TallGuyJohninBKK

The only issue with GV for folks who have already set it up the first time using a linked U.S. mobile number is that some US financial institutions don't support sending their OTP / SMS codes to GV numbers...only to traditional mobile numbers. But other than that, it's a charm!

PPS - on a related matter, this thread prompted me to check something and discover that the Obihai 200 series box I've been using for many years to enable a home/landline phone interface to my Google Voice number/account is due to be End of Lifed at the end of 2023. This doesn't directly impact or cancel my GV account in any way. But it does seem to threaten the device/service that I've long been using to make the GV number available via a traditional landline-type home phone device. https://www.obitalk.com/info/products/obi200 "The End of Engineering support date and the End of Service date for all OBi200, OBi202 and OBi212 products will be December 18, 2023. OBiTALK calling service will continue to be supported for the OBi200, OBi202 and OBi212 until December 18, 2023. OBi200, OBi202 and OBi212 devices may continue to work after the end of service date, but they will not be able to get added to the Google Voice service after December 18, 2023. OBi200, OBi202 and OBi212 devices registered prior to the End of Engineering Support date won’t be able to be provisioned via OBiTALK after the December 18, 2023 and can only be managed and provisioned locally (manually)."

PS - just recently renewed by annual MagicJack subscription... now going on more than 10 years of ongoing service... Annual MJ price with taxes and fees is now up to about $45 per year... But still an excellent value and resource that's been my mainstay U.S. home phone for all my years in Thailand.

T-Mobile and its various MVNOs are great for providing working wifi calling and SMSing capability when abroad, such as in Thailand, provided that the user's phone actually supports wifi calling on that particular network. Samsung phones, whether from the US or from Thailand, seem to be very good about that... Though the advantage of Thai market Samsung phones is that they're pretty much all dual SIM, whereas a dual SIM Sammie phone from the US market seems almost a non-entity. These days, I have two dual SIM Sammie phones at home... the more recent 5G one loaded with my two Thai SIMs, and the older but still very functional LTE Sammie loaded with my two US T-Mobile network SIMs.... Whether for Thai or the U.S., always believe in having an available backup option just in case something goes wrong at some point with my primary provider/account.

Funny, I was also there a couple months back for an in person 90 day report and a COR I needed for a DL application. I didn't know it beforehand, but the queue line at the far right end of the front lobby queue tickets counter is where they require people to have their COR paperwork checked before they'll issue you a queue ticket for the COR section. I initially lined up at the first couple lines as you come in from outside, where I'd normally get my retirement extension queue ticket, and when I got to the front, was told NO, you have to go down to the right end of the front counter and have your COR paperwork checked there, and then that officer will issue you a queue ticket for the COR section. On my visit that day, I had no idea it might be possible to get the COR handled by the officers in the 90-day reports room. So I never showed them my COR paperwork. Just completed the 90-day report process, and then went outside to do the COR separately.

I don't know or understand exactly what it is with stocking issues here, but it often seems to be a big problem with the various supermarket chains, both in the online and in-store modes... We used to shop at Tops Central Food Hall pretty regularly, and buy the same items each week to resupply our stocks at home. They'd invariably be out of stock on the store shelves of certain things, but when I'd check, it turned out they'd have plenty of stock in their in-store warehouse area...that for some reason they hadn't bothered to put out on the actual store shelves. Then with imported items there's a whole nother layer of complications. Once they start carrying some item, they can't seem to reliably keep it in stock. And imported items often pop up for a period of time, and then disappear never to be seen or stocked again. And, in the chains, they'll sell out of some item at a busy store, and yet have plenty of unsold stock of the same item in a less busy, more out of the way store. But they'll never seem to think, on their own, to have the busy, in demand store take/transfer some of the unsold stock from the other store in order to accommodate their customers. It's like the whole operations are being run by a bunch of amateurs.

The Thai wife and I both had/have Makro online accounts that we both used often thru the years for home delivery... As soon as Makro made the switch to Pro (whatever that means), we were both locked out of both their website and their app and unable to log-into our accounts. Finally this past week called Makro's customer service number to complain. First call resulted in a promise to get back to us... They never did. Second call resulted in a promise to resolve things... A few days later, they did in fact fix the problems inhouse. One of the problems was....when I went to try to reset my password, their system would say they're sending an OTP code to my mobile phone... But, even though the number was correct, never got any OTP codes from them.... Until the 2nd call finally triggered them to successfully send one to me and I in fact used to successfully update my password. In dealing with the problems, I was looking at the ratings for the Makro app in the Google Play store. All the recent ratings from users are horrible.... like one star, the lowest rating. So they seem to have made quite a cock-up of their Makro Pro conversion. I haven't ordered yet under the new system... but one other thing I noticed... In the past here in BKK, as best as I recall, I used to get free delivery on orders above 1,000 baht. But now, somehow, if I'm reading things right, they seem to now have a 3000 baht minimum order to qualify for free delivery.

I'm one of those... eligible for both.... But, I started out on retirement before I was married, so it's just seemed easier to continue on with the same rather than trying to switch over to marriage and then have to deal with the it's "under consideration" waiting period. Also, there's something reasonably permanent about my retirement status... Whereas with marriage, there's always the possibility/risk of a spouse's death and/or divorce complicating things in the future.

