jaideedave

37 minutes ago, Flyguy330 said:

Where to begin......😑

 

Lets start with this - I am living a very comfortable retirement now, thanks entirely to my Union. My Union was not a huxters scam, or a mafia, it was a professional association of men and women determined to protect their job contract and conditions. It was not communist, or socialist, it was anti-corporatist, anti-elitist and anti-exploitationist.

 

If it was not for the solidarity of that group I would not have a pension now, and I would not be living a decent retirement in SE Asia. I would be broke and living in poverty in the freezing cold back home.

 

We stood up to all attempts of self agrandising managers to further their own careers by destroying ours. Yes, it sometimes involved having the backbone to strike. That only ever happened when we were pushed to the absolute limit by managers who believed they could break us. They always failed, and it cost many of them their own jobs.

 

It amazes me how brainwashed and deluded so many of the current generation are. Especially in the United States. Indeed it's a uniquely American product, one of their biggest exports. Workers have bought into the propaganda rammed down their throats by the Corporate Media daily - Unions are bad for you, they are Anti American, Unions are commies, save your money on Union fees, don't expect a permanent job anyway, it's a gig economy so get a gig, health insurance is optional, so get a side gig to pay for it, you have no right to strike, stop complaining, and when you're 60 <deleted> off and die quietly - and the sooner the better.

 

This same US Corporatism has infected much of the anglosphere.  I'm not from the US, but I see the same message sold every day in my home country. When we had our 'disputes' with the company it was shocking to see how certain newspapers simply outright LIED about the issue, about wages and conditions, how they would cherry pick their facts and how they covered up those that didn't fit their biased agenda. It's why I trust nothing I read, see or hear in the mainstream media anymore. It's only when you are directly involved in a newsworthy story that you begin to understand that everything they write is lies or misdirection.

 

The anti Union movement has been hugely succesful in the last couple of decades. It is an organised effort, driven by the corporations and aided by the media they own, and the politicians they buy.

The result is millions of ordinary people seeing their incomes falling year on year. Governments open borders to cheap goods which kill homegrown business, and import dirt cheap manual labour to erode native workers pay and job security. UKIP convinced the Brits that this influx would end if they voted for Brexit - which they obligingly did. But the influx continues, and indeed increased. The Tories are standing for election and making promises to stop it - but they have had 8 years since Brexit and it continued. Why? Because ultimately it suits the Corporate Agenda to destroy British workers wages and job security.

 

It's not just the Tories - Gordon Brown (Labour) perpetrated one of the most disgusting crimes against UK workers in 1997 when he changed the accounting laws on company reports which effectively made the elimination of Defined Benefit Pension Schemes inevitable in the UK. There isn't a single FTSE100 company now that still has a DBPS. https://theconversation.com/britains-great-pension-robbery-why-the-defined-benefits-gold-standard-is-a-luxury-of-the-past-100844

 

My Union defended our DBPS to the death. I'm very grateful, as are hundreds of my colleagues.

 

 

 

"My Union defended our DBPS to the death. I'm very grateful, as are hundreds of my colleagues"

Your situation sounds the sme as mine. At 25 I needed a job and it turned out to be a union shop. A lot of our disputes involved our DBPS, in not allowing the companies access to these funds. I'm grateful to the union leaders for preventing this.Like most I had no choice but to contribute via union dues. I quit after 30 years at 55yo.I have been collecting that pension for 19 years so far. I've met many non union workers over the years that come retirement age are given a watch or nothing at all but making the business owners wealthy. Love them or hate them,I've done well by them.      

On 5/27/2024 at 6:16 AM, Skeptic7 said:

Ex-mercenary...and I'm an ex secret agent man❗ 

Sorry but I can't talk about this case or else I'd half to k--- you 555

9 hours ago, webfact said:

Police from the Chonburi Provincial Police, Banglamung District, and Pattaya City held a meeting this week with security guards from entertainment venues in Pattaya to address concerns about tourist safety following a recent incident in which two foreign tourists were brutally assaulted by security guards.

