a few weeks ago...and today the BYD servers got around to my Atto.

The top six "D segment" cars....3 are EV and 3 are ICEV. https://autolifethailand.tv/sales-report-d-segment-may-2024/ Sales Report D-Segment sales for May 2024: Toyota Camry is the champion. The new model will be available at the end of 2024. June 25, 2024 Updated: June 25, 2024 ByMoo Teerapat A Sales Report D-Segment car sales: May 2024 D-Segment car sales in May 2024 total 998 units. No. 1 Toyota Camry : 352 cars Market share 35.3% No. 2 BYD Seal* : 236 units Market share 23.6% 3rd place Honda Accord : 224 cars Market share 122.4% No. 4 GWM ORA 07* : 106 cars Market share 10.6% No. 5 Deepal L07* : 78 cars Market share 7.8% No. 6 Mazda 6 : 2 cars Market share 0.2% D-Segment car sales in January - May 2024 total 7,061 units. No. 1 BYD Seal* : 4,021 units Market share 56.9% 2nd place: Honda Accord : 1,346 units Market share 19.1% 3rd place: Toyota Camry : 938 cars Market share 13.3% 4th place GWM ORA 07* : 487 units Market share 6.9% No. 5 Deepal L07* : 269 cars Market share 3.8% No. 6 Mazda 6 : 2 cars Market share 0.02% * BYD Seal / GWM ORA 07 / Deepal L07 are 100% electric vehicles. All information compiled by www.autolifethailand.tv

Basically an unpaid traffic fine will result in non-issue of the 1 year tax sticker. A temporary 30 day sticker can be issued if the person wishes to contest the ticket. See below for more info. https://www.thephuketnews.com/unpaid-traffic-fine-means-no-road-tax-renewal-confirms-plto -87761.php https://www.nationthailand.com/thailand/general/40026076

2024 is a sluggish year for vehicle sales, ICEV and EV. https://www.channelnewsasia.com/business/thai-car-output-drops-162-year-may-local-sales-down-federation-says-4434361 25 Jun 2024 12:07PM(Updated: 25 Jun 2024 12:13PM) Thai car output drops 16.2% on-year in May, local sales down, federation says BANGKOK: Car production in Thailand fell 16.19 per cent in May from a year earlier to 126,161 units, mainly due to lower production of pickup trucks, the Federation of Thai Industries said on Tuesday (Jun 25). The figure compared with April's 11.02 per cent year-on-year drop. In the January-May period, car production declined 16.88 per cent from a year earlier to 644,951 units, it said. The federation has said car production has been down mainly because of lower pickup truck output, reflecting weaker demand as banks have tightened auto lending due to high household debt. Domestic car sales declined 23.38 per cent in May from a year earlier, after a drop of 21.49 per cent year-on-year in April, the federation said. Thailand is Southeast Asia's biggest autos production centre and an export base for some of the world's top carmakers, including Toyota and Honda, with pickup trucks among the key vehicles manufactured. ***********************

2024 is a sluggish year for vehicle sales, ICEV and EV. https://www.channelnewsasia.com/business/thai-car-output-drops-162-year-may-local-sales-down-federation-says-4434361 25 Jun 2024 12:07PM(Updated: 25 Jun 2024 12:13PM) Thai car output drops 16.2% on-year in May, local sales down, federation says BANGKOK: Car production in Thailand fell 16.19 per cent in May from a year earlier to 126,161 units, mainly due to lower production of pickup trucks, the Federation of Thai Industries said on Tuesday (Jun 25). The figure compared with April's 11.02 per cent year-on-year drop. In the January-May period, car production declined 16.88 per cent from a year earlier to 644,951 units, it said. The federation has said car production has been down mainly because of lower pickup truck output, reflecting weaker demand as banks have tightened auto lending due to high household debt. Domestic car sales declined 23.38 per cent in May from a year earlier, after a drop of 21.49 per cent year-on-year in April, the federation said. Thailand is Southeast Asia's biggest autos production centre and an export base for some of the world's top carmakers, including Toyota and Honda, with pickup trucks among the key vehicles manufactured. ***********************

Great little book. But I expect it's banned reading material for EV Myth Parrots (a.k.a., EV Haters). Below are the opening and closing paragraphs from the book which sums up the situation well I think.