samuibeachcomber

well this is one long thread,and possibly all has been said.For the OP the bottom line is i think,if you are many years older than your girlfriend then money has to be a part of the arrangement(just as it is in the west)Older man/younger woman is not new and has been going on since the world began.Yes it is great to be with a much younger woman and the quid pro quo is financial support for her.The tricky bit is how much and when.This will depend on how much you can afford to give or how how much you want to give.As the OP said he is happy to give money for her education.Give a little at a time and see what happens.If g/f ends up demanding more and more then you will know its not going to work out,cos from her perspective it would be just money she wants.But maybe over time it will work out ok and you will have a good relationship.I think many younger women quite like being with older men.........more financially secure and emotionally secure too,many young girls crave this security especially if it was lacking in their own family when they were young.And yes you have to get something too from this relationship,whether its just a close friendship,or great sex,or a loving relationship,its part of the quid pro quo too.Good luck and if you dont succeed at first,try try again.

well i guess its to do with possible fraud,cos its possible when BKK AIRWAYS go to claim the money owed to them from credit card co.they could refuse payment if fraud had taken place,but it does appear the checks are random and not enforced every time.

Aside from this blip i love flying with them(they are like airlines used to be 30 years ago when they were priviledged to have us as customers)

Ju st love the new airport on Samui and the free food and drinks(yes i know airfares are dear compared to air asia)but they are a joy to travel with.

now girls take it easy

everyone loves the under dog,and yes its so good to see.there was a dj in OZ called john laws and his catch phrase was "keeping the dream alive".May Hull keep "keeping their dream alive".Chelsea,man.u.and liverpool still to come though,but they have such enthusiasm and confidence especially after Wigan hammered them,so they will come back again after playing the mentioned top clubs.

from everything i've read from the OP it sounds like she/him is the problem,and has a bad attitude problem.

they've got the players,just need new manager/coach.how about the ex west ham coach?

What to do in case, First Aid anybody?

Vinegar?

Hot water?

Juice of "Pak Bung Talay"?

Urin?

Pour on the vinegar then scrape the area with the side of a credit card to remove as much of the tentacles and nematocysts as possible. DO NOT WASH WITH WATER as water will trigger more of the stinging cells to fire! Keep pouring on vinegar every few minutes. If on a boat with no vinegar available, use urine. Treat for shock. There will be a LOT of pain. In the case of a severe contact, get the victim to the nearest medical facility.

rubbing an onion on can help too.

The problem is that even now we still don't know HOW MUCH BAD DEBTS are out there, hidden or not on balance sheets of banks and companies.

LaoPo

2 hours after I wrote the above I learned about another serious financial news message.

Dutch ING group (well known for it's promotion in the Formula 1 races) had to announce a loss of € 500/$ 674 Million in the 3rd quarter.

Comparison: the same 3rd quarter last year they had a profit of € 2,3 BILLION/$ 3,09 BILLION in three months !

"ING's results were hurt by 1.6 billion euros of writedowns on equity and bond investments, pressurized asset classes, losses attributable to financial counterparties and fair value changes on real estate."

ING shares dropped another 27%; a total of -60% in little over 3 weeks on the NYSE.

Just another example.... ....what else is out there ?

LaoPo

your posts are very well put and informative.............."what else is out there?" my aussie cash has just depreciated by 30% against the thai baht,but i can still afford a night out so all is not lost yet.

My apologies if this question has been answered before in another topic(cannot find though).Have been thinking of hedging my bets re money in the bank(i.e.not being safe perhaps,or govt"s printing money to fund deficits and causing inflation where cash becomes worthless),so am thinking of buying gold.

Can anyone recommend how to do this in thailand?

Names of reputable firms here,how to buy,what to buy.........coins,bars,jewelry etc.

How to safely store gold purchase and where to store?

The future does not look bright and i like many others am sure dont want to end up broke through vanishing cash values.

"Deposit accounts..........but NOT non resident baht accounts." Are foreigners staying here on Non O visas eg retirement, classified as residents, temporary residents or simply non residents and thus not covered by the Deposit Protection Agency Act?!

Hard to say ... and it would be an arguable topic in a Thai Court.

clarification would be good,but on the face of it it sounds like this does not include farangs living here,cos are n't we non resident?ie,not on a permanent basis.How to get clarification?

me thinks wild horses would n't drag people away from thailand,or an empty bank account,anything else is just unthinkable

Dont know that much about economy, but I notice a lot of the various currencies have lost to the Baht lately.

Amazing that a beer in a regular bar in Thailand soon cost the same as in the USA.

yes,drinking singh and heiniken is getting expensive at 90baht on average for heiniken.May have to move back to Pattaya where you can still get heiniken for 40 baht.

yes that is good news,may it long continue.I have to bring money over in dec.and am hoping for a return to at least 28baht,of course i could be dreaming.

