TallGuyJohninBKK

10 minutes ago, welovethailand said:

How about this? A foriener can buy a car, get a drivers license and most likely work some where in the US.  Here, we have to pay for a "permission letter" just to buy a motorbike. And cannot work? We are suppose to sit around and spend money every day? That gets old.  I have been dealing with the yearly Visa thing for 8 years, and don't forget 3 months visit to Immigration. I never knew anyone in the US who had "to check-in" so often. In fact , no one who I knew ever "checked-in".

If I was going to make anything reciprocal between the U.S. and Thailand, it would be some form of property ownership.  If Thais living in the U.S. can own property, which they can, the same right ought to be extended to Americans (or any other country that allows foreigners to buy property) living here.

Not unlimited, because Thailand is not so large in terms of area. But at least the right to buy a single family home and enough land to accommodate that.

13 minutes ago, FritsSikkink said:

Wrong, I didn't, no need.

The Thailand Elite visas require a payment. You made reference to getting an Elite visa.

Sorry, I read your earlier comment to be you "got" an Elite visa... I now see you didn't say that, just that you were advising others to "get"  one.

Nonetheless, the Thailand Elite Visas have upfront purchase fees that I believe range from 800,000 to 2 million baht.

There certainly are TONS of differences between the U.S. visa policy for Thais vs the Thai visa policy for foreigners/Americans.

The U.S., for example, has no relatively easy one year extension of stay (kind of visa) system for Thais who want to retire to the U.S., nor those who marry U.S. citizens (yes, the U.S. has marriage visa, but not quick or easy).

The other difference, of course, is there likely are not masses of Americans who'd be looking to move to Thailand if Thailand relaxed its current rules. But there certainly would be masses of Thais who'd be looking to move to the U.S. if they had the opportunity due to easier visa rules.

1 minute ago, FritsSikkink said:

Just get a 5 year elite visa and stop moaning.

You bought it, of course. That's the way the Thai pay for play system works.

51 minutes ago, overherebc said:

You might be surprised how many Thais have 20,000 dollars,

663,000 baht.

That's not an absolute rule for Thais to get a U.S. tourist visa.

My wife received hers a couple years ago, and while she had money in the bank, she didn't have that amount in her personal account.

When we went thru the application process, the info from the Embassy was pretty clear -- they want evidence that the Thai will be able to support themselves during their trip to the U.S., but there aren't any exact rules for assessing that.

42 minutes ago, armadillo215 said:

Considering you know more about my transaction than I , as usual. I was being very general but since you know more that I, I will show the exact transaction to which I was referring. I actually transferred $3510 of which BB NY took $10 off the top that they do not note on any statement. $3500 was converted to Thai baht at the rate at the time of conversion 32.97 less .25=288.49 baht. The information I just noted is sent to me via SMS when the transaction occurs. But I am sure you will have further insults for me...

When it comes to posting banking transactions here, it's always helpful to post accurate numbers so that others reading here can see and understand and confirm the details of what occurred.

You obviously have a good sense of how the BKKB NY transfer process works. But there have been many times when people post details claiming one thing or another, and they don't know they're being charged a fee when they in fact are, or other things that require correcting. Accurate details enable confirmation.

1 hour ago, pmarlin said:

I inquired about the firestick and this was the reply I got.

After I investigate your email.

About this shipment is Fire TV stick  due to restricted items has control by Thai NBTC (National broadcasting Telecommunication Commission) .

So if you want to import to Thailand you have to contact them for require import license ,First

 

 

You inquired to WHO??? And WHY???

On 7/6/2018 at 2:46 PM, Soupdragon said:

Yes but I also put the word "vow" in there which is their favourite to convince people they are serious when they intend to do SFA.

My two favorite Thai words when spoken by officials here, as translated into English, are "face" and "threaten".

Because the vast majority of the time, whatever punishment consequences bad people are said to "face" for their deeds rarely end up becoming reality.

And whatever is "threatened" by government officials the vast majority of the time is just verbal hot air that's either never actually done or, if done, done only briefly before the usual routine resumes.

As you put it, instead, the usual/normal result in such cases after all the threatening and facing is SFA.

In this case, I think the Donald is right!  Kim is looking for a different future for North Korea...

One where he has perhaps secretly developed enough nuclear weapons to hold the U.S. hostage, and maybe even duped Trump and Co. into standing down and relaxing sanctions during their tenure in office so he (Kim) can build a few more NK resorts to keep him and his inner circle entertained. I'm sure Kim expects to be firmly in control of NK long after Trump is gone, one way or another.

1 hour ago, losername said:

This is not an unreasonable question.  Even at the lowest level of diver training I remember that sharing air with your buddy is one of the first things you learn.  An experienced diver with a buddy close at hand to share with should have been OK.  There has been no mention of sharing or attempted sharing so what did happen?

From the NNT news report above on this page:

Quote

A diving buddy tried to revive him but was unsuccessful.

21 minutes ago, ChouDoufu said:

oops....i was concentrating so much on documenting the assassinations ordered by obama, that i mis-typed, forgetting how putin pardoned the traitor after he barely served half his sentence.

 

Russia got the Russians they wanted back (10 of them) in the Skripal exchange in 2010, with Skripal's prosecution, imprisonment and release/exchange all occurring when Putin was either president or prime minister of Russia

Quote

 

After spending more than four years in prison, Skripal and three other Russian nationals were pardoned and released from custody in a high-profile spy exchange with the U.S. and its ally the U.K. Their release was in exchange for ten deep-cover Russian operatives living in America, who made up a infamous spy ring the U.S. Department of Justice called the “Illegals Program.”
 