The meeting, held at Pattaya City Hall on June 6th, was led by Pol. Maj. Gen. Thawatchakiat Jinda Kuansanong, Commander of the Chonburi Provincial Police. He was joined by Banglamung District Chief Weekit Manarojkit, Pattaya Mayor Poramase Ngampiches, Pattaya Police Superintendent Pol. Col. Navin Teerawit, and other officials.

 

Representatives from the Pattaya Entertainment and Tourism Industry Association, the Pattaya Nightlife Business Association, and the Pattaya Tourist Police Volunteers were also present, along with 300 nightclub owners and security guards.

 

The meeting was held in response to the previous viral physical altercation between bar guards and two foreign customers on Soi 6, where one foreigner was brutally kicked in the head after getting knocked down. However, the tourist, who is pursuing legal action against his assailant, was not seriously injured, The Pattaya News noted.

 

By Aim Tanakorn

 

Full story: THE PATTAYA NEWS 2024-06-08

 

Get our Daily Newsletter - Click HERE to subscribe

Appears to these old eyes that half the forum are otherewise engaged on their cell phones

On 5/27/2024 at 9:44 PM, Chris Daley said:

After good men spend a lifetime grinding their hands down to the bone for nothing, we are met with either cancer or heart disease.

 

How about you? Which one do you think you will get first?  I would like cancer first.  It seems more gradual amd less sudden.

In my case both came to the party.Quadruple bypass @59. Colon "C" @ 67. Survived each , kind of, but a lifetime of (functional alcoholism) will do that to a bloke. I've tapped on the brakes @ 73 but no real regrets as I've nothing to compare it to. Enjoy life's little pleasures.

What money I never spent on myself I spent on those who took care of me when I needed it most. Msg from "heavens waiting room"

I see in his future, an arm sling,neck brace,eye patch and let's throw in a wheelchair for good measure, oh and a face mask...

Or some sealed lunch boxes for the judge in case they feel peckish.

46 minutes ago, thesetat said:

why not just take it to a shop that does this.. It will be cheap enough and not waste your time waiting for delivery and doing it yourself. My fan also had the same problem but it was not the capacitor. You may find you are wrong about the problem and change that only to find it still does not work. The cost to fix my industrial sized fan was only 150 baht. Are you so cheap you can not just let a professional fix it? 

I had the same issue...I changed the capacitor but it still didn't work. Took it to Somchais repar shop and he fixed it for 200 baht.I no longer repair fans.

FYI >Sat,June1st> Wise users: I set up my monthly transfer @ 16:19 from my Canadian bank to Wise. Money deposited to Kbank @16:52. (30 mins)

All back to normal in my case.20$ fee up from 14$. My Cda bank used to rip me off for over 60$...before I found Wise.

I'm quite happy with this. My transfer the other day took 12 hours for some reason. PS: This time I checked "money for everyday expenses" as opposed to "money for long term stay", don't know if that made any difference.

On 5/29/2024 at 11:09 PM, JoeyMac said:

 

 

Fully agree. 

 

This has effectively opened the door to free for all. Those cheering because they don't have to file some paperwork, or go to immigration to get an extension will be the first to start complaining when the whole landscape changes as (their target) they hit 80 millions visitors (which is nearly 3 times as much as now) in 2027. 

 

This is not good news. 

 

Long term visitors are going to drag your rents up for a start. The rest ... well just think about how destructive it's going to be in regards of your experience. It's not going to be pleasant. 

Jo,I tend to agree with you on this point.Flooding the LOS with tourists from any old country could radically change the landscape for retirees like myself. During Covid in Pattaya you could actually drive to places without traffic being plugged up. However it put a lot of small businesses down. I'm living in "Heavens waiting room"  and it will get real busy but will take time. 

3 hours ago, fondue zoo said:

 

Checked again this morning, Wise have now added.

Keep in mind — It can take up to 2 working days for <recipient> bank to credit the account.

Which I've seen before but it wasn't displayed yesterday.

 

If I email them they will only point to that and say yes, our part is done/final, this is a bank delay.

It's a waiting game now.

 

Yesterday I experienced exactly the same issue as yourself. Normally its been a matter of minutes to receive my money. I'm going to have a look at Remitly. Wise has also almost doubled my transfer fee.