And the Nationalist stupidity continues on both sides.

nice pic.of brizzie

Dear oh dear . . you really don't have a clue about the dynamics of exchange rates, do you?

Are you seriously suggesting the plunging pound and Oz dollar against the baht is some kind of scam?

With this kind of financial sophistication so prevalent, it's no wonder things are in such a mess now.

rather than slag off at other comments why dont you give us the benefit of your obvious wisdom

usual lager louts from an alcohol sodden country...................

as far as i understand any money transfeered into thailand from overseas is allowed to be transferred out again.Your friend's thai bank will have a record of this.They need to phone the branch manager to arrange the transfer.

News just out of Japan concerning their financial institutions....

Update on Banking crisis... news from Japan

Following the problems in the sub-prime lending market in America and the run on HBOS in the UK, uncertainty has now hit Japan .

In the last 7 hours Origami Bank has folded, Sumo Bank has gone belly up and Bonsai Bank announced plans to cut some of its branches. Yesterday, it was announced that Karaoke Bank is up for sale and will likely go for a song, while today shares in Kamikaze Bank were suspended after they nose-dived.

Samurai Bank is soldiering on following sharp cutbacks, Ninja Bank is reported to have taken a hit, but they remain in the black. Furthermore, 500 staff at Karate Bank got the chop and analysts report that there is something fishy going on at Sushi Bank where it is feared that staff may get a raw deal.

<deleted> brilliant,think i'll go and have a quiet cup of green tea.

I think it might be bad karma to band about dismissive slurs like "losers"; etc. Especially whilst the global financial markets are going tits-up big stylee. A lot of retirement plans / holes in the wall might currently be vanishing for a lot of people...

cannot agree more,what ever happened to empathy and some humility.none of us know what lies around the corner to our own welfare and well being.have looked at some smug replies here,and holier than though attitudes

its pathetic

the aud should be supported by the reserve bank

NOW

<deleted> are they doing sitting on their hands

you would think the australian economy had gone belly up based on the dollars rate against most others

Krudd will tell us not to worry....

according to the "australian" thats exactly what he's just said.It does seem an extraordinary collapse against the USdollar,just wish the thai baht was allowed to float against other currencies just like the aussie dollar.Will be camping outside 711 very soon.

Now's the time to find a hotel with exchange facilities that aren't on the ball.

Going back to early 85 when the $Oz was about 18 Baht I changed some into Baht at Betong for 22. The money exchange booth took a couple of hundred dollars off me and would have changed more if I had it. Their exchange rate board hadn't been changed in years.

Apart from a small bank branch in Oz that gave me 10x the going rate when I bought Malay Ringgit years ago it was the only time I've made money out of currency exchange.

where is this hotel,where is this bank.............mayday mayday!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1

well said mcab,the person that began this thread sounds like he has no respect at all.

The OP was relating an email from his ex-mate. It's not about the OP.

Yes I am aware of that if I mentioned OP it was a typing error, having scanned my imput I cannot see where I mentioned OP in my response. Unless my glasses need cleaning

my apologies,comments then directed to your friend,pal ,acquaintance,either way does n't sound like a nice person.

samuibeachcomber

You passed the comment you needed to transfer funds to meet visa requirements, I am assuming funds for a retirement visa. You don't have to have the funds here, they can stay at home but you will need supporting paperwork.

thats true for the first year of your stay,but after, funds have to be here.come january i will be on my third year,but thanks for post.

I stand corrected then.When i went to Samui immigration for my 3rd 90 day report i asked them if i needed my money in A/C 3 months before renewing my retirement visa(2nd year of renewing)and they said no,just 1 month before.

I had heard it was only the first time of getting an extention that the money needed to be in a/c 3 months before.

with all due deference to the learned gentlemen who have posted before me in this thread...

I have to make the following humble submission:

it has nothing to do with America, or the price of various vague commodities or sub-prime rates or anything. It all comes down to the timing between when I buy my ticket to LOS and the date of the actual trip. This time around when I bought my ticket the AU$ was over 30 to the THB; this morning when I logged on here in CM I see it's under 25...

This has happened to me at least 4 times since 2000...

Maybe someone could put an alert on my passport number on some online travel booking monitoring site, and short sell the AU$, or whatever it is you guys do to make money when things are going down...

LOL

:-)

this thread was n't really about the timely purchase of airline tickets,but about the transfer of a large amount of money to fulfill visa obligations........a lot more to lose via the current exchange rate.But i take your point its not the end of the world yet,still time to enjoy thailand