The so-called illegals were found to be working for Russia’s foreign intelligence services while embedded in normal American society. Nearly all the deep-cover agents lived in the suburbs, worked white-collar jobs, supported American sports teams, went by Anglicized names. Some went on to have children. The most high-profile of the group was scarlet-haired New York socialite Anna Chapman, a diplomat’s daughter formerly known as Anna Kuschenko, who once worked at Barclay’s Bank and gained a British passport after marrying ex-husband Alex Chapman.

 

http://time.com/5187431/sergei-skripal-russia-spy-salisbury/

and

https://www.bbc.com/news/10564994

Kind of sounds like Vlad was trying to welch on the prior deal -- by attempting to kill one of the people his Russian government had previously released as part of the exchange. As they say, no honor among thieves and corrupt dictators.

21 hours ago, PoorSucker said:

Lower fines for break the law, that's it. 

 

Since the lowered fines are both for the worker AND the employer, I'd assume this new language will make it easier / more inviting for those Thai companies that want to exploit foreign workers by trying to hire them on the cheap without providing work permits.

Just now, blackcab said:

 

Thai only.

 

http://www.mratchakitcha.soc.go.th

Ahh... so that probably explains why I missed reading the original announcement.... Duh.......

23 minutes ago, ChouDoufu said:

 

the "facts" surrounding the "event" leading to the death of skripal have not been proven, mostly baseless allegations, and there is still no evidence at all linking his death to russia.

I'm not sure whom you're talking about. Skripal isn't dead, so there's nothing to link to his death. He was the victim of an attempted assassination by a Soviet created nerve agent, but unfortunately for his Russian assassins, he ended up recovering.

If your account of his history is correct, then he went thru the legal process in Russia, ended up ultimately being pardoned and was turned over to the UK as part of a formal exchange agreement between the two countries. And if Russia was following protocols, that should have been the end of it. But obviously, it wasn't.

Skripal wasn't a terrorist advocating the violent defeat of his home country and its system of government, but Awlaki was.

1 hour ago, rudi49jr said:

Yes, I'm sure Trump will ask Putin for pointers on how to muzzle the free press.

You might be joking, or maybe not. But I've always thought in his black heart of hearts, Trump wishes he WAS the Putin of the United States and could act with impunity, regardless of laws or the Constitution or historical tradition. Pretty much the same way he operated as the head of the Trump Organization where he was the de facto king, and everyone else just vassals.

3 hours ago, Maestro said:

 

There was an "actual formal public announcement by the government" of the  Decree No.2 (Section 101) but you apparently missed it, as did I: the publication of this decree in the Government Gazette.

 Maestro, do you know, is the Government Gazette a] available in an EN language version, and/or b] available online?

1 hour ago, ChouDoufu said:

is one incident enough?  how about two?  there are others.  awlaki, and later his teenage son, both assassinated by drone in separate incidents, under order of constitutional scholar obama, both without trial.

You got me on that one (or two). Indeed, the U.S. did kill a senior member of Al-Qaeda who advocated violent jihad against his "native" country and who advocated for and participated in the planning for various acts of terrorism against U.S. targets.  Why the U.S. chose that route instead of trying to arrest and prosecute him, I don't know and thus can't express any opinion on that point.

However, Awlaki's situation and his activities and role are not even remotely comparable to Putin persecuting and prosecuting his "political" opponents at  home and Russia assassinating a Russian expat in the UK, and then later attempting to assassinate two others in the UK -- none of whom were involved in war crimes, violent extremism, terrorism or anything remotely resembling that.

Great... 

Just what Thailand needs. More Thais with their faces stuck in Facebook all day and night, instead of actually working, living their lives, doing something/anything productive.

5 minutes ago, crankshaft said:

The question is....how did they get 5k into the cave?

Whether it's 4 or 5 km total distance from the entrance to their current location, that's a question that no one seems much interested in addressing or discussing.

22 minutes ago, Tony125 said:

 

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/efforts-to-rescue-boys-from-thai-cave-stall-as-it-becomes-clear-just-how-risky-every-method-is/ar-AAzE7an?li=BBnb7Kz

 

From that Washington Post report overnight:

Quote

The boys, he (the former CR governor) added, “cannot dive at this time” and are not ready to make the almost six-hour journey out of the cave. Two of them and their coach are in poor health.

5 minutes ago, chingching said:

I would agree with you that that would probably work 99% of the time, I certainly have no contradictory evidence.  However, I'm sure the application you sign has you swearing that the information you give is true to the best of your knowledge. If you claim to be living at a certain address and you don't that's considered fraud.  I doubt the bank would initiate this, on its own.  I don't doubt, either, that the government is looking over the banks shoulders once in a while to make sure it is complying with KYC.  To cover it's own ass, the bank would likely freeze your account.

The only answer to your comment above is the scores of U.S. expats who have been using and benefiting from the Schwab account for many years generally without any problems.

The other thing to remember, just for context purposes, is most retired folks living in Thailand -- no matter how long they've stayed here -- are living on the 1 year at a time retirement extension regimen.

I'm not saying it's likely to happen by any means, but the truth is, most folks don't have any long-term right to stay here and the Thai government could come along at any time and change the rules / income requirements, and retired folks could quickly find themselves having to go elsewhere or return home.  So in that sense, the U.S. is always going to be "home" for most Americans, even if they're staying elsewhere for the time being.