Sydebolle

Well, well, another can of worms opened - it seems. I've worked here since 1985 and changed jobs in 2000 with six weeks of vacation in between in Europe. Arrived back (on the same permanent resident permit), got a new work permit and retired finally in 2018 when I turned 60. I had not claimed any Social Security Insurance until last year (as in my home country one retires with 65 and not 60) and went to see the office. Nice and competent officers everywhere but: - my birth year was noted ten years older, instead of 2501 they had 2491 as my birth year - they could trace only membership contributions back to 2000; the entire time frame from 1985 - 2000 was not to be found. As the Thai law stipulates, that employers have to keep their records ten years, I lost 15 out of 33 years of contributions. I, myself, had no paperwork to support my 15 years of contributions and the pay slips from those days were not "proof" enough. - my Thai ID number never changed but the SSI assumed, that my absence and change of work permit in 2000 is "to blame" and that the SSI might have parked the old contributions "somewhere". - I could have taken it to higher levels but got legal advice to forget about it as it would take years to come and expenses, which might wipe out what I eventually could get refunded. Was it the usual "mai pen rai" sloppiness for which Thailand is so well known for, did anyone deviate my earlier contributions, did my contributions end with the temple collection box? We shall never find out but it is obvious, that the SSI has an "accounting" system of its own as my contributions did not disappear into thin (Bangkok) air, I would assume?

It boils down to convenience and my wife and I love the absolute independence on a day-to-day basis. We like the place = we stay on, if we had it = we move on. The paperwork is done once and if you're organized, it boils down to a few photocopies. The South of Laos though is the most "civilized" part with roads and public transport. With a total number of four you might really opt for a minivan with driver, allows a swig or two of the excellent Beerlao Green (new stuff, worthwhile trying) for lunch. Your own vehicle is of more interest in the North and Northeast of the country, where the roads are seriously damaged - some of them to a status of destruction. Public transport, if available, sucks, overloaded unserviced busses racing through the provinces as if there is no tomorrow ..... I am getting too old for such "experiences" and hence use my 4WD truck, half the speed and absolute independence. Bon voyage through the South of Laos - yet another wonderful part of planet Earth, be it the Bolaven plateau upto Attapeu or the Southern-most provinces bordering Khonphapeng waterfalls ......

Noted, but here we talk about linguistic manners, politeness - without resorting to all that political correctness BS. Thailand needs foreigners as tourists, investors and high skilled labour contributions - unlike the UK. And, as a non-native English speaker, I always understood "alien" as those little green men from Mars with antennas and suction cups at the end of their three fingered/-toed arms and legs ......... whatever, but by all means not "human" 😉

Well, well, next week they will pick another nationality among the dirty farang and alien group. How can anything spiral out of common sense in a most ballistic way over one or two sickoes; given all the other really big issues this country has and should have addressed LONG time ago. Take those culprits to court, deal with them according to the (good) Thai law but get on; don't smokescreen and instigate even more xenophobic racism under which all those white skinned non-Thais suffer on a daily basis. In the past it was just the usual rip-off financially or getting short changed legally or by "not understanding culture"; now it moves towards slash and burn, bomb 'em and keep bashing and bashing. At the end - no winners

Do it and leave - you can always come back .........

Maybe not a bad idea, after sweet talking the Aussies and the dirty farang in Europe, after letting two isolated cases of Swiss culprits going completely ballistic to the level or xenophobic racism of the finest order. My irrelevant concern would be the enclosed reading which, of course, is much less important than bashing on the Swiss as a nation and a historic ally of Thailand for literally centuries ...... It might require standing onto some huge toes of the bigwigs of oligarch eliterian Thai business tycoonism though ..... wonder, if he has the guts or creeps back under the big stone of Thailand's Game of Power .........

No prostitution, no corruption - nothing but highly educated semi-divines ........... how nice is that!

The beginning of the end - bureaucracy will kill everything - eventually even Thailand! You cannot find room maids, waiters nor other hospitality staff; forget sufficiently educated tour guides speaking fluently a foreign language. The Phooyais, the oligarch elite is blocking everything and anybody trying to move Thais from under the stone into the 21st century. You want tourism money, then you have to formulate a product which is attractive enough so tourists come. 30+ years ago you had all the opportunities for quality tourism as Thailand was a mono-destination with history, culture and beaches. Now it's rip-off, rip-off and more rip-off while the customer base consists of avalanches for cheap Chinese, Indian and other floods of quantity tourism.

Well, flights from Rangoon to Bangkok are almost always shorter than the queueing time at BKK; in one particular case the queueing time at the Thai immigration was longer than the flight from Singapore to Bangkok. Baggage delivery seems to be OK, as far as I can tell but the next hurdle is the tremendous mess at the public taxi counter. Irrespective of all this, some people call it home!

Sometimes it would be really better NOT to report anything. I - for one - was not aware, that the Lord war born on Sukhumvit Soi 11 after the immaculate conception of Roger Fernandez, a Pilipina of Spanish decent with roots straight into the Vatican or Bethlehem - how blessed are we all!

Let's wait for the flip side of the coin ......... File a complaint, take him to court, deal with it according to the Thai law but - for heaven's sake - get on with life and stop fanning uncontrollable xenophobia and pure racism. 99.99% of those "dirty farang" (as per a Thai minister) and "alien" (not from outer space but just outside the Thai border) are law abiding citizen. Teachers rape/lash students under their care here, how many men mistreat women, how many children are exploited to no end - all by Thais and only once you clean up this country full of corrupt manure you will be taken serious.

So the xenophobia continues ...... it seems. Not being in the business but I've seen apartments and houses for rent which were vacated by Thai tenants before and each and every landlord (all Thais) told me, that they will never ever rent out anything to a fellow citizen. Preventive regular maintenance is also literally unknown among Thais and whoever bought/sold a vehicle in Thailand knows, that a vehicle pre-owned by a Westerner fetches a considerably better price as they tend to look much better after their assets 😉 At the end, the private owner can decide for him-/herself, to whom what is rented out or not - or did I miss something on the subject of free market economy?

All had alien work permits and alien cards for ASEAN citizen working and living in Thailand, earning honest money in the hospitality trade as prostitution does not exist on Sukhumvit - as per the Bangkok Post! So it was just a brawl over ..... what?

the Thai flag is highly respected by locals. Well, the Americans seem to have a different approach as more than once "Stars and Stripes" were used for mini-bikinis in Bangkok's gogo bars by the dancers ...

The illegally built staircase became obsolete, as it has been removed from public ground - without legal consequence for the land lord as latter is Thai?

Look at the bureaucratic super climax on paperwork when crossing from Nong Khai into Vientiane. The Thai paperwork is absolutely mind-boggling and nobody ever looks at the paper avalanche. TM2 (information of conveyance) in duplicate (copy to be returned upon arrival back in Thailand with engine/chassis number, colour etc. TM3 (passenger list); no joke, with call sign and the full buntings of an aircraft or a seagoing vessel TM4 (crew lists) - see TM3 TM6 arrival/departure card all in capital letters, signatures mandatory with blue ink and papers are piling up by the truck load in those offices The customs does a temporary export permit (we're talking of a taxed, registered and in my case fully paid Thai car) in duplicate, signatures left, right and centre and my 11 years old pick-up still stipulates a value of THB 1,285,000; paid less when I bought it brand new from the dealership. Valid for 30 days, THB 1,000/day or max. THB 10,000/total overstay fine ...... total idiocy. I have all this computerized but I see all those crossing by car filling in paper to no end in the heat, without carbon copy paper and, unlike other crossings at airport, the "overtime" fees have been reintroduced again 😉

Wonder if all those Filipinos hold alien cards and work permits in hospitality. As per today's Bangkok Post there is anyhow no prostitution on Sukhumvit, so we can all relax again 😉

"to ascertain whether they are members of extortion gangs or involved in organised crime." So the powers of Phuket are out in droves now to do, what they've been paid to do ever since. This is excellent news as they will wipe the streets clean of the local extortionists and all those mafia-copycats for which some places in Thailand got an interesting reputation and that includes certain islands in the South 😉

So, prior to a court hearing ........... the police requests the immigration (which is a part of the police)? How interesting all this is; as mentioned earlier on, this case was blown completely out of proportions and while the Swiss will sort things out for himself and get on with his life (I assume so, at least), the collateral damage, hatred, xenophobia if not outright racism against the "dirty farang" will hit Phuket much harder. Yet, the local boys had their 15 minutes of fame, everyone gets a slice of the remaining cake and the loser, once more again ......... is Thailand. Let him face the bench, punish him according to the stipulations the Thai law but, for heaven's sake, get the story out of the media as the reputational damage is immense already ......... The European media countered with the repetition of the following; just in case anyone is interested about the flip side (not knowing, how many sides THIS particular coin has and will have in the future): https://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/society/boredom-in-switzerland-leads-to-an-elephant-refuge-in-thailand/47207918

Thanks, likewise, for your courtesy. One question remains - the insurance (which I did not touch in my yesterday's write-up). Laos requires car insurance, you can choose between various coverage packages and time frames; in my case I got a year-long coverage for +/- THB 1'200 or so. Is there something like that in Cambodia too; don't want to get skinned alive over a minor accident and no insurance 😉 Thank you

Well, that is, what the Swiss media had to write about this expelled culprit ...... another tourist attraction, it seems 😉 https://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/society/boredom-in-switzerland-leads-to-an-elephant-refuge-in-thailand/47207918

That went considerably faster than expected - well done Thailand! I assume that the little "rice scheme incident" disappeared under the biggest rug of SEA and we all can look forward to some new excitement coming from all those experts running the country - how lucky is the Thai tax payer!

So, the locals don't like competition from Russia and China then ........ or am I wrong again?

All in, per meter and extra toll to be mentioned before accepting the fare. If unhappy, get the meter tariffs adjusted by the mighty Thai governmental goons and surcharges like highway tolls printed in English and Chinese for potential passengers to chose. What makes this soooooooo difficult?