Maybe its a glitch hopefully.

16 hours ago, ChumpChange said:

Perfect place for you Bob Scat. Food is shiite, prossies up the wazoo, English accents annoying AF, filth of the highest order, violent crime highest in SE Asia, awful infrastructure, typhoons, religious evangelism, wholesale poverty, what's not to love about it? Just promise us you won't come back. And, if you forget to write us about it, no worries; nobody will even notice. Good riddance. 

Back several years a few of us went over for a look around. We booked a 2 week trip and cancelled after 1 week for all the reasons you mention above. I know 1 week isn't very long but we got ripped off at EVERY turn. The only place we could cash travellers cheques was a black market Chinese shop at a 10% fee.Alongapo/Subic area.The Yanks were just leaving and Mt Pinatubo blew its wad the year before.

The conductor on the Victory Liner bus charged us extra because we put a bag on an empty seat. That was only the beginning. Cab driver agreed on a fare and when we arrived he said, oh no, I meant each for 3 of you. Never ever again.

On 5/20/2024 at 1:38 PM, Dogmatix said:

 

Clearly things will be extremely chaotic in implementing a most likely unlawful re-interpretation by a bureaucrat without any supporting regulations or preparation whatsoever and involving the application of dozens of slightly different DTAs which RD officers have never had a reason to even look at, let alone fully understand how to implement them. 

 

I was giving some thought to what types of remittance will be easiest to handle and which will, in my humble opinion alone, be least likely to attract unwelcome attention from the RD.  I give my own rankings. Others will have different opinions.

 

1.  Documented loan from offshore company.

2. Gift to spouse.

3. Remittance from balance already in bank account prior to 1 Jan 2024.

4. Remittance of capital gains from stocks where no tax has been paid (this one is easy because no DTA tax credit is available - just pay Thai tax in full.)

4. Remittance of income from employment or pension claiming DTA tax credit.

5. Remittance of dividends or investment gains claiming DTA tax credits.

6. Remittance of rental income on a monthly or quarterly basis. (This one is a complete PITA because you have to file a mid year PND 94 with estimate of full year income as well as year end PND 90. In addition you will have to claim tax credits under DTAs.  Probably best never to remit post 2024 property income, sell the property and/or leave Thailand, if you are dependent on rental income to survive in Thailand.)

 

Just my ideas that don't constitute advice to anyone.

Will my simple theory work? Income 80k baht/mon.Transfer 40k to my wife and 40k to myself from abroad. Pay any taxes due on 480k annual income.

13 hours ago, CanadaSam said:

Thank you all for your valuable info and advice!

 

Tomorrow, a visit to Land & Housing Bank, thanks to FreeWorld's input!

 

And a last question for anybody still reading this, what about if I consider other options rather than banks, would you think Gold, or the Stock Market would be better?

I've always been a bit of a gold bug in LOS. It's instantly convertable to cash and it has appreciated in value since I arrived full time in 2004. I've also had a good dividend stock (CPNRF) previously thru Bualuang Securities.I've rarely left any larger amounts in savings accounts. Thats just me, there are a myriad of other ways to invest.I've been lucky I suppose. 

On 5/18/2024 at 7:22 PM, JimTripper said:

It's a thing in the USA now. They call it "Van-life". People live in the back of vans, go from place to place traveling the country, including Wal-Mart parking lots, to park overnight and sleep. There is an online community and app that tracks groups and shows where to park. They call it minimal living and freedom.

 

When I looked at it deeper a couple years ago online I discovered it was really not all that romantic though. There were a lot if semi-broke almost homeless people involved. You start reading about how they can't afford the designated campgrounds and toilet facilities and need that shopping center parking lot, etc.

In my younger days I considered the nomadic lifestyle in a full sized RV. With costs of fuel,RV  sites and crime nowadays a 1 br condo in LOS with all the amenities seems a much better option.

On 5/18/2024 at 5:35 PM, save the frogs said:

a lot of youtubers are just making videos for clicks, by the way.

 

they run out of things to talk about so then they do a classic "why I left country xyz" video. 