Jack, I'm a bit confused about your comment above. At BKK CW, the 90 day report section and the certificate of residence section are two different sections, although physically adjoining each other. Are you saying the officers in the 90-day reports room in the front corner area also will issue certificates of residence... even though the CofR section/counter is outside the 90 day reports room up against the wall?

Each year at BKK CW, and for many past years, I've always provided them with a Google Maps printout of my home area, computer annotated to show directions to my home from the main road. It's always been accepted without issue or comment.

interNET-citIZENS

Unspecified Thai "Netizens" strike again.... ????

The article suggests the victim was persuaded to start out transferring a small amount in pursuit of porn, and then progressively larger amounts again and again...until the net total of all the transfers supposedly reached 3MB. I'm sure people are sometimes victimized by technology. But oftentimes in a lot of these kinds of Thai cases we read about here, once you delve into the actual details, it's pure stupidity on the the part of victims voluntarily handing over large amounts of money under dubious circumstances.

Folks, if you read the full article, you'll see that -- at least according to the article --this wasn't about spyware or key logging or hacking or anything like that. The victim, in pursuit of porn, voluntarily transferred his own money directly to the scammers. From the full OP: "During the tasks, the victim was lured into transferring money to the website. The web admin encouraged the victim to transfer larger amounts assuring him that he would get all of the money back at the end of the game. Eventually, the victim lost 3 million baht to the scam." It's called thinking with your little head, instead of thinking with your big head.

This may not be meaningful, but it is curious.... The software site linked in the prior post doesn't indicate that it supports Windows 10 or 11: HDD LLF Low Level Format Tool "Supported OS: MS Windows XP, Vista, 7, 8, Server 2003, 2008, 2008R2"

I disagree about that... I think if I were still a tourist in Thailand today, I'd think it's considerably less FUN than it was in past years. And the average local less sociable and more focused on the baht above all. The years of military rule combined with the economic fall-out from the pandemic have taken their toll, IMHO, comparing now with past years.

Ya, it's definitely not the extorting bent police, unrestrained air pollution, garbage left piled up on vacant lots, shoddy workmanship, military generals running the country, etc etc etc.

Anyone have any personal experience of dealing with the operation there? I'd never heard that Chula Hospital had any kind of palliative care unit...

I was just reading here the other forum thread about what Thailand needs to do to attract more tourism post COVID.... I think the answer, ladies and gentlemen, is staring us in the face right here. Thai ladies... take a cue!

Nothing wrong with a bit of strategically placed drool...in the right setting. ????

Sometimes I wonder about the level of common sense planning that goes into the rail line interconnections here.... What ought to be easy and convenient too often ends up being difficult and inconvenient. Start out with the MRT interconnect with the Airport Rail Link at Makkasan. Long haul from MRT underground up escalator to street then another escalator up to bridge level. Then a longish walk on an overhead bridge across Asoke Rd into the ARL station. Then we have the MRT interconnect with the former Bang Sue Grand Central Station connecting to new Red Line. Another longish walk and changing levels to get into Bang Sue, and then more longish walking to get to the Red Line platform. And now of course the Red Line interconnect to Don Mueang Airport... More walking on an over the roadway bridge to finally get into the terminal. It's not that any of the above are that terribly long per se. But given that all of them have airport passenger travelers as part of their customer base, it seems no one gives much thought to the travelers who are coming or going with multiple large pieces of luggage, and face having to schlep them across all of the above rail interconnects... And unlike the airports, not a single moving walkway (horizontal escalator) installed anywhere. Not very enticing. Last time I arrived at DM with luggage, I thought about taking the Red Line/MRT home... But the thought of having to drag my luggage on the multiple station interconnects just to get home made me decide to take a taxi instead. Customer lost for rail.

or the operator filing a criminal police complaint against the customer/reviewer for defamation.... which certainly has occurred here... and which the country's laws allow.

ACI says ‘alarming increase’ in airfares, not airport charges, a threat to recovery By Alfred Chua12 June 2023 Trade body Airports Council International (ACI) has doubled down on warnings that “excessive” airfares – instead of airport charges, which has recently come under fire from airlines again – are threatening air travel’s recovery. Director general of ACI Asia Pacific Stefano Baronci flagged the “alarming increase” in airfares in Asia-Pacific. International airfares, in particular, have seen a 50% increase in the September-December quarter of 2022, compared to the same period in pre-pandemic 2019. ... In its latest statement, the ACI states: that airport operators – especially those in India, Thailand, Japan and Mainland China – have continued to report negative EBITDA, even while major carriers in the region, like Singapore Airlines and Qantas, have reported record profits." https://www.flightglobal.com/air-transport/aci-says-alarming-increase-in-airfares-not-airport-charges-a-threat-to-recovery/153660.article

I've lived here for MANY years... But my comments on airline ticket pricing were comparing 2019 (pre COVID) with now.... I had no intl travel during the COVID years, so no basis to compare.

You do realize, by watching and endorsing her content, as the OP article here claims, you're "tarnishing the image and reputation" of Thailand??? ????