 

 

And the old chestnut"how much does it cost to live in LOS? and a brief tour of my condo...my favourite massage place and the cheapest place to eat...ffs

16 hours ago, Angus55 said:

I think you mean Kanchanaburi.

12 minutes ago, IvorBiggun2 said:

Government hospitals don't dual charge.

I'm registered with Queen Sirikit Naval Hospital Sattahip.In the main waiting room there's a posted sign saying "foreigners will be charged a fee 1.5 in extra fees" (not the exact wording)

I've had surgery there and because of a shortage of private rooms I had to stay in a large ward to recover.A horrible experience.Finally a private room became available much to my relief.

On 5/11/2024 at 9:20 AM, retarius said:

Immigration is great......when the immigrants assimilate into the culture of the hosting nation and start to share the ethnicity.

Sadly, too many Muslims, Afghans, East Europeans, Pakistanis and Africans don't come to Britain to assimilate....they come to stay totally separate from the host nation, not even learning the language. They come determined to maintain their own way of living and ethnicity and demand that the host nation change its laws to accommodate them.

I'm sure there is no one of my age who was living in Britain at the time, who doesn't remember the howls of protest and demands for special privileges from the Sikh community when Britain introduced the helmet law. Sorry, don't come to a host nation and demand they change the laws for you. This is an example of the deeper issue of non-integration of certain groups. 

Europe is flooded with 'victims' at the moment all seeking special treatment (privilege) for their group. My attitude is that by all means come to Britain but integrate and learn the language. No illegals arriving on boats thank you. No fake asylum seekers. No benefits until you have had a job and paid in for two years. I would add, no single men/. Any single  male fleeing a war, should be sent back to fight for his country. 

The UK Gov't is in full compliance sure.The same is true for most developed countries, USA,Canada,most of Europe. 

On 5/8/2024 at 3:48 PM, Photoguy21 said:

Fax machines are very old school, no one really uses them now. A scanned copy of your document(s) should be sufficient. There again if Australia are still in the realm of fax machines who knows. They wont ask for a fax once they come out of the stone age.

I used to use the mini remote post office shops (red signage) around Pattaya a few years ago...they had fax machines.No guarantee these days. The Canadian gov't still prominently displays fax numbers for correspondence to this day. Isn't a land line required to use these relics. I never had a land line installed when we moved into our house in 2007...somehow we managed.   

50 minutes ago, Middle Aged Grouch said:

A friend once rented a pool villa in a fairly post developpment in Hua Hin. All looked fine on the websites and seemed nice once they arrived, I guess.

 

Few days later a bunch of germans arrived who had rented the villa in front. It was non stop noise, drunken brawls, loud music, all night loud talking, noise of pools splashing till late evenings.... The developpment security guard was first informed and just looked on blantly and of course pretended not to understand. Then the managment was informed but did not really seem to care. Problem was never solved for their entire 3 week holiday. Needless to say, they will never pay the hefty rent price in that specific developpment in Hua Hin, Hin Lek Fai.

We've live in the same house and moo ban for 17yrs.A couple years ago they knocked down the old house next to ours.A Chinese couple built a 5 br pool villa for short term rental listed on Booking.com. 12k/night 3 day minimum.About once a week a mini van will unload 4-6 guys and the afternoon and the ladies are brought back usually after midnight and the pool parties start.

I spent 60k upgrading my windows with laminates etc to no avail.

Complaints to city hall get a shrug. They're using the female moo ban manager as the proxy.There's fa we can do about it. 

I've rented a 1 br condo in a quiet part of Jomtien that has a strong juristic office that don't allow Air B&B.Sleeping great now. Wifey don't like it either and we will now try to sell the place.  

3 hours ago, ukrules said:

For sure, this will kill many real estate projects - but rightly so.

 

Setting up a company with a 51% Thai ownership with a Thai you don't know is not something that any serious person with any experience in business would do - ever. It's a giant red flag.

 

 

uk...back in the day everyone was doing the 51% deals.In the end a lot/most go sour for 1 reason or another.

3 hours ago, thairookie said:

 

The Lawyer's Council of Thailand should round up all these lawyers who helped with registering the companies.

555 The whole lot would be in the